Teachers in Rigpa
Masters of the Nyingma Tradition Guiding Rigpa
Since Rigpa’s founder and main teacher, Sogyal Rinpoche, passed away in 2019, great masters of the Nyingma and Longchen Nyingtik traditions who have taught, guided and given transmissions and instructions to the Rigpa community over many years, continue to do so.
Lamas and teachers who teach regularly in Rigpa centres around the world and online include (in alphabetical order) Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, Jetsün Khandro Rinpoche, Khamtrul Rinpoche, Khenchen Namdrol Rinpoche, Khenchen Pema Sherab, Neten Chokling Rinpoche, Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche, Ringu Tulku Rinpoche, Shechen Rabjam Rinpoche, Tsoknyi Rinpoche, Tulku Ridgzin Pema Rinpoche and Western teachers Andy Karr, Chagdud Khadro, Dungse Jampal Norbu, Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel and Lama Tsering Everest.
In addition, Rigpa is honoured to regularly host the head of the Sakya school, His Holiness the 42nd Sakya Trizin Ratna Vajra Rinpoche and one of the most senior teachers of the Gelugpa school of Tibetan Buddhism His Eminence the 7th Kyabje Yongzin Ling Rinpoche.
Rigpa’s Teachers & Practice Holders
Along with these masters, a group of Senior Teachers and Practice Holders were formally introduced to the Rigpa sangha in August 2021 as those who are requested by Rigpa’s Vision Board & Spiritual Advisors to take the lead in guiding our community’s study and practice, along with the full mandala of Rigpa’s teachers, practice holders and activity holders.
All of Rigpa’s teachers and practice holders are responsible to the Buddhadharma and to Rigpa’s sangha and lineage and therefore they are accountable to Rigpa’s Vision Board and Spiritual Advisors. They all adhere to ethical standards including Rigpa’s Code of Conduct and comply with the laws in each country where they teach and practice.
Rigpa's Senior Teachers and Senior Practice Holders
‘Senior Teachers’ are those who take responsibility for overseeing and guiding the study and practice of the Rigpa sangha internationally; they teach on a wide range of Dharma topics and teach both Rigpa sangha and public audiences.
’Senior Practice Holders’ are the most senior knowledge holders of the lineage of Vajrayana practices held in Rigpa.
Patrick Gaffney
Senior Teacher
Patrick Gaffney is a Buddhist teacher, writer and translator who has studied and worked with some of the most renowned masters of Tibet. Patrick met Sogyal Rinpoche at Cambridge University in the 1970s and spent the next 40 years studying closely with him and helping in the development of Rigpa. He is the co-editor of The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, and has also edited a number of other books and translations, including two books by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Patrick now concentrates on sharing the Dharma in retreats and online courses. He has a particular interest in the teachings of Dzogchen and lojong, training the mind.
Lama Yönten
Senior Practice Holder
Lama Yönten is from the Nyarong Region of Tibet, close to the seat of Tertön Sogyal, Sogyal Rinpoche’s predecessor. He also spent some time in Larung Gar, the centre of Buddhist learning established by Khenpo Jikmé Phuntsok, another incarnation of Tertön Sogyal.
After escaping the troubles in Tibet, Lama Yönten settled in South India, where he lived at Dzogchen Monastery and completed some retreat. Sogyal Rinpoche met him there and requested him to come to Lerab Ling, Rigpa’s retreat centre in southern France. Lama Yönten is the only Tibetan Lama that Sogyal Rinpoche has ever asked to come and live in the West.
Lama Yönten has lived in Lerab Ling for about 20 years as a perfect monk, and is a well-respected elder in the community. He has helped the Lerab Ling community with many different lama visits, projects and work, and presides regularly over Vajrayana practices.
Ane Sangye Chozom
Senior Practice Holder
Having been raised in a US military family and graduating from Washington State University with a Baccalaureate of Science in Nursing, Ane Sangye Chozom joined the US Navy Nurse Corps in 1979. While still on active duty, she took refuge vows with Anagarika Munindra during a 10-day vipassana retreat being led by Joseph Goldstein at the Insight Meditation Society.
