Please welcome our acclaimed teachers
on November 13-15
at Georgia FFA–FCCLA Center in Covington
Schedule Coming Soon
We're thrilled to announce an extraordinary year of teachings, as we warmly welcome Buddhist masters and practitioners from diverse traditions to share their wisdom, compassion, and unique practices with our community.
Venerable Maha Dam Phommasan
Venerable Maha Dam Phommasan is the abbot of Wat Lao Buddha Khanti in Snellville, Georgia, where he serves the Lao Buddhist community and the wider public through teachings, ceremonies, and compassionate care. Known for his humility and dedication to peace, he offers guidance rooted in the Theravada tradition and lived experience.
Ven. Maha Dam has also supported interfaith and peacebuilding efforts beyond the temple. He was an original participant in the Walk for Peace, joining when the pilgrimage began in Fort Worth, Texas, and later welcoming the Walk to his temple during its journey to Washington, D.C. His resilience and generosity—especially during his recovery from a serious accident during the pilgrimage—embody the very meaning of his temple’s name, Khanti (Pāli), which refers to patient endurance, forbearance, and gentle strength—qualities at the heart of Buddhist practice.
Venerable Priya Sraman
Venerable Priya Sraman currently serves as the Buddhist Chaplain at Emory University, where he supports Emory's diverse Buddhist and mindfulness communities through weekly gatherings, pastoral care, educational programs, and interfaith engagement as part of the university's multifaith chaplaincy team. Before coming to Emory, he spent four years as the Buddhist Chaplain at Tufts University, offering spiritual care, leading Dharma practice groups, and collaborating with local monastics to bring teachings to campus. An ordained Theravada bhikkhu who has lived and practiced across South and Southeast Asia, Ven. Priya brings a rare blend of classical training and contemporary insight. We are grateful to have him guiding our community once again-this Janurary alongside his brother, Venerable Sajalmegh.
Venerable Thubten Chonyi
Venerable Chonyi met Abbey founder and abbess Venerable Thubten Chodron in the mid-1990s, taking refuge with her at Dharma Friendship Foundation in Seattle in 1997. After completing a three-month Vajrasattva retreat, she made a deep commitment to study and practice the Dharma as a lay student. Her formal education was in theatre, and she worked for many years as a performer, publicist, fundraiser, and producer in the performing arts.
At the Abbey, Ven. Chonyi is mainly involved with publicity and inviting generosity. She occasionally shares Buddha’s teachings at the Abbey, online, and at Buddhist centers in the US and abroad.
Venerable Thubten Dekyi
Venerable Thubten Dekyi grew up in Olympia, WA and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Natural Resource Management and Wildlife Ecology from Washington State University. After joining in a one-month Vajrasattva retreat at the Abbey in 2019, she decided to take the leap and move to the Abbey, which she did in October 2019. She trained as an anagarika for 11 months, and then received novice ordination on October 7, 2020. At the Abbey, Ven. Dekyi continues to use her knowledge and passion of natural resource management to help restore the health of the Abbey’s forest, to reduce risk from wildfire, and to improve wildlife habitat. She received bhikshini ordination at Fo En Si Temple in Taiwan in March 2024.
Venerable Sister Ngo-Tam
Sister Ngo-Tam (Awaken-Mind) is a Vietnamese-American Zen Buddhist nun. She immigrated to the U.S. in 1989 and was ordained in 2010 at the Bao Chon Monastery in New Hamsphire by her root teacher, Venerable Tue Man, in the Bamboo Forest Vietnamese Zen Tradition. While practicing at the monastery in New Hamsphire and later in San Diego, California, Sister Ngo-Tam assisted with the Children Dharma Group on Sunday Program. Sister Ngo-Tam enjoys spending time with children and sharing short Dharma stories with children to bring joy and meanings to their practice. Sister Ngo-Tam just moved to Atlanta from California this past two years and is establishing a new practice center called Tam Chau Zen Monastery in Loganville, where she is serving as an abbess. She hopes to create a youth program at her new monastery in the near future and bring the Dharma alive for the younger generation.
Venerable Thích Nữ Hạnh Từ
Venerable Thích Nữ Hạnh Từ holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a Master of Divinity in Buddhist Chaplaincy. She currently resides at Long Sơn Temple in San Diego, CA and is dedicated to youth mentorship, Buddhist education, and community service.
During the 2020 pandemic, she founded the Thien Nhi Online Program to provide Buddhist teachings and Vietnamese language education to children across the United States and Canada and still active to this day. She also organizes retreats for youth, teens, and families, while supporting both youth and adult programs and services at the temple.
Through her work, Venerable Hạnh Từ encourages mindfulness, emotional resilience, social growth, and appreciation for Vietnamese culture and Buddhist values.