Team
Dzogchen Today! Project
The Dzogchen Today! Team
The Dzogchen Today! project team is fully dedicated to the success of the three pillars of the project: preserving, adapting and sharing the Dzogchen tradition today.
Experts
Mila Khyentse
Dzogchen Today! project initiator
Mila Khyentse has been practicing Tibetan Buddhism and Dzogchen for over 30 years. A former Tibetologist and teacher-researcher at the Sorbonne and Paris Dauphine Universities, he has devoted himself for the past twenty years to adapting and disseminating Buddhism and Dzogchen in the West, while also continuing to teach it in Asia where he has lived and received a certain number of lineages of teachings which he has put into practice in numerous solitary retreats. His root teacher was Lobsang Dargye Rinpoche, aka Alags Chorten, a great Dzogchen master from the Amdo region in eastern Tibet. Mila Khyentse is the current holder of his lineage. He strives to make the tradition of Tibetan Buddhism and Dzogchen accessible to today’s thinking and needs in the West and Asia. He is also the initiator of the Dzogchen Today! project, which aims at preserving, adapting and transmitting the thousand-year-old traditions of Dzogchen in the West and in the world.
Johanne Bernard
Interested since ever in the functioning of the mind and the question of spirituality, Johanne Bernard met the path of Tibetan Buddhism and Dzogchen in 2011. Following in the footsteps of her master Mila Khyentse Rinpoche and his master, Alags Chorten, she now practices it daily, alternating between activity and isolated retreats, in France or abroad. As a film scriptwriter and book author, Johanne attaches particular importance to transmission in all its forms, both traditional and modern, and has supported the Dzogchen Today project since its inception. She co-authored with Laurent Dupeyrat the meditation book “J’ai rendez-vous avec le vent le soleil et la lune” published by Editions de La Martinière, and translated into English under the title “Meditation for Kids: How to Clear Your Head and Calm Your Mind” published by Shambhala Editions.
Philippe Cornu
Philippe began studying Tibetan at the age of 18. He first graduated in pharmacy and then defended a PhD. in ethnology and anthropology of religions in Paris. He is the French translator of several Tibetan works such as those of great Dzogchen masters of the past like Padmasambhava and Longchenpa, and of the famous Tibetan Book of the Dead and wrote many other books. He taught at INALCO for more than 20 years. Since 2011, he is teaching Buddhism, Hinduism and history of religions at the Catholic University of Louvain. He is the president of the Khyentse Wangpo Institute and of the Institute of Buddhist Studies (Paris). Particularly interested in Dzogchen, he has followed the teachings of Chögyal Namkhai Norbu, Sogyal Rinpoche and those of Yongzin Tenzin Namdak of the Yungdrung Bön. He is now deeply involved in the Dzogchen Today! project, of which he is (among other activities) head of the translation group.
Damien Brohon
Damien is an artist, a teacher and an author. He has been studying and practising Dharma for 30 years in the Kagyü, Nyingma and Bön lineages, and has followed courses at the Institut National des Langues Orientales, Collège International de Philosophie, École Pratique des Hautes Études and Khyentse Wangpo Institute. As a teacher, Damien’s main focus is on Buddhist philosophy. He has taught on this subject for many years in courses, weekends and retreats in French-speaking countries in different settings. He also gives conferences on ‘Art and spirituality’. He is the author of Au travers du visible (at the editions Vues de l’esprit) a book on the contemplative dimension of the vision.
Lama Kunsang Dorjé
Under the spiritual guidance of the first Kalu Rinpoche and Bokar Rinpoche, Lama Kunsang completed the traditional three-year meditation retreat, followed by another one-year retreat. He then resided for five years in a monastery in the Himalayas, working in particular with the international committee of translators founded by Kalu Rinpoche on the translation of the ten-volume encyclopedia of Buddhism, The Treasury of Knowledge (Tib. “Sheja Kunkyab Dzeu”), which is now used as a reference work in the Buddhist world. Lama Kunsang teaches at the Khyentse Wangpo Institute and is co-author of the book The Odyssey of the Karmapas: The Great History of the Black-Hatted Lamas, published by Snow Lion.
