Drubpon Samten Rinpoche was born on March 25, 1958, in Lamayuru, Ladakh, India. At the age of six he entered the Drikung Kagyu Monastery. He studied with many accomplished teachers for many years. His studies included Buddhist philosophy, butter sculpture, painting, music, lama dance, healing, astrology, and the traditional religious texts.

He completed the Three Year Retreat and the Six Yogas of Naropa. After completing his retreat, he was fully qualified and authorized to teach the Dharma to others. In 1987 His Holiness Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang sent him to the United States to teach the Dharma. Drupon Samten Rinpoche is the resident teacher in Escondido, CA. 

Robert Thurman holds the first endowed chair in Buddhist Studies in the West, the Jey Tsong Khapa Chair in Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies. After education at Philips Exeter and Harvard, he studied Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism for almost thirty years as a personal student of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. He has written both scholarly and popular books, and has lectured widely all over the world. His special interest is the exploration of the Indo-Tibetan philosophical and psychological traditions, with a view to their relevance to parallel currents of contemporary thought and science.

Venerable Konchok Sonam began his Buddhist training at a young age. He completed retreat on Ngondro (Common and Extraordinary Preliminaries) and the Fivefold Path of Mahamudra under the guidance H.H. Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang Rinpoche and Gelong Yeshe, retreat Teacher. He has taught the Dharma in many parts of the world and has served as personal attendant to H.H. Chungtsang Rinpoche, H.E. Drubwang Rinpoche, Tongkar Tulku, and H.E. Thritsab Rinpoche.

Lama Sonam also served as the disciplinarian for the monks at the famous monastery Jang Chub Ling, in Dehra Dun, India . He currently serves as a resident teacher in Boston, MA.

Dhammaratna Rina Sircar, Ph.D., was born in Pyanpon, Burma ( Myanmar ) and finished her studies in Burma, India, and the United States. She received her training from Ven. Taungpulu Kaba-Aye Saydaw in Burma. She is Co-founder and resident meditation teacher of Taungpulu Kaba-Aye Monastery, Boulder Creek, CA, and Taungpulu Kaba-Aye Meditation Center, San Francisco. Rina also is a member of the core faculty at the California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco, CA. She has been teaching since 1974 and has published several books and articles. Her contributions made to the Buddhist world have been widely recognized by the World Buddhist Council.

Joan Halifax Roshi, Ph.D an anthropologist, Buddhist teacher, and writer, has worked with dying people since 1970. She has been on the faculties of Columbia University , the University of Miami School of Medicine, the New School for Social Research, The Naropa Institute, and the California Institute for Integral Studies. Her books include The Human Encounter with Death (with Stanislav Grof); Shamanic Voices; Shaman: The Wounded Healer ; and The Fruitful Darkness: Reconnecting with the Body of the Earth . She founded The Ojai Foundation, an educational center, in 1979, and Upaya (a Buddhist study center) in Santa Fe , New Mexico in 1990. In 1994, she created the Project on Being with Dying as a way to train healthcare professionals in contemplative care of the dying.

Anne Teich, Ph.D., is teacher in the Theravada tradition. She began her training in 1977 under the guidance of Most Ven. Taungpulu Kaba-Aye Saydaw and Rina Sircar. She has held several academic and administrative positions and continues to teach at the Taungpulu Kaba-Aye Meditation Center , San Francisco . Anne received her doctoral degree in 1990 from the California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco, CA.