Acharya Larry Mermelstein became a close student of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche in 1971 and he was later empowered as a senior teacher, or “acharya,” by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche. He has been the executive director of the Nalanda Translation Committee for over 30 years and is a long-time consulting editor to Shambhala Publications.