In the early 1980s Ane-la met Sogyal Rinpoche in America; and in the mid-1990s she moved to Lerab Ling, Rigpa's retreat centre in southern France, where she has supported the areas of teaching and practice communications for decades. In February 2002, she received novice ordination from Kyabjé Trulshik Rinpoche in Boudhanath, Nepal.
Tenpa Rabgye
Senior Practice Holder
Tenpa took refuge in 1999 with Tulku Pegyal Rinpoche and met Sogyal Rinpoche in 2000. In 2004, he moved to Lerab Ling, Rigpa's retreat centre in southern France, where he has been part of the practice community and supporting its activity ever since.
Tenpa has received teachings and transmissions from Sogyal Rinpoche and many other great masters, and participated in the Rigpa Three Year Retreat in 2006–2009. He received getsül ordination from Kyabjé Trulshik Rinpoche in 2006 and gelong ordination from His Holiness the Dalai Lama in 2010.
Since 2004, Tenpa has been the loving attendant of Mayumla Tsering Wangmo, Sogyal Rinpoche's mother. He enjoys listening to teachings and tries to maintain a discipline of regular study. In the future, he aspires to do more retreat to study and accomplish further Vajrayana practices.
Pia Artigas
Senior Teacher
Pia Artigas was born in Chile and spent some of her youth in US. She worked as a criminal lawyer in Chile for 20 years. Mother of two and grandmother of five, she now lives in Madrid with her husband.
Pia met the Dharma in 2003 through Sogyal Rinpoche's book, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying. Recognizing Rinpoche as her root teacher, she has been following his teachings and practice instructions ever since, and has also received teachings and empowerments from many other masters who have taught in Rigpa.
Pia helped establish Rigpa in Spain and then founded Rigpa Madrid in 2008. As coordinator and senior instructor since that time, she has organized many national retreats and also given instructor training courses in Spain. She regularly teaches meditation and lojong to the sangha and leads programmes for new students; as well as giving occasional Dharma talks, weekend courses and retreats.
Valerie Baker
Senior Teacher
Valerie Baker first met and received teachings from Sogyal Rinpoche in the early 1990s. Within a year she moved to Dzogchen Beara, Rigpa’s retreat centre in south-western Ireland, where she stayed for 12 years, supporting the centre’s activities and accomplishing practice in retreat.
In 2006, Valerie relocated to Lerab Ling in southern France, where she attended Rigpa’s 2006–2009 Three Year Retreat and was responsible for sharing the teachings Rinpoche gave there with the wider sangha through the Home Retreat Intensive Programme. Since then, she has been part of the team supporting Rinpoche’s international teaching tours and making his teachings available to the sangha.
Valerie is a member of the Rigpa Vision Board. Her main passion—as a student and as a teacher—is the practice of compassion and bodhichitta.
Alain Beauregard
Senior Teacher
Alain Beauregard is a physicist and high-tech entrepreneur. He has been a Rigpa student since 1995 and engaged in Rigpa Canada activities since 1998, including acting as a simultaneous translator of live teachings for various events in North America.
At the age of 46, Alain’s life changed dramatically with the discovery of an advanced stage 4 metastatic bladder cancer, incurable according to medicine. However, through the power of prayer and the healing practices of Tibetan Buddhism, the chemotherapy treatments he received were extremely effective, and a complete cure was achieved in four months, against all odds. Alain’s story inspired the French-language radio series ‘Vivre Autrement’ on Radio-Canada.
Alain has been teaching internationally on healing since 2011 and is currently the president of Rigpa Canada. He hosts lectures, weekends and retreats on the emotional and spiritual approach to healing, based on the Buddhist teachings and his own healing experience.
