Themes
About
This is a work in progress multimedia project exploring the diversity of Buddhist lay practice in a complex modern life. Eventually, the project will culminate in a book and a series of short films. Meanwhile, I am looking for practitioners throughout US add their voice to this project.
Profiles
Themes
Until I can find a collaborator to write a better narrative, I am structuring the project around themes that may interest people that are curious about how the path manifests in modern practitioner’s life. With the vastness of teachings by notable teachers already available online, the focus of these stories reflect the embodiment and impact that the path has in real life.
Other Practices
Practitioners rely on an array of other practices to navigate life's challenges.
Your Spiritual Friends
As much as I would like to showcase an authentic reflection of ‘diverse’ practitioners in the west, the reality of this issue is beyond the scope of this narrative. Consider these subjects as spiritual friends that are brave enough to share these stories about their intimate practice.
Rachel
My first exposure to dharma was during my undergraduate studies majoring in Philosophy/Asian Studies. However, this didn’t translate to a personal practice until a few years later when I lost two friends to suicide in a six-month period. The bereavement related to their deaths was so overwhelming that it forced me to seek out additional community and support.
Jeff
I learned about meditation as a youngster, but it wasn’t until around 2004 that I started going to the Dharma Punx group on Friday nights in SF (the Back of the Bus) and hearing the dharma talks there in a language I could understand and with people that looked like me that I really felt exposed. It became my path when I learned to walk again as a sober man in 2014.
Linda
Retired Lawyer from Portland, OR. In the fall of 2004, a friend asked me to attend with him and I did. The first time I went, I knew I would return. Not sure I would call that experience knowing this was the path for me; what I knew at that point was that being able to stop talking, to be away from being an “expert”.
Kim
I had the blessing to be born in a dharma household where my parents volunteered to host weekly meditation sittings in our home for a local Vipassana organization in Hawaii. We recited the three refuges in pali every night before I went to bed. Monks like Munindra and Sayadaw U Pandita would come to stay with us when I was growing up.
Willy and Kim
My first exposure to Buddhism wasn’t significant. In fact, it was a turn off. A man who claimed to be Buddhist visited our high school and basically told our class his goal was to become a heartless robot. Well, not entirely, but pretty much… There wasn’t any joy.
Notes
From time to time, you may find these notes about the project and my pilgrimage slightly entertaining.
Ngondro
Having switched from Theravadan practice to Varjayana almost overnight during a particular retreat, I have been interested in doing ngondro for the last 5 years but I was 'deter' from doing it from one of my teachers a few years back. [...]
Pandemic Update
Despite all the external and internal challenges presented by the pandemic on a personal front, it was a productive time for moving this project forward. Because my main source of income was severely impacted, I had much time on my hand [...]
Buddhist Films
I've been keeping an eye out of buddhist related films/docs for some time now and it's great to see in depth docs by others to inspire me. If you're a tricycle subscriber, you can see the films in their full length. [...]