The Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive (LYWA) is the collected works of Lama Thubten Yeshe and Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche. The Archive was founded in 1996 by Lama Zopa Rinpoche, its spiritual director, who chose the name Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive out of humility and in honor of his teacher.

LYWA is uniquely positioned to present the teachings of Lama Yeshe, Lama Zopa Rinpoche and other great lamas in a variety of multimedia formats, prepared by highly qualified editors with decades of experience. For practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism in general, and students of Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche in particular, the LYWA is an invaluable resource for authentic Buddhist teachings in the Mahayana tradition.

Lama Yeshe (1935—1984) and Lama Zopa Rinpoche (1945—2023) began teaching Buddhism to Westerners at Kopan Monastery, Kathmandu, Nepal, in 1970, and in 1974 began traveling the world to spread the Dharma. Since then, their teachings have been recorded and transcribed. At present the Archive contains recordings from over 2,100 teaching events encompassing approximately 18,000 hours of audio, almost 16,000 transcripts, hundreds of video recordings and over 75,000 images.

Here at the LYWA we are making every effort to organize the transcription of that which has not yet been transcribed, to edit that which has not yet been edited, and generally do the many other tasks outlined here.

LYWA KEY STAFF

Over the years we have assembled a team of longtime knowledgeable Dharma students, deeply familiar with the Lamas and their teachings. Now, emerging technologies enable us to go beyond our already established means for making these teachings available, using all the amazing resources we have at our disposal. Read a summary of key staff duties below or read more here.

Nicholas Ribush, Director and Editor-in-Chief: Nick oversees strategic direction and long-term planning to ensure alignment with the organization’s goals and objectives. As director, Nick is responsible for financial sustainability, engaging with stakeholders and benefactors, and representing LYWA at conferences and events. As Editor-in-Chief, Nick directs the publishing process, ensuring high editorial standards are maintained.

Jen Barlow, IT and Finance Director: Jen manages IT projects, infrastructure, servers and applications, and coordinates programmers and web editors for three websites. As Finance Director she oversees financial procedures, payroll and benefits administration, tracks budgets and grant expenditures, and produces reports for stakeholders. She also collaborates with staff on publishing and communication initiatives.

Sandra Smith, Web and Publications Editor: Sandra reviews and edits website content and books, ensuring that a clear and consistent style is maintained. She manages website content using Drupal, formatting text, adding multimedia, and optimizing content for search engines. Sandra also maintains Lama Zopa Rinpoche's Online Advice Book, writes product descriptions, conducts content audits and rectifies errors.

Megan Evart, Social Media and ePublishing Manager: Megan manages and curates all social media content across a diversity of platforms to expand awareness of and increase engagement with website content. She manages e-publishing, including designing, editing, publishing, updating, and promoting all digitally formatted publications. Megan also develops online fundraising strategies, collaborates on other materials, and assists with website analysis, maintenance, and security.

Ven. Tenzin Desal, Office Manager and Membership Coordinator: Ani Desal manages our donor and customer database, updating records with current activity. She processes orders, oversees large shipments, responds to emails, orders office supplies and prepares invoices and receipts. Additionally, she maintains memberships by welcoming new members, managing gifts, granting exclusive content access, and organizing pujas and light offerings.

Stacey Martin, Content and Communications Manager: Stacey compiles and designs fundraising newsletters and special mailings for over 14,000 subscribers and handles membership mailings. She collaborates with the web editor to update and maintain multiple websites. Stacey also manages our video archive and maintains archive materials in our cloud-based asset management system.

The LYWA is also supported by the work of digital imaging specialists David Zinn and Francine Fagundez; editor Gordon McDougall, and transcribers and checkers, Peter and Nicole Kedge.

See our brochure for an overview of our work, view our Organizational Chart as a PDF, and read more about what we do.

The Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive is an affiliate of the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition, an international Buddhist organization that now numbers over 130 centers, projects and services in 31 countries worldwide. (Please note that LYWA is a separate organization, with its own programs and finances.)

LYWA is a 501(c)(3) tax-deductible, non-profit corporation dedicated to the welfare of all sentient beings and totally dependent upon your donations for our continued existence. See our Privacy Policy here.

Read more here about how you can support the work of the Archive. You can make a donation today or become a Member and join the ever-growing community of LYWA Members and supporters.