Lama Shenpen Drolma, an American woman, was ordained in 1996 as a lama (or Buddhist teacher) by her teacher, Tibetan meditation master H.E. Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche (1930-2002.) She worked with him as he developed the Bodhisattva Peace Training (BPT), an innovative format to bring to a secular audience the Mahayana Buddhist training of the bodhisattva— the awakened warrior. Since becoming authorized by him in 1991 to teach the BPT, and drawing on her feminist and battered women’s activism in the 1960s and ‘70s, she has offered this training extensively, working with students, educators, community activists and those in the helping professions.

Lama Shenpen compiled and edited Chagdud Rinpoche’s BPT teachings into Change of Heart: The Bodhisattva Peace Training of Chagdud Tulku (2003), which incorporates many dialogues that took place between Chagdud Rinpoche and participants from a variety of religious, political, and occupational backgrounds.

In 1999, Lama Shenpen established Iron Knot Ranch, a retreat center in southern New Mexico, where she currently serves as resident lama and has developed the Bodhisattva Peace Institute to bring to fruition Chagdud Rinpoche’s vision of making the BPT widely available throughout the world. In 2019, she established Iron Knot Institute to address a growing need among educational and non-profit organizations for training and practice materials for the cultivation of wisdom and compassion in the face of adversity. Iron Knot Institute is also home to Iron Knot Press, established to publish teaching and training curriculums to support the work of Iron Knot Institute.

In 2021, Iron Knot Press published Lama Shenpen’s Sunlight on Shadows: Embracing Great Compassion. This book is based on a number of Bodhisattva Peace Trainings and Change of Heart Immersion Retreats taught by Lama Shenpen over the years. An inspiring practice support for those already on the path of the bodhisattva, it also serves as an accessible entrance for those newly exploring a spiritual approach to personal and social transformation.