Senior Teachers are those who take responsibility for overseeing and guiding the study and practice of the Rigpa sangha internationally; they teach on a wide range of Dharma topics and teach both Rigpa sangha and public audiences.

Patrick Gaffney
Senior Teacher

Patrick Gaffney is a Buddhist teacher, writer and translator who has studied and worked with some of the most renowned masters of Tibet. Patrick met Sogyal Rinpoche at Cambridge University in the 1970s and spent the next 40 years studying closely with him and helping in the development of Rigpa. He is the co-editor of The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, and has also edited a number of other books and translations, including two books by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Patrick now concentrates on sharing the Dharma in retreats and online courses. He has a particular interest in the teachings of Dzogchen and lojong, training the mind.

Dominique Side
Senior Teacher

Dominique Side encountered Tibetan Buddhism in the mid-1970s in London. She has studied with Sogyal Rinpoche and Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche in particular, and over the years held a number of leadership roles in Rigpa UK and in Lerab Ling, Rigpa’s retreat centre in southern France.

She has completed several strict retreats and has also obtained a PhD in Madhyamaka philosophy from Bristol University, UK. She taught Buddhism in London schools for eight years and has written textbooks on the subject. Under the guidance of Dzongsar Khyentse she initiated the Milinda training programme for Dharma teachers in 2017, and she also served as vice-president of the European Buddhist Union for five years. As a senior teacher in Rigpa, she specializes in making Buddhist thought and philosophy accessible to all.

Since the Stockholm Conference in 1972, Dominique has been concerned by environmental issues and for 15 years worked professionally as a writer and editor on the interface between environment and economic development.

Karin Behrendt
Senior Teacher

Karin Behrendt grew up in Berlin, where she received a teacher-training in arts and worked as a percussionist. She started to practise Zen Buddhism in her early twenties, before encountering the Tibetan Buddhist tradition and learning to love its richness and profundity.

Karin has worked in varied roles to support Rigpa. She accompanied Sogyal Rinpoche as his main German translator for over 20 years and has translated for many other teachers visiting Rigpa, as well as several books and websites about the Dharma and spiritual care for the dying. Based on her own experience with illness and death, one of her favourite subjects in her live and online talks and courses is the Tibetan Buddhist understanding of impermanence and death as an integral part of life, and the methods to cope with and prepare for it.

She lives with her partner in southern France, close to Rigpa’s retreat centre, Lerab Ling.

Sébastien Reggiany
Senior Teacher

Sébastien Reggiany was born in France and fell in love with the Dharma in 1993 while travelling to northern India. He met Sogyal Rinpoche in Paris in 1994, and has studied with him ever since. Quitting his job as a physics teacher and leaving his rock band; he entered a three-year retreat in Lerab Ling, Rigpa’s retreat centre in southern France, from 2006 to 2009. Sébastien later helped organize and hold international Rigpa retreats, serving as Sogyal Rinpoche’s teaching assistant.

Over the years, Sébastien has been active in a variety of service, teaching and leadership roles within Rigpa. He is currently salaried by Lerab Ling and Rigpa France to work on the Rigpa Curriculum and its programme of courses and events.

Sébastien has a passion for trying to make sense of the entire path by exploring the sutras, tantras and traditional commentaries, as well as the contemporary ones.

Ian Ives
Senior Teacher

Ian Ives grew up in the US and has been a student of Sogyal Rinpoche since he was a teenager. He studied at the Rigpa Shedra East in Pharping, Nepal under the guidance of Khenchen Namdrol from 2007 to 2012, and before that at Rigpa Shedra West, from 2003 to 2006.

He attended the seven-month teaching periods of Rigpa’s 2006–2009 Three Year Retreat, and served as a teaching assistant to Rinpoche from 2007 to 2017; travelling with him extensively from 2012 onward. Since this time, and with the encouragement of Rinpoche, he has been guiding study sessions and teaching on topics connected to the foundational and Mahayana levels.

Ian helps design and guide Rigpa’s international study programme and the programme for Lerab Ling, Rigpa’s retreat centre in southern France. He has a family with two young children and lives near Lerab Ling.

Philippe Cornu
Senior Teacher

Philippe Cornu, born in Paris, was a pharmacist before he turned to Tibetan Buddhism. He has been a Tibetan translator and teaching History of Religion, Buddhism and Hinduism since 2011 at the Louvain Catholic University (UC Lovain) in Belgium.

While President of the Buddhist Studies Institute of the Khyentse Wangpo Institute (Paris) with scholars from different Buddhist schools, he’s been a Tibetan Buddhist practitioner since 1980. Philippe followed Sogyal Rinpoche’s teachings since 1980, becoming a Rigpa senior instructor in 1994, and has been a student of Chögyal Namkhai Norbu and Yongzin Tenzin Namdak.

