Judy Crawford. Judy was born in 1949 in Brooklyn, New York. She graduated from Syracuse University and also has a Masters Degree from the University of Miami. Moving to California in the early 1970's, she started a career in business and a personal journey into yoga, Hinduism and finally Buddhism in the early 1990's. She has been a student of His Holiness Orgyen Kusum Lingpa and of his son, Hungkar Dorje Rinpoche since 1994. Together with her husband, Clyde, they have founded a Dharma center, Orgyen Dradul Ling in North Bend, Oregon, where she now resides. For many years she has hosted retreats and teachings for His Holiness's students throughout the US. She is in charge of the US travel and teaching schedules for Hungkar Dorje Rinpoche. She has been an insurance agent and registered representative for over 20 years. She is currently President of the local chapter of NAIFA, the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors and holds a LUTCF degree in her industry.
Justin Dituri.
Justin is an attorney in private practice in Longmont Colorado. Since 1995 he has focused his legal work on estate planning,estate settlement,and charitable planning. Justin has assisted in the organization of a number of churches and charities, particularly in the process for application and approval as a exempt organization by the Internal Revenue Service. Justin has been a committed Buddhist practitioner since 1978, studying in the Tibetan traditions with both Kagyu and Nyingma teachers. During that time he has had a strong interest in Tibet and has traveled to the Golok region of Amdo on two occasions. Justin is an active member of the Boulder Colorado Rotary club. He lives with his wife, Judy (married 29 years) and long haired dachshund, Tashi, in Lafayette, Colorado.
Sherab Posel. Tulku Sherdor is the Executive Director of Blazing Wisdom Institute, a non-profit dedicated to the preservation of the wisdom teachings of Tibet. Born in Montreal, Canada in 1961, he has completed, among other studies, a 3-year lama retreat in the Karma and Shangpa Kagyu schools of Tibetan Buddhism. Over the past 17 years he has traveled far and wide, teaching and working with and translating for a great number of distinguished Tibetan meditation masters. He has practiced law as a Federal Judicial Law Clerk and more recently as Counsel to the prestigious law firm of Boies, Schiller & Flexner. He has worked closely with His Holiness Orgyen Kusum Lingpa and Ven. Hung Kar Dorje Rinpoche to advance many philanthropic projects dedicated to world peace.
Howard Stahl, LCSW.
A graduate of U.C. Berkeley, Howard Stahl helped pioneer (1972 -1994) the development of community based care for the aged and hospice care for the critically ill and people with AIDS in The San Francisco Bay Area. Trained by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross (1974) Howard sat on the original board of "The Shanti Project" - America's first group of trained volunteers providing counseling and support to the critically ill. After two decades as an educator and frequent lecturer in Hospitals and Universities throughout California, he is now focusing on the philanthropic work of preserving Tibetan culture and pushing forward on issues of ecology and environmentalism in Tibet. As a practitioner and key organizer, Howard has played an active role in The Bay Area Buddhist Community since 1968.
Serving as Abbot of Thubten Chokor Ling Monastery in Golok, Tibet, Tulku Hungkar Dorje was born into a nomadic family of great and realized yogins. Rinpoche was recognized early in his life by such Buddhist masters as H.H. Orgyen Kusum Lingpa, H.H. Dodrupchen Rinpoche, H. H. Penor Rinpoche, Akong Khenpo, and later, by H.H. The Dalai Lama, as the reincarnation of Do Khyentse Yeshe Dorje. After Rinpoche's education at Drepung Buddhist University, he returned to his homeland of Eastern Tibet to continue working to restore Tibetan traditions, which were rapidly being assimilated. Rinpoche has initiated numerous charitable projects for better education and cultural preservation in Tibet. He teaches with incredible humility and lucidity. Today, Rinpoche is a leading exponent of the Ri Med (non-sectarian) School of Tibetan Buddhism and is the key organizer of the largest yearly Ri Med festival in his homeland.