Devendra Banhart is an internationally renowned musician considered a pioneer of the “freak folk” and “New Weird America” movements. Banhart has toured, performed, and collaborated with Vashti Bunyan, Yoko Ono, Os Mutantes, the Swans, ANOHNI, Caetano Veloso, and Beck, among others. His musical work exists symbiotically alongside his pursuits in the other fine arts including painting, poetry, and drawing. The Venezuelan American has released 11 albums. His drawings and paintings have appeared in galleries all over the world, including the Art Basel Contemporary Art Fair in Miami; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels; Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles; Nicodim Gallery; and Serralves.

Annabella Pitkin is associate professor of Buddhism and East Asian religions at Lehigh University. Her research focuses on Tibetan Buddhist modernity, Buddhist ideals of renunciation, miracle narratives, and Buddhist biographies. She received her BA from Harvard University and PhD in religion from Columbia University. She is the author of Renunciation and Longing: The Life of a Twentieth-Century Himalayan Buddhist Saint, which explores themes of non-attachment and teacher-student relationship in the life of Khunu Lama Tenzin Gyaltsen. More →

Dr. Nida Chenagtsang is a renowned Tibetan physician, scholar, and lineage holder of the Yuthok Nyingthig, the unique spiritual tradition within Tibetan medicine. Born in Amdo, Tibet, he began his medical training at the local hospital before earning his degree from Lhasa Tibetan Medical University in 1996. Alongside his medical studies, Dr. Nida immersed himself in Vajrayana Buddhism, receiving training from esteemed masters across all Tibetan Buddhist schools, with a focus on the Longchen Nyingthig, Dudjom Tersar, and Yuthok Nyingthig traditions. A well-known poet in his youth, he has published books and articles on Sowa Rigpa and Yuthok Nyingthig, as well as groundbreaking research on ancient Tibetan healing practices. As the founder and medical director of the Sowa Rigpa Institute, Dr. Nida continues to share the wisdom of Tibetan medicine worldwide.

Nicholas A. Christakis, MD, PhD, MPH, is the Sterling Professor of Social and Natural Science at Yale University. His work is in the fields of network science and biosocial science. He directs the Human Nature Lab and is the co-director of the Yale Institute for Network Science. He was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2006; the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2010; the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2017; and the National Academy of Sciences in 2024. 

Pamela Ayo Yetunde is a pastoral counselor in private practice. She is the co-editor of Black and Buddhist: What Buddhism Can Teach Us About Race Resilience, Transformation and Freedom and author of Casting Indra’s Net: Fostering Spiritual Kinship and Community and Dearly Beloved: Prince, Spirituality, and This Thing Called Life.