Venerable
Tenzin Chogkyi (she/her/hers) is a
Buddhist monastic, activist and teacher of both Buddhist and secular programs. She
loves bridging the worlds of Buddhist thought, current events, and the latest
research in the field of positive psychology.
Ven.
Tenzin is especially interested in bringing the wisdom of Buddhism into modern
culture and into alignment with modern cultural values such as racial and
gender justice, and environmental awareness. She has been exploring the
presentation of traditional teachings using modern pedagogical methods such as
experiential exercises, dialogue and small group interaction. She feels that
Buddhism has many rich perspectives and techniques to offer for the development
of the whole person in all aspects – emotional, cognitive, social, and so on –
and can be used to help us deal more skillfully with the challenges of our
lives. To this end, she has been collaborating with teachers of Non-Violent
Communication, conflict resolution, psychotherapy and other disciplines to
design programs to meet specific needs.
As
well as being passionate about her spiritual practice, she is a social justice
activist and is involved in several interfaith social justice groups. She feels strongly that a genuine and meaningful spiritual path includes not only personal transformation, but social and cultural transformation as well.
Venerable Tenzin first became interested in meditation in the early 1970s and then started practicing Tibetan Buddhism in early 1991 during a year she spent studying in India and Nepal. She worked in administrative positions in several Buddhist centers in the 1990's, and also completed several long meditation retreats over a six-year period. Venerable Tenzin took monastic ordination in 2004 with His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
Venerable Tenzin first became interested in meditation in the early 1970s and then started practicing Tibetan Buddhism in early 1991 during a year she spent studying in India and Nepal. She worked in administrative positions in several Buddhist centers in the 1990's, and also completed several long meditation retreats over a six-year period. Venerable Tenzin took monastic ordination in 2004 with His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
Since
2006 she has been teaching in Buddhist centers around the world: in North
and South America, India, Nepal, Australia, and New Zealand. She has been
the resident teacher of Mahamudra Centre in New Zealand, Gendun Drubpa Buddhist
Centre in central British Columbia and Vajrapani Institute in California. She
is also a visiting teacher for the Liberation Prison Project and has taught in
prisons in the US, Colombia, Australia, and New Zealand.
In addition to teaching Buddhist philosophy and meditation and leading retreats, Venerable
Tenzin is a certified teacher of Compassion
Cultivation Training, a secular compassion training program developed by Geshe
Thubten Jinpa and colleagues at Stanford University. She also teaches the Cultivating Emotional Balance program, a
secular program using contemplative techniques drawn from Buddhism for managing
emotions, developed at His Holiness the Dalai
Lama’s request. She is a facilitator of the a.r.t. of Fulfillment, one of
the secular programs of the Foundation for Developing Compassion and Wisdom.
She is an adjunct faculty member at John F. Kennedy University in the Holistic Psychology department. She loves interfaith collaboration and is a volunteer for the Interfaith Speakers Bureau of the Islamic Networks Group in the greater San Francisco Bay Area, and is also on the Bay Area Board of Directors for this organization. She is featured on a monthly radio show called "Reflections on Buddhism" on KSQD 90.7 in the Santa Cruz area. The show airs on the third Sunday of each month at 6:00 pm.
She is an adjunct faculty member at John F. Kennedy University in the Holistic Psychology department. She loves interfaith collaboration and is a volunteer for the Interfaith Speakers Bureau of the Islamic Networks Group in the greater San Francisco Bay Area, and is also on the Bay Area Board of Directors for this organization. She is featured on a monthly radio show called "Reflections on Buddhism" on KSQD 90.7 in the Santa Cruz area. The show airs on the third Sunday of each month at 6:00 pm.
Since
August 2018, she has been based at Land of Medicine Buddha in Soquel,
California, on traditional Awaswas and Amah Mutsun Ohlone land, a beautiful center in the redwood forest close to the Monterey Bay
where she teaches in the local community, continues her prison work and her
engagement in social justice activism.