Dorje Lopön Chandra Easton

Dorje Lopön Chandra Easton is a Buddhist teacher, devotional chant leader, author, and translator rooted in Tibetan Buddhism and Dzogchen. She studied Buddhism and Tibetan language at the Library of Tibetan Works & Archives in Dharamsala and earned her degree in Religious Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara. In 2015, during the final day of the White Dakini Drubchen, she was empowered as Dorje Lopön (Vajra Teacher) of Tara Mandala by Lama Tsultrim Allione and given the name Lopön Yeshe Dawa Zangmo by H.E. Gochen Tulku Sang‑ngag Rinpoche.

She has been blessed to study with many Tibetan and Western teachers, including H.H. the 16th Karmapa, H.H. the 14th Dalai Lama, Lama Tsultrim Allione, Tulku Sang‑ngag Rinpoche, Lama Chönam, B. Alan Wallace, Venerable Gyatrul Rinpoche, Jennifer Welwood, Lama Pema Dorje Rinpoche, Drupon Lama Karma, Sogan Rinpoche, and A.dzom Paylo Rinpoche.

Her embodiment path began with Hatha Yoga in 1993, followed by extensive training with Sarah Powers and a decade of deep study with Shadow Yoga founders Shandor Remete and Emma Balnaves. She also trained in Tibetan Yoga—Trulkhor and Tummo—with Tulku Sang‑ngag Rinpoche and Lama Pema Dorje Rinpoche, integrating these practices to support healing and ease.

As Dorje Lopön of Tara Mandala, she helped design the 8‑year Gateway Program and serves on the Equity, Diversity & Inclusion, Prajna, and Executive Councils. She teaches nationally and internationally at centers including Tara Mandala, Tibet House US, Esalen, Menla, Mount Madonna, the San Francisco Dharma Collective, and The Berkeley Alembic. 

Her book Embodying Tara: Twenty‑One Manifestations to Awaken Your Innate Wisdom (Shambhala, 2023) bridges scholarship, devotion, and feminine wisdom. In 2017, she co-founded the 21 Taras Collective (www.21tarascollective.org) with Nina Rao and Genevieve Walker to record mantra music featured in the book.

More at www.chandraeaston.com