His Holiness the Gyalwa Karmapa Rangjung Rikpe Dorje was, until his passing in 1981, the supreme leader of the Karma Kagyu Lineage, which traces back to Tilopa, the great Indian master of the 10th century. HH Karmapa was deeply loved by everyone for his boundless warmth and compassion. HH was the teacher of nearly all of the Kagyu lamas alive today. HH Karmapa passed into Parinirvana on November 5, 1981.

His Holiness the Gyalwa Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje is the supreme leader of the Kagyu lineage. In 2001, Karmapa fled Tsurphu, his home monastery in Tibet, to India to continue his training and fulfill his duties to the lineage. HH Karmapa made his first trip to the West in the summer of 2009. Every year, HH leads the Kagyu Monlam, a prayer gathering for world peace at the site of the Buddha’s enlightenment in Bodhgaya, India. Nearly 10,000 monks, nuns, and laypeople attend each year.

Born in 1910, His Holiness Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche was the direct incarnation of the great scholar and meditation master Jamgon Khyentse Wangpo. HH spent nearly 30 years in solitary retreat and later became the head of the Nyingma lineage. HH was the teacher to most of the lamas of his generation, including His Holiness the Dalai Lama. A scholar, sage, and poet, HH continually inspired everyone he met with his extraordinary presence, simplicity, dignity, and humor. HH passed into Parinirvana on September 27, 1991.

Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche is widely recognized as one of the great meditation masters of modern times. Born in eastern Tibet in 1920, he was a highly respected meditation master of the Dzogchen and Mahamudra traditions and was regarded by the late 16th Karmapa as his last living teacher. Until his final days, he lived at the mountain retreat of Nagi Gompa above the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal. He passed into Parinirvana on February 13, 1996. Tulku is the inspiration behind everything we do at the Buddhist Center.

Master of meditation, social visionary, author, artist, poet, Chögyam Trungpa (1939–1987) 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 (now called Shambhala International). At 18 months old, Trungpa Rinpoche was recognized as the 11th in the line of the renowned Trungpa tulkus. After extensive training in scholarly and meditative disciplines, Trungpa Rinpoche fled Tibet in 1959. He became the most innovative and inspiring Buddhist teacher in the West. Trungpa Rinpoche entered Parinirvana on April 4, 1987.

The eldest son of Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche, was born in 1951 in Eastern Tibet. At 18 months old, he was recognized as the seventh incarnation of the Drikung Kagyu lama Gar Drubchen, a Tibetan siddha and a spiritual emanation of Nagarjuna, the second-century Indian Buddhist philosopher. Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche teaches worldwide and is the abbot of Ka-Nying Shedrup Ling, the largest monastery in Nepal, located in the Kathmandu Valley.

The third son of Tulku Urgyen, Tsoknyi Rinpoche III, was recognized by His Holiness the 16th Karmapa as the reincarnation of Drubwang Tsoknyi Rinpoche I. He is a respected master of the Drukpa Kagyu and Nyingma traditions. He serves as the abbot of two nunneries in Nepal, and his ‘Nangchen Nuns Project’ supports more than fifty-five monasteries in eastern Tibet.

Born in Nepal in 1975, Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche is the youngest son of Tulku Urgyen. As a young child, he was recognized by the 16th Karmapa as the 7th incarnation of the great 17th-century mahasiddha, Yongey Mingyur Dorje. At an unusually young age of 13, Rinpoche entered the traditional three-year retreat and later undertook a second three-year retreat, serving as its retreat master. After completing extensive scholastic training, Mingyur Rinpoche now teaches in North and South America, Europe, Africa, Australia, and Southeast Asia, and is known for his remarkable ability to convey the teachings with great clarity and humor.

Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche was born in Kham, Tibet, in 1933. At the age of five, he was formally recognized by His Holiness the 16th Karmapa and Tai Situpa as the ninth incarnation of the great Thrangu Tulku. Thrangu Rinpoche was very close to Trungpa Rinpoche and was the foremost scholar of the Kagyu lineage. He taught most of the living Kagyu lamas. Rinpoche’s dharma activities were extensive and all-encompassing. He established a three-year retreat center at Namo Buddha in Nepal, oversaw long retreats at Samye Ling in Scotland, and served as the abbot of Gampo Abbey in Nova Scotia. He founded The School for Himalayan Children, dedicated to preserving Tibetan Buddhist culture. His home center was in Sarnath, India, the site of the Buddha’s first teaching. Thrangu Rinpoche passed into Parinirvana on June 4, 2023.

Pema Chödrön is an American Buddhist nun and the abbess at Gampo Abbey, a monastic center for men and women in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. She is also their resident teacher. She began studying Buddhism in the early 1970s, working closely with the renowned Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche of the Shambhala Buddhist tradition until he died in 1987. She is a brilliant teacher and the best-selling Western Buddhist author of many books, including Start Where You Are, When Things Fall Apart, and Becoming Bodhisattvas. Pema and Tim taught together at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY, from 2007 to 2019, and they continue to teach annually as part of the Pema Live program.

Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche was born in Bhutan in 1961 and was recognized as the main incarnation of the great Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö. From a young age, he has been active in preserving Buddhist teachings, establishing learning centers, supporting practitioners, publishing books, and teaching around the world. Rinpoche oversees his traditional seat at Dzongsar Monastery and its retreat centers in eastern Tibet, as well as his new colleges in India and Bhutan. While being one of the leading figures in the Buddhist world, Rinpoche has also taken time to write and produce two award-winning films, The Cup and Travelers and Magicians.

Recognized as an incarnation of the great master Jamgon Kongtrul Lodrö Thaye, Dzigar Kongtrül Rinpoche received the teachings of the Nyingma lineage from his root guru, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. Kongtrül Rinpoche also studied extensively with Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche, and the great scholar Khenpo Rinchen. He lives in Crestone, Colorado, where he established the mountain retreat center of Longchen Jigme Samten Ling. He currently spends much of his time there in retreat and guides students in long-term retreat practice.

Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche was born at Rumtek Monastery. His father was Dhamchö Yongdu, the General Secretary of HH the 16th Karmapa. Ponlop Rinpoche is recognized as one of the leading scholars of his generation in the Nyingma and Kagyu schools of Tibetan Buddhism. He is known for his sharp intellect, sense of humor, and clarity in teaching. Fluent in English and familiar with Western culture, Rinpoche is also a skilled calligrapher, visual artist, and poet. He is the founder and spiritual director of Nalandabodhi.

Her Eminence Minling Jetsün Khandro Rinpoche, born in 1967, is the daughter of the renowned meditation master and head of the Nyingma lineage, Mindrolling Trichen Gyurme Künzang Wangyal Rinpoche. At age two, Rinpoche was recognized by the 16th  Karmapa as the reincarnation of the Great Dakini of Tshurphu, Khandro Urgyen Tsomo, one of the most well-known female masters of her time. Jetsün Khandro Rinochje, a Jetsünma within the Mindrolling lineage and a tulku within the Kagyu Lineage, holds both the Nyingma and Kagyu lineages. She speaks fluent English and travels extensively, teaching in an exceptionally direct and profound manner. Rinpoche is actively involved with the Mindrolling Monastery in India, and in 1993, she established the Samten Tse Retreat Centre in Mussoorie, India, as a branch of Mindrolling Monastery, providing a place for study and retreat for both nuns and Western lay practitioners. The North American seat of Mindrolling International is the Mindrolling Lotus Garden Retreat Centre, founded in 2003 in Stanley, VA (USA). Rinpoche’s land center, Rigdzin Gatsal, located in Greece, is currently under construction. She is regarded as the leading female lama of our time.

Ringu Tulku Rinpoche is a Tibetan Buddhist master of the Kagyu lineage. He was trained in all schools of Tibetan Buddhism by many great teachers, including HH the 16th Karmapa and HH Dilgo Khentse Rinpoche. He received his formal education at the Namgyal Institute of Tibetology in Gangtok and Sampurnanand Sanskrit University in Varanasi, India, and has served as a professor of Tibetology in Sikkim.

Born in 1981,Kyabgön Phakchok Rinpoche is the grandson of Tulku Ugyen Rinpoche and the eldest brother of the incarnation of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. Ordained by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, he has studied with many great lamas, including Khyentse Rinpoche, Dudjom Rinpoche, and Tulku Ugyen Rinpoche. A dynamic young lama, he offers teachings that are direct, accessible, and always fresh, opening our minds in a playful and inspiring manner.

Drala Mountain Center is a mountain valley retreat covering 600 acres in northern Colorado, about an hour and a half's drive from Steamboat Springs. Since 1971, the Center has hosted hundreds of programs on Buddhist meditation, yoga, and other contemplative practices. Having served as a contemplative retreat for over thirty years, Drala Mountain Center is a place where one of Buddhism's core truths—that people can be deeply open to the wisdom of the present moment—is always accessible.

Located on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia,Gampo Abbey is the largest residential Buddhist monastery in the Western Hemisphere. Founded by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche in 1984, it is affiliated with Shambhala International. Pema Chödrön serves as the abbess and main teacher. Gampo Abbey provides intensive training for both monastics and laypeople from all Buddhist traditions. Tim Olmsted was the director of Gampo Abbey for three years.

Founded in 1978 by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche,Naropa University is based in Boulder, Colorado. It is a fully accredited private college inspired by Buddhist principles that offers graduate degrees in contemplative psychotherapy, somatic psychology, and transpersonal psychology.

Rangjung Yeshe Institute was established in 1981 by Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche, in accordance with his father Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche's wishes. Since 1997, the Institute has expanded to provide a comprehensive, integrated curriculum in Mahayana Buddhism. Located at Ka-Nying Shedrup Ling monastery in Kathmandu, Nepal, the Institute serves as a valuable resource for in-depth studies of Buddhist philosophy, practice, and culture.

Tergar, founded in 2006 by Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, is a global community and organization dedicated to meditation and Buddhist study. It provides both secular and Buddhist programs through in-person and online platforms to help individuals develop awareness, compassion, and wisdom through the daily practice of meditation.