Sandy Newhouse, Ph.D.’s Buddhist Dharma practice started in 1975 with Zen meditation, followed by several years of Vipassana meditation, settling into Tibetan Buddhism in 1978. She then studied & practiced with her main teacher, Geshe Jampel Thardo of the Geluk-pa lineage until his passing into tukdam in 2008.
She has a very deep heart connection to many other profound Geluk-pa lamas including H.H. Dalai Lama, Yondzin Ling Rinpoche & the 100th Ganden Tripa, & continued to predominantly practice in & serve this lineage until 2016, striving to find ways to help Westerners access these precious teachings.
She was given permission to teach Dharma by her life-long teacher, Geshe Thardo & had helped co-found a small Ri-me Dharma center in Charlottesville, Va. Around the time of completing a 3 mo. Shamatha Retreat with Alan Wallace, a strong connection developed with Karma Chagme’s precious Mountain Dharma teachings & she was drawn to Mahamudra meditation.
In 2016, she had the auspicious opportunity to read an interview of Lama Willa’s on the meaning of life as an interweaving of spiritual & social action to leave our precious world in better shape for the next generation, through which she found the precious Margha program.
Sandy found the natural awareness meditations to be exactly what she needed to help balance her overall practice. With gratitude for how the foundational practices were so skillfully laid out, she was granted permission to be a Mitra to start a Margha program in Charlottesville in 2018. Her co-Mitra, Roxanne joined a year later allowing the group to accommodate a larger number of participants, many of whom come from the local Ri-me Dharma center.
She is very grateful to her female teachers, Lama Willa & Lama Liz, as well as to all of NDF to be part of this precious sangha. Professionally Sandy has served as a clinical psychologist throughout her life and lives with her husband & 2 cats, Dharmie & April.
