Instructors

Adrian met Lama Jampa Thaye and took refuge in 1978. He helps with the Saturday morning classes and also works as a Buddhist chaplain in prisons. He is married to Emma and works as a music teacher.

Inspired by Lama Jampa, David took up the Buddhist path in 1981. He has also received important teachings from H.H. Sakya Trichen, Karma Thinley Rinpoche and other Buddhist masters. David coordinates activities at the Centre in Bristol and also the retreat Centre in France. He is involved with leading study groups, courses and short retreats and has run his own furniture making business for over forty years. David lives in Bristol with his partner Liz, has two children and two grandchildren.

Emma first received Buddhist teachings from His Holiness Sakya Trichen at a public talk in Bristol in 1995. She attended classes at the Sakya Buddhist Centre and took refuge with Lama Jampa in 2000. She has studied and practised under his guidance ever since.

Emma is married to Adrian and has worked in universities as a researcher and librarian. She is a member of the Admin Team and assists with classes and Tara pujas.

Liz has been a student of Lama Jampa Thaye for almost 30 years, and has given talks for newcomers to Buddhism for about 15 years. She is a retired Shiatsu practitioner and is a member of the Sakya Buddhist Centre Bristol’s admin team, and as well as being closely involved in the management of Sakya Changlochen Ling, our retreat Centre in the Dordogne. She also often hosts educational visits to the Centre by local groups of schoolchildren and students.

Paul encountered Buddhism in the late seventies while working as a tour guide in North India and Sikkim. On coming back to live in Devon he subsequently joined a newly formed Sakya group in Exeter and subsequently took refuge with Lama Jampa Thaye. He has been coordinating the Exeter group for the last few decades and is now retired from lecturing.

Rachel became interested in Buddhism during her Chinese language studies, becoming a student of Lama Jampa Thaye in 1996. She trained originally as a singer but now works in technology risk. Married to Simon, she has a daughter, Isla, and two cats, Lenni and Elsa. She’s a member of the Centre’s admin team, helping with pujas and publicity.

After receiving encouraging and kind replies from Lama Jampa to his rather unhinged and confused letters Simon became a buddhist in 1996 whilst a student in Bristol. He met his wife Rachel through the buddhist community and their daughter Isla was born in 2011. He is a mortgage broker by day and a blues harmonica player by night. As well as leading White Mahakala pujas, Simon also runs the Centre’s shop.