Email us or call:
970-846-8504

Tali Landsberger
Administration Coordinator

Tim Olmsted
Spiritual Director

Susan Barrett
Membership Coordinator

Tricia McEntee
Treasurer

Kelly Turnbull
Online Participation and Volunteering

Tim has been a student of the Buddhist teachings since meeting his first teacher, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, in Boulder, Colorado, in the mid-1970s.

In 1981, Tim and his family moved to Kathmandu, Nepal, at the invitation of the great meditation masters Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche and Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche. Living in Nepal gave him access to the teachings of many of the great teachers of our time.

Tim moved to Steamboat Springs in 1994 and founded the Buddhist Center in 1996. In 2000, he was asked by Pema Chödrön to become director of Gampo Abbey, where he and his wife, Glenna, lived for the next three years.

Tim is one of the founders and senior instructors of the Tergar Meditation Community. He is also a founder and board member of the Yongey Foundation and serves as president of the Pema Chödrön Foundation.

Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche was a master of meditation, social visionary, author, artist, and poet.

He founded Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado, the first Buddhist university in North America. He also established the Shambhala Training program and Vajradhatu, an international network of meditation centers.

After extensive training in scholarly and meditative disciplines, Trungpa Rinpoche fled Tibet in 1959. He went on to become one of the most creative and dynamic Buddhist teachers in the West.

Trungpa Rinpoche was Tim’s first Buddhist teacher. He entered parinirvana on April 4, 1987.

Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche is the eldest son of Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche and the abbot of Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling monastery in Kathmandu, Nepal.

He is a learned scholar and extraordinary teacher who has influenced thousands of Western students through his natural warmth and generosity. He is a teacher and longtime friend of the Buddhist Center.

Michael first encountered Buddhism as a young person in the early 1970s through books that inspired him. They became a source of hope, showing him that someone was teaching about suffering, its causes, and the path to relief and freedom.

After some Zen training in the 1970s, Michael maintained a personal meditation practice and continued to read, but without close ties to a teacher or community.

In 2020, a friend introduced him to Mingyur Rinpoche’s books and online offerings. Since then, he has followed the Tergar Joy of Living and Path of Liberation practices.

Michael is drawn to Tim’s clear teaching style, kindness, and dedication. He values being involved with the warm and vibrant people who make up the Buddhist Center community. He also maintains a strong connection with his root teacher, Mingyur Rinpoche, and the Tergar community.

Michael and his wife retired to Santa Fe in early 2024. They share their home with their adopted dog, Augie, and have two adult children who live on the East Coast.

Susan first encountered the benevolent presence of the Buddha through Buddhist practitioners in the mid-1980s. She has been a student of Buddhism ever since.

After attending teachings with Pema Chödrön and Tim for many years, Susan asked Tim to be her meditation teacher. He replied, “Instead of a teacher, I’ll be your spiritual friend.” Soon afterward, she joined the Buddhist Center sangha by telephone, expanding her circle of Dharma friends and deepening her devotion to the third jewel, the sangha.

Pema Chödrön is one of Susan’s principal teachers. Susan also studies with Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche as a Path of Liberation student in Tergar and follows the teachings of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche and Tsoknyi Rinpoche. Her first teacher was Thich Nhat Hanh, whose teachings she continues to carry in her heart.

Susan lives in Florida and has three children and nine grandchildren. Through photography and writing, she shares the wildlife in her neighborhood and encourages appreciation and care for their shared habitat.

Kelly met Tim more than 14 years ago and has been a student and practitioner of the tradition ever since. Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche and Tim are her root teachers.

For the Buddhist Center, Kelly supports the online community and the volunteers who help sustain the sangha. She has also been involved in Tergar leadership for more than 10 years.

Kelly lives in Stuart, Florida, with her husband, Scott, and their two dogs, Ollie and Cooper.