Paths of Practice: Conversations on Journeys into Buddhism

Brook Ziporyn is a scholar of ancient and medieval Chinese religion and philosophy at The University of Chicago Divinity School and College. Professor Ziporyn received his BA in East Asian Languages and Civilizations from the University of Chicago, and his PhD from the University of Michigan. Prior to joining the Divinity School faculty, he has taught Chinese philosophy and religion at the University of Michigan (Department of East Asian Literature and Cultures), Northwestern University (Department of Religion and Department of Philosophy), Harvard University (Department of East Asian Literature and Civilization) and the National University of Singapore (Department of Philosophy). He is the author and translator of several books including his latest work, Experiments in Mystical Atheism: Godless Epiphanies from Daoism to Spinoza and Beyond, which was published by the University of Chicago Press in October of 2024. (A longer list of Ziporyn's work can be found towards the end of this description.)Please see below for the link to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy article mentioned in this podcast episode here:https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/buddhism-tiantai/Please also see below for links to Ziporyn's book, Experiments in Mystical Atheism: Godless Epiphanies from Daoism to Spinoza and Beyond, as well as its online appendix (free):https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/E/bo230169826.htmlhttps://press.uchicago.edu/sites/ziporyn/index.htmlWe discussed walking the mandalas of sacred Buddhist sites, approaching Buddhism as both a scholar and practitioner, Tiantai meditation techniques and broken teapots, Dogen and the connections between Tendai and Soto Zen, and the importance of finding the Buddhist path that best suits you.Ziporyn is also the author of:-Evil And/Or/As the Good: Omnicentric Holism, Intersubjectivity and Value Paradox in Tiantai Buddhist Thought (Brill, 2000)-The Penumbra Unbound: The Neo-Taoist Philosophy of Guo Xiang (SUNY Press, 2003)-Being and Ambiguity: Philosophical Experiments With Tiantai Buddhism (Open Court, 2004)-Zhuangzi: The Essential Writings with Selections from Traditional Commentaries (Hackett, 2009)-Ironies of Oneness and Difference: Coherence in Early Chinese Thought; Prolegomena to the Study of Li (SUNY Press, 2012)-Beyond Oneness and Difference: Li and Coherence in Chinese Buddhist Thought and its Antecedents (SUNY Press, 2013)-Emptiness and Omnipresence: An Essential Introduction to Tiantai Buddhism (Indiana University Press, 2016)-Zhuangzi: The Complete Writings (Translator, Hackett 2020)-Daodejing (Translator, Liveright Books and the Norton Library 2022)

Coral Short is a queer, non-binary, white settler born in 1973. They completed their Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP) training in March 2023 with Dea Parsanishi. They specialize in working with LGBTQIA+ folks, recovery, activism, creativity, and all forms of radical sexuality. They are a graduated active Community Dharma Teacher at True North Insight in Tiohtià:ke/Montreal and co-lead a weekly Queer Sangha. Coral has been working with the Stretch Festival in Berlin for several years at the Somatische Akademie/ Village Berlin and at the Montreal Somatics Festival. They offer anti-racist courses, somatic workshops, and eco-somatic walks to international communities. They have been an organizer, activist, and artist for the last two decades.For more information about Coral, please visit the following website:https://www.coralshort.com/We talked about co-facilitating the Poly Dinner Club and supporting polyamorous community discussions with Buddhist practices, anattā (non-self) and accepting the fluidity of identity and body, performance art and celebrating community through joint creativity, digital dharma offerings and eco-somatic hikes, and the importance of sangha and exploring what forms of Buddhism resonate with you.

​Rev. Hōgetsu Laurie Belzer is the Guiding Dharma Teacher at Ancient Dragon Zen Gate (ADZG) in Chicago, Illinois, and succeeds their founding guiding teacher, Taigen Dan Leighton. She is a lineage holder in the Soto Zen tradition of Shunryu Suzuki-roshi, and received dharma transmission from Rev. Taiyo Lipscomb. Since 1989, Hōgetsu has trained intensively at all three of San Francisco Zen Center’s temples, where she served as Shuso (Head Monk) with Tenshin Reb Anderson at Green Gulch Farm. A founding member of ADZG, Hōgetsu has supported the evolution of the practice center since its genesis. As guiding teacher, Hogetsu joyfully serves the wonderful ADZG community in many ways, including as dharma teacher, sangha leader, board member, Thursday morning zazen host, and sewing practice mentor.For more information about ​Rev. Hōgetsu and Ancient Dragon Zen Gate, please visit the following website:https://www.ancientdragon.org/We discussed practice conversations and how a sangha sharing individual experiences with each other around practice informs a sense of community, zazen as a practice that touches the heart and caring for our conditions, meditating with incense as a child and finding Soto Zen through a cross-country peace walk, and the importance of appreciating the preciousness of practice.

