Lama Yeshé Zértsal

In the late 1960s—in Greenwich Village—I picked up a book entitled Zen. It was a small book left as an impulse item on the checkout counter. I was drawn to the word, leafed through the book – but left the shop without buying it. Sometime later, I learned meditation instruction from another book that described sitting, counting exhalations until ten, and returning to one. During my first exhalation I fell in love with practice. For the ten years that I lived in and worked for a Zen community I longed for an authentic human connection to silent sitting practise – and a genuine introduction to the nature of Mind. One evening in 1992, I found what I was longing for—Ngak’chang Rinpoche, Khandro Déchen, Vajrayana, the Aro lineage. That’s me. I love my Lamas and the teachings and practises they make available. I love everything about the Vajrayana Buddhism they have opened through their direct contemporary language and immediacy of presentation. They make my practise and study a great deal of fun – while directing me into the heart of the ultimate engagement. I currently work for a small hospice in Bergen County, New Jersey as Volunteer Coordinator and Bereavement Coordinator. It has been a privilege and mostly a joy. I live in Ramsey, New Jersey with my dear husband Bill and our Bichon Frise dog called ‘Montana’.

Upcoming events with Lama Yeshé Zértsal: