Matteo (Matthew) Pistono is a writer, teacher of meditation, and student of engaged Buddhism.

He is the author of "Roar: Sulak Sivaraksa and the Path of Socially Engaged Buddhism" (forthcoming 2018), Fearless in Tibet: The Life of the Mystic Tertön Sogyal (Hay House, 2014) and In the Shadow of the Buddha: Secret Journeys, Sacred Histories, and Spiritual Discovery in Tibet (Dutton-Penguin, 2011), and has written about Tibetan, Himalayan, and Southeast Asian cultural, political, and spiritual landscapes for a number of outlets including The Washington Post, Global Post, Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, Lion's Roar, BBC's In-Pictures, Men's Journal, Kyoto Journal, and Himal Southasian.

In 1997, he gained a Master of Arts degree in Indian philosophy at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London.

[2] After working with the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., on Tibetan cultural programs, he lived and traveled throughout the Himalayas.

He is the founder of Nekorpa, a foundation working to protect pilgrimage sites around the world, and he sits on the executive council of the International Network of Engaged Buddhists.