Elio Guarisco was born in Varese, Italy on 5 August 1954 and spent his childhood in Como. After an artistic education, he moved to Switzerland where for 10 years, from 1976 to 1986, he learned the spoken and classical Tibetan language, and deepened his knowledge of philosophy and meditation. At that time he was among the founders of the Tibetan Buddhist Centers Ghepel Ling and Land of the Dakinis (in Milan). Invited by Kalu Rinpoche, eminent meditation teacher of the Kagyu tradition, Elio moved to Darjeeling in India, where he lived for over 20 years, working on the translation of a great encyclopedia of Indo-Tibetan knowledge known as Sheja Kunkhyab (Shes bya kun khyab) written by Kongtrul Lodrö Taye. In this project he was the principal translator of the following volumes: Myriad Worlds, Buddhist Ethics, Systems of Buddhist Tantra, and The Elements of Tantric Practice published by the American publishing house, Snow Lion. In 1986 Elio joined the Dzogchen Community of Chögyal Namkhai Norbu. During his 20 years in India Elio continued to actively collaborate with the international Dzogchen Community, especially with the Shang Shung Institute for the preservation of Tibetan culture of which he is a founding member. Since 2003, Elio has been one of the main translators for the Ka-ter project launched by the Shang Shung Institute for the translation of ancient texts of the Dzogchen teaching, and has conducted training courses for translators from the Tibetan language. Fluent in colloquial and classical Tibetan, he is one of the foremost translators in this field. Elio Guarisco has worked on various translations from Tibetan for the Shang Shung Institute and Publications, including some books written by Chögyal Namkhai Norbu on Tibetan medicine and other topics. His translations include: La Vita e L’Insegnamento di Un Maestro Tibetano, Le Agiografie degli 84 Maestri Tantrici dell’Antica India, La Biografia di Kunga Lekpa, Myriad Worlds, Buddhist Ethics, Systems of Buddhist Tantras, Elements of Tantric Practice, Nascere, vivere e morire, The Life Story of Shakya Shri, Creative Vision and Inner Reality, The Tibetan Book of the Dead, as well as works on Tibetan medicine such as: The Silver Mirror, Universal Benefit: the Practice of Kunye the Tibetan Massage, The Tibetan System of Moxabustion, and the three volumes Elements for the Study of Tibetan Medicine by Dr. Thubten Phuntsog, a basic text used for the study of Tibetan Medicine at the Shang Shung Institute in Italy.

Adriano Clemente is the main translator for the project “Complete Works of Chögyal Namkhai Norbu.” Adriano was born in Lecce, Italy, on 5 January 1958 and grew up in Naples. He met Chögyal Namkhai Norbu in 1975, and was part of the original group of students who received the first Dzogchen teachings in 1976 at the Palestra on Via Palasciano in Naples. That same year, he joined the University of Oriental Studies in Naples, graduating in 1983 with a thesis on the Dzogchen Bönpo text Dran pa gser gdams by gShen sras lha rje (13th century). At that time he started working on translations of Tibetan texts, mainly authored by Chögyal Namkhai Norbu, such as Drung, Deu, and Bon, for which he did extensive research in the ancient Bön tradition, and Yantra Yoga: The Tibetan Yoga of Movement. He compiled and edited Dzogchen: The Self-Perfected State, and is the author, together with Chögyal Namkhai Norbu, of The Supreme Source, a pioneer work on the tradition of Dzogchen semde, in particular focusing on the Kun byed rgyal po tantra. He is mainly responsible for translation of the Longsal cycle of teachings and of the Santi Maha Sangha training. Since 2003, Adriano Clemente has also worked for the Ka-ter Translation Project of the Shang Shung Institute Austria.

Jim Valby (born 1946) is a scholar and translator of Tibetan Buddhist texts. He was a student of Namkhai Norbu. He graduated from Middlebury College with a Physics degree and worked as an engineer. He earned Masters and Doctorate degrees in Tibetan Buddhism focusing on Shrisingha, Vimalamitra, and computers at the University of Saskatchewan under Professor Herbert Guenther. In 1982 he participated in his first retreat with Chögyal Namkhai Norbu. Since 1989 he has lived in Western Massachusetts, working on translations from Tibetan, transcripts of Chögyal Namkhai Norbu retreats, and other Dzogchen Community projects. He is an authorized meditation instructor within the Dzogchen Community of Namkhai Norbu. Since 2003 he has also worked for the Ka-ter Translation Project.