Executive Board
Maréva Bernard
Maréva is an executive coach and trainer, with a background in urban planning and public policy in favor of sustainable cities. She spent several months in the Himalayas and is a photographer in her spare time. A practitioner since 2011, she has been working on the Sauveté project since 2012, and has been putting her experience of managing complex projects to work for Dzogchen Today! since its creation.
Denis Martin
Denis is a legal advisor with a degree in child protection. Dzogchen Today ! ‘s innovative approach and its vision of the common good immediately convinced him to get involved in this project. He is currently deepening his study and practice of Dzogchen at the Khyèntsé Wangpo Institute. With a postgraduate degree in environmental sciences, he also supports the site of La Sauveté.
Nils Derboule
Nils Derboule trained as an engineer. After an initial career in project management in social housing, he is now developing a coaching and training business. In parallel, since 2011, he has been studying and training in the teachings of Buddhism and Dzogchen. His experience is nourished by numerous trips around the world.
Our Team
is completely dedicated to the Dzogchen Today! project and has only one objective: that it can be beneficial to the largest number of people.
Want to Join?
We need you!
Paul Baffier
Paul is a translator of Tibetan and has been studying Buddhism and Dzogchen for the past ten years. He has studied at Inalco, the Khyentse Wangpo Institute, the Rangjung Yeshe Institute and the UCLouvain.
Marie-Laure Audergon
Marie-Laure is a fasciatherapist and somato-psychopedagogue. Her encounter with Dzogchen in 2011 marked a turning point in her life. From then on, she engaged in the practice and study of Buddhism and Dzogchen, alternating between solitary retreats and integration into everyday life. She is also involved in organizing inter-traditional teachings and meetings.
Grégoire Langouet
Grégoire Langouet first encountered Dzogchen and Tibetan Buddhism several years ago, after studying philosophy and religious studies – as well as the Tibetan language – at the Rangjung Yeshé Institute (Nepal). A doctoral student at UCLouvain, he compares certain aspects of Dzogchen with Neoplatonism, Plotinus in particular. He also co-directs the Vues de l’esprit publishing house.
Sophie Lemaître
Sophie is currently a librarian at a humanities university in the south of France. After studying philosophy and showing a strong interest in psychoanalysis, she discovered Buddhism and then Dzogchen in 2015. A graduate of the Khyentse Wangpo Institute, she is now deepening her knowledge and practice of Dzogchen.
Vincent Fijalkowski
Vincent discovered meditation as a child, but it was in his teens that he began to take a closer interest. This exploration led him to Buddhism and Dzogchen, which he then decided to study. After studying Chinese and Tibetan at Inalco, he continues his training today, notably with the Khyentse Wangpo Institute and the Dzogchen Today! translation committee.
Mélanie Despas
Involved in the contemporary adaptation of the Dzogchèn teachings, Mélanie alternates between retirement and working life. She supports her colleagues in the management and development of professional and associative projects, in particular the development of the La Sauveté site.
Tania Nicolet
Tania Nicolet worked in the tourism industry, then in the legal environment. Now graduated in accounting and with a background in project management, she puts her professional skills at the service of various Dharma-related projects. Tania followed, studied and practiced many Buddhist and Dzogchen teachings since 2010. Tania is also involved in the aspect of end-of-life support.
Estelle Mure
Director of fundraising and philanthropy, Estelle uses her skills to develop projects with a societal impact. Since 2011, she has been studying and practicing Buddhism and Dzogchen, notably as a student of the Khyentse Wangpo Institute. Since 2016, she has also been involved in accompanying people at the end of life and dedicated projects.
Carine Benoit
Carine works as a psychologist and psychotherapist in the fields of addictology and psychotraumatology. For several years she has been studying and training in the teachings of Buddhism and Dzogchen. She is involved in the Dzogchen Today! project and also contributes to the development of La Sauveté, a place dedicated to the preservation and practice of Dzogchen.
Stéphane Losey
Stéphane has worked for over 30 years as a specialist educator and professional integration specialist. Committed to end-of-life care and inter-traditional dialogue, he has been following the teachings of Mila Khyentse Rinpoche for nearly 15 years and is deepening his study of Dzogchen, convinced of the relevance of the Dzogchen Today project. Now retired, he moved to La Sauveté in 2021 to support the development of the meditation center.