Karin Behrendt
Senior Teacher
Karin Behrendt grew up in Berlin, where she received a teacher-training in arts and worked as a percussionist. She started to practise Zen Buddhism in her early twenties, before encountering the Tibetan Buddhist tradition and learning to love its richness and profundity.
Karin has worked in varied roles to support Rigpa. She accompanied Sogyal Rinpoche as his main German translator for over 20 years and has translated for many other teachers visiting Rigpa, as well as several books and websites about the Dharma and spiritual care for the dying. Based on her own experience with illness and death, one of her favourite subjects in her live and online talks and courses is the Tibetan Buddhist understanding of impermanence and death as an integral part of life, and the methods to cope with and prepare for it.
She lives with her partner in southern France, close to Rigpa’s retreat centre, Lerab Ling.
Susan Browne
Senior Practice Holder
Susan Browne has been a Dharma student for over 30 years and has done several years of closed retreat. She has guided many individuals and groups in retreat and was responsible for the care of over 400 students during Rigpa's 2006–2009 Three Year Retreat. She currently prepares and guides retreatants to enter tsa sum retreat at Dzogchen Beara and is passionate about the continuity of the practice lineage. She is an instructor on topics such as meditation, contemplation and compassion practices, as well as Vajrayana practices.
Damien Brohon
Senior Teacher
Damien Brohon has been studying and practising Dharma for 30 years in the Kagyü, Nyingmapa and Bön lineages, and has followed courses at the Institut National des Langues Orientales, Collège International de Philosophie, École Pratique des Hautes Études and Institut Khyentse Wangpo.
As a Rigpa teacher, Damien's main focus is on Buddhist philosophy. He has taught on this subject for many years in courses, weekends and retreats in French-speaking countries, as well as in other settings, such as the Institut d’Études Bouddhiques and Institut Khyentse Wangpo. He also gives conferences on ‘Art and spirituality’.
Damien has a deep wish to contribute to a profound change in Rigpa's culture: one that is based on transparency, ethics, and an increased importance given to study as a means for students to follow their path with complete clarity and safety.
Philippe Cornu
Senior Teacher
Philippe Cornu, born in Paris, was a pharmacist before he turned to Tibetan Buddhism. He has been a Tibetan translator and teaching History of Religion, Buddhism and Hinduism since 2011 at the Louvain Catholic University (UC Lovain) in Belgium.
While President of the Buddhist Studies Institute of the Khyentse Wangpo Institute (Paris) with scholars from different Buddhist schools, he’s been a Tibetan Buddhist practitioner since 1980. Philippe followed Sogyal Rinpoche’s teachings since 1980, becoming a Rigpa senior instructor in 1994, and has been a student of Chögyal Namkhai Norbu and Yongzin Tenzin Namdak.
He is the author and translator of numerous books including: Longchenpa’s Natural Freedom of the Mind, The Encyclopedia of Buddhism, Vasubandhu’s Five Treaties on Mind Only, Padmasambhava’s Tibetan Book of the Dead, Buddhism, a Happiness Philosophy?, and recently the Buddhism Manuals, volumes I, II and III.
Kirsten Czeczor
Senior Teacher
Kirsten Czeczor comes from the Ruhr area in Germany. She encountered Buddhism while training as a healer, and followed the teachings in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition with Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche and Sogyal Rinpoche, the author of The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying.
Kirsten has worked for Rigpa Germany in a variety of roles for over 25 years, and has received teachings and transmissions from many teachers—including HH Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche during his last visit to France, in Prapoutel. At the end of a three-month retreat in 1992, she stayed at Lerab Ling, Rigpa's retreat centre in southern France, to help set it up. Later, she attended Rigpa’s 2006–2009 Three Year Retreat in Lerab Ling to deepen her study and practice.
Currently living in Berlin at Dharma Mati, Rigpa's largest city centre, Kirsten gives courses on meditation and loves to communicate Buddha‘s teachings and to guide practices.
Mauro De March
Senior Teacher
Mauro De March has practised the Dharma for 40 years. In that time, he has been attendant and close friends to many great masters, and an ambassador of Rigpa in the East.
