About Us
We envision a world in which future generations bring together the best of both East and West in ways that promote universal values.
The Guna Foundation
In 1969 Venerable Tarthang Tulku came to America and established the Tibetan Nyingma Meditation Center (TNMC). His vision was to save, preserve, and maintain the vast tradition of wisdom and compassion handed down since the time of the Buddha. His organizational structure is a mandala. The Guna Foundation is part of this mandala.
For the past 42 years, Tarthang Tulku and his small circle of students and volunteer workers have worked quietly and tirelessly on two fronts: in the East, preserving the heart of the Tibetan culture for Tibetans in exile and in Tibet; and in the West, laying the ground for a lasting transmission of the Dharma for present and future generations.
Guna Leadership
 |
 |
 |
Founder, Tarthang Tulku Tarthang Tulku Rinpoche is the founder and Head Lama of the Tibetan Nyingma Meditation Center in California, USA. Rinpoche was born in 1935 in eastern Tibet, where he studied with many of the greatest Tibetan Buddhist masters of the twentieth century. |
Co-Director, Barry Schieber Barry was born in St. Louis Missouri, and graduated from the University of California, Berkeley. He began his professional life working in investment banking before becoming a student of Tarthang Tulku in the early 1970’s. He was Dean of Nyingma Institute... |
Co-Director, Pema Gellek Pema is a faculty member at the Nyingma Institute in Berkeley, California. She holds an MA in International Politics and a BA in Asian Studies, and has studied with Buddhist masters in Nepal. She is also co-director of the Prajna Light Foundation. |
Mandala of Organizations
The TNMC Mandala of Organizations
The Guna Foundation is a part of Tibetan Nyingma Meditation Centers (TNMC), a mandala of organizations aimed at aiding Tibetans and transmitting Buddhist teachings throughout the world.
These organizations have facilities in Northern California, Europe, and South America.
To learn about the organizations, click on the link below to see our interactive mandala. There are 8 links within the mandala which will take you to pages with information about each of the individual organizations.
Foreign Centers
Nyingma Centrum Nederland
Nyingma Centrum Nederland began as a study group for Tarthang Tulku's writings and grew into a full-fledged Nyingma meditation and residential center, publishing house and printing press.
The center in Amsterdam offers classes, workshops, retreats, and lectures on the Nyingma teachings and Kum Nye Yoga, as well as a work-study program for volunteers.
Learn more about what the Nyingma Centrum Nederland has to offer by visiting their website, or read more below to see info about the other non-US centers in Germany and Brazil.
Affiliated Organizations
Mangalam Research Center
The Mangalam Center in downtown Berkeley, CA is where many of the projects and organizations within our mandala are based, including the Guna Foundation. Other organizations housed here include the Tibetan Aid Project, Nyingma Trust, the Light foundations, and the Dharma Publishing Bookstore. Our research library for the study of Buddhism in the West is currently under development in the Mangalam Center.
