A Note from Kimberley

Co-creating a spiritual community is at the heart of everything I do. And it's rare that I open a Vajrayana cohort.

Complex conditions have to come together — in me, in those called, and in what the world is asking of us. Something is being required of those who have done the inner work. Not as a burden, but as a responsible next step for an emerging, awake Practitioner, right now.


You must become the most spiritually awake You to meet the moments to come. You don't have to do it alone. 


This cohort finds the people it's meant for — which is likely why you're reading this now. Mutual fit matters, and the best way to discover it is for you to apply, then you may be prompted to schedule a free chat with me. Is there a tug? Then do it. Even if you feel uncertain. Uncertainty is an honest beginning.


Lots more info below, if you look for it.


With warmth and appreciation, 


Kimberley



“Kimberley's a Modern Sage. Her style is loving, knowledgeable, and grounded in ancient wisdom but adapted for today's times. She's someone I see as not only a teacher but also a mentor and role model of the kind of woman, mother, and person I want to be in the world. ”

Tricia Napor ~ Senior Director, Employee Relations at Yale University

“My biggest aha has been the balance of Self and no-self, the sense of being more deeply connected to the relative reality vehicle and its powers and responsibilities while also becoming wildly empty and infinitely connected to everything visible and invisible, the ultimate totality.”

Marty McConnell ~ Poet, Author, Non-Profit Consultant

“Kimberley is a divine being in a human form. She offers precious teachings woven in with modern day psychology. It's the bridging of those two lineages that make her special. How to be enlightened and not bypass the body, in a single lifetime, for the benefit of all beings. Holy sh*t! What a gift. ”

Robin Lassiter ~ Author Earth: A Love Story, Podcaster & Coach

What is Annutara Yoga Tantra?

Humanity’s most sophisticated and effective map for rapidly walking the territory of individual and global transformation, with ethical guides and heart community.

Real “tantra” or Vajrayana requires lineage.  Learning the map demands preparation, personal interaction and formal empowerment. You can't find it online. This oral and written lineage started in the 3rd Century, and was passed down directly to Kimberley and her community. Will it pass into you?

  

What would you do with your own awakening, power, and wisdom? 


At its heart of tantra lies an ironic paradox: you already are what you're seeking.


Your ultimate nature isn't something to be built, found or earned — it's already here and always has been.  We may have moments of realizing who and what we all are, truly. We may experience sublime, spiritual states that point to ultimate truths; but then we lose it. 


Tantric practice and community make every day our own transformation of heart, mind and body. We learn the most proven ways to maintain everyday awakening. We do not hide in a monastery. We ethically engage in the world with ever-evolving wisdom, generativity, and care. 

Welcome to Secret Saint School

A grown-up college experience and buddha incubator of your dreams.

Join Us.

What Makes This Community Rare

In a landscape of fragmented spiritual offerings, this is something genuinely different — on every level.

  • 01 — A Woman Who Has Lived It

    Kimberley Theresa is one of very few western women fully empowered in the Dalai Lama's lineage — and unlike most who hold that transmission, she's also a mother, wife, and developmental psychologist. Her teachings come from inside real life, not above it.

  • 02 — Twenty-Five Years. No Shortcuts.

    Credentials don't teach. Experience does. Over twenty-five years of guiding tantric cohorts, Kimberley has learned what the lineage demands, what modern students need, and exactly where those two things meet.

  • 03 — Ancient Map, Modern Science

    Vajrayana has been charting the inner landscape of consciousness for two millennia. Developmental psychology has been studying how humans actually grow and heal. This path brings them into one voice — rigorous, alive, and validated from both directions.

  • 04 — Accountability Is Not Optional

    Kimberley is a long-standing board member of the Association for Spiritual Integrity. In a field where power is too often unchecked, she has chosen structural accountability — because the teacher who cannot be questioned should not be followed.

  • 05 — Not a Following. A Sangha.

    This spiritual community is not built around a teacher. It is an equal circle bound by shared practice, shared ethics, and genuine care for each other's liberation. The heart friendships forged here last lifetimes.

  • 06 — Held, Even in the Hard Moments

    Crisis doesn't pause for spiritual practice — and this container doesn't pretend otherwise. From global uncertainty to personal unraveling, there is a clear process, a wise community, and third-party therapeutic support available when you need it.

