Our Mission
Heart Sangha is a community dedicated to cultivating wisdom, compassion, and collective awakening. We offer meditation, dharma study, and spiritual friendship as pathways for transforming ourselves and the world.
Our practice speaks to healing our hearts that may feel broken amid so much suffering in our world. We invite one another to move awareness from the mind to the heart center, allowing the wisdom of emptiness to guide us.
Our Lineage
Heart Sangha is rooted in the Nyingma lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, one of Tibet’s oldest and most profound traditions.
Guru Padmasambhava
Yeshe Tsogyal
Machig Lapdron
Longchenpa
Jigme Lingpa
Dudjom Lingpa
Anam Chatral Choying Phuntsok
Choje Jigme Phuntsok
Lama Tsurlo
Lama Garwang
Khenpo Nangdzad Dorje
Khenpo Thubten Tsering Chöpel
We pay respect to the teachers whose realization and guidance continue to illuminate our path.
Our Teachers
Anam Thubten Rinpoche
Anam Thubten grew up in Tibet and at an early age began to practice in the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. Among his many teachers, his most formative guides were Lama Tsurlo, Khenpo Chopel, and Lama Garwang.
He is the founder and spiritual advisor of Dharmata Foundation and Kailash Fellowship, teaching widely in the U.S. and abroad. He is also the author of various articles and books in both the Tibetan and English language. His books in English include: Choosing Compassion, No Self No Problem, Into the Haunted Ground, and The Citadel of Awareness.
Through the essential wisdom of Buddhism and his personal experience on the spiritual path, Anam Thubten brings alive the timeless teachings and invites everyone to participate.
Sunisa Manning
Sunisa Manning is Heart Sangha’s guiding teacher. She was born and raised in Bangkok, Thailand, into a Theravada Buddhist family. When she was in college she found Tibetan Buddhism.
Sunisa lived in the Bay Area, practicing and studying the dharma under her teacher Anam Thubten. Her day jobs have included working in rural development in Southeast Asia; working with unhoused young people in Australia; as a teacher in Northern California; and publishing a novel on democracy and dictatorship in 1970s Thailand.
Sunisa was ordained by Anam Thubten in the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. She carries the Dudjom lineage, and teaches Chod.
As a married mother to two young boys, Sunisa teaches from her experience as a householder and mom.
Sunisa’s ordination by Anam Thubten at Dhumatala Temple in California
August 2024