Middle World Alliance (MWA) was co-founded by Chhakka Bahadur Lama and Pilar de Reyes in 2019.
Chhakka and Pilar met in 2015 in Nepal’s Humla Valley while working to rebuild local dhami temples and establish a traditional Tibetan medical clinic with Humla Fund.
Chhakka Lama is from Burause, a Humla village in Nepal. After leaving his village at age ten, Chhakka led a nomadic life of tending sheep and yaks in the Himalayan mountains of Northwestern Nepal. At twenty-four, he became a forester to sustainably manage the region’s scarce resource of trees. In 2015, he was selected to be the Barguan village dhami by the community and local land spirits. Chhakka comes from a long lineage of Bön dhamis. As village dhami, his principal role is to ensure the harmonious relationship among land, people and the elements.
Pilar de Reyes lives in Central Mexico. An acupuncturist in private practice in New York for over two decades, she studied biodynamic agriculture and worked for years as a dairy goat farmer, beekeeper, and advocate for the honeybee population before finding her way to Classical Chinese Medicine, which she has practiced since 2003. She has studied and practiced Bön since 2002.
In 2018, Chhakka and Pilar traveled together to Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarovar in Tibet, circling the mountain in the counterclockwise direction traditional to Bön. The pilgrimage clarified something neither of them had fully articulated before: that partnerships between East and West, between land and people, might be necessary for the kind of healing they were both already doing separately. Middle World Alliance grew out of that recognition.
Together with the Humla village dhamis, Chhakka and Pilar created Gonpa Kshek Tuk Alliance, which is named after the land spirit that guards and protects Humla villagers. “Middle World Alliance” is the closest English translation for this partnership.
“The valley spirit never dies;
— Lao Tsu, Tao Te Ching
It is the woman, primal mother.
Her gateway is the root of heaven and earth.
It is like a veil barely seen.
Use it; it will never fail.”
Our Board
Our board brings together Indigenous Bön dhamis, community elders, and international partners united in support of the living traditions of Nepal’s Humla Valley. Together, we work toward healing the soul of the living planet.
