Friends of the Heart Faculty

Founding Teacher
Catherine Rathbun (Lama Jetsun Yeshe)

Catherine's meditation training began in 1969. Since then she has studied with His Holiness XVI Karmapa, head of the Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, and with pre-eminent individuals like Ven. Kalu Rinpoche, Ven. Karma Thinley Rinpoche, Ven. Namgyal Rinpoche and John Coleman. She received her traditional teaching name, Lama Jetsun Yeshe, from Ven. Karma Thinley Rinpoche, a lineage master of the Sakya and Kagyu traditions of Tibetan Buddhism, in 2002.

Catherine taught meditation studies at York University for seven years (1989 to 1997). With a background in dance -- she was a member of the National Ballet Company of Canada from 1962 to 1963 -- and a modern dance career in England (1967-69), she frequently incorporates creative movement exercises into meditation studies as a way to bypass the tight hold that the Western intellect has on one's development.

The Buddha called meditation bhavana or "mind cultivation". To effect this refinement of consciousness, Catherine uses a variety of techniques to help students develop their potential. Encouraged by her teachers to begin teaching meditation in 1976, she has students in Canada, the United States, New Zealand, Australia, and Europe. Her principal residence for the past 20 years has been Canada and for most of that time she has been teaching by the old method, with word of mouth the only advertisement of her work.

Recently, Catherine has become more public, sensing the need for a teaching that will speak to these times. Thus she teaches from her experience as a lay meditator, as a woman and as a parent. As well, she offers the Great Work of conscious unfoldment free from the weight of religious belief or guru worship.

Friends of the Heart Instructors...

• Catherine Jetsun Yeshe (Spiritual Advisor)
• Gwen Robart
• Myra Willis
• Richard Johnson