Tessa Bielecki co-founded the Spiritual Life Institute and lived there as monk and Mother Abbess for almost 40 years. In 2005, she co-founded the Desert Foundation with Father Dave Denny, an informal circle of friends who explore the wisdom of the world’s deserts, focusing on peace and understanding between the three Abrahamic traditions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Tessa was one of the first teachers at Naropa University’s Buddhist-Christian dialogue in the 1980s, is the author of several books and CDs on St. Teresa of Avila, and recently recorded Wild at Heart for Sounds True. She teaches at Colorado College, gives lectures and retreats, participates in East-West dialogues, and writes.