Linda Pritzker

Linda Pritzker (born 1953) is an American lama in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, author, and co-founder of the Namchak Foundation and Namchak Retreat Ranch in Missoula, Montana. She is a member of the Pritzker family, known for the Hyatt Hotel fortune, and is also known by the name Lama Tsomo.

Early life

Pritzker was born in 1953 in Oberlin, Ohio, the second of three children born to Jewish-American businessman, Robert Pritzker, and Audrey Gilbert. She has two siblings: Jennifer N. Pritzker (b. James, 1950), a retired Lt Colonel in the U.S. Army and founder of the Pritzker Military Library, and Karen Pritzker (b. 1958).

Her parents divorced in 1979. In 1981, her mother remarried Albert B. Ratner, the co-chairman of Cleveland-based real estate developer Forest City Enterprises. In 1980, her father remarried to Irene Dryburgh with whom he had two children: Matthew Pritzker and Liesel Pritzker Simmons.

Career

After earning a master's degree in Counseling Psychology and working as a psychotherapist for several years, Pritzker began a spiritual path to Tibetan Buddhism.

Pritzker was ordained a lama in February 2005 by Tulku Sangak Rinpoche, a Tibetan meditation master and world holder of the Namchak Lineage, a branch of the Nyingma path of Tibetan Buddhism. She began studying with Rinpoche in 1995 and became fluent in Tibetan. Her journey to Buddhist practices has been documented by ABC News' Dan Harris in his podcast 10% Happier.

She is the author of The Princess Who Wept Pearls: The Feminine Journey in Fairy Tales and Why is the Dalai Lama Always Smiling? A Westerner's Introduction and Guide to Tibetan Buddhist Practice with a foreword written by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Why is the Dalai Lama Always Smiling? was a 2016 silver medal winner in the Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPY Awards)

Today, much of Pritzker's work revolves around the Namchak Foundation. While the Namchak Retreat Ranch is still under construction, Namchak has begun teaching students an introduction to meditation through the "Always Smiling" eCourse.

Pritzker has been listed on the Forbes 400. As of October 2016, she was listed at 374 with a net worth of $1.77 billion.

Personal life

Pritzker is divorced and has three children. She lives in Missoula, Montana. She is a Tibetan Buddhist.

Publications

• Why is the Dalai Lama Always Smiling? A Westerner's Introduction and Guide to Tibetan Buddhist Practice
• The Princess Who Wept Pearls: The Feminine Journey in Fairy Tales
• “Ani Tsering Wangmo: A Life of Merit” in Lion’s Roar Newsletter, March 2010.
• “Coming Home” in Originally Blessed. Oakland, CA: Creation Spirituality Communities, 2008.
• “Dharmasala” in Lion’s Roar Newsletter, August 2007.
• “Shedra” in Lion’s Roar Newsletter, February 2006.