A scholar of Indian and Tibetan Buddhism, Christian theology, and comparative religion, Dr. Natanya has served in many capacities as a spiritual teacher, academic lecturer, translator and editor of Tibetan texts, scholarly writer, and retreat leader.
Following a nine-year career as a professional ballet dancer with both the New York City Ballet and the Royal Ballet of England, she earned an MA in Christian Systematic Theology at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California, and a PhD in Religious Studies from the University of Virginia. As part of her fieldwork, she lived in several Tibetan Buddhist monastic communities in India, particularly Dolma Ling, Sera Monastery, and Gyuto Tantric Monastery, receiving daily teachings in Tibetan on a variety of classical subjects. She has received a variety of pith instructions, teachings, oral transmissions, and empowerments from more than twenty Buddhist lineage holders from Tibet and Bhutan in the Geluk, Kagyu, Jonang, and Nyingma traditions.
With Dr. B. Alan Wallace, she is co-author and co-translator of Śamatha and Vipaśyanā: An Anthology of Pith Instructions, and has co-taught meditation retreats with Dr. Wallace around the world. In a Christian context, Eva co-authored Living Resurrected Lives: What It Means and Why It Matters with Veronica Mary Rolf. She has spent more than five years in solitary meditation retreats, and remains in residence at Miyo Samten Ling, guiding fellow retreatants in the details of contemplative training.
