Gonzalo Brito 

Gonzalo Brito is a clinical psychology at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and has a doctorate’s degree in psychology from the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology in Palo Alto, United States. Interested in the integration of meditation and psychology since 1999, he did a three months retreat in Plum Village with Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh in 2000 and has practiced within the Buddhist tradition since then. In his doctoral thesis in psychology, Gonzalo focused on the effects of compassion training on both a personal and an interpersonal context. He then studied at the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education of Stanford University (CCARE), being the first certified instructor of Compassion Cultivation Training  (CCT), and subsequently became the director of the CCT teacher training program for the Spanish speaking world. In the meantime, he has trained more than one hundred CCT instructors in more than a dozen Spanish speaking countries.

Gonzalo has a postgraduate degree from the University of Derby, UK, in Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT) which he obtained under the supervision of Prof. Paul Gilbert. Besided his work as a clinical psychologist and teaching hundreds of mental health professionals in the module of CFT, Gonzalo has been offering workshops and seminars on mindfulness and compassion in more than ten countries and four continents.

Jakob Leschly

Jakob Leschly was born in Denmark and developed an interest in Buddhism at a young age, taking refuge with Ven. Kalu Rinpoche in 1974. He traveled to India and Nepal first in the mid and the late 1970s, meeting and studying mainly with Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, as well as other great lamas, including Dudjom Rinpoche, Tulku Pema Wangyal Rinpoche, Jigme Khyentse Rinpoche, and others. 

Jakob did a three-year retreat at Chanteloube in Dordogne, France from 1980–1984, and lived in Dordogne until 1990. He has collaborated in several translations, including The Life of Shabkar and Wondrous Dance of Illusion: The Autobiography of Khenpo Ngawang Palzang. He has also served as interpreter for numerous lamas. Since 1993 Jakob has primarily served and studied with Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, and has translated various works of philosophy and practice instructions, including an early translation of Candrakīrti’s Madhyamakāvatāra. Since 1998, he has worked as an instructor in Buddhist theory and practice for Siddhartha’s Intent, and during this time also completed a BA in Tibetology at the University of Copenhagen. Jakob has spent many years in France, Italy, India, Nepal, the United States, and his native Denmark, and has also traveled in Tibet. He presently lives in New South Wales, Australia.