RESIDENT LAMA

Lama Döndrup has been practicing and studying in the Buddhist tradition since the mid-1990’s. After five years of Theravadin Buddhist training, she immersed herself in the teachings and practices of the Shangpa and Kagyu Vajrayana lineages. In 2005, she completed a traditional three-year retreat under the guidance of Lama Palden and Lama Drupgyu with the blessing of her root guru, Bokar Rinpoche and was authorized as a lama. Upon her return to Marin County, she began teaching at Sukhasiddhi Foundation. In January 2020, as Lama Palden’s successor, she stepped into the role of Resident Lama, guiding the Center’s ministerial work. Lama Döndrup’s teaching style is thorough and clear yet with light touch as she supports the natural unfolding of each student’s innate wisdom and compassion. She aims to preserve the authenticity of the tradition while making the teachings and practices relevant and accessible to the lives of 21st century Westerners. In addition to her Buddhist practice, Lama Döndrup trained the Ridhwan School’s Diamond Approach for seven years and has a Masters of Fine Arts degree in piano performance. She is an active classical pianist and teacher in the San Francisco Bay Area.

SENIOR LAMA

Lama Palden Drolma founded Sukhasiddhi Foundation in 1996, developing its curriculum and teaching all classes, retreats and programs for many years as Resident Lama, bringing many people to the profound transformative path, and supporting their growth. In 2002 she initiated and taught a traditional three year retreat and instituted multi-year programs for those serious students who could not attend the retreat. Lama Palden Drolma has led many pilgrimages to Bhutan and India, and has trained and authorized five of her students as lamas in the Shangpa Kagyu lineage, including Lama Döndrup who completed the three year retreat, Lama Tashi (Annik Brunet), Lama Stephen Gross and Lama Pat Berube, who completed all the Shangpa Lineage meditation and training of the three year retreat over a period of many years. Lama Döndrup is now Resident Lama at Sukhasiddhi Foundation, Lama Tashi and Lama Pat have been teaching at Sukhasiddhi for many years, and Lama Stephen lives in Corfu, where he teaches a weekly dharma class. Lama Palden has trained many others as Community Dharma Leaders.

After two years of living in Portugal, Lama Palden Drolma returned to the San Francisco Bay Area in November 2021, where she continues to act as Senior Lama of Sukhasiddhi Foundation, teaching advanced programs, the Women’s Group, and retreats.

Lama Drupgyu Tenzin, a student of Kalu Rinpoche since 1972, and a monk from 1974 to 1995, participated in the first traditional three-year retreat for Westerners from 1976 to 1980, in France. Kalu Rinpoche subsequently appointed him as Lama of his center in Paris, and later Lama Drupgyu became the first westerner to be appointed Druppön, or Retreat Master, leading three-year retreats on Saltspring Island, Canada. Subsequently, he participated for six years in the translation of Jamgon Kongtrul’s Treasury of Knowledge. Lama Drupgyu assisted in the establishment of Tsadra Foundation, a New York-based non-profit that supports development of Vajrayana in the West, and is currently Vice-President.

Lama Tashi (Annik Brunet) has been on the spiritual path for 30 years. She completed the Sukhasiddhi Shangpa Lineage and Teacher Training programs. Since 2008, she has led classes, workshops, and retreats, and is currently the guiding teacher for the Bodhi Program. In 2017, Annik was authorized by Lama Palden Drolma and Lama Drupgyu as a Lama. Annik holds a master’s degree in photography, and her life-long impetus has been to explore the mystery of phenomenal appearances. The practice of photography as a visionary art and a means to cleanse the doors of perception eventually led her to the direct access Vajrayana offers. From this joint passion for dharma and art, Annik derives great enthusiasm for facilitating the exploration and actualization of the openness, kindness, and radiance that resides at the heart of every being.

TEACHER

Susan Shannon, M. Div., BCC has been “married to the Dharma” since 1971, first studying Chinese Buddhism, then finding home with Tibetan Tradition. She took refuge with His Holiness the Dalai Lama in 1980 and in 1983 took refuge and teachings with His Eminence Kalu Rinpoche, the great master of the Karma Kagyu and Shangpa lineages. Over the years she’s also taken refuge with some of Tibet’s greatest masters in the Sakya, Drukpa Kagyu, Dudjom Tersar and Nyingma lineages.

In 1998 her lama Ven. Dhupthob Rinpoche introduced her to the State Oracle of Tibet, who requested Susan’s help in creating a Buddhist Center for local Tibetans. This led to the beginning of the Nechung Buddhist Center of the Bay Area, of which she is a founding board member.

In 2008, with the desire to be of service to a greater number of beings, Susan enrolled in an Interfaith Seminary and was ordained an Interfaith Chaplain and Minister in 2011, receiving a Masters in Divinity shortly after. She was endorsed by the Nechung Center as a Buddhist Chaplain in 2012, authorizing her to teach, provide services, and spiritually serve the men in San Quentin State Prison and Death Row.

Susan’s work is grounded in the fields of Restorative Justice and Emotional Literacy, working with several populations including inmates, at-risk youth, the homeless, and Tibetan refugees. In 2017 Lama Palden invited Susan to Sukhasiddhi. Her lively classes have engaged students ever since. Susan resides on Orcas Island, Washington, furthering her prison work through the Buddhist Prison Ministry, spreading the Dharma in prisons across the United States.

On Sabbatical

Pat Berube first started meditating in 1975. Prior to meeting Lama Palden Drolma in 1999, she studied with both western and eastern teachers including several pilgrimages and retreats in India. Under Lama Palden Drolma’s tutelage, she completed both the full Shangpa Kagyu practices usually reserved for the traditional three-year retreat and the four-year teacher training program. In 2017, under the authority of Kalu Rinpoche, both Lama Palden Drolma and Lama Drupgyu authorized her as a Lama. With immense gratitude for her teachers and the lineage, Lama Pat is excited to share these teachings with others that supports the natural unfoldment of innate wisdom transforming one’s life. In addition to her dharma studies and teaching, she has been an RN for over 40 years and holds a masters in counseling psychology. She also leads Sukhasiddhi’s Clear Light Institute assisting contemplative approaches to working with illness, death and dying.