The Middle Way Initiative: Board of Directors
Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel
President
Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel has studied and practiced the Buddhadharma for over 35 years under the guidance of her teacher Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche. She is the retreat master of Samten Ling in Crestone, Colorado and has spent over six years in retreat. She holds a degree in both anthropology and Buddhist Studies. She has published two books: “The Power of An Open Question” and “The Logic of Faith.”
Elizabeth is fascinated with the Buddha’s essential teachings on the natural principle of pratityasamutpada, or interdependence, and how this insight serves as the doorway to understanding the teachings on the middle way. These teachings—often referred to as the wisdom aspect in Mahayana Buddhism—elucidate the essence or view that reside at the heart of the entire path. Due to the subtlety of their meaning and the cryptic nature of traditional texts, the middle way teachings are often either misunderstood or overlooked completely.
During many decades of studying these teachings with Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, Elizabeth found herself probing for language to further explain them to herself. This process of contemplation and discovery brought the middle way teachings to life for her. Now she shares her inquiry with others using fresh, contemporary language that doesn’t water down their authentic message or transformative power.
For Elizabeth, collaborative learning and exploration, provide a powerful way to digest and refine her understanding of the middle way, which makes them a living experience. “We push each other open,” she says. “In the same way debates took place at India’s renowned Buddhist University, Nalanda, we need to be in healthy conversation with others to challenge and protect ourselves from dogma and stagnation. Inquiry keeps our exploration relevant to life around us. This accords with the Buddha’s intention."
Elizabeth’s longing to engage with others and share this process set the Middle Way Initiative in motion. “So many creative, motivated, and insightful friends and fellow explorers have stepped up to support this project out of their love for these spectacular and transformative teachings. I can’t express enough how grateful I am for this committed community.”
Jampal Norbu Namgyel
Chair
Jampal Norbu Namgyel has been involved with the study and practice of Buddhadharma all his life, having grown up under the guidance of his parents Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche and Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel. Jampal grew up within the Mangala Shri Bhuti community, and formally joined the sangha at the age of 17. He completed an extensive study course in Buddhist philosophy and translation in northern India.
Jampal has been formally teaching dharma since 2008, has completed a series of hundred day meditation retreats, manages a summer camp for Buddhist children, hosts the EveryBodhi dharma podcast, and chairs the board of Mangala Shri Bhuti. In 2021, he became a Director and serves as the Chair of the Board of The Middle Way Initiative.
“I am happy to have this change to support the vision of The Middle Way Initiative, and to make the teachings of Mahayana dharma available to all those who seek their insight. The teachings on the middle way are an asset to all humanity and are as relevant now as they were twenty five hundred years ago. Why? Because, despite the great advances and changes in our outer world and society, we will always need to look within to address our own relationship with life. The middle way teachings provide a roadmap to navigate that relationship with compassion and wisdom to go beyond extremes. Our esteemed MWI President Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel is aware of how much the dharma can benefit an inquisitive person. Her compassionate leadership is a shining example of our mission. I share her aspiration to make these profound teachings accessible to those who seek them.”
Buddy Frank
Board Member
Buddy has been connected to the Buddhist path since 2006, and studies under the guidance of Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, Dungse Jampal Norbu, and Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel.
Professionally, Buddy is an advanced practitioner of Structural Integration in Crestone, Colorado. He was the founding board member and past President of the International Association of Structural Integrators; the founding board member and president of the Crestone Healing Arts Guild; and the co-Founder, Instructor and School Director of The Crestone College of Structural Integration. He is also a graduate of Wharton Business School of the University of Pennsylvania, and attended The University of Georgia Law School.
When Buddy first encountered the Madhyamaka, or Middle Way teachings, he found them radically challenging. It was his intellectual curiosity that drove him into the practice and study of Buddhism.
What he found was that the logic of the teachings forced him off an intellectual cliff, into something unexpected and surprising.
“The Middle Way teachings,” Buddy explains, “provide such a subtle way of looking at the nature of relationship and what it means to be human. They have powerfully influenced the way I do my body work, and I feel I am just scratching the surface of something profound and transformative.”
Buddy is honored to serve on the MWI board so that he can be a part of making this profound and ancient wisdom available to whoever is interested. “These teachings are perfect for the contemporary mindset,” he says, “and need to be promulgated as far and wide as possible. We are in the age of the ‘she-ro’ and Elizabeth is the perfect person to bring these teachings forward. I fully support her in this endeavor.”
