Sam Bercholz

Samuel Bercholz became a student of Buddhism in 1967 at the age of twenty while attending college in San Francisco. He studied with Venerable Joe Miller at the Buddhist Lecture Hall (the oldest Buddhist temple in North America) and then was ordained a Buddhist priest in the Korean Zen tradition. At about the same time he founded (with his dharma friend Michael Fagan) Shambhala Booksellers in Berkeley, California and shortly thereafter, Shambhala Publications. By auspicious coincidence the first book Sam issued was Meditation in Action by Chögyam Trungpa, a young Tibetan teacher living in Scotland. He then co-sponsored Rinpoche's visit to San Francisco in 1970. They became friends and not long thereafter Sam became a disciple of Trungpa Rinpoche. Sam and his wife Hazel hosted Rinpoche's early visits to the San Francisco Bay area. During that time Trungpa Rinpoche encouraged Sam to teach Buddhadharma and to give meditation instruction. Though Sam felt beneath the task, Trungpa admonished him that it was not a matter of desire or ego, but rather, "Someone has to do it!" From there on Sam began teaching at various centers in North America and Europe.

In 1976 Sam and family moved (together with Shambhala Publications) to Boulder at the invitation of Trungpa Rinpoche. Sam was asked to join the Vajradhatu and Nalanda board of directors. For many years he was the director in charge of Vajradhatu Publications and Archives. He taught at Vajradhatu Seminaries and was also one of the first Shambhala Training directors. He also served as trustee of the Naropa Institute.

Sam notes his good fortune to have received teachings and empowerments from many of the great contemporary Tibetan teachers of the Kagyü and Nyingma lineages. He has worked closely with Trungpa Rinpoche and numerous other Tibetan writers and translators in developing, publishing and disseminating their teachings.

Shambhala Publications, of which he is the president and editor-in-chief, has become the leading publisher of Buddhist books in the western world. Sam also works with the Shambhala Sun magazine. He is co-editor (with Sherab Chodzin Kohn) of the book, Entering the Stream: An Introduction to the Buddha and his Teachings, which has been translated into numerous languages.