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About

Summary

Buddhist translator, meditation instructor and teacher of EcoDharma and secular ethics.

Calling cards

  • Meditation centred around the qualities of tenderness, compassion, and joy, and rooted in traditional lineages of practice

  • EcoDharma and Queer Dharma (applying Buddhist practice and philosophy to issues of environmental and social transformation)

  • Emotional balance and Cultivating Emotional Balance program

  • Identity work: harnessing the energy of our multiple identities for compassionate action

  • Exploring leadership styles through the lens of Buddhist contemplative practice and secular ethics

Full Biography

I was born in Siberia in 1988. After finishing high school with less-than flying colors (being the class clown), I earned my BA and MA degrees from a diplomatic college, majoring in South Asian Studies. By the end of my MA program I was so deeply invested in working with Buddhist projects that any idea of doing diplomatic service  and wearing a tie on a daily basis did not seem plausible!

I worked in social media marketing for a few years, while continuing to volunteer for Dharma centres, interpreting/translating for Buddhist lamas and helping run educational programs . In 2013, on the advice of Jangtse Choeje Lobsang Tenzin (the 104th Ganden Tripa – head of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism), I ordained as a monk; the ceremony took place in Kopan Monastery (Kathmandu, Nepal), and most auspiciously happened on Saint Patrick's day. Green is my favourite color.

Following that I continued translating and occasionally giving nonsensical open talks, also helping co-found the Foundation for Contemplative Studies (spiritually directed by Dr. Alan Wallace) with operations spanning all of Eastern Europe and serving as the coordinator for the Friends of Sravasti Abbey in Russia and Ukraine.

Furthermore, I've been incredibly fortunate to have received the mindfulness trainer training with Ondy Willson, the creator of the MBMT (mindfulness-based mind training) approach. I have been certified as an MBMT trainer twice, in 2015 and 2019, and helped train a cohort of trainers from Eastern Europe and the United States.

In 2017 I co-developed the Creating Compassionate Identities system of practice together with Christian Howard. This training modality has been repeatedly taught in Eastern Europe and eventually found its way into English-speaking countries, including the US.

Also in 2017 , upon the encouragement of Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, I enrolled in Rangjung Yeshe Institute in Kathmandu, where I spent two intense and pleasant years studying Buddhist philosophy and Himalayan languages. I also had the privilege of translating for a few of my incredible teachers there, and also taught some weekend classes in a local Buddhist center.

In 2019 I joined the teacher training for the Cultivating Emotional Balance program develop by Doctors Alan Wallace, Paul Ekman and Eve Ekman. As of now, I am happily engaged in promoting this beautiful system of practice (created upon the request and with partial sponsorship of the Dalai Lama) as a registered trainer and part of the teacher training team.

In 2022, after many months of contemplation, I returned my monastic precepts to continue as a lay practitioner, translator, and meditation instructor. The content of my work has not changed much, except for turning more deeply towards the issues of EcoDharma, green mindfulness, and green Buddhism.

I spend a lot of time translating the books and talks of my incredible teachers and serving as a review class instructor. In addition, I have done some personal and group mindfulness counselling, and also worked with a few major brands on meditation-related projects: for example, recorded a meditation-themed podcast for the Nike Running app and served as a ghost writer for several digital companies (writing numerous mindfulness practices). Part of my work is also consulting on corporate culture transformation.

Roots and streams

My primary teachers are HHDL, Khandro Tseringma, Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, Kyabje Garchen Rinpoche and Lama Alan Wallace.

I have also been very lucky to interpret for His Holiness the Sakya Trizin Rinpoche, Mingyur Rinpoche, Dr. Alex Berzin, Venerable Robina Courtin, Geshe Ngawang Thugje, Geshe Graham Woodhouse, Venerable Thubten Chodron, and many other Tibetan and Western teachers, all of whom have been incredibly kind to me.

My own meditation practice (and, on occasion, teaching) mainly happens at the intersection of Nyingma and Gelug lineages of Tibetan Buddhism.

In my secular mindfulness/emotional balance work, I work with some of my primary mentors, including Dr. Eve Ekman, Ryan Redman, Ondy Willson, Tenzin Chokgyi and others.

Random facts: My intellectual hero is Thomas Merton, favorite Tibetan authors are Namkha Pel and Jigme Lingpa, and my favorite Indian Mahāyāna text is the Wheel of Sharp Weapons.

My favorite song is If I Had a Hammer—a true anthem for social change. 

I also love potatoes and strong black tea. I also really, really want to be(come) a kinder person – if enlightenment happens along the way, all the better!

Primary Contemplative Interests

My favourite thing to study, teach and practice in both secular mindfulness and in Tibetan Buddhism is the application of the four immeasurable states – loving kindness, compassion, empathetic joy and equanimity – and the associated "mind training" practices (Tib. lojong). I am interested in their intense contemplative application and in using them to create communities that have finally relinquished racism, sexism, homophobia and all forms of systemic oppression, thus becoming truly compassionate. That in no ways means that we jump from imperfection to perfection in one moment—it’s about recognising fallibility and doing gradual work.

With regards to Buddhism, I am also very deeply invested in the Pure Land system of practice as preserved in the Tibetan tradition, along with Tara practice of every variety. I am most curious about the interplay between “mind-training” teachings (Tib. lojong) and nature-of-mind practices.

In terms of secular meditation, I prefer to teach introductory classes on genuine wellbeing (eudaemonia) and the factors contributing to it, always with a lot of discussion around secular ethics. I also work with three modalities that can be taught as completely universal: Cultivating Emotional Balance (CEB), Creating Compassionate Identities and Mindfulness-Based Mind Training (MBMT).

My other special interests are EcoDharma – the interdisciplinary convergence of contemplative practice, deep ecology, ecopsychology and environmental ethics – and Queer Dharma (a gentle exploration of how our queer identity can be used to explore new dimensions of kindness and wisdom).