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Female Teachers in Buddhism

VAJRAYANA

	Ven. Tenzin Palmo is an English-born nun - and the first Western woman to do a traditional 12-year retreat in the Himalayas (see Vicki Mackenzie's book Cave in the Snow: A Western Woman's Quest for Enlightenment). She is fundraising for a new nunnery, Dongyu Gatsal Ling, where she is working to re-establish the extinct lineage of togdenmas (yoginis) within the Drukpa Kagyu tradition. For more details, see the Tenzin Palmo website - or read Tenzin Palmo is watering the nuns, a superb interview with Tenzin Palmo in the online edition of Ascent Magazine.	Ven. Tenzin Palmo Dongyu Gatsal Ling Nunnery Tashi Jong Po Taragarh District Kangra H.P. 176081 India http:/www.tenzinpalmo.com.
	A'dzom Rinpoche, teacher at Tsogyelgar, is a profound practitioner of Vajrayana whose life of compassion and service touches the hearts of all who meet her. Rinpoche (born in 1961 in Connecticut) is recognized as an incarnation of Losal Dr�lma, the great yogini and sister of Do Khyents� Yesh� Dorj�. She concentrates her teaching efforts with those who have demonstrated a consistent and authentic dedication to both their personal spiritual development and the Nyingma lineage. (See both the Tsogyelgar and Aro gT�r biographies of Rinpoche for more information.)	Flaming Jewel Dharma Center/Tsogyelgar 211 E. Ann Street Ann Arbor, MI 48104 USA tel (734) 665-2456
	The Venerable Robina Courtin has been a nun for over 20 years in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. She spent 10 years editing for Wisdom Publications and has taught and coordinated courses worldwide for over a decade. She is the main editor of Mandala, an international Buddhist newsmagazine, and is director of the Liberation Prison Project. Ven. Robina's prison work was recently profiled in an award-winning documentary, Chasing Buddha (see the Sundance Film Festival summary for details, and Radio National Arts Today for a review and audience response).	Liberation Prison Project Director Ven. Robina Courtin PO Box 33 Taos, NM 87571, USA tel (505) 758-7894 robinacourtin@compuserve.com To learn more about the Chasing Buddha documentary, contact LiberationPP@compuserve.com
	J�tsunma Khandro Ten'dzin Dr�lkar is a Dzogchen practitioner and accomplished Tibetan ngak'ma whose (brief) biography is provided on The Sangha of Ngakpas and Ngakmos website, as related to Ngak'ma Shardr�l Wangmo in Yang-l�-sh�d in 1995. The Aro gT�r website also provides further information about J�tsunma Khandro Ten'dzin Dr�lkar and her life, along with several photographs.	Not available
no photo available	Ch�g� Susan Hutchison (Karma Khandro) is the resident teacher of the Marpa Gompa Meditation Society of Calgary, Alberta (see their schedule page for further details). The centre's spiritual head is the Sakya and Karma-Kagyu lama Karma Thinley Rinpoche, who is resident in Toronto and also has a network of centres (the Dechen Community) in the UK.	Marpa Gompa Meditation Society Calgary, Alberta, Canada tel (403) 240-9836 tel (403) 283-0195 marpagompa@cadvision.com
	Ngakma Nor’dzin Rang-jung Pamo was the first Western Ngakma to wear the robes of the white sangha (dGe dun dKar po) in the West. She and her husband Ngak'pa ’�-Dzin are a "teaching couple" within the Aro gT�r tradition of the Nyingma School. They have a wealth of experience in helping people with every-day problems, in which of the stresses and strains of ordinary life become the subject matter of Tantric practice. They also offer a parents' perspective on integrating child-rearing with practice.	Sang-ngak-ch�-dzong P O Box 65 Penarth, South Glamorgan CF64 1XY United Kingdom sang-ngak-cho-dzong@altavista.net See also UK teaching schedule
