Lama Surya Das has spent 40 years studying with the great spiritual masters of Asia, eight of them in a cloistered Tibetan retreat. Affectionately called “the American Lama” by the Dalai Lama, he is an authorized lama in the Tibetan Buddhist order and founder of the Dzogchen Center. Lama Surya Das is the author of the international bestseller Awakening the Buddha Within: Tibetan Wisdom for the Western World and 12 other books and is often featured in the mainstream media, including his blog at the Huffington Post. He is also a published poet, translator, chant master, and with the Dalai Lama, founder of the international Western Buddhist Teacher’s Conference.