Born and raised in Italy, Fabio Andrico is an internationally recognized expert on Yantra Yoga. He is one of the closest students of Chögyal Namkhai Norbu, who introduced Yantra Yoga to the West in the early 1970s. Andrico, who initially studied Hatha Yoga in India and graduated in Oriental studies at University of Naples “L’Orientale,” has been learning, practicing, teaching, and writing about Yantra Yoga since the late 1970s. He regularly conducts courses, workshops, and teacher trainings around the world, including Kripalu, Esalen, and Yoga Tree in the USA and Yoga Federation in Russia, and has appeared in yoga DVDs such as The Eight Movements of Yantra Yoga, BreAthe, and Tibetan Yoga of Movement, Levels 1 and 2. He is the author of Breathe As You Are: Harmonious Breathing for Everyone and collaborated on the book Yantra Yoga: The Tibetan Yoga of Movement.

Laura Evangelisti approached Yantra Yoga for the first time in the 80s through the teachings of her Master Chögyal Namkhai Norbu, from whom she learned the techniques of this ancient Tibetan tradition of Yoga. Authorized in 1994 to teach internationally, she has taught courses in various countries to introduce Yantra Yoga to new students, as well as led many teacher trainings. Accurate and attentive to detail, her mission is to communicate the essence of this teaching in order to maintain and preserve its unique characteristics, along with the benefits and the beauty that comes from experiencing the synchronization of movement, breath and rhythm. Laura also teaches Kumar Kumari, a form of Yantra Yoga designed specifically for children between 5 and 12 years. She has collaborated on the book Yantra Yoga: the Tibetan Yoga of Movement, and on various publications by Shang Shung Editions.
 She appeared on the dvd Tibetan Yoga of Movement: Perfect Rhythm of Life Levels 1 & 2. He also edited the text Kumar Kumari, Yantra Yoga for boys and girls and the video Prenatal Yantra Yoga (Shang Shung Publications).

Prima Mai was born in Germany in 1962 and studied Communication Design in Hamburg. She left there in 1987 to live and work in Spain as a contemporary artist. It was in that period that she chose her artist name. She met Chögyal Namkhai Norbu in 1989 and moved to Italy in 1990. Prima learned the Vajra Dance directly from Rinpoche and accompanied him for several years in his travels to assist in making the Vajra Dance known during Rinpoche’s seminars and retreats. Prima Mai is one of the two main international Vajra Dance teachers appointed by Rinpoche with the authorization to train new instructors of the Vajra Dance. Since 1992 she has been giving courses worldwide and preparing related materials for publications and the general development of the Vajra Dance. She speaks German, English, Spanish, and Italian as well as a little French. Her other general interests are alternative healing, new science and technology, music, and art. She has lived with her companion in Camogli, Italy, since 2001.

For more than twenty years, Adriana Dal Borgo has been teaching contemplative dance and methods of the awareness of movement, harmonization of energy and the practice of awareness through sound and dance, with courses intended for expert dancers and beginners alike. She was born in Venice and possesses a degree in Psychology with a specialization in Psychotherapy. She met the Dzogchen teaching (Atiyoga) of the Master, Chögyal Namkhai Norbu, from whom she learned the Vajra Dance and, later on, the Khaita Joyful Dances. Dancer and choreographer, she received the assignment from her Master to teach these dances and train other instructors. She has overseen several publications and audio videos which go more deeply into the different aspects of the dances. She directs Khaita Dance courses and events, with shows and workshops in various countries. Up until now, Adriana has held hundreds of courses and trained instructors all over the world, enabling the discovery, by her students, of the joyful experience that the dance brings.

Winner of several literary prizes, Alfredo Colitto is best known to the general public for his historical thrillers Cuore di ferro, I discepoli del fuoco and Il libro dell’angelo, which have been translated into seven languages and are being published in 21 countries. In 2022 Mondadori published Il segreto dell’alchimista and republished the previous three. With La porta del Paradiso, to be followed by La compagnia della morte and Peste, he moved out of the thriller field and into that of the historical novel tout court. Alongside his activity as a writer, he also works as a translator for some of Italy's major publishing houses.

Norma (or Naomi) Levine was born near Montreal, Canada and after completing her graduate degrees in Drama and Literature from McGill and Toronto Universities, moved to London UK in the 70’s. Her thesis on a British playwright, brought her to Hay-on-Wye in the Black Mountains of Wales where she dropped out of academic life, opened up the first natural food shop, and turned on to Buddhism after meeting the 16th Karmapa. She lived for five years at Sherabling Monastery, the seat of His Eminence Tai Situ Rinpoche, in Himachal Pradesh North India, practising meditation, and became the companion/consort of the exiled spiritual king of Bhutan. On returning from India in 1986, she established a web based mail order business, Windhorse Imports to provide Buddhist meditation artefacts to a growing community. She has travelled extensively in Nepal, Bhutan, Sikkim, Ladakh, Tibet and Arunachal Pradesh; and organised pilgrimages to Mt. Kailash in Western Tibet and the hidden land of Pemako in Arunachal Pradesh (NE India). She is the author of 5 books on Buddhist themes and has written for the major London newspapers. She now lives in Malvern, Worcestershire, and devotes her time to writing, gardening, and walking the Malvern Hills with her dog, Tara, an elegant lurcher.