Why I Chose Open Awareness

Growing up in South Africa, Pieter Oosthuizen was always interested in the big existential questions and was unwilling to accept incomplete answers. After studying business and law, he traveled to places like India and Nepal. Along the way, he met incredible teachers — including the Dalai Lama — and found himself drawn to Tibetan Buddhism and pursuing a more nontraditional path than what he’d originally envisioned. “With meditation, there’s a sense of just coming home, relaxing into the present moment without trying to do anything about it,” he says. Pieter has been teaching various practices and retreats in Lama Tsultrim’s lineage in the U.S. and abroad since 2006, offering a blend of incisive insight and genuine compassion. He is the president of the board of Tara Mandala Buddhist Retreat Center and an adjunct faculty in the Contemplative Psychotherapy and Buddhist Psychology Program at Naropa University. In addition to Lama Tsultrim Allione, Pieter has studied with Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche, Lama Tharchin Rinpoche, Adzom Paylo Rinpoche, and others. He particularly enjoys teaching about feeding our demons to help us deal with obstacles.