Rigpa Vision Board
Spiritual direction in Rigpa is held by the Vision Board, along with Rigpa’s Senior Teachers and Practice Holders, and the guidance of our Spiritual Advisors, Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, Mindrolling Jetsün Khandro Rinpoche and Khenchen Namdrol Rinpoche - as well as the advice of many great masters of the Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism.
The role of the Vision Board is to ensure that the Rigpa community has clear spiritual guidance and direction.
The Vision Board oversees the spiritual authenticity of Rigpa, helping ensure all its activities remain true to its vision, values and culture. And it takes care that Sogyal Rinpoche’s legacy is secure, including his vision, teachings, lineage holders and particular approach to dharma activity.
The Vision Board works closely with Rigpa’s Senior Teachers and Practice Holders.
The Vision Board Charter
The Vision Board was set up in 2017. Soon after, its members defined how the Vision Board would work long into the future, based on what Sogyal Rinpoche had envisioned, with the input of the Spiritual Advisors, the national Rigpa Boards and the whole Rigpa sangha at the time. We agreed that the Vision Board would be renewed every four years, by no more than one third.
Vision Board members
Gabriele Maass
Gabriele met the dharma in the midst of a busy life as market researcher. Soon she decided to enter a long term retreat and thereafter she served Sogyal Rinpoche and Rigpa in different capacities. Currently she manages the project on Rigpa's priority on how practitioners can be best supported so they manifest signs of accomplishments. She lives in Dharma Mati in Berlin, Germany.
Jacki Lee
Jacki first connected with The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying in 2000. It had such a profound effect on her that she left Australia to make Lerab Ling her home and to deeply pursue the complete Buddhist path. She took part in the Three year retreat, receiving all the empowerments, teachings and transmission given in Lerab Ling. She was closely guided by Sogyal Rinpoche, travelled extensively and served as his assistant for 17 years. Jacki is currently a teacher & practice holder for the Rigpa Sangha.
Mauro De March
Mauro has an in-depth knowledge of Buddhism’s cultural and artistic heritage. He has supervised the crafting of sacred decorations of the temple at Lerab Ling, Rigpa's main retreat centre in France, in particular the Buddha statue – replica of the Buddha statue in Bodghaya, working with artists in India, Nepal, Bhutan, Thailand and Burma. He is the founder of ZAM (Rigpa's distributor of study and practice materials) and Rigpa House in New Dehli, and has facilitated the visits of many lamas to Rigpa centres around the world.
Philippe Cornu
Philippe began studying Tibetan at the age of 18 and became a Buddhist in 1980. He was one of the first Rigpa students in France and has studied and practiced Tibetan Buddhism with Dudjom Rinpoche, Sogyal Rinpoche, Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche, and other teachers of the Nyingma tradition. Philippe is the author or translator (into French) of several books on the Nyingma school and Dzogchen. He is a lecturer at the French National Institute of Oriental Languages and Civilizations, Paris and at the Catholic University of Louvain, Brussels.
Seth Dye
Seth has been trained by many teachers as a master of ceremony (or chöpön) of Vajrayana practices and is dedicated to helping establish the Vajrayana Buddhist tradition in the West. He has been an attendant to Sogyal Rinpoche in his travels, teachings and public events for twenty years, and is also currently studying at Milinda, a project established by Dzongsar Khyentse to train Buddhist teachers for the West.
Vinciane Rycroft
Vinciane is an educator interested in ways in which the modern world can benefit from the peace, compassion and wisdom of the Tibetan Buddhist teachings. She initiated several projects, including a programme bringing mindfulness and awareness into schools, and conferences on compassion in society.
Youth Advisors
Carla Ott
Carla fell in love with the Dharma in her early teens. She studied both at the Rigpa College of Buddhist Studies (Shedra) and the Rangjung Yeshe Institute in Nepal, where she completed a Masters Degree in Buddhist Studies. Since the revival of Rigpa's Youth group in 2016, she has been involved in organising and facilitating events to support young people on their path. She helped to organise the first ‘Wisdom Working for the Earth Forum’ bringing together Buddhist and environmental wisdom, which took place in Lerab Ling in June 2022.
Emma Heijdeman
Emma is a young professional, creative, and facilitator. Currently, her main mission is to explore how Buddhist and Earth-based traditions intersect, and investigate how young generations in the West can genuinely connect to the wisdom of the Buddhist lineage. She has been involved in organising events and retreats for Rigpe Shyonnu, as well as supporting Rigpa in different capacities. She is studying the Home Retreat and works as a university teacher in Amsterdam.
Fian Löhr
Fian has supported Rigpa at a national level in retreats and events since 2011, and has been a member of international management teams since 2016. He has taken a leading role in developing Rigpa’s youth organisation Rigpé Shyönnu. He is currently studying Rigpa's Home Retreat. He has a degree in Psychology.
Yara Vrolijks
Yara completed a postgraduate study in Philosophy at King's College, London, and participated for several years in the Milinda teacher training programme. Growing up in a Buddhist family, she has dedicated her time from a very young age to Buddhist study and practice. Interested in the study of mind and the self from cross-cultural perspectives, she has initiated and facilitated international events on exploring mind, meditation and Buddhist philosophy. Yara is one of the instructors supporting the public programme in Lerab Ling and works as a professional therapist specialised in Tipi Emotional Regulation.
Lamas guiding the Rigpa Vision Board
To maintain the authenticity of Rigpa's work, the Vision Board is advised by a number of eminent Tibetan Buddhist lamas including Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche and Mindrolling Jetsün Khandro Rinpoche (both key figures in interpreting Tibetan Buddhism in the modern world), and Khenchen Namdrol Rinpoche (a great scholar and lineage holder of the Ngagyur Nyingma tradition). Other Tibetan Buddhist lamas also advise Rigpa regularly.
