A garden is tended by gardeners. This page introduces the people behind the Garden of Maitreya; who we are, where we come from, who has guided us, and what we are trying to build together in this city.
THE COORDINATOR
Elena Veronica Anghelescu, known in the Dharma as Sonam Drölma; holds two doctoral degrees from the University of Bucharest and works as an analyst and researcher at Société Générale Global Solution Centre Romania. By formation she is a person of languages and of music, drawn to the precision both disciplines demand. She is a practitioner in the Gelugpa and Vajrayana traditions, and coordinates the Garden of Maitreya, overseeing research, translation, textual analysis, and the community’s editorial work, including the academic journal registered under ISSN 3044-8972.
Her guiding teachers in the Gelugpa tradition are Geshe Jampa Gelek (Geshe Lharampa, Istituto Lama Tsongkhapa, Italy); who gave us our name and blessed the stupa project from the beginning, Venerable Tenzin Gendun (Nalanda Monastery, France); our resident spiritual guide for the Romanian FPMT community, a monk and painter of rare gentleness, and Lotsawa Sherab Sherpa (Istituto Lama Tsongkhapa, Italy); FPMT-registered teacher and translator whose Lam Rim teachings have been transcribed and preserved in our journal. Her study of the Tibetan language began with Anastasia Stoliarova, a graduate of the Lotsawa Rinchen Zangpo Translator Programme, and continues with Geshe Sonam Tenpa at the same school.
From neighbouring traditions she has received teachings and blessings from Khenpo Karma Wangyel of the Nyingma tradition, and His Eminence Palzang Rinpoche and Garchen Rinpoche of the Kagyu Drikung tradition; encounters that have shaped her practice and the community’s openness to all lineages.
OUR COLLEAGUES IN ROMANIA
We are the youngest of three FPMT-affiliated study groups in Romania and consider our sister communities branches of the same tree. Thubten Saldron leads the White Tara Study Group in Pitești; steady, generous, and a dear Dharma sister. Marius Micu coordinates the White Mahakala Study Group in Cluj-Napoca and is also the architect behind the Stupa at Tranișu.
Together, we span the country from west to east, sharing teachers, resources, and the solidarity of people doing something rare.
THE BUCHAREST COMMUNITY
Our community is diverse: different ages, backgrounds, entry points, levels of experience. Some have practised for decades; others are arriving for the first time. We welcome everyone. We measure commitment, if we measure it at all, by kindness.
The only investment we will ever ask of you is time; time to sit, time to study, time to show up. The teachings are free. They will always be free.
Come as you are. The garden has room.
🙏
— Garden of Maitreya, Bucharest
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