Kelsang Rigpa (Will Fettig, MA 1998)
Kelsang Rigpa has recently been appointed as the Resident Teacher in Santa Barbara, California at Mahakankala Buddhist Center where he teaches Buddhist philosophy, psychology and meditation to help people solve their daily problems and find lasting happiness from within.
After completing the M.A. program in Psychology at West Georgia, Will completed a middle school education certification program at West Georgia and went on to teach middle school English in Long Island, NY for five years. During this time, Will coached middle school track and was the assistant track and cross country coach at Hofstra University. At Hofstra, Will earned a Master's degree in Physical Education and Sport Science in order to explore the possibility of integrating martial arts training into public school education. In 2002, Will began a committed study of Kadampa Buddhism, and in the summer of 2004 he was ordained as a Kadampa Buddhist monk, where he was given the name "Kelsang Rigpa" by his spiritual teacher, Geshe Kelsang Gyatso meditation master and founder of the New Kadampa Tradition of Mahayana Buddhism (http://www.dipamkara.org/kadampabuddhism.html). Rigpa, as he is now called, taught Buddhist psychology, meditation and philosophy for three years on Long Island, and has recently been appointed Resident Teacher in Santa Barbara, California at Mahakankala Buddhist Center (http://www.MeditationInSantaBarbara.org).
Rigpa says “Through studying transpersonal psychology at West Georgia, I discovered that I wanted to devote my life to helping others through teaching authentic spiritual practices. Because of the breadth of studies offered at UWG, I was able then to identify and commit to one spiritual path, Kadampa Buddhism, that spoke deeply to me.”
Rigpa Kelsang
kelsangrigpa@yahoo.com