Teachers

Don Handrick

Don Handrick is a touring teacher for the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), sharing the Dharma with centers and study groups in North America and other parts of the world, both in-person and online.

Don’s study of Buddhism began in 1993 after reading The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying by Sogyal Rinpoche. Over the next two years he practiced with Sogyal Rinpoche’s organization, until he began attending classes in 1996 with Venerable Robina Courtin at Tse Chen Ling in San Francisco.

Don left the Bay Area in 1998 to attend the FPMT’s Masters Program of Buddhist Studies in Sutra and Tantra, a seven-year residential study program conducted at Lama Tzong Khapa Institute in Tuscany, Italy, taught by the scholar and kind Spiritual Friend, Geshe Jampa Gyatso. He successfully completed all five subjects of this program in 2004, receiving an FPMT final certificate with high honors.

Events with Don Handrick

The Buddha’s Path to Bliss: A Kopan West Into to Buddhism Retreat
March 14 - 21, 2026

This is a Pay It Forward Retreat! This retreat is offered on a donation basis, continuing a tradition that began with Kopan West’s Lam Rim retreat in 2012, inspired by the wish to make the Buddha’s teachings widely accessible. Your participation is supported by the generosity of past Kopan West students who chose to “pay it forward,” helping others experience the same transformative teachings. The retreat is modeled after the renowned 10-day Introduction to Buddhism course at Kopan Monastery in Nepal.   About this Retreat “Happiness and suffering are dependent upon your mind, upon your interpretation. They do not come…