He also has an in-depth knowledge of Buddhism’s cultural and artistic heritage and supervised the crafting of sacred decorations of the temple at Lerab Ling, Rigpa's retreat centre in southern France. He took part in Rigpa's Three Year Retreat under Sogyal Rinpoche's guidance, and particularly enjoys guiding students individually.
Seth Dye
Senior Teacher
Seth Dye was born in France to American parents. At the age of 16, he moved to the US, where he went on to complete a thesis in biology on sustainable agriculture and work in different jobs in this field. In 1994 he encountered Tibetan Buddhism and met Nyoshul Khenpo in Lerab Ling, Rigpa’s retreat centre in southern France. He has been a Rigpa student ever since.
Seth has been closely trained by Sogyal Rinpoche as master of ceremony, as well as by many other teachers, and has been supporting Rinpoche in his travels, teachings and public events for many years. He oversaw the construction of the Lerab Ling temple and sacred decoration, and has played a role in helping to establish the Vajrayana tradition in Rigpa, including as an instructor.
He is a member of Rigpa’s Vision Board.
María García Quesada
Senior Teacher
María García Quesada has been a student of the Dharma for more than 20 years. She turned to meditation at the age of 18 to better understand her emotions and fear of death, and has made practice a priority in her life ever since. She discovered the Buddhist path while living and working as a physiotherapist near Lerab Ling, Rigpa’s retreat centre in southern France; and later followed Rigpa’s seven-year Home Retreat Intensive Programme of study and practice, under the guidance of Sogyal Rinpoche.
The Buddhist teachings have brought so much meaning to María’s life, her deep wish is to share the Dharma with others, so they may also benefit. She is characterized by her joy and enthusiasm in presenting the teachings on meditation and compassion.
Ian Ives
Senior Teacher
Ian Ives grew up in the US and has been a student of Sogyal Rinpoche since he was a teenager. He studied at the Rigpa Shedra East in Pharping, Nepal under the guidance of Khenchen Namdrol from 2007 to 2012, and before that at Rigpa Shedra West, from 2003 to 2006.
He attended the seven-month teaching periods of Rigpa’s 2006–2009 Three Year Retreat, and served as a teaching assistant to Rinpoche from 2007 to 2017; travelling with him extensively from 2012 onward. Since this time, and with the encouragement of Rinpoche, he has been guiding study sessions and teaching on topics connected to the foundational and Mahayana levels.
Ian helps design and guide Rigpa’s international study programme and the programme for Lerab Ling, Rigpa’s retreat centre in southern France. He has a family with two young children and lives near Lerab Ling.
Gail Kollner
Senior Teacher
Gail Kollner began investigating Buddhism in the 1970s, taking refuge with Dodrupchen Rinpoche in 1974. She met Sogyal Rinpoche during this period when he was interpreting for Dudjom Rinpoche, and felt a strong connection. She formally requested to become Sogyal Rinpoche's student in 1985, and assisted for many years to organize events and retreats in America. She has been a national team member, course instructor, and US retreat presenter.
Gail has completed two three-month retreats and Rigpa’s 2006–2013 study programme, the Home Retreat Intensive Programme. She continues to serve on the US teaching services team and currently coordinates the curriculum and teachers. She has a particular interest in the teachings on ngöndro and on death and dying.
Gail has been a registered nurse specializing in hospice care, and has a Masters degree in Psychology. She has also studied calligraphy and book-making, and has a black belt in Aikido.
Sherab Leypoldt
Senior Teacher
Sherab Leypoldt has studied with Sogyal Rinpoche since the early 1990s. In 1997, she moved to Rigpa’s retreat centre in southern France, Lerab Ling, where she studied and trained for over 20 years; receiving empowerments, teachings and instructions from great masters in all four schools of Tibetan Buddhism, predominantly in the Dzogchen Longchen Nyingtik lineage. From 2006 to 2009 she attended Rigpa’s Three Year Retreat.