He is the author and translator of numerous books including: Longchenpa’s Natural Freedom of the Mind, The Encyclopedia of Buddhism, Vasubandhu’s Five Treaties on Mind Only, Padmasambhava’s Tibetan Book of the Dead, Buddhism, a Happiness Philosophy?, and recently the Buddhism Manuals, volumes I, II and III.

Mauro De March
Senior Teacher

Mauro De March has practised the Dharma for 40 years. In that time, he has been attendant and close friends to many great masters, and an ambassador of Rigpa in the East.

He also has an in-depth knowledge of Buddhism’s cultural and artistic heritage and supervised the crafting of sacred decorations of the temple at Lerab Ling, Rigpa's retreat centre in southern France. He took part in Rigpa's Three Year Retreat under Sogyal Rinpoche's guidance, and particularly enjoys guiding students individually.

Seth Dye
Senior Teacher

Seth Dye was born in France to American parents. At the age of 16, he moved to the US, where he went on to complete a thesis in biology on sustainable agriculture and work in different jobs in this field. In 1994 he encountered Tibetan Buddhism and met Nyoshul Khenpo in Lerab Ling, Rigpa’s retreat centre in southern France. He has been a Rigpa student ever since.

Seth has been closely trained by Sogyal Rinpoche as master of ceremony, as well as by many other teachers, and has been supporting Rinpoche in his travels, teachings and public events for many years. He oversaw the construction of the Lerab Ling temple and sacred decoration, and has played a role in helping to establish the Vajrayana tradition in Rigpa, including as an instructor.

He is a member of Rigpa’s Vision Board.

Valerie Baker
Senior Teacher

Valerie Baker first met and received teachings from Sogyal Rinpoche in the early 1990s. Within a year she moved to Dzogchen Beara, Rigpa’s retreat centre in south-western Ireland, where she stayed for 12 years, supporting the centre’s activities and accomplishing practice in retreat.

In 2006, Valerie relocated to Lerab Ling in southern France, where she attended Rigpa’s 2006–2009 Three Year Retreat and was responsible for sharing the teachings Rinpoche gave there with the wider sangha through the Home Retreat Intensive Programme. Since then, she has been part of the team supporting Rinpoche’s international teaching tours and making his teachings available to the sangha.

Valerie is a member of the Rigpa Vision Board. Her main passion—as a student and as a teacher—is the practice of compassion and bodhichitta.

Verena Pfeiffer
Senior Teacher

Verena Pfeiffer is from Germany and has been a student of Sogyal Rinpoche since 2005.

She attended the seven-month teaching periods of Rigpa’s 2006–2009 Three Year Retreat and has been studying at Rigpa Shedra East in Pharping, Nepal under the guidance of Khenchen Namdrol since 2007.

Verena helped support Sogyal Rinpoche’s teaching events as an instructor and German translator, and regularly helps to lead teaching retreats in Rigpa. She has recently begun teaching at the Rigpa Shedra, using Khenpo Kunpal’s commentary on the Bodhicharyavatara.

Verena is a member of the Rigpa Vision Board and lives in the Netherlands with her partner and their much-adored dog.

Ruth Seehausen
Senior Teacher

Ruth Seehausen was attracted to Tibetan Buddhism from a young age, and became a Rigpa student in 1986. Over the decades, she has contributed in various service and leadership capacities within Rigpa.

Ruth completed the 2006–2009 Three Year Retreat in Lerab Ling, Rigpa’s retreat centre in southern France, as well as a number of shorter retreats over the years. She currently divides her time between Germany and France, and devotes herself to Dharma study, practice and regular retreats, in addition to holding meditation seminars for the general public and guiding Rigpa students on Vajrayana preliminary practices.

Ruth has a deep interest in the workings of mind, exploring how Buddhist study and practice can help modern audiences cope with life's challenges, and equip them with the tools to overcome them. She has been passionate about fine arts and photography since childhood, and has completed numerous trainings in this field.

Senior Practice Holders are the most senior knowledge holders of the lineage of Vajrayana practices held in Rigpa.

Lama Yönten
Senior Practice Holder

Lama Yönten is from the Nyarong Region of Tibet, close to the seat of Tertön Sogyal, Sogyal Rinpoche’s predecessor. He also spent some time in Larung Gar, the centre of Buddhist learning established by Khenpo Jikmé Phuntsok, another incarnation of Tertön Sogyal.

After escaping the troubles in Tibet, Lama Yönten settled in South India, where he lived at Dzogchen Monastery and completed some retreat. Sogyal Rinpoche met him there and requested him to come to Lerab Ling, Rigpa’s retreat centre in southern France. Lama Yönten is the only Tibetan Lama that Sogyal Rinpoche has ever asked to come and live in the West.

Lama Yönten has lived in Lerab Ling for about 20 years as a perfect monk, and is a well-respected elder in the community. He has helped the Lerab Ling community with many different lama visits, projects and work, and presides regularly over Vajrayana practices.