Is This for You?

This path is for people who have already done significant inner work — and know it is not enough. You may be a teacher or leader, yourself.

  • You've sat with your shadow. Parts work, depth psychology, somatic practice, years of therapy — and something in you recognizes that while these tools have been invaluable, they point toward a territory they cannot fully enter.

  • You're increasingly less interested in your personal story — not because you've bypassed it, but because you've worked through enough of it to sense something larger. The question is shifting from, "Who am I?" to what is the nature of awareness itself?

  • You sense that awakening is not a solo project. You want to be in a room — physical or virtual — where the conversation doesn't have to be dumbed down, where your depth is met, where the collective field becomes a vehicle for insight.

  • You're comfortable not knowing. You can hold multiple frameworks simultaneously without collapsing them into one. You bring both rigor and humility to your inquiry.

  • You may have encountered communities before and felt something was missing — the depth of inner work, or the intellectual rigor, or the ethical accountability, or simply the genuine warmth of people committed to each other's liberation, not just their own.

  • You are a teacher, therapist, leader, or practitioner in your own right — and you are ready to stop leading from the edge of your own development.

General Structure

This will pivot and emerge based on group needs. Recordings will be provided for continued study, not as a substitute for your precious presence.

  • Year 1 — The Ground (Lam Rim)

    May 2026 – April 2027

    ➡️ Foundations 1: May 1–3, 2026 on Zoom ➡️ Foundations 2: Sept 4–6, 2026 in Seattle ➡️ Weekly Dharma Fridays: 4–6 pm PT (Zoom)

  • Year 2 — Ground to Gateway (Anuttarayoga Tantra)

    May 2027 – April 2028

    ➡️ Spring Empowerment: Yamantaka (First week of May) ➡️ Fall Retreat: NYC and/or Vermont ➡️ Weekly Dharma Fridays: 4–6 pm PT (Zoom)

  • Year 3 — The Mother Tantra (Entering the Mandala)

    May 2028 – April 2029

    ➡️ Spring Empowerment: Vajrayogini (Location TBD) ➡️ Fall Retreat: 11 Yogas Retreat (Location TBD) ➡️ Weekly Dharma Fridays: 4–6 pm PT (Zoom)

“Studying with Kimberley is walking through the doors of a time tested and validated lineage with a modern, down to earth teacher and community. If you want to truly transform the way you see yourself and reality for the better.... go to her.”

Haley Dawn Roth ~ Harvard Educator & Teen Coach

“The courses are mystical and inspirational because the sky's the limit. They draw on ancient traditions where the goals and highest visions are beyond this world. That makes it fun and exciting to study with Kimberley because I continue to stretch my ideas of what I thought was possible. The community that she put together reflects this. Every conversation that I have with someone in the group pushes my imagination beyond its current capacity.”

Tai Bendit-Shtull ~ Project Manager at LinkedIn

“The most dramatic, veil-piercing moments have come with studying emptiness/mahamudra. I recall a moment in an early teaching where she was demonstrating the nature of mind by pouring water into water and something just clicked/opened up and I realized that this was what I had understood without any language for it and had been looking for my whole life.”

Lindsey Dorr-Niro ~ Artist, Art Professor, Meditation Teacher

What We Will Study

"Tantra" is shorthand for Anuttara Yoga Tantra — also called Vajrayana, the Indestructible Path. It's an advanced system of accelerated awakening within Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, classically divided into three parts: preparation, creation stage, and completion stage. Via Zoom gatherings, breakout rooms, community chats, friendship, and in-person retreat, we'll explore topics like:

View all

Meet Your Instructor

Kimberley Lafferty

Kimberley Theresa Lafferty is a teacher-practitioner specializing in in the confluence of human development, adult education and Indo-Tibetan Buddhist psychology. Her trans-disciplinary practice offers educational options online and in person. She is a seasoned teacher of multi-year educational and practice cohorts, focusing on the personal path of awakening integrating Mahayana, Vajrayana and Classic Yoga teaching with modern psychological wisdom. Kimberley is an active board member of the Association for Spiritual Integrity, a wife, mother to a teen, residing in a remote mountain community. Her lived experience deeply informs her pragmatic, every day approach to the deep spiritual questions and practices of our time.