no photo available	Lama Karma S�nam Lhad�n is a teacher, a fully ordained nun (gelongma), and a student of H.H. Tai Situ Rinpoche. She did her three-year retreat in Scotland at Samye Ling Monastery under the guidance of Retreat Master Lama Yeshe. She also resided for three years prior to that at Sherabling Monastery attending classes with the rest of Situ Rinpoche's monks at his monastic seat in India. Lama Lhad�n has her own website, Rain of Blessing, where you can read her online teachings as well as those of other lamas.	Rain of Blessing lhadon@hotmail.com
	Ven. Tsultrim Allione was among the first Western women ordained as a Tibetan Buddhist nun, and has made great efforts to create teaching methods to facilitate Western understanding of Buddhism. Tsultrim wrote the classic Women of Wisdom, and is empowered by Ch�gyal Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche to teach the practice of Ch�d. She is also founder and director of Tara Mandala Retreat Center in Pagosa Springs, Colorado.	Tara Mandala PO Box 3040 Pagosa Springs, CO 81147 U.S.A. tel (970) 264-6177 fax (970) 264-6169 taramandala@pagosa.net
	Western-born Khandro D�chen Ts�drup Yesh� is lineage-holder, with husband Ngak'chang Rinpoche, of the Aro gT�r, a non-monastic Nyingma lineage emanating from a succession of enlightened women which specializes in Dzogchen and emphasizes the importance of everyday life as practice. A former hospice home care nurse, Khandro D�chen is known for the warmth, gentleness and humour she brings to her Dharma teaching. She is a gifted thangka painter and teacher whose thangkas and line drawings can be seen on the Aro gT�r site; she also teaches and gives transmission through gar 'chams (Tantric dance).	United Kingdom: Sang-ngak-ch�-dzong P.O. Box 65, Penarth, South Glamorgan CF64 1XY, UK tel (01654) 710914 - West Wales tel (01753) 852542 - SE England sang-ngak-cho-dzong@altavista.net USA: Aro Gar P.O. Box 247 Chelsea Station New York, NY 10113-0247, USA tel (212) 439-4780 See sangha page for other addresses
	Ven. Bhiksuni (Anila) Ann McNeil is a 66-year-old Canadian who has been a Tibetan Buddhist nun for 25 years. She was one of the first westerners to be ordained and spent years with her first teacher, the late Lama Yeshe. Anila Ann now serves as the Buddhist chaplain for federal prisons in lower mainland B.C. She recently founded the Khach� Zung Juk Ling Nunnery (an FPMT centre) in White Rock, and also teaches part-time in Vancouver at Zuru Ling Centre (spiritual director Ven. Zasep Tulku Rinpoche).	Ven. Bhiksuni (Anila) Ann McNeil Khach� Zung Juk Ling Nunnery 1008-15280 North Bluff Road White Rock, BC V4B 3E8 tel/fax (604) 541-8797 102413.1057@compuserve.com https://members.tripod.com/~ZuruLing/
	Ven. Bhiksuni Thubten Ch�dron (Cherry Greene) is an American nun in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, and was ordained in 1977. She is currently the resident teacher at the Dharma Friendship Foundation in Seattle. Her books include Open Heart, Clear Mind and What Color is Your Mind?. Her online teachings include Questions on Buddhism and the Praises and Requests to the Twenty-One Taras (a practice centered upon a female meditational deity). Ch�dron also wrote the report on Life as a Buddhist Nun. See her current schedule of teachings.	Dharma Friendship Foundation PO Box 30011 Seattle, WA 98103, USA tel (206) 286-9729 info@dharmafriendship.org
	Lama Yeshe Wangmo is Hawaii's resident lama for the Vajrayana Foundation and is based at Orgyen Dechen Cho Dzong (the retreat centre of Dzogchen master Lama Tharchin Rinpoche), on Hawaii's Big Island. She teaches regularly in Hawaii and on the mainland -- consult her teaching schedule for details. Lama Yeshe is active in working with convicts on Death Row -- see the interview with her on Death Row transformations for more information. She has prepaed a publication on the life-story of Yeshe Tsogyal as a way of experiencing the Vajrayana path in the context of Western individualism.	Lama Yeshe Wangmo, Direcvtor Vajrayana Foundation Hawai'i P.O. Box 6780 Ocean View, Hawaii 96737-6780 USA tel (808) 939-9889 fax (808) 939-8490 vfh@bigisland.com
