Luke Hanley

Luke first became interested in Tibetan Buddhism in high school when monks from Ganden Monastery visited his school. After graduating from the University of Utah with a degree in Psychology, he moved to Nepal and began studying at the Rangjung Yeshe Institute. After a year of study, Luke focused on various meditation practices for a number of years while living across south and southeast Asia and the United States. Eventually returning to RYI, Luke continued in the undergraduate and graduate programs and completed the Translator Training Program. Luke has taught Tibetan at RYI, School for International Training (SIT), and the University of Virginia.

Luke currently lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico with his wife Rinchen and their four children. Luke has interpreted for many Tibetan lamas, and translated texts across the nine vehicles of the Nyingma Tradition. From 2017–2020, his main project was translating a series of liturgies, sadhanas, practice instruction manuals, and sets of pith instructions from the Yangti Nagpo Cycle. In 2019, under the auspices of Khenpo Konchok Monlam, Luke began working with Thupten Gelek Bumang and formed the Ngoedrub Charbeb Translation Group. In addition to translating for the Khyentse Vision Project, Luke is also translating biographies from the Tulku Arik sub-lineage of the Khenpo Ngawang Pelzang Heart Essence Tradition.

Luke also works for the Padma Organization, a humanitarian and environmental non-profit, with projects around the globe. When not working, or on his cushion, Luke most enjoys being with his family, skiing, freediving, hiking, and helping with his kids’ cub scout and boy scout troops. Luke is also studying to become a psychotherapist, joining the long tradition of American Buddhists in the fields of western psychology.