The purpose of DPR Office (DPRO) is to support The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche in his projects and activities. The secretaries and teams in DPRO help Rinpoche communicate with the sangha and the Nalandabodhi administrators, as well as with related and external organizations.
Tenam Lama, Personal Secretary -
Tibetan
Tenam became a monk at 15 years old. He studied at Dzogchen
Monastery for 5 years. In 1988 he started a 2-year pilgrimage
through Tibet, taking a few months at a time to do retreats in
caves. In 1991 he went to India to study at the new Dzogchen
Monastery in the south. Two years later, he went to Sikkim to visit
relatives and study English. In 1994 he came to the Nitartha
Document Input Center and since then he has worked for Nitartha. In
1996 he came to the US with Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche and has
traveled the world with him as his attendant. In 1998, Tenam and
Gerry Weiner developed the Nitartha-Sambhota
Tibetan Software and the Sambhota Unicode Software to help
digitize and preserve important Tibetan texts. He is currently
working on many Nitartha Publication projects.
Martin Marvet, Chief of Staff
Marty began his studies of Buddhism in 1977, has been a Buddhist
practitioner since 1982 and a student of Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche
since 1991. In his current dprO role, he coordinates the work of
all dprO Secretaries, is responsible for governmental, legal and
sensitive communications, and handles special situations.
Marty practiced law in New York City with Cleary Gottlieb Steen and Hamilton and Chalos & Brown. He represented Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche in the legal formation of Nitartha International in 1994, and Nalandabodhi in 1997. In 1999, he moved to Seattle to assist Rinpoche in the management and counsel of Nalandabodhi and Nitartha International, and oversaw the acquisition of Nalanda West in 2003. Marty has served in numerous senior executive and board roles in Nitartha, Nalandabodhi, and on Rinpoche's personal staff over the past 15 years. He earned a B.A. in Philosophy from Amherst College in 1979 and a J.D. magna cum laude from Georgetown University in 1987. He lives in Seattle with his wife, Lynne, and cat, Shentong.
Cindy Shelton, Publications Secretary and Household
Manager
Cindy has been a student of Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche since 1996,
and a member of the Nalandabodhi Sangha since its founding in 1997.
Positions held previously include Director of Nalandabodhi Boulder
and Nalandabodhi Seattle, NEC Director of Publications, Karma
Sangha Board member, and former Editor-in-Chief of Bodhi magazine,
as well as editor of RebelBuddha.com.
In her role as dprO Publications Secretary, Cindy supervises the development of Rinpoche's book projects and other external publications. As Household Manager, she oversees the operations of Rinpoche's residence in Seattle. Cindy received an MA in Education from Florida International University and an MA in Buddhist Studies from Naropa University.
Tyler Dewar,
Calendar Planning Secretary
Tyler has served in the Office of Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche since
2002, responding to invitations to teach and participate in public
events, and helps plan Rinpoche's teaching calendar. Tyler started
practicing in 1996, met DPR in 1997, became a formal student of
Rinpoche's in 1998, and joined Nalandabodhi in 2000.
Tyler is a Nalandabodhi Mitra, a Western Teacher appointed by
Rinpoche. He is also a translator of spoken and literary Tibetan,
and had the good fortune of translating for HH the Seventeenth
Karmapa during the Karmapa's historic visit to the US in 2008. He
has contributed several translations of written and transcribed
material to Kagyu Office and Dharma Nectar magazine, and is fluent
in colloquial Tibetan. He has published several translations of key
Dharma texts.
Mary Chung, Secretary, Asia
Communications
Mary has been a student of Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche since 2002.
She is a member of the Karma Sangha Board of Canada, and has served
in the past as Director of the Nalandabodhi Toronto Study Group and
member of NEC Canada. She served as Deputy Chief of Staff for
Karmapa in America 2008. In her DPRO Secretary role, she is
responsible for communications with Nalandabodhi and Nitartha
Institute in their administration areas.
Mary received a B.A. in Economics from Stanford and a MBA from UCLA. Her business experience includes founding technology and consulting businesses, product development, and marketing and advertising, as well as developing and managing project managers. Mary co-authored Riding the Tiger.
Nelson Wong, Chinese Correspondence
Nelson has been a student of Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche since 2003,
when he first met Rinpoche in Hong Kong. He is responsible
for facilitating the communication between Rinpoche and his Chinese
speaking students and contacts in Asia.
Nelson earned a B.S. in Finance and International Business from
New York University. Based in Hong Kong, Nelson has worked in
various European banks, focusing on the development of investment
products for corporations and financial institutions.
Shari Cuzelis, Student Correspondence Secretary and
Travel Manager
Shari has been a Buddhist practitioner since 1981 and became a
student of Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche in 1994. As Student
Correspondence Secretary, Shari takes care of emails and letters
from students. As Travel Manager, she works on the team that
coordinates and implements Rinpoche's teaching tours.
Shari has been a psychotherapist for 26 years and has a MA in
Contemplative Psychology from The Naropa Institute.
Midori McColskey, Assistant Secretary
Midori has been a Buddhist practitioner since 2003 and became a
student of Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche in 2006. As Assistant
Secretary, Midori is a member of the Household and Travel teams.
She also participates in ad hoc dprO projects.
In 1999 Midori moved to the U.S., where she works for AT&T in
Network Planning and Engineering. She enjoys Japanese Tea Ceremony
and studies with the Seattle Branch of Urasenke school. Midori
lives with her husband, Joe, and dog, Una, in Seattle.