Middle World Alliance (MWA) was co-founded by Chhakka Bahadur Lama and Heidi Harding in 2019.
Chhakka and Heidi met in 2015 in Nepal’s Humla Valley while working to rebuild local shaman 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 shaman by the community and local land spirits. Chhakka comes from a long lineage of Bön shamans. As village shaman, his principal role is to ensure the harmonious relationship among land, people and the elements.
Heidi Harding is from the United States. Co-founder of Humla Fund and acupuncturist in private practice in New York, Heidi studied Biodynamic agriculture and worked as a dairy goat farmer, beekeeper, and advocate to restore the health and vitality of the honeybee population. Having practiced Classical Chinese Medicine since 2003, Heidi has a deep passion for healing the land and the body as an interconnected whole. She has been practicing Bön since 2002 and received the transmission of Bön Soul Healer (Drup Shen Ma) from Geshe Chongtul Rinpoche in 2015.
In 2018, Chhakka and Heidi journeyed to Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarovar in Tibet. Heidi was the first Western woman to circumambulate Mount Kailash in the arduous and rarely-traveled counterclockwise direction that is traditional in Bön. Significantly, this was the first time a Western woman and a Bön shaman walked the sacred kora together. During the pilgrimage, Chhakka and Heidi felt called by land spirits to help heal the relationship between humans and nature. Through their shared vision, it became clear that sacred partnerships—between East and West, male and female, humans and nature—are needed to effect healing and re-establish unity on the planet.
Together with the Humla village shamans, Chhakka and Heidi 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
We are a mix of indigenous Bön shamans, community elders, and foreigners located in the Humla Valley of Nepal. Together we are working towards healing the soul of the living planet.
