In his approach to teaching meditation, Mingyur Rinpoche integrates traditional Buddhist practice and philosophy with the current scientific understanding of the mind and mental health — making the practice of meditation relevant and accessible to students around the world.

Mingyur Rinpoche is a world-renowned meditation teacher with personal experience of anxiety and panic attacks, which he suffered throughout his childhood and into his teenage years, when he learned to transform his panic through meditation. Born in Nepal in 1975, Mingyur Rinpoche began to study meditation as a young boy with his father, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, himself a well-respected Buddhist teacher. As a child he became interested in contemporary science through conversations with scientists who were visiting his father, and as he grew older he began to collaborate with neuroscientists and psychologists, including Richard Davidson and Antoine Lutz at the University of Wisconsin, on research projects that study the effects of meditation on the brain and the mind.

Mingyur Rinpoche’s first book, The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness, was on the New York Times bestseller list and has been translated into over twenty languages. His second book, Joyful Wisdom: Embracing Change and Finding Freedom, explores how difficult emotions and challenging life situations can be used as stepping stones to discover joy and freedom. In his most recent book, In Love with the World, Mingyur Rinpoche shares how his meditation practice sustained him when he left his monastery to wander through India and the powerfully transformative insights he gained from the near-death experience he had at the beginning of his journey. Mingyur Rinpoche recently appeared in the Netflix series The Mind, Explained, in an episode about the benefits of mindfulness.

As the head of the Tergar Meditation Community, Mingyur Rinpoche supports groups of students in more than thirty countries, leading workshops around the world for new and returning students every year.

Khenpo Gyurme was born in Tibet and at the age of twelve took refuge with Mingyur Rinpoche. At the age of twenty, he received full ordination from Tai Situ Rinpoche. Khenpo-la enrolled in the monastic college at Sherab Ling Monastery in northern India for twelve years. During this time, he studied the inner sciences of Buddhist metaphysics, Tibetan grammar and spelling, and astrology. Upon completion he received the title of Lopon and taught for two years at Sherab Ling. In 2010, Khenpo-la received the title of Khenpo, or doctor of Buddhist philosophy, and joined Mingyur Rinpoche in Nepal, serving as the first abbot of the monastic college at Osel Ling. 

Khenpo Gyurme has received many profound teachings and key instructions from Tai Situ Rinpoche and Mingyur Rinpoche. These include the Great Five Treasuries by Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye, commentaries on Mahamudra, empowerments of the tantras in Marpa’s tradition, and the empowerment of Dorje Drolo from Mingyur Rinpoche’s Yongey tradition. 

Khenpo Pema Woser was born near the border between Tibet and Nepal in a region known as Tsum. After the tragic death of his mother, Khenpo-la left his home in order to study and practice the Dharma and joined Tergar Oseling Monastery, locarted near the great stupa of Swayambunath. Shortly after, and at the encouragement of Mingyur Rinpoche, his root guru, Khenpo Pema Woser joined the monastic college at Sherab Ling monastery. Since completing his traditional monastic studies and receiving the title of Khenpo in 2010, Khenpo Pema Woser has worked closely with Mingyur Rinpoche to realize his vision at Tergar Osel Ling, primarily teaching logic, debate, and epistemology, and serving in various leadership roles. 

In addition to the traditional course of study, Khenpo-la has studied many important practice systems. This includes those described in the Great Five Treasuries by Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye as well as numerous commentaries on Mahamudra. These transmission and teachings have come from great masters such as His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Tai Situ Rinpoche, and Mingyur Rinpoche.

Raised on a farm in rural Massachusetts, Justin Kelley spent ten years living in and around Tibetan refugee communities in India and Nepal, studying Tibetan language, Buddhist philosophy, and meditative practices. In 2021, he completed his PhD from Rice University’s Department of Religion where he studied with Dr. Anne C. Klein, professor of Religious Studies. His general interests include meditative and philosophical systems in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism, phenomenology, contemplative studies, and learning theory. 

Justin’s research focuses on different types of personal transformation, how we cultivate these transformations, and what is born from them. His dissertation specifically focused on Longchen Rabjam’s ontology of purity within the context of the Great Completeness. It is part of a larger project that aims to explicate a genealogy of purity within Buddhist history at large.

In addition to Buddhist theory and practice, Justin is also deeply interested in the learning process and pedagogy. His teaching philosophy is grounded in a transformative approach to learning and pedagogies that are engaged and applied. Regardless of setting or subject, Justin aims to create inclusive and empathetic learning experiences—both in-person and in the digital sphere—that recognize the entirety of human experience. 

While at Rice University, Justin taught multiple courses sponsored by the Khyentse Foundation focusing on Tibetan language, culture, and religion. He also served as an advisor to and lecturer for Rice University’s Boniuk Institute of Religious Tolerance, emphasizing the enhancement of religious literacy in secondary schools.

Tsunma Kunsang Palmo, originally from England, traveled and worked around the world as an art teacher in international schools for over a decade. In 2005, on a trip to Nepal, she encountered Lama Zopa Rinpoche, a Tibet Buddhist monk, and was so inspired by his teachings that she chose to stay in Asia and live a life immersed in the buddhadharma. 

Soon after she traveled to North India where she met Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo, whose twelve-year retreat in a cave high in the Himalayas described in the book Cave in the Snow brought international attention to the role of women in Buddhism. She served as Tenzin Palmo’s assistant for several years in her nunnery, dedicated to helping women of the Himalayan region to achieve spiritual excellence. 

She took ordination in 2010 and went on to complete a traditional Tibetan three-year meditation retreat at Sherabling Monastery in North India, under the guidance of her teacher Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche. 

Continuing to take teachings from Mingyur Rinpoche, Kunsang serves as a meditation and dharma teacher for Tergar’s Joy of Living and Vajrayana Online courses and Tergar retreats. She also mentors the Tergar practice groups in Kathmandu, India, and Bhutan.

In 2021 she was invited to teach in Ringu Tulku’s Bodhicharya centers in the Caribbean and divides her time between sharing what she has learned through her years of study and practice in Antigua, Trinidad, and the Caymen Islands and Kathmandu, India, and Bhutan.

Beginning his journey into meditation and the wisdom traditions as a teenager, George Hughes has been a practitioner and teacher in several traditions. He found his spiritual home with his root teacher, Mingyur Rinpoche, and has dedicated his life to sharing his profound teachings. In particular, George draws inspiration from the joy, levity, and simplicity of Rinpoche’s approach.

George has worked with Mingyur Rinpoche for many years, teaching his Joy of Living and Path of Liberation curriculums around the world, including to groups in the US, Brazil, and Nepal. Additionally, George has taught yoga, massage, and other holistic healing modalities.

In addition to the Institute, George has worked with Mingyur Rinpoche on a variety of projects, including guiding a series of treks through the Himalayas to help support Rinpoche’s social engagement projects. George’s passion for the dharma and meditation extends to all aspects of his life.