In 2011, Sherab moved to Australia, where she now lives on the breathtakingly beautiful Mid-North Coast of New South Wales.
Sherab continues to research, compile and make available Sogyal Rinpoche’s teachings. She helps to develop courses, events and materials for Rigpa’s students and centres around the world. She is currently coordinating a seven-year Home Retreat that provides education and training on the complete Buddhist path, from the Basic Vehicle right up to Dzogchen, which is being run in three countries.
Verena Pfeiffer
Senior Teacher
Verena Pfeiffer is from Germany and has been a student of Sogyal Rinpoche since 2005.
She attended the seven-month teaching periods of Rigpa’s 2006–2009 Three Year Retreat and has been studying at Rigpa Shedra East in Pharping, Nepal under the guidance of Khenchen Namdrol since 2007.
Verena helped support Sogyal Rinpoche’s teaching events as an instructor and German translator, and regularly helps to lead teaching retreats in Rigpa. She has recently begun teaching at the Rigpa Shedra, using Khenpo Kunpal’s commentary on the Bodhicharyavatara.
Verena is a member of the Rigpa Vision Board and lives in the Netherlands with her partner and their much-adored dog.
Sébastien Reggiany
Senior Teacher
Sébastien Reggiany was born in France and fell in love with the Dharma in 1993 while travelling to northern India. He met Sogyal Rinpoche in Paris in 1994, and has studied with him ever since. Quitting his job as a physics teacher and leaving his rock band; he entered a three-year retreat in Lerab Ling, Rigpa’s retreat centre in southern France, from 2006 to 2009. Sébastien later helped organize and hold international Rigpa retreats, serving as Sogyal Rinpoche’s teaching assistant.
Over the years, Sébastien has been active in a variety of service, teaching and leadership roles within Rigpa. He is currently salaried by Lerab Ling and Rigpa France to work on the Rigpa Curriculum and its programme of courses and events.
Sébastien has a passion for trying to make sense of the entire path by exploring the sutras, tantras and traditional commentaries, as well as the contemporary ones.
Pascal Rey
Senior Practice Holder
Pascal Rey met Sogyal Rinpoche in 1997. Rinpoche’s book, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, had a tremendous impact on him. He has received many teachings and transmissions from visiting lamas in Lerab Ling, Rigpa’s retreat centre in southern France, from 1999 to the present day, and completed Rigpa’s 2006–2009 Three Year Retreat.
Pascal has been a ritual and shrine master (chöpön) in the Vajrayana ritual practices for 10 years. In 2014 he became Rigpa's chant leader (umdzé) after receiving training in Chokling Monastery and Dodrupchen Rinpoche's monastery.
More recently, he has been working on the adaptation of Tibetan Vajrayana rituals and liturgies into Western languages and music.
Ruth Seehausen
Senior Teacher
Ruth Seehausen was attracted to Tibetan Buddhism from a young age, and became a Rigpa student in 1986. Over the decades, she has contributed in various service and leadership capacities within Rigpa.
Ruth completed the 2006–2009 Three Year Retreat in Lerab Ling, Rigpa’s retreat centre in southern France, as well as a number of shorter retreats over the years. She currently divides her time between Germany and France, and devotes herself to Dharma study, practice and regular retreats, in addition to holding meditation seminars for the general public and guiding Rigpa students on Vajrayana preliminary practices.
Ruth has a deep interest in the workings of mind, exploring how Buddhist study and practice can help modern audiences cope with life's challenges, and equip them with the tools to overcome them. She has been passionate about fine arts and photography since childhood, and has completed numerous trainings in this field.
Dominique Side
Senior Teacher
Dominique Side encountered Tibetan Buddhism in the mid-1970s in London. She has studied with Sogyal Rinpoche and Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche in particular, and over the years held a number of leadership roles in Rigpa UK and in Lerab Ling, Rigpa’s retreat centre in southern France.
