Category Archives: Announcement

Karmapa Center 16 welcomes three new members to its Board of Directors: Acharya Lhakpa Tshering, Lynne Conrad Marvet and Gerry Wiener. They will be joining current board members: Dilyak Drupon Rinpoche, President and Lama Phuntsok, Vice President and advisor to the board, Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche.

Acharya Lhakpa Tshering was born in Bhutan and entered monastic school at age 12. In 1993, he enrolled at Rumtek Monastery’s Karma Shri Nalanda Institute in Sikkim, India. In 2002, Acharya Lhakpa graduated with a masters in Buddhist studies, also known as an acharya degree. After completing his studies, he served as a teacher and co-librarian with Dilyak Drupon Rinpoche at Karma Shri Nalanda Institute, and as an editor for Nitartha Publications in Kathmandu, Nepal.

Acharya Lhakpa moved to Nalanda West in Seattle, Washington, in 2006. Since then, he has served as a resident teacher for Nalandabodhi centers on both the East and West Coasts, and he recently was a visiting teacher at Nalandabodhi in Brazil. Acharya Lhakpa will oversee fundraising for the Center.

Lynne Conrad Marvet, who will assume the role of secretary of the board, is an artist, performer, teacher and professional fundraiser. She was introduced to Buddhist philosophy and meditation at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, before moving to New York City in 1980, where she attended a Black Crown Ceremony with His Holiness, the 16th Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje. Afterwards, she became a student of the late Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche, Abbot of Karma Triyana Dharmachakra.

In the 1980s, Lynne coordinated programs and received teachings from numerous great Tibetan Buddhist masters, including Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, who became her teacher in 1988. In 1990, she began serving as Rinpoche’s travel secretary. In 1994, Lynne and her husband, Marty, helped Rinpoche establish Nitartha international before moving to Seattle in 1999 to help him establish the headquarters for Nalandabodhi, the Buddhist community of his students.

Lynne is a meditation instructor and facilitates Buddhist study classes for Nalandabodhi Seattle. She helped found Nalanda West in Seattle and served as co-director from 2004 to 2008. She currently serves as a board member of Nitartha International. A Certified Fundraising Executive, Lynne has raised more than $40 million for nonprofit organizations in the greater Seattle area and New York City.

Gerry Wiener is a software engineer working at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado. In addition to his board work, Gerry will oversee information technology for Karmapa Center 16.

Gerry began his Buddhist studies with Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche in 1971, and studied under Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche until his parinirvana in 1987. Gerry received teachings from His Holiness, the 16th Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, in 1974 and in 1980 when His Holiness visited the United States. Gerry has continued his Tibetan Buddhist studies under Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, focusing on Tibetan translation and the development of the Nitartha Digital Library.

May the new board of directors, along with all the supporters of Karmapa Center 16, swiftly and excellently manifest the parinirvana stupa in honor of His Holiness the 16th Gyalwang Karmapa and for the benefit of all beings!