Dr. Ben Mikolaj (DNP-PMHNP) was born in Colorado Springs, raised in Texas, and returned to Colorado, where he practices as a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner focusing on therapy, medication management, and holistic mental health. He has a lifelong interest in the mind, spirituality, and the esoteric. Having been raised an eclectic and nominally Catholic Christian, he began his self-directed interest in spirituality within the Western Esoteric Tradition. His studies in theurgy, alchemy, and Gnostic-Rosicrucian ordination were formative and inspiring, eventually leading him to become a Buddhist in 2005. Ben considers his Buddhist practice the natural progression of this journey rather than a conversion, and sustains an integrative approach to spiritual practice.  

Ben is a member of Nalandabodhi, an international Buddhist community (sangha) under the direction of Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche. There, he has held various roles, including Chief Operating Officer (COO). He currently serves as a Karunika (teacher) in Nalandabodhi.

Ben has studied at Nitartha Institute since 2007 where he is a teacher-in-training. He has studied at Rangjung Yeshe in Nepal, Esukhia in Dharamsala, and worked briefly as a teaching assistant at Naropa University. He studied and taught at the Rocky Mountain Insight Dharma Center in Colorado Springs. He was most fortunate to serve as one of many attendants to his principal teacher, Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, from 2015 to 2019. Ben holds a Doctorate of Nursing degree in Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing from Colorado State University, Pueblo.