She has completed several strict retreats and has also obtained a PhD in Madhyamaka philosophy from Bristol University, UK. She taught Buddhism in London schools for eight years and has written textbooks on the subject. Under the guidance of Dzongsar Khyentse she initiated the Milinda training programme for Dharma teachers in 2017, and she also served as vice-president of the European Buddhist Union for five years. As a senior teacher in Rigpa, she specializes in making Buddhist thought and philosophy accessible to all.
Since the Stockholm Conference in 1972, Dominique has been concerned by environmental issues and for 15 years worked professionally as a writer and editor on the interface between environment and economic development.
Claudia Thurn
Senior Practice Holder
Claudia Thurn has been following the Buddhist path with Sogyal Rinpoche since 1995, after the early passing of her father. Since then, her deep underlying interest has always been spiritual care.
She has been coordinating Vajrayana and other practices internationally and in Lerab Ling, Rigpa’s retreat centre in southern France, since the start of Rigpa’s Three Year Retreat in 2006; combining the traditional roles of gekkö and umdze (mainly with practice CDs) in one person.
Claudia continues to deepen her study and practice, and to make practice materials and knowledge available for the Rigpa sangha. She has accomplished a number of long-term closed retreats, and is dedicated to helping establish the Vajrayana Buddhist tradition in the West.
Jan Van Der Breggen
Senior Teacher
Jan Van Der Breggen has studied the Dharma since the mid-1990s, receiving teachings and empowerment from many masters, but principally from Sogyal Rinpoche and Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche.
From 2006 to 2009, he participated in a three-year retreat in France, under Sogyal Rinpoche's guidance. He is currently participating in Milinda, a 10-year Buddhist teacher training programme, under the guidance of Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche.
Jan grew up in the Netherlands and has lived in Brisbane, Australia, since 1998, where he obtained a postgraduate degree in information technology. He makes a living as a data and analytics professional for a large financial service provider.
Jan was instrumental in founding Rigpa Brisbane in 1999, where he has served as a Dharma instructor for over 20 years.
Damien Van Effenterre
Senior Teacher
Damien Van Effenterre is a former scientist who became a student and translator of Buddhist philosophy.
After completing a PhD in physics, Damien worked as a researcher in the field of biophysics at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). He started to practise meditation and follow the teachings of Sogyal Rinpoche in 1999.
In 2007, he left his scientific career to pursue in-depth study of the Tibetan language and Buddhist philosophy and practice, at both the Rigpa Shedra in Nepal and Namdroling monastery in South India. He studied for 12 years under the guidance of Khenchen Namdrol Rinpoche, Khenchen Pema Sherab, Khenpo Tashi Tseten and many other great lamas, khenpos and khenmos.
Damien served as Director of Rigpa International’s Shedra Department for eight years, while also translating for Shedra classes in Pharping, Nepal.
Since 2015, he has been living in Bhutan with his Bhutanese wife and son.
Rigpa's Teachers and Practice Holders
‘Teachers’ specialise in one or several Dharma topics connected to the path of study and practice, such as meditation, foundations of Buddhism, lojong, madhyamaka, Vajrayana preliminary practices (Ngondro), and so on.
‘Practice Holders’ lead Vajrayana group practice for the Rigpa community around the world, contributing to the continuation of the vibrant tradition of Vajrayana in Rigpa.
Read about Rigpa’s senior-most Teachers and Practice Holders above.
Australia
Teachers
Practice Holders
Belgium
Practice Holders
Canada
Teachers
France
Teachers
Practice Holders
Germany
Teachers
Practice Holders
Ireland / Dzogchen Beara
Teachers
Practice Holders
Italy
Teachers
Practice Holders
Lerab Ling
Teachers
Practice Holders
Netherlands
Teachers
Practice Holders
Spain
Teachers
Practice Holders
Switzerland
Teachers
Practice Holders
UK
Teachers
Practice Holders
USA
Teachers
Practice Holders