Chance Krempasky is a vegan cyclist, cold water swimming weirdo, and meditator. He works as a family nurse practitioner specializing in queer and transgender medicine, drug user health, and care for people living with HIV. Chance is a practice leader at New York Insight Meditation Center, co-author of Developing Trans*Competence: A Short Guide to Improving Transgender Experiences at Meditation and Retreat Centers, and a contributor to Transcending: Trans Buddhist Voices. He has led gatherings for TGNC Buddhists and allies both online and at venues including the Spirit Rock Teacher Training Program, the Philadelphia Trans Health Conference, and Brooklyn Zen Center.Please see below for links to Chance's written work and recommended organizations/causes:Developing Trans*Competence: A Short Guide to Improving Transgender Experiences at Meditation and Retreat Centershttps://www.transbuddhists.org/retreat-guide/about-the-guide/(also see Transbuddhists.org)Transcending: Trans Buddhist Voices (book)https://www.northatlanticbooks.com/shop/transcending/Recovery Dharma Globalhttps://recoverydharma.org/The Sameer Projecthttps://www.instagram.com/thesameerproject/?hl=enWe discussed Chance's recent retreat experience at the Temple Forest Monastery in New Hampshire and engaging in service as practice, Transbuddhists.org and the origins of the zine “Developing Trans*Competence," Recovery Dharma Global and applying the Four Noble Truths towards navigating recovery and support, Mudita and the practice of celebrating the joys of others as a healthcare provider, and the importance of remembering that the Buddhist journey is a marathon not a sprint.

Arthur Braverman studied at Antaiji temple in Japan under Uchiyama Roshi from 1970 to 1975. He is an author and translator, whose works include Mud and Water: The Collected Teachings of Zen Master Bassui, and the novel, Dharma Brothers Kodo and Tokujoo. He lives in Ojai, California.For more information, please visit the following link for purchasing options for some of Arthur's books (you can also check out your local independent bookstore):https://greenapplebooks.com/search?q=arthur%20bravermanWe discussed volunteering with the Peace Corps in Nigeria and his early experiences with Zen in Japan, Uchiyama Roshi and his lessons on old age and death, writing historical fiction vs translation, independence and recognizing zazen as your teacher, and the importance of keeping your ideals in check and seeing what happens when you just sit.

Zen Master Dae An (Bogumila Malinowska) is a Guiding Teacher at The London Zen Centre of the Kwan Um School of Zen and currently lives in London. She was born in North-west Poland and met Zen Master Seung Sahn in 1981 on one of his visits to the country. In 1988 she participated in a 100 day solo retreat. She was leading zen groups in Pila and Poznan while she was living in Poland from 1985 to 2003 before she left for the UK. She is a licensed counselor/psychotherapist in private practice in North London and registered with British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists (BACP). In 2005, she established the London Zen Centre two years after moving to the UK with the spiritual support of Zen Master Wu Bong. She received Inka (authority to teach koans and lead retreats) from Zen Master Wu Bong in September 2009 at the Warsaw Zen Centre (Wu Bong Sa). She received transmission from Zen Master Ji Kwang on June 15th, 2024 and was given the title Zen Master Dae An.For more information about The London Zen Centre (Kwan Um School of Zen), please see the link below:https://kwanumzen.co.uk/Please also see the following link for more information about Bogumila Malinowska's private therapy practice:https://www.londoncounsellingcentre.org/We talked about Gestalt therapy and how to cultivate an environment for clients to be in the moment, recognizing the boundaries involved with being a zen teacher and a therapist, Zen Master Seung Sahn and solo practice vs. group settings, the Kwan Um School’s approach to bowing