Linda Pritzker

Linda Pritzker<ref name=LindaPritzker.com>Template:Cite web</ref>), also known as Lama Tsomo, is an American lama in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. She is a spiritual teacher, author, philanthropist, and co-founder of the Namchak Foundation and Namchak Retreat Ranch<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> in Missoula, Montana where she currently resides. She is a member of the Pritzker family, known for the Hyatt Hotel fortune. As of July 2018, her net worth was estimated at $1.77 billion.<ref name=ForbesBillionaires />

Early life

Pritzker was born September 1953 in Oberlin, Ohio, the second of three children of Jewish-American businessman Robert Pritzker<ref name="2006forbes">Linda Pritzker, Forbes (October 2006)</ref><ref Name=CNNunveiling>Template:Cite news</ref> and Audrey Gilbert.<ref name=Yale>Yale University: "Slow readers, creative thinkers: gift will spur dyslexia studies - New center will explore links between reading problems, creativity" retrieved 21 December 2012</ref><ref name=ClevelandHistory>Encyclopedia of Cleveland History: "Biography of the Ratner Family" retrieved 21 December 2012</ref> She has two full siblings: Jennifer N. Pritzker (b. James, 1950),<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> a retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army and founder of the Pritzker Military Library,<ref name=MilitaryLibrary>Pritzker Military Library website: "Colonel (IL) J. N. Pritzker, IL ARNG (Retired)" retrieved 21 December 2012</ref> and Karen Pritzker (b. 1958).

Her parents divorced in 1979.<ref name=CNNunveiling /> In 1980, her father married Irene Dryburgh; their children are Matthew Pritzker and Liesel Pritzker Simmons.<ref name=CNNunveiling /> The following year, her mother married Albert B. Ratner, co-chairman of Cleveland-based real estate developer Forest City Enterprises.<ref name=Yale /><ref name=ClevelandHistory />

Career

After earning a master's degree in Counseling Psychology and working as a psychotherapist for several years, Pritzker began a spiritual path to Tibetan Buddhism.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 1995, she began studying with Tibetan meditation master Tulku Sangak Rinpoche and became fluent in Tibetan.<ref name=terkel>Template:Cite news</ref> Rinpoche is world holder of the Namchak Lineage, a branch of the Nyingma path of Tibetan Buddhism.<ref name=NamchakWhoIs>Template:Cite web</ref>

Pritzker was ordained a lama<ref name=ForbesBillionaires>Forbes: The World's Billionaires - Linda Pritzker September 2020</ref> in February 2005 by Rinpoche. ABC News' Dan Harris documented Lama Tsomo's journey to Buddhist practices in his podcast 10% Happier.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Today, Lama Tsomo's work revolves around the initiatives of the Namchak Foundation. While parts of the Namchak Retreat Ranch are under construction,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> the retreat has several offerings for students looking to begin or strengthen their meditation practice including two online courses, guided meditations, Learning Circles, and several live events per year.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Publications

Lama Tsomo is author of the Ancient Wisdom for our Times Tibetan Buddhist Practice Series,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> including Book 1: Why Bother: An Introduction,<ref name="Book 1">Template:Cite book</ref> Book 2: Wisdom and Compassion (Starting with Yourself),<ref name="Book 2">Template:Cite book</ref> and Book 3: Deepening Wisdom, Deepening Connection.<ref name="Book 3">Template:Cite book</ref>

Lama Tsomo also wrote Why is the Dalai Lama Always Smiling? A Westerner's Introduction and Guide to Tibetan Buddhist Practice.<ref name="Why is the Dalai Lama Always Smiling?">Template:Cite book</ref> The foreword was written by the Dalai Lama and won a silver medal in the 2016 Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPY Awards).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Other books by Lama Tsomo include The Princess Who Wept Pearls: The Feminine Journey in Fairy Tales.<ref name="The Princess Who Wept Pearls">Template:Cite book</ref> She co-authored The Lotus & The Rose: A Conversation Between Tibetan Buddhism & Mystical Christianity<ref name="The Lotus & the Rose">Template:Cite book</ref> and was a contributor to The Dharma of Dogs: Our Best Friends as Spiritual Teachers edited by Tami Simon.<ref name="The Dharma of Dogs">Template:Cite book</ref>

Personal life

Lama Tsomo is divorced and has three children: Rachel, Roland, and Rosemary.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Publications

• Deepening Wisdom, Deepening Connection (Ancient Wisdom for Our Times Tibetan Buddhist Practice Series)<ref name="Book 3" />
• Wisdom and Compassion (Starting with Yourself) (Ancient Wisdom for Our Times Tibetan Buddhist Practice Series)<ref name="Book 2" />
• Why Bother?: An Introduction (Ancient Wisdom for Our Times Tibetan Buddhist Practice Series)<ref name="Book 1" />
• Why is the Dalai Lama Always Smiling? A Westerner's Introduction and Guide to Tibetan Buddhist Practice<ref name="Why is the Dalai Lama Always Smiling?" />
• The Lotus & The Rose: A Conversation Between Tibetan Buddhism & Mystical Christianity, co-author with Matthew Fox<ref name="The Lotus & the Rose"/>
• The Dharma of Dogs: Our Best Friends as Spiritual Teachers, contributing author, edited by Tami Simon<ref name="The Dharma of Dogs"/>
• The Princess Who Wept Pearls: The Feminine Journey in Fairy Tales<ref name="The Princess Who Wept Pearls"/>
• "10% Happier with Dan Harris" Podcast, August 2017<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• "Metta Hour with Sharon Salzberg" Podcast, October 2018<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• "Buddha at the Gas Pump" Podcast, May 2018<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• "The Secular Buddhist" Podcast, June 2016<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• "Synchronicity podcast" May 2016<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• "Ani Tsering Wangmo: A Life of Merit" in Lion's Roar Newsletter, March 2010.
• "Coming Home" in Originally Blessed. Oakland, CA: Creation Spirituality Communities, 2008.
• "Dharmasala" in Lion's Roar Newsletter, August 2007.
• "Shedra" in Lion's Roar Newsletter, February 2006.