The Teachers of Sakya Center Ngon Ga Ling
The Center is guided by Jessica Martensson Ngawang Dolker and Bert D'Arragon Thogme Kunga. The meetings courses are guided by them, if not noted otherwise.
Jessica Martensson Ngawang Dolker
Born in Sweden with a degree in Art History and Psychology of Art, with a specialization in childrens culture, at the University of Stockholm. She worked as an artist from the beginning of 1980.
She has studied yoga and meditation in the Viniyoga Tradition and then with the Master Shri Raja Guru Yogi Lehari, Mario Attombri.
For 8 years she studied Dharma with the Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh and finally she found her Guru HH Sakya Trizin 1998, she has continued her studies with him and other teachers in the Sakya Tradition in Buddhist philosophy and tantra. She is teaching basic Dharma studies and courses in Meditation, she is also leading Meditation groups and translating teachings and practices to Italian.
Jessica has made various personal retreats in yoga and meditation.
She has studied various meditational disciplines and with the siberian shaman Nadia Stepanova from Lake Baikal in Siberia
2002 she started has the Association Soleluna. For 15 years she has participated in the activities of "A Temple for Peace" being part of the board. They have organized many events and reatreats in the spirit of Inter-religious meetings. Events with for example HH the Dalai Lama, TKV Desikachar, Swami Veda and Thich Nhat Hanh, her experience culminated in the big event Kalachakra Firenze 2007 with the empowerment of Kalachakra by HH Sakya Trizin and concluding with an inter-religious Meeting, were many Teachers representing various religions on the Italian territory met.
2003 HH Sakya Trizin consacrated the Center Sakya Ngon Ga Ling, in Jessicas house, 2008 it was transferred to Castello di Cireglio (PT) and 2014 it was moved again to her new house in at Tresanti, Montespertoli (FI).
Jessica teaches Yoga and Meditation to young and grown-ups, in the center and in many other places, also abroad. She is a certified Holistic Counselor, by Olocounseling, specialized in Yoga, Meditation and Astrology (which she uses mostly in a psychological-evolutionary way). She is also a representative in Tuscany of the educational project “Living Values”, the project is promoting meditation in schools working on universal values. She teaches, teachers, children and parents. She also teaches yoga and meditation since many years in the prison of Florence.
For more info: www.jessicamartensson.com
Bert d'Arragon - Thogme Kunga
Born in Westfalia, in northern Germany, he lives since 1986 in Florence where he studied History of Religions with Maurilio Adriani and he took a degree in Science of Antiquity with a thesis on the cults in pre-history. At the same time he started to study Tibetan Meditation following the teachings by Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche in the Kagyu-pa School, and started to practice yoga in the school of BKS Iyengar. Since 1999 he holds courses in Introduction to Buddhist Philosophy, on aspects on Sutrayana and Abidharma. As a director of the Association Vasubandhu he organizes projects of international cooperation in Tibet to build schools, aqueducts and to actively sustain the Tibetan people.
He is an active writer, and after his two first novels "La Libellula" (2009) and "Ichnusa" (2012) with anti-violence topics, he is now dealing with discrimination and civil rights in spiritual matter with "Il Bimbo e la Quercia "(2014) that handles christian mysticism.
After meeting and taking refuge with HH Sakya Trizin he has become a disciple of the Sakya School, and since 2008 he is the director, together with Jessica Martensson, of the Center Sakya Ngon Ga Ling, he is actually taking care of the Retreat House of the Center on the hills above Pistoia.
