Two Truths

Cultural Immersion – Meditation Retreats – Sacred Places – Bhutan Pilgrimage Tours – Gross National Happiness – Compassion – Impermanence – Vajrayana Buddhism – Pilgrimage – Kindness – Interdependence – Dakini – Tara – Wild Beauty

Khenpo Lungten Gyatso

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khenpo-lungten-gyatsoKhenpo Lungten Gyatso, is Director of the Institute of Language and Cultural Studies, of the Royal University of Bhutan. Khenpo Lungten holds M.A.’s in both Sanskrit Literature, and also in Buddhist Philosophy. Conversant in three languages, Khenpo Lungten is highly respected and very knowledgeable about Bhutan and Buddhism. He has been a Visiting Scholar, in the Nyingma Shedra, in Kathmandu, Nepal. Presently, he is teaching Philosophy, Translation, and language, at the Royal University of Bhutan, at the Trongsa campus.

UNESCO proclaimed Khenpo Lungten Gyamtsho’s work on ‘Mask Dance: Drametse Ngacham’, a “Master Piece”.

Dorji Wangchuk

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dorji-wangchukDorji Wangchuk, Director of the Institute for Traditional Medicine, the intersection of Bhutan’s traditional herbal medicine and integrative Western medicine. Dorji Wangchuk holds an M.A. in Health Management, Planning, and Policy from the University of leeds, U.K., with advanced competency based specialty training at Arhus University in Denmark, and also the John Burns College of Medicine, University of Hawaii, and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, U.K.

Dorji Wangchuk has been one of the point persons, identifying and cataloging 600 medicinal plants, and at least 300 of these are commonly used by practitioners in Bhutan, for preparing medicines. The Institute and Dorji, will host two of our workshops.

Monk Gembo Dorji

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gembo-dorjiMonk Gembo Dorji, Head of the 400-year old Central Monastic Body of Bhutanese Buddhism. Gembo is the Monastic Body’s Planning Officer, and is also on the faculty of Bhutan’s College of Science and Technology. He is very committed to adopting technology and the internet to Bhutan’s Buddhist society.

Holding a Master’s Degree in Buddhist Studies from Tango Buddhist College, and studies in Hawaii and Japan, Gembo Dorji also completed six years’ retreat from Cheri Meditation Center, and from Tokchong Mountain Retreat. Monk Gembo is very much in this world, having served in the Royal Advisory Council and the National Assembly of Bhutan. He is very committed to adopting mindful technology and the internet, to Bhutan’s Buddhist society.

Khenpo Phuntshok Tashi

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khenpo-phuntshok-tashiKhenpo Phuntshok Tashi, a very clear and articulate Master. Khenpo has been teaching meditation and Buddhism for more than 17 years. He is the author of “Mindful Living in Bhutan”, and is the Director of the National Museum of Bhutan. His sense of humor and warm personality, which are in true Bhutanese style, join with his character to endear him to students and guest audiences. Khenpo is a champion of Bhutan’s policy of Gross National Happiness, finding it congruent with Buddha’s Dharma teachings.

Khenpo speaks seven languages, and was Executive member of the 42nd Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington D.C., as well as curatorial team member for ‘The Dragon’s Gift: Sacred Arts of Bhutan Exhibition’, traveling throughout the U.s. and Europe.

Khenpo Phuntshok Tashi has been a guest lecturer on Buddhism and Gross National Happiness in Japanese Universities, meditation retreats in Denmark, Europe, and east asia. His work on ‘The Origin of Happiness’, brings together his keen research interests in poetry, philosophy, physics, environmental philosophy, culture, and the Middle View.

His work, ‘The Role of Buddhism in Achieving Gross National Happiness’, is a landmark, acclaimed work.

Karma Phuntsho

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karma-phuntsho

Karma Phuntsho is a Bhutanese Tibetan Buddhist scholar, with a Ph.D., earned from Oxford University. Karma speaks and writes eleven languages, and is the Holder of Esoteric and Definitive Doctrines with Distinction (Lopen title), completing an intense nine year program at the Ngagyur Nyingma Institute. He was also awarded Master of Perfection from the Nyingma Institute, after a six year program in Buddhist and Tibetan Studies.

In 2000-2001 Karma was a Fellow, Department of Sanskrit and Indian Studies, Harvard University. Karma Khuntsho has written or collaborated in over 70 books, monographs, and publications on “The Perfection of Wisdom”, “Social Stratification and Kinship in Bhutan”, “Buddhism and the Gross National Happiness (GNH) in Bhutan”, “Buddhism as an Act of Happiness”, “Bhutan’s Spiritual Ecology”, “Mind or/ and Brain: Response to Brain Scientists”. Dr. Phuntsho has deep interests in investigating and researching Himalayan cultures and preserving Bhutan’s oral heritage.

With a big heart and approachable humor, Karma, an investigator for the University of Cambridge project on Tibetan-Mongolian Rare Books and Manuscripts, he is currently Editor of the Journal of Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies, and delights in presenting workshops in the U.S., Europe, and Asia.

Merle Lefkoff, Ph.D.

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A social change entrepreneur whose practice is devoted to the application of the science of Chaos and Complexity in order to encourage the emergence of a more holistic, compassionate world.

Merle holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. and has been a mediator, facilitator, and leadership trainer in conflict zones around the world. She served in the Carter White House on a special project for the President, and was appointed Guest Scientist and Affiliate at the Center for Nonlinear Studies at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

She is Founder and President of the Center for Emergent Diplomacy, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, U.S., testing new processes to assist negotiations on global issues resistant to peacemaking. She worked in Bosnia during the war, in the N. Ireland peace process, in Central America, and is presently facilitating environmental restoration on Navajo indian land, as well as peace building workshops in Israel and Palestine. Merle is a member of the Upaya Zen Center Board, where she teaches in the Buddhist Chaplaincy Program. She is a consultant to the Chaplains in the Canadian Army, and her experience includes work in environmental conflict management and workshops in ‘Complexity, Spirituality, and Compassion’.

Merle is doing work internationally with a strong connection to Bhutan’s initiative for Gross National Happiness (GNH). In April 2012 Merle facilitated the GNH Planning Group for Rio + 20 at the UN in April on behalf of the Bhutanese government.

Susan Bauer-Wu, Ph.D., RN, FAAN

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A warm and gifted teacher with a distinctive background as an accomplished mind-body researcher, clinician, and meditation practitioner and teacher.

Susan is former instructor at Harvard Medical School, and Research Center Director at Boston’s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

She is the Tussi and John Kluge Professor of Contemplative End-of-Life Care at the University of Virginia (UVA) School of Nursing with secondary appointment in the Department of Religious Studies UVA School of Arts and Sciences, President of the Society for Integrative Oncology, and author of the book, Leaves Falling Gently: Living Fully with Serious and Life-Limiting Illness through Mindfulness, Compassion, and Connectedness (New Harbinger Publications, 2011). Susan is especially inspired by international work, and has participated in nomads clinics/medical pilgrimage in rural Nepal and taught medical workers and conducted research in India.