	Chagdud Khadro (Jane Tromge) is the wife of H.E. Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche. Recognizing her special ability to help others generate signs of p'howa accomplishment, Rinpoche authorized her to teach, which she has done in the United States, Europe and Brazil. She is developing p'howa support groups of practitioners who make a commitment to give each other spiritual assistance at the time of dying. Her book, P'howa Commentary, has recently been published by Padma Books. Chagdud Khadro currently resides in Brazil.	Chagdud Gonpa Khadro Ling CX Postal 12195.660.000 - Tres Coro�s, R.S., Brasil tel (011-55-51) 501-1411 chagdud@chagdud.org
	The practice of Buddhism was forbidden in Communist Mongolia until very recently, and people who continued to practise -- and teach -- risked their lives to do so. The story of such a heroine, the late Ch�d yogini Doljin Kandro Suren, is told in the Mystic Fire video We Will Meet Again in the Land of the Dakini.	See audiovisual page for ordering information
	Lama Tsering Everest is the teacher at Chagdud Gonpa Odsal Ling, a centre of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism located in S�o Paolo, Brazil. The centre is a member of the Chagdud Gonpa Foundation, an international non-profit organization founded by H.E. Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche, with member centres in the U.S.A., Canada and Brazil.	c/o Chagdud Gonpa Odsal Ling AL. dos Araes 117 Planalto Paulista S�o Paolo, S.P. CCEP 04066-000 Brasil tel (011-55-11) 276-1716 tsering@chagdud.org
	Dr. Lene Handberg, psychologist and psychotherapist U.D., has been studying Tibetan philosophy, psychology, meditation and psychotherapy with Tarab Tulku for 15 years, and has also studied with several other well-known Tibetan scholars. She has helped Tarab Tulku in establishing the Tarab Institutes in Europe, leads courses throughout Europe and the United States, and is the President of the T.I.-Denmark.	c/o Tarab Institutes lhandberg@compuserve.com
	Ven. Jamyang Sakya (known to her students as Dagmola) is a Tibetan Buddhist teacher of the Sakya order based at Seattle's Sakya Monastery. She is the wife of Jidgal Dagchen Sakya Rinpoche and cousin to H.H. Sakya Trizin and Jetsunma Kusho Chimey Luding (see below). She specialises in the practices of the female Buddha Tara and has been called one of the finest teachers in the West. Dagmola is featured in The Book of Tibetan Elders.	Sakya Monastery 108 NW 83rd Street Seattle, WA 98109, USA tel (206) 789-2573 fax (206) 789-3994 Contact person Ken Hockett (Ngawang Rabten) may be reached at (360) 793-2198 or via e-mail at khockett@ix.netcom.com
	Jetsunma Ahk�n Lhamo is an American tulku (reincarnate lama) of Jewish-Italian background who belongs to the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. She is the resident teacher of Kunzang Palyul Ch�ling in Poolesville, Maryland, USA. Transcriptions of her Dharma talks are available on-line. The center also offers a recording of chanted prayer by Jetsunma called Invocation.	Kunzang Palyul Ch�ling 18400 River Road Poolesville, MD 20837 U.S.A. tel (301) 428-8116 KPC@tara.org
	Ven. Kelsang Chowang is an English Buddhist nun and resident teacher at Heruka Centre, the London centre of the New Kadampa Tradition (NKT), a Mahayana Buddhist organisation founded by Geshe Kelsang Gyatso.	Heruka Buddhist Centre 13 Woodstock Road Golders Green London NW11 8ES, UK tel 0181 455 7563 fax 0181 9055280 info@heruka.org
	Ani Kelsang Rigma has been a teacher of meditation and Buddhism for over 10 years. Ordained 6 years ago, she teaches at Khedrupje Buddhist Centre in Hull, UK. Her teachings are very clear, accessable and easy to apply to daily life. Khedrupje is a centre of the New Kadampa Tradition (NKT), the Dharma organisation founded by Geshe Kelsang Gyatso.	Khedrupje Buddhist Centre 185 Coltman Street Hull HU3 2SQ, UK tel 01482 324940 info@khedrupje.freeserve.co.uk http://www.meditateinhull.co.uk
	Ven. Khandro Rinpoche is a Tibetan tulku (incarnate lama), also ordained as a nun, within the Kagyu tradition who travels and teaches throughout Europe and North America (predominantly at the Shambhala centres). See her website for her schedule of teachings in the West. Rinpoche's residence is the Samten Tse Retreat Centre for Nuns, Mussoorie, North India -- a women's retreat centre for individual retreats and for resident nuns.	Khandro Rinpoche Samten Tse Retreat Centre for Nuns Fairlawn Estate Palace Post Office Jharipani Mussoorie (U.P.) India Virginia Smith (Rinpoche's secretary): krsec@compuserve.com
	Ven. Anne Carolyn Klein, Ph.D is a well-known author, professor, translator and meditation teacher and a founding director of Dawn Mountain. She has been a student of Khetsun Sangpo Rinpoche since 1973 and received teaching authorization from him in 1995. She has also studied extensively with a number of prominent Geluk and Dzogchen teachers in India, Nepal and the U.S., and teaches within those traditions. See her events page for upcoming teachings.	Dawn Mountain (mailing address:) 4615 Post Oak Place, Suite 204 Houston, TX 77027 USA tel (713) 222-2331 info@dawnmountain.org
	Ven. Cecilie Kwiat has studied and practised within Theravada and Vajrayana since 1965, and was appointed by H.H. the 16th Karmapa to be the first resident teacher at the Karma Kagyu Centre of Toronto (North America's largest Kagyu centre at the time). She now lives, teaches and leads retreats in Calgary, Canada. Cecilie is also my beloved first teacher, so I can personally recommend her very highly! See her take on the subject of women in western Buddhism (in a 1991 interview).	Cecilie Kwiat Didsbury, Alberta Canada E-mail ckwiat@telusplanet.net
	Jetsunma Kusho Chimey Luding is the resident lama of Sakya Tsechen Thubten Ling (the Vancouver Sakya Centre) in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. She is one of the seniormost lamas of the Sakya lineage and is sister of the head of the lineage, H.H. Sakya Trizin. Jetsunma is also regarded as an incarnation of the Highest Yoga Tantra female deity Vajrayogini.	Vancouver Sakya Centre (Sakya Tsechen Thubten Ling) 9471 Beckwith Road Richmond, BC V6X 1V8 Canada tel (604) 244-9550 fax (604) 275-8933 sakya@unixg.ubc.ca
no photo available	Donna McLaughlin has been studying Buddhism for over 25 years. She journeyed to India in 1970 and met her root lama, the Venerable Kalu Rinpoche. Coming back to the West, she helped establish Rinpoche's first center in North America in the early 1970's. Over the past seven years, Donna has done a tremendous job of compiling teachings from the Mahamudra teachings of the Kagyu lineage. She has been facilitating Mahamudra study groups, under the guidance of Thrangu Rinpoche and Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamsto during these years. Donna also has an extensive practice background in Chigung and is a healer and transformational body worker.	Sukhasiddhi Foundation P.O.Box 151327 San Rafael, CA 94915-1327 USA http://www.sukhasiddhi.org/
	Lama Palden Drolma (Caroline Alioto) completed the traditional Tibetan Buddhist 3-year retreat under Kalu Rinpoche's guidance in British Columbia in 1985. In 1986 she became one of the first Western women to be authorized as a lama in the Vajrayana tradition. Since that time she has been teaching Buddhist philosophy and meditation. During the past 14 years Lama Palden has worked to culturally translate Vajrayana principles and practices in order to make them more accessible to Westerners. Lama Palden also has a deep interest in the psycho-spiritual development of the individual and the integration of spiritual awareness into daily and personal life.	Sukhasiddhi Foundation P.O.Box 151327 San Rafael, CA 94915-1327 USA E-mail palden@sukhasiddhi.org http://www.sukhasiddhi.org/
	Ven. Bhiksuni Pema Ch�dr�n, one of the foremost students of the late Ven. Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, is the resident teacher/director (abbess) of Gampo Abbey in Nova Scotia, a Karma Kagyu centre affiliated with Vajradhatu. Shambala Publications has an entire website devoted to Pema: it includes book excerpts, a short bio, her teaching schedule and an online forum!	Gampo Abbey Pleasant Bay Nova Scotia B0E 2P0 Canada tel (902) 224-2752 fax (902) 224-1521 gampo@shambhala.org
	Lama Inge Sandvoss is the teacher at Padma Ling, a centre of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. The centre is a member of the Chagdud Gonpa Foundation, an international non-profit organization founded by H.E. Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche, with member centres in the U.S.A., Canada and Brazil.	Padma Ling West 1014 Seventh Avenue Spokane, WA 99204 tel (509) 747-1559 vip@worldpeacenet.com
	Ven. Sangye Khandro (Kathleen McDonald) is the resident teacher of the FPMT's Amitabha Buddhist Centre in Singapore and has been a nun since 1974. Her book How to Meditate (see bibliography) is an excellent introduction to Buddhist practice. Several short teachings and articles by Sangye Khandro are online at Amitabha Buddhist Centre, including "The Practice of Tara".	Amitabha Buddhist Centre 494-D, Geylang Road S389 452, SINGAPORE tel (65) 745 8547 fax (65) 741 0438 fpmtsing@singnet.com.sg
	Ven. Thubten Dekyong ("Tsenla") was born in Lhasa, Tibet. In 1965, like many other Tibetans, she had to move to Kathmandu, Nepal due to the Chinese invasion of Tibet. She was ordained as a Buddhist nun in 1979 by Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche in Kopan Monastery, Kathmandu. Tsenla has taught Buddhist meditation courses there and around the world, as well as acting as translator for various Tibetan Buddhist teachers. She also established the Khachoe Ghakyil Nunnery in Kathmandu, Nepal.	Thubten Shedrup Ling Center P.O. Box 10566 Colorado Springs, CO 80932-1566 tel (719) 635-7804
	Ven. Bhiksuni Tenzin Kacho is a resident teacher at Thubten Shadrub Ling in Colorado Springs, An American nun, Tenzin has practiced Buddhism since 1971 and was ordained by H.H. the Dalai Lama in 1985. She studies under the direction of Geshe Tsultim Gyeltsen, spiritual director of Thubten Shadrub Ling (Colorado Springs) and Thubten Dhargye Ling (L.A.). Some of her teachings are online as RealAudio recordings. Occasionally Tenzin lives at Geden Choeling Nunnery (Dharamsala, India) to study Dharma and Tibetan, and to teach English to resident nuns.	Thubten Shedrup Ling Center P.O. Box 10566 Colorado Springs, CO 80932-1566 Tel. (719) 635-7804 See the calendar of events for locations of teachings
	Ven. Y�sen Sense� was ordained a Shingon monk in 1975 along with her husband and teaching partner Ven. Y�ka� Sense� (Dr. Billaud). Since 1989 they have been teaching Shingon, the Japanese school of Vajrayana, at the K�my�-In Temple in the Burgundy town of Villeneuve Les Genets, 150km from Paris. Ven. Y�sen Sense� is also a teacher of ikebana.	Yuka� and Y�sen Sense� Temple du K�my�-In "La Montagne" 89350 Villeneuve Les Genets France

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