The Application Process

This cohort is small and by application only. The process is not about proving anything — it's simply a way for us to sense alignment, readiness, and mutual fit.

  • 01 | You Apply

    Submit a written application sharing your background, readiness, and intentions.

  • 02 | We Review

    All applications are read with care. We write back within the week to discuss next steps.

  • 03 | Discernment Call

    Selected applicants are invited to a one-on-one session (sliding scale) to determine mutual fit.

You Don't Have to Wake Up Alone.

It's more fun with friends. :)

Join us.

Prerequisites

The Mahamudra and Heart Sutra courses are included with your membership. You'll be asked to complete at least one before we begin.

Pricing Options

Choose what best suits your heart, wallet & worldview. Select, need-based workstudy positions available upon request.

FAQ's:

Please write to us at [email protected] with additional questions. We're happy to help.

  • What exactly is tantra?

    We were once apes; we became human. Now we are human — what are we becoming? Tantra's practices and realizations are designed to accelerate that evolution, for yourself and for the world. "Tantra" is shorthand for an ancient school of instructions, practice, and philosophy within Indo-Tibetan Buddhism called Anuttara Yoga Tantra. Also known in Sanskrit as Vajrayana — the Indestructible Path — it's an advanced system of accelerated awakening that typically requires years of practice and embodied realization. It is a path for wise practitioners grounded in ethics and compassion who deeply desire to wake up and grow up in this very life.

  • Is this practice considered dangerous?

    It's not inherently dangerous—but it is powerful. Like any deep system that works with the mind, body, and energy, it can be destabilizing if approached without grounding, guidance, or context. This is especially true when employing the spiritual technology of creation and completion stage. With a solid foundation of ethics, emotional stability, and wise support, Tantra is deeply regulating and transformative. It’s not something to dabble in casually, but it’s also not something to fear. And it’s a treasure beyond measure when practiced in the right container with a heart full of love.

  • Why is this considered secret? Can't I just ask AI or read about it in books?

    Real tantra requires empowerment — a ritual initiation that transmits pranic energy from teacher to student, traceable in an unbroken lineage back to the original Indian yogic sages Naropa and Niguma (2CE). Without that, attempting tantra is like trying to bake with no heat. It's considered self-secret in that, while you may encounter words or instructions, without a living transmission they will have no lasting efficacy. AI can point toward the door; only the lineage can open it.

  • Is tantra the same as sacred sexuality?

    You’re not signing up for sex circles or nakedness by joining this cohort. Not unless you count “naked awareness.” 😉 Confusion arises in the West because Tantra/Vajrayana transforms the energy of desire, and we associate desire with sexuality. In truth, tantra uses *everything* as the fuel of awakening, clearing the shadow material that keeps us stuck. We learn how to meet all of life—desire, grief, beauty, chaos—and turn it toward realization. Sacred sex is just one doorway people recognize, but the eros of tantra is ultimately love itself: vast, non-preferential, and alive to all beings past, present, and future.

  • Um, respectfully…is this a cult?

    Much damage has been done by leaders in spiritual and other domains who abuse power, do not see their own shadow, are not grounded in ethics, and have no feedback structures themselves. This is real and must be named. Our Sangha (spiritual community) does things differently. We’re about returning power to you, not giving it away to someone who holds power over you or anyone. We acknowledge the inner teacher in us all and humbly recognize that we have things to learn from those who’ve walked the path before us, and companions who walk with us. We believe the next Buddha is the Sangha, but no thanks, we do not want to be the next Netflix special. Hard pass on cult culture.

  • Do I need to take a guru to be in this program?

    You already have a guru, whether you've taken one formally or not. Each of us "bows our head" to someone or something. It could be money, approval, love, legacy or...anything. Whatever that is for you, that's your guru right now. Authentic Guru Yoga reminds us to select wisely, to turn only toward the inner and outer guides who can take us where we want to go. This teacher-student relationship is not about submission to a person or personality — it’s about recognizing buddha-nature through beings who embody it and can point to it. This requires discernment and humility from both student and teacher. The classical texts are demanding about how carefully a student should examine a teacher before committing. This holds true here and begs the question, “What do you wish to learn?”

We Begin May 1st, 2026.

These doors open once every three years. If you feel the call, now is the time to step forward — together.

Apply Now.