THE TEACHING TEAM

Pat Best has been instructing Rigpa public courses since 2011. She originally met Sogyal Rinpoche, first through his book The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying in 1992, and later found that there was a local group of students and began classes in 1997. She finally met him in person when he was with His Holiness the Dalai Lama at American University in 1998. During the years in between, she found the teachings a way to understand her mind and therefore, a new way of seeing the world in a more expansive and open way. With many years of study, practice, and the motivation to help others, she continues to offer time to guide students with their own study and practice. Recently, she has accepted to be an entrusted Rigpa teacher in 2022. She lives in the Washington, DC area with her husband and her daughter, and three grandchildren nearby.

Katy Burns lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, California. She first met Sogyal Rinpoche through The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying in 1993 and attended her first Rigpa retreat that fall. Since then she has been to many US national retreats and many retreats at Rigpa’s retreat centers in upstate New York, Ireland and France; including the teaching periods of the three year retreat held in Lerab Ling, France. She also participates in the Rigpa Shedra, an intensive study program that takes place in Pharping, Nepal, in the distance program. Katy began instructing in the San Francisco Center in the mid-2000s. She enjoys engaging with students on a variety of dharma topics and helping them to clarify their path and practice.

Joan Elizabeth began her spiritual journey studying Transcendental Meditation and Yoga. She was introduced into the Fourth Way Tradition in Boston in 1978 and went on to attend a 9-month course in West Virginia in 1980, where she met Sogyal Rinpoche.  She became a student formally in 1987 and has been a practicing Buddhist ever since.  She had the good fortune to receive many of the Dzogchen Empowerments from His Holiness Dilgo Khyentse in 1990 in Proputel, France which was a powerful turning point in her life.  Joan moved to Maine in 1992 and began teaching based on the Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, holding various courses such as Cultivating Compassion , 7 Points of Mind Training, 8 Verses of Training the Mind , Loving Kindness, and What Meditation Really Is.  Joan was instrumental in the growth of the Rigpa Sangha in Maine. She has been teaching at USM’s Senior College for the Past 5 years as well as with the local Sangha  and has found those students to be engaged in a most delightful way and rejoices in supporting people during these difficult times by making the teachings available.

Linda Forrester first read and fell in love with the Tibetan Book of Living and Dying in 2001. She knew that she needed to meet the author! She sought out the New York City Rigpa center and started going to weekly meditation sessions. In May 2001, she attended her first retreat with Sogyal Rinpoche. She felt she’d found her Home, and she became Rinpoche’s student. In the chaos that followed in September of that year, she also felt his support and the solidarity of the local sangha. Over the years, Linda attended many retreats, in the U.S., France, and Ireland. She has been a Rigpa instructor since 2005. She completed the Intensive Home Retreat in 2012 and a 5-month retreat in 2022. Retired now, Linda Forrester taught ESL at the City University of New York for over 25 years. Her work with immigrant and international students was constantly inspired by Sogyal Rinpoche’s teachings, and she feels deep gratitude to him.

Jeff Middelton has been a student of Sogyal Rinpoche and a member of Rigpa for over twenty years, having initially connected through the Tibetan Book of Living and Dying while traveling in India, only to find that a Rigpa center was in his neighborhood back home in Seattle. He has found that the brilliant clarity in the teachings and the practice have provided an accessible refuge so essential in today’s modern world. He completed the 7 year home retreat program in 2012 and has instructed Rigpa courses since 2010. He particularly enjoys interacting with students who are drawn to the Buddhist path. He was entrusted as a teacher in 2022.

Betty-Lynn Moulton is a retired psychologist. She has been instructing Rigpa courses for 15 years. She originally met Sogyal Rinpoche over 25 years ago and was immediately moved by the clarity and relatability of his teachings. Rinpoche’s teachings were exactly what she had been seeking in her quest to understand the mind. Betty Lynn has been privileged to help guide many students over the years in their study of the teachings. She particularly enjoys interacting with students who are just beginning to study the Buddhist path. She was entrusted as a Rigpa teacher in 2022. She lives on Maui with her husband, three horses, and three cats.

Hanne Riegg-Luedge met Sogyal Rinpoche in 1985 at a retreat in the Santa Cruz Mountains. She has been following Rinpoche’s teachings ever since and has been an instructor since the Tibetan Book of Living and Dying was published in 1992. After living in Santa Cruz for over 30 years, she moved to Southern Oregon in 2020 with her husband to live close to her daughter, son-in-law, and grandson.  Hanne is a retired psychologist.