Claudia Thurn
Senior Practice Holder

Claudia Thurn has been following the Buddhist path with Sogyal Rinpoche since 1995, after the early passing of her father. Since then, her deep underlying interest has always been spiritual care.

She has been coordinating Vajrayana and other practices internationally and in Lerab Ling, Rigpa’s retreat centre in southern France, since the start of Rigpa’s Three Year Retreat in 2006; combining the traditional roles of gekkö and umdze (mainly with practice CDs) in one person.

Claudia continues to deepen her study and practice, and to make practice materials and knowledge available for the Rigpa sangha. She has accomplished a number of long-term closed retreats, and is dedicated to helping establish the Vajrayana Buddhist tradition in the West.

Ane Sangye Chozom
Senior Practice Holder

Having been raised in a US military family and graduating from Washington State University with a Baccalaureate of Science in Nursing, Ane Sangye Chozom joined the US Navy Nurse Corps in 1979. While still on active duty, she took refuge vows with Anagarika Munindra during a 10-day vipassana retreat being led by Joseph Goldstein at the Insight Meditation Society.

In the early 1980s Ane-la met Sogyal Rinpoche in America; and in the mid-1990s she moved to Lerab Ling, Rigpa's retreat centre in southern France, where she has supported the areas of teaching and practice communications for decades. In February 2002, she received novice ordination from Kyabjé Trulshik Rinpoche in Boudhanath, Nepal.

Tenpa Rabgye
Senior Practice Holder

Tenpa took refuge in 1999 with Tulku Pegyal Rinpoche and met Sogyal Rinpoche in 2000. In 2004, he moved to Lerab Ling, Rigpa's retreat centre in southern France, where he has been part of the practice community and supporting its activity ever since.

Tenpa has received teachings and transmissions from Sogyal Rinpoche and many other great masters, and participated in the Rigpa Three Year Retreat in 2006–2009. He received getsül ordination from Kyabjé Trulshik Rinpoche in 2006 and gelong ordination from His Holiness the Dalai Lama in 2010.

Since 2004, Tenpa has been the loving attendant of Mayumla Tsering Wangmo, Sogyal Rinpoche's mother. He enjoys listening to teachings and tries to maintain a discipline of regular study. In the future, he aspires to do more retreat to study and accomplish further Vajrayana practices.

Pascal Rey
Senior Practice Holder

Pascal Rey met Sogyal Rinpoche in 1997. Rinpoche’s book, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, had a tremendous impact on him. He has received many teachings and transmissions from visiting lamas in Lerab Ling, Rigpa’s retreat centre in southern France, from 1999 to the present day, and completed Rigpa’s 2006–2009 Three Year Retreat.

Pascal has been a ritual and shrine master (chöpön) in the Vajrayana ritual practices for 10 years. In 2014 he became Rigpa's chant leader (umdzé) after receiving training in Chokling Monastery and Dodrupchen Rinpoche's monastery.

More recently, he has been working on the adaptation of Tibetan Vajrayana rituals and liturgies into Western languages and music.

Teachers specialise in one or several Dharma topics connected to the path of study and practice, such as meditation, foundations of Buddhism, lojong, madhyamaka, Vajrayana preliminary practices (Ngöndro), and so on.

Photos (from left to right and top to bottom)
Cathy Blanc, Pascale Fabre, Pascale Tanant, Frédéric Chastelas, Odile de Simone, Dominique Hilly, Mary Ellen Kelleher, Sinsi Ong, Catherine Paul, Tenzin Jigme, Ronne Beijaert, Maureen Cooper, Brian Corr, Naomi Gassler, Max Krause, Jacki Lee, Christine Longaker, Vinciane Rycroft, Eva Maria Stoeter, Lily Ng, Jeremy Tattersall, Javier Torales

Practice Holders lead Vajrayana group practice for the Rigpa community around the world, contributing to the continuation of the vibrant tradition of Vajrayana in Rigpa.

 

Photos (from left to right and top to bottom)
Céline Demarcq, Thomas Demarcq, Frédéric Chastelas, Suthari Sisowath, Sinsi Ong, Catherine Paul, Isabel Haber, Tenzin Jigme, Ane Tsultrim Wangmo, Brian Corr, Clemence Boinvilliers, Dorothea Breick, Freddie Braendli, Jana Biedka, Gijs Fermie, Gerald Heger, Naomi Gassler, Mary Ellen Kelleher, Petra Brandl, Stefan Koehler, Tobias Bublat, Max Krause, Gabriele Kreysel, Dani Landa, Jacki Lee, Isabelle Moulin, Canice O Brien, Pascale Remy, Stefan Stadler, Eva Maria Stoeter, Ingrid Strauss, Martine Veyre

Instructors ...

Photos (from left to right and top to bottom)
Sophie Tessier, Benoit Matton, Frederic Prost, Celine Demarcq, Colette Legrain, Eléonore Jourdan, Eveline Corominas, Petra Brandl?, Véronique Juan