Sukhasiddhi Foundation Teachers’ Council

Teachers council

The Sukhasiddhi Teachers’ Council is composed of authorized lamas and dharma leaders who have engaged in extensive spiritual practice and study within our lineages.

In collaboration with the Resident Lama, the Council develops and delivers the Sukhasiddhi curriculum and provides mentoring and support for Sukhasiddhi practitioners.

  • Lama Döndrup

    Lama Döndrup

    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.

  • Lama Palden Drolma

    Lama Palden Drolma

    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

    Lama Drupgyu Tenzin

    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

    Lama Tashi


    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.

  • Susan Shannon, teacher at Sukhasiddhi Foundation

    Rev. Susan Shannon

    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.

  • Lama Pat

    Lama Pat

    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.

Weekly Meditation Leaders

Weekly Meditation Leaders are senior practitioners at Sukhasiddhi Foundation trained and authorized by Lama Palden Drolma to teach the foundational meditation practices and philosophy of Buddhism.

  • Barbara Juniper

    Barbara Juniper

    Barbara Juniper has been an active member of Sukhasiddhi Foundation since 2006. Under the guidance of Lama Palden Drolma, she completed the six-year combined Bodhi and Shangpa programs as well as the two-year Community Dharma Leader training. She has led the Monday evening community meditation, Opening the Gate, since 2015. Barbara has worked as a healer and counselor for over 25 years. She is passionate about supporting both men and women in connecting with their authentic expression and integrating all that they learn on the cushion into their daily lives. She currently has a private Sound Healing and Spiritual Mentoring practice in Marin and is engaged in many Sound Healing events in the San Francisco Bay Area.

  • Gitte Dobrer

    Gitte Dobrer

    Gitte Dobrer has been a meditator for over 20 years, and has studied lujong (Tibetan Yoga) and Buddhism with Lama Palden Drolma for the last 12 years. Her background is in bodywork and movement, and her interest is in the integration of body and spiritual practice. She recently completed the two-year community dharma leader training with Lama Palden Drolma and Lew Richmond.

  • Trinity Sipila

    Trinity Sipila

    Trinity Sipila has been a student and practitioner of yoga for over 30 years. She is also an Ayurvedic Practitioner, Massage Therapist and teacher of Yoga and Qi Gung. She has studied with Lama Palden and other Sukhasiddhi teachers since 2006 and has completed the Community Dharma Leaders program. She has been leading the weekly Lujong and Meditation class at Sukhasiddhi with Gitte Dobrer since 2014. Trinity delights in and is dedicated to sharing the rich potency and value of these beautiful wisdom traditions that help us awaken to our deeper living truths, and enable us to live with greater integrity, wellbeing, and joy. See Trinity's website: https://trinityrose.offeringtree.com