Pieter Oosthuizen’s journey arcs from the wild edges of apartheid-era Johannesburg to the heart of contemplative practice. As a boy, he roamed the veld with a slingshot; by 19, he was an intelligence officer in the Angolan war. Afterward, he slung on a backpack and wandered east to a life-shifting encounter with a serene Tibetan porter in the Himalayan foothills, followed by the Dalai Lama in India and Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche back in South Africa – the first of many esteemed Buddhist teachers.
After earning his Law degree he again crossed oceans to Colorado in the U.S. Here he did stints as an Assistant Vice President at Naropa University and as Executive Director at Tara Mandala Retreat Center, where he later served as President of the Board for six years. Somewhere along the way Pieter also founded CELSUS Bio-Intelligence, an organic skincare company rooted in alchemical principles. Nowadays, as a Senior Teacher in Lama Tsultrim Allione’s lineage, Pieter teaches internationally on Skymind, Feeding Your Demons, meditation, and a variety of Vajrayana Buddhist practices, and writes about the non-dual nature of reality. Across his roles, he continues to ask the question at the core of Skymind: How can we meet this moment with with radical presence and embodied courage?
Charlotte Z. Rotterdam, is a Buddhist teacher, contemplative educator, and co-author of Skymind: The Radical Path of Open Awareness. Raised in New York City, Charlotte’s early fascination with consciousness led her to study philosophy and religion, culminating in a Masters in Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School. She is a senior teacher (Dorje Lopön) and lineage holder at Tara Mandala, authorized by Lama Tsultrim Allione. She has had the joy of studying with Lama Tharchin Rinpoche, Namkai Norbu Rinpoche, Lama Wangdu Rinpoche, Adzom Paylo Rinpoche, among others. She teaches internationally on meditation, compassion, and a variety of Vajrayana Buddhist practices. Charlotte is faculty at Naropa University where she also directs the Center for the Advancement of Contemplative Education and co-developed and teaches the Mindful Compassion Training. She has published essays in Mandala, Lion’s Roar, and Buddhadharma, and is a mother of two. Charlotte’s teaching and writing focus on making profound Buddhist insights accessible and transformative in contemporary life.
