The Centre

The Founding of the Centre

On 27 July 2017, the venerable H.E. A.dzom Rinpoche suggested that Sherab Gyatso and friends should create a Dharma centre in Switzerland to disseminate and practise the nondual teachings of the ancient Atiyoga or Dzogchen tradition and lineage. On 23 April, 2018, Rinpoche gave the centre the name ‘Dzogchen Nyingthig Vidyadhara’, which means ‘Awareness-Bearer of the Heart Essence of Great Perfection’.

Acharya Sherab Gyatso, Vidyāsāgar

Our humble Dzogchen Nyingthig Vidyadhara centre is committed to the practice of Atiyoga under the guidance of A.dzom Rinpoche, his transmission and practice lineage. Sherab Gyatso, also known as Acharya Vidyāsāgar or simply as Acharya, is a student of A.dzom Rinpoche. Born in Switzerland in 1984, he is an Acharya in Sanskrit with a long history of learning from great Indian scholars and masters of Advaita-Vedānta or nondual Vedānta as well as its tāntric tradition known as Śrīvidyā. He learnt the fundamentals of Vipassana under the guidance of the realised Theravada Buddhist teacher Ajahn Tong Sirimangalo. His initial studies took place at Sri Kailās Ashram in Rishikesh, India, where he underwent several years of traditional education as a novice monastic during his early teenage years. Among others, he studied Sanskrit and Advaita under the renowned scholars Sri Swami Vidyānanda Giri and Acharya Siddhartha Krishna. After completing traditional studies, he studied comparative religion at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland, graduating with an M.A. He continued doctoral studies in Cultural Studies and Psychology. Today, he teaches Sanskrit and meditation in Switzerland. He has co-authored several books with Acharya Siddhartha Krishna, including a fresh translation of the Yogasutras of Patanjali in a signature edition with beautiful illustrations by a South Indian artist, the Bhagavad-Gita, the Ramayana, and the Guru-Gita – published by Nightingale.

Before Sherab Gyatso began his spiritual practice of Atiyoga under A.dzom Rinpoche, he could have never imagined the efficacy of this living, blazing tradition of nondual wisdom. His ever-evolving understanding of Atiyoga is that of a living transmission carrying forward pith instructions and exceptionally powerful ancient Indo-Tibetan yogic and tāntric practices to realise one’s own true nature as the primordially pure, clear light. His approach is experience-based and non-sectarian, seeing how all the Dharma traditions point the finger at the essential truth of nonduality. He has the highest regard for Dzogchen due to its focus on non-conceptual, effortless practice, unconditional compassion, unexcelled techniques and crystal-clear fruits. At the behest of A.dzom Rinpoche, Sherab Gyatso began to teach and spread the Dharma in Switzerland from the year 2017 on. In 2019, during a personal meeting, A.dzom Rinpoche conferred the teachers’ empowerment and requested Sherab Gyatso to share the Lama’s story and teachings according to the disposition of students.

Chöying Drolma or Dharmadhātu Tārā

Chöying Drolma is a traditional Nātya and Lāsya expert and mother to the Dzogchen Nyingthig Vidyadhara Centre. With the blessings of Jetsunma, she teaches Dākinī Movement, Mudrās and Dance.

Chöying Drolma teaches that our bodies are energetic manifestations of the primordial unity of stillness and dynamic movement. Awareness through movement enables us to centre in our bodies and liberate our emotions, thus allowing them to express their original purity of purpose. With more than twenty years of experience, Chöying Drolma shares the ancient, classical Indian lāsya temple dance embodying worship through movement and mudrās, the special hand gestures of the sacred feminine, the dākinīs, and the bodhisattvas. She teaches powerful sequences such as the Birth of Tārā and the Lotus Dance.

In their work, Sherab Gyatso and Chöying Drolma are aided among others by invaluable helpers Dechen Nyima, Namkha Drolma, Jangchub Chödrön, and Samten Tsomo, who help to organise retreats in the United Kingdom and Switzerland.