Khenpo Tshering Chophel moved to Ann Arbor in September, 2023, and is now a full-time teacher at Karuna Buddhist Center.

He was born to Tibetan refugee parents in Sikkim in 1982, growing up just steps away from Rumtek Monastery. From an early age, he wanted to wear monk’s robes, and he became a monk at age 8. For the next 10 years he received a traditional monastic education, learning all of the practices and rituals of the Karma Kagyu lineage.

Khenpo Chophel then joined the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies (CIHTS) in Varanasi, India, where he obtained his secondary school diploma, Shastri (Bachelor’s) Degree, and Acharya (Master’s) Degree. CIHTS is a unique school, the brainchild of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Jawaharlal Nehru, founded to transmit the religion, culture, and language of Tibet to the children of the Tibetan Diaspora. While there, Khenpo Chophel studied Buddhist philosophy according to all the major schools of Tibetan Buddhism.

In 2014, Chophel was awarded the Khenpo (Abbot) Certificate by Goshir Gyaltsab Rinpoche, and in 2022 he completed his Ph.D. in Buddhist Studies at Visva-Bharati University in India. Khenpo Chophel has taught at the monks’ school in Rumtek and the Karma Kagyu Center in Hong Kong, as well as teaching Buddhist philosophy and practice online to students around the world. He is interested in applying the ancient wisdom of Buddhism to the problems facing the modern world.

Khenpo Chophel is now available for in-person and video interviews. Please use the form on the Contact page to request an interview  or contact his secretary, [email protected].

Lama Nancy Burks became a student of Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche in 1978. She has also had the great good fortune of receiving transmission from the Dalai Lama, the 16th and 17th Karmapas, and many other realized masters. Nancy co-founded the Piedmont Karma Thegsum Choling (KTC) in 1981, while attending graduate school in Chapel Hill.

Upon finishing her studies, Nancy moved to Woodstock, NY, to be near her teachers while pursuing her career as a psychologist. In 2000 Nancy completed the traditional 3-year, 3-month meditation retreat in Delhi, NY, and was given the title of Lama.

Nancy then returned to her native city of Ann Arbor and resumed her career while becoming involved with the Ann Arbor KTC meditation center, where Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche asked her to teach. Nancy was Director of AAKTC for a number of years and has also served on the Board of PFLAG Ann Arbor. In 2021, she began work to open Karuna Buddhist Center with Khenpo Tshering Chophel. Nancy lives in Ann Arbor with her husband.