Jess has devoted much of her adult life to practicing and studying Buddhism. After completing  both  Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in Earth Systems at Stanford University, she moved to Zen Mountain Monastery, where she trained for over three years. During that time she completed over 40 week-long sesshins (silent retreats) and studied many Buddhist topics. She then decided to pursue Tibetan Buddhism, and was ordained as a monastic by Thrangu Rinpoche in 2015. She met Mingyur Rinpoche shortly afterwards at Tergar Monastery in Bodhgaya, India, and knew immediately he was her main teacher. Under Mingyur Rinpoche’s guidance, she completed two months-long solitary retreats in Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo’s cave in the Himalayas, including a five-month retreat over winter where she saw no one. After completing her solitary retreats, she moved to Madison, Wisconsin to participate in the Tergar community and the Center for Healthy Minds. In 2018, Jess chose to return to lay life and  her homeland in Alberta, Canada. Over the past few years, Jess has continued to study with Mingyur Rinpoche and Tsoknyi Rinpoche, while discovering both the joys and rich opportunities for practice that lay life offers. She serves as a Tergar Facilitator and host for online retreats, and supports a local practice group. Jess currently works as a website designer and meditation coach. In her downtime, she loves to backcountry ski, run, and bike in the mountains with her dog Pema.

Myoshin Kelley attended her first meditation retreat in 1975. Through the ensuing years she has received dharma instructions from several renowned Buddhist meditation masters in the Theravada, Zen, and Vajrayana traditions. In 2003, she was appointed the teacher in residence at the Forest Refuge, the long-term practice center at the Insight Meditation Society in Massachusetts. Myoshin was introduced to Vajrayana teachings in 1993 and met Mingyur Rinpoche in 1998 when he first visited the US with his brother, Tsoknyi Rinpoche. Since then she has practiced with Mingyur Rinpoche in North America and Asia benefiting from his skillful, lucid instructions on the profound teachings of Mahamudra. She moved to Minneapolis in 2010 to help support Mingyur Rinpoche in his worldwide vision and leads programs internationally and locally.

Edwin Kelley first became interested in Buddhism in 1975 when he attended a meditation retreat near Perth, Australia. He later pursued a career as a public accountant and in 1992 went to Burma to undertake a six-month period of intensive retreat with the renowned meditation master Chanmyay Sayadaw. While practicing in Burma he ordained temporarily as a Theravada Buddhist monk. In 1994 he was hired as Director of Operations by one of America’s best known meditation retreat centers, the Insight Meditation Society (IMS), in Barre, MA. Eighteen months later he was appointed Executive Director of IMS and served in that capacity until 2003 when he resigned to pursue further long-term intensive meditation practice. Edwin first encountered Vajrayana Buddhism in Dharamsala, India in 1993 and became a student of Mingyur Rinpoche in 1998. He has a post graduate diploma in Buddhist Studies from the University of Sunderland in the UK. He moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota with his wife Myoshin in 2009 to help establish the global Tergar Meditation Community. In addition to his work as an instructor, he recently served as co-executive director for Tergar International, and he is currently the Interim Chief Financial Officer.