OUR HISTORY
Under the guidance of Alan Wallace, DFF was founded in
Seattle
in 1985 in order to make it possible for Gen Lamrimpa to come and teach in the
USA
for an extended period of time. Born in
Tibet
in 1934, Gen Lamrimpa became a refugee in
India
after the 1959 abortive uprising against Communist Chinese rule in
Tibet
. Gen Lamrimpa was known as an accomplished meditator and a true yogi, although, like all genuine masters, he remained humble and unostentatious. For many years before coming to
Seattle
he meditated in a stone and mud hut in the mountains above
Dharamsala
,
India
. Once in
Seattle
, he led a one-year samatha retreat at
Cloud
Mountain
Retreat
Center
, providing earnest Western practitioners the possibility to practice under his guidance. His book Calming the Mind (Snow Lion Publications, Ithaca New York), first published as Samatha Meditation, is the record of some of the teachings he gave during this time. After teaching in the
USA
for two years, Gen Lamrimpa returned to Dharamsala to continue his practice. He came back to
Seattle
to teach in late 1992 for several months before returning to
India
. “Gen la” passed away in meditation in 2004. A remarkable account of his passing can be found here: http://www.snowlionpub.com/pages/N65_10.php
DFF was extremely fortunate to have had Venerable Thubten Chodron as its resident teacher and spiritual advisor for many years. In 2002, Ven. Chodron moved from
Seattle
in order to begin Sravasti Abbey, an abbey for nuns, monks, and laypeople. She continued to function as the Spiritual Adviser of DFF until September, 2005, when with her blessing and encouragement, the Board of DFF formally requested Yangsi Rinpoche to be our new spiritual adviser.
From 2005 to the present, Yangsi Rinpoche has guided DFF, generously offering public teachings and empowerments as well as an annual two week Mahamudra retreat. Much as Atisha brought the pure Dharma teachings from
India
to
Tibet
in the eleventh century, Rinpoche has worked closely with the DFF Board and the broader community, to continue the task of planting the Dharma in American soil, and in the hearts of its people.