After years of work behind the scenes, I’m excited to share a meaningful turning point in this project. What started as an effort to document stories from modern Buddhist practitioners has now become something much larger—and more defined.
Over the past six months, I’ve settled into a new lifestyle—one where being in transit has become the norm.
The past six months have been unusually busy, with transitions and learning curves. While my main project made progress, I spent much of my time and energy on a quietly brewing new venture.
I guess it's a good thing that I've been pretty steadily busy in 2023, not having too much time to reflect and write about it. To be frank, it's a daunting task to reflect on all that has transpired in a year, given all the various 'projects' that I am committed to. As it relates to this project, I intentionally didn't interview as many people as in the years past, as the backlog of raw material was becoming unmanageable. Even though I have 'processed' many of the interviews, the real work of digesting the content and building a narrative around it hadn't really begun.
Given the stage of my practice, I am not one to seek many empowerments but when I heard Shenchen Rabjam was visiting the US, I felt the tingle to seek out his blessings. Since the passing of the yangsi of Dudjum Rincophe last year, i felt a lost of connection to the Nyingma lineage and Rabjam Rincophe's strong connection with the lineage was a catalyst for me to seek the empowerments.