Katherine Teahen
Board Member
Katherine was introduced to Tibetan Buddhism in high school when a dear friend took her to see HH the Dalai Lama teach in Washington, DC where she grew up. Her desire to find a qualified Buddhist teacher led her to Boulder, Colorado where she met Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche and became his student while attending Naropa University in 1992. Her path as a practitioner has taken her to study and practice for several years in Nepal, India, and Tibet, but her most intensive practice has been in the mountains of southern Colorado at Longchen Jigme Samten Ling Retreat Center where she has completed nine 100 day retreats.
Katherine has focused her practice in recent years establishing a deep interest in balancing her life as a lay practitioner with the responsibilities of being a wife and mother of two girls. Through her work as a Pilates instructor, she has integrated a mindful approach to movement therapy and fitness as a way to extend her practice into her everyday life and livelihood.
“I see my work and support of Elizabeth and the Middle Way Initiative as a perfect bridge between my conventional lifestyle and my aspirations as a Buddhist practitioner on the Mahayana path. I have taken great inspiration from Elizabeth over the past 27 years as an exceptional example of a wife, a mother and, most importantly, a steadfast ally of the Middle Way teachings and practices of Mahayana Buddhism.”
As Secretary of the MWI Board of Directors Katherine handles all of the day to day communications and assists in scheduling and coordinating MWI programs. If you would like to contact Katherine regarding teaching inquiries or information about ongoing and future projects please write her at: secretary@elizabethmattisnamgyel.com
Cerys Tramontini
Director - Latin America
Cerys lives in Brazil and is Director of Latin America for the activities of the Middle Way Initiative (MWI). She is a Lawyer and a PhD researcher in Peace and Conflict Studies at the New Zealand National Center for Peace, Otago University. Her research explores the interfaces between middle way teachings and Peace Studies. She has been practicing Dharma since 1995, and is studying under the guidance of Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel and B. Alan Wallace.
“I have had the good fortune to be in contact with the Dharma from an early age and have met many authentic teachers along my path. I am deeply grateful for these blessings. Of all the precious Dharma teaching I have received, it is the middle ways teachings - prajnaparamita, has most profoundly touched my heart. The middle way teachings have been a living experience of humility that has shown me in each moment the complexities of life's dynamics and my own place as a part of this infinite relational contingency. I consider it an honor and a responsibility to be part of the Middle Way Initiative (MWI), together with my dear sisters, brothers, and my beloved teacher Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel. Being part of this initiative has been a practice of love, devotion, and faith in the teachings of ‘dependent origination’. Being part of MWI is a way to keep practicing, connecting to experience authentic Dharma. May all the merit generated by our Middle Way Initiative community be offered to all beings and that everyone can perceive the nature of reality free from extremes. Emaho!”
You can reach her at: cerys@middlewayinitiative.org
Michael Velasco
Board Member
Michael Velasco studies Dharma with Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche. He serves in various capacities as a member of Mangala Shri Bhuti, but most notably as Director of Wisdom Productions, MSB's digital media publishing and archiving effort. Michael is a 2012 graduate of the Guna Shedra and Translation Institute, an experience which led to his role as coordinator of MSB's Offering & Dana Pilgrimage in Northern India. As a member of the MWI Board of Directors, Michael contributes his professional knowledge of communication and media production. "Serving the MWI mission with Elizabeth and the organization is a great opportunity and a pure pleasure."
Abba Hatcher
Secretary
Abba has studied and practiced the dharma for many years, under the guidance of her teacher, Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche. Abba is a Licensed Professional Counselor and had a counseling practice before going into long-term retreat in 2017. Although finding psychology incredibly helpful for people, she felt its limitation in getting beyond relative solutions and reification, for which the middle way teachings are so helpful. Abba completed a four-year retreat at Longchen Jigme Samten Ling in Crestone, Colorado where she continues to do annual retreats. Previously, she served as Elizabeth’s secretary. Abba is a mother of two grown children and currently works as an administrator for the Middle Way Initiative. She also serves in various capacities for the Samten Ling Retreat Center and Mangala Shri Bhuti Sangha.
You can reach her at: admin@middlewayinitiative.org