Tsultrim Allione

Lama Tsultrim Allione is a Tibetan Buddhist teacher, author, and founder of Tara Mandala retreat center in Pagosa Springs, Colorado. She is known primarily for her work bringing dakini teachings and the sacred feminine into Western Buddhist practice, and for developing the Feeding Your Demons method, a psychological-spiritual practice based on the ancient Chöd tradition.

Allione works within the Tibetan Buddhist lineage, specifically drawing from the Vajrayana and the teachings of the dakinis—female embodiments of wisdom in Tibetan Buddhism. In the 1970s she became one of the first American women ordained as a Tibetan Buddhist nun, a distinction that placed her at the forefront of Western women engaging with Tibetan monasticism. Her approach integrates traditional Tibetan ritual forms with accessible, practice-based methods designed for lay practitioners in the West, particularly focusing on the role of the feminine principle in spiritual development.

She is the author of three books: Women of Wisdom, which documents the lives and teachings of six Tibetan Buddhist women practitioners; Feeding Your Demons, which presents her adaptation of the 1,000-year-old Chöd practice into a five-step process for working with inner obstacles; and Wisdom Rising, which explores the role of the feminine in contemporary spirituality. She also hosts the Wisdom Rising podcast, where she offers teachings on Buddhist philosophy, meditation, and practical applications of dharma.

Allione trained with Tibetan lamas after her ordination in the 1970s, studying in India and Nepal. She later disrobed, married, and raised children before returning to formal teaching and establishing Tara Mandala in 1993. The center occupies 700 acres in the San Juan Mountains and serves as a base for retreats, empowerments, and training in Tibetan Buddhist practices, particularly those associated with the dakini lineages and the deity Tara.

Her work has been featured in publications including Tricycle, Buddhadharma, and Lion's Roar. Tara Mandala has hosted thousands of retreat participants over three decades, and her books have been translated into multiple languages. She received the title of Lama in recognition of her teaching authority within the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. Allione has trained a cohort of facilitators in the Feeding Your Demons practice, extending the method into therapeutic and spiritual care settings internationally.

Tara Mandala continues to operate year-round programming, including ngondro training, deity practice intensives, and teachings on Chöd and the dakini path. Allione leads selected retreats and offers periodic online teachings through the Tara Mandala platform. Her current focus includes refining the transmission of dakini practices to Western students and supporting the next generation of teachers trained in her methods.

For practitioners seeking an embodied, feminine-centered approach to Tibetan Buddhism or a concrete method for transforming psychological patterns through ritual and visualization, Allione's teaching offers a practical bridge between ancient Vajrayana methods and contemporary life.