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WESTERN TEACHERS
Tushita's
highly-experienced Western Buddhist practitioners share the
responsibility of teaching our courses and leading retreats. When you
come for a course or retreat at Tushita you may have the opportunity to
study with some of the following teachers:
Venerable Robina Courtin
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Tushita's Resident Teacher
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Born in Australia in 1944, Ven Robina spent
the the early part of her life studying classical singing, being
involved with the
radical left/feminist activism and then, in her quest for a spiritual
path,
studying martial arts.
She became a student of Lama Yeshe and was ordained as a Tibetan
Buddhist nun at Kopan
Monastery in 1978. Since then, she has worked full-time for the
Foundation for the Preservation of the
Mahayana Tradition (FPMT) in several roles; editorial director of Wisdom Publications, editor of
the magazine, Mandala
and director
of the Liberation
Prison Project. Since 1987
she has taught Buddhist courses and retreats at FPMT centers
worldwide.
Well-known for her intense energy and no-nonsense
manner of expressing her profound understanding of Buddhist philosophy,
Ven. Robina has been resident teacher at Tushita since March 2010. She
is
the
subject of an award-winning documentary, "Chasing Buddha" and a film by
Christine Lundberg
called "On the
Road Home". You can see and hear some of her teachings online,
including here
and here.
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| Venerable
Jampa Dekyi |
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| Venerable
Jampa Dekyi was born in Australia
in 1945. Having moved to the Solomon Islands at the age of 14, for the
following 25 years this was ‘home’ alongside her late
husband. Dekyi
has 3
sons, a daughter and 1 granddaughter (who was born on the anniversary
of the
first turning of the wheel).
Dekyi
attended her first meditation session in
Australia in
1992 and
instantly had the wish
to become a nun. She ordained the following year. Since then
she
has studied extensively on the Buddhist Studies Program at
Chenrezig, was
the resident teacher at Vajrayana
in Sydney for
5
years and
also for 1 year at Kadam Sharawa
in Gosford. Dekyi then had a short
stay at
Hayagriva Centre in Perth before spending 2008/9 as Tushita's resident
teacher. Dekyi’s wish is to share the beauty, depth
and practical compassion of the Buddhadarma with all who have an
interest.
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| Geshe
Graham Woodhouse |
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Born in England, Geshe-la
has
extensive knowledge of Madyamika (emptiness) philosophy
gained through 16 years of recent study at the Institute
of Buddhist Dialectics in Dharamsala, India.
He completed his Geshe
degree (the equivalent of 4 Ph.D's!) in 2006, becoming one of only a
dozen or so western-born Geshe's existing. It is an incredible
privilege to study with such a knowledgeable native English-speaking
teacher, don't miss the opportunity! |
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| Venerable
Tenzin Chogkyi |
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Venerable
Tenzin Chogkyi, from the USA, has been studying Buddhism for over 25
years with teachers such as His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Lama Zopa
Rinpoche. She has been ordained as a Buddhist nun since 2004
and has completed 6½ years of solitary meditation retreat.
As of August
2009, in addition
to touring, she is also based part-time at Vajrapani Institute
in
Boulder Creek, California, is a visiting teacher for the Liberation
Prison Project and a regular teacher at Mahamudra Centre in New
Zealand. Ven.
Tenzin Chogkyi is dearly loved by those who have studied with her, many
of whom describe her as straightforward, engaging, inspiring,
sincere and fun. You can see her current schedule here. |
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| Venerable
Amy Miller |
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Venerable Amy Miller, from the United States, has
been studying
Buddhism for 20 years with Tibetan Masters such as His Holiness the
Dalai Lama, Ven. Kirti Tsenshab Rinpoche, Ven. Choden Rinpoche and Lama
Zopa Rinpoche. She has completed several individual
meditation
retreats in India, Nepal and the United States and served for many
years as director of an FPMT retreat center in California. Ven. Amy
also volunteered in a San Fransico AIDS hospice for 3 years lending
emotional support counseling to people with AIDS and their loved ones.
In 2000, she was ordained as a Buddhist nun by Ven. Choden
Rinpoche.
Ven. Amy has been teaching Dharma around the world for the last 15
years. Her teaching style emphasizes helping people connect with
meditation and mindfulness in an effort to gain a refreshing
perspective on normally stressful living. She is currently Director of
the Milarepa Centre
in Vermont, USA. |
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| Jimi Neal (Jigme Jamyang) |
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Born in 1948
in Italy, to American parents, he was
raised in America and attended the University of Southern
California. He became interested in Buddhism when
three of
his friends became monks in the Chinese Tradition.
Jimi
came to India in 1971-72, and in 1974 met Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa at
Kopan Monastery, Nepal. He was ordained by Lama Yeshe at
Tushita Meditation Centre in Dharamsala in 1980.
A monk for
15
years, Jimi divided his time between Nalanda Monastery in France, and
India. After disrobing, Jimi has lived permanently in Dharamsala,
India. He began teaching in 1992 and has taught many times at Tushita
Meditation Centre and elsewhere, over the years. He recently did a
teaching tour of Israel where he led the first Lama
Chopa puja there! |
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| Andy Wistreich |
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Andy was born
in England in 1950 and spent
most of his career in further education. During the eighties, he began
to
practice and later teach Buddhism; leading and undertaking retreats and
became
a regular teacher at Jamyang
Leeds.
In
1998 he and David Reigle set up the
International
Kalachakra Network, which through the internet has become a major
source of information and support for Kalachakra practitioners around
the world.
Andy
has been married since 1981 and has 4
grown-up sons. Since retiring from full-time teaching in 2007, he
undertook a year of personal retreat and plans to dedicate the rest of
his
life to studying, practicing and teaching the Dharma.
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| Glen
Svensson |
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Glen Svensson, from Australia, has been studying
Buddhism since 1995,
with teachers such as His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Geshe
Jampa Gyatso. After completing his Bachelor’s Degree in IT
at
the University of Queensland, Glen spent eight years working and
traveling around the world and says he “bumped” into
Buddhism in
Dharamsala in 1995, and took his first Introduction to Buddhism
course
here at Tushita!
He then attended two of the famous
November
Courses at Kopan Monastery in Kathmandu, Nepal, followed by
seven years of intensive Buddhist philosophical studies and nine months
of meditation retreat in the FPMT
Master’s Program (a
teacher-training
course) at the Lama
Tzong Khapa Institute in Italy. Since
completion of the Master’s Program in 2005, Glen has taught in
India, Australia and Europe with a teaching style emphasizing clarity
and
simplicity. |
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MAY ALL BEINGS
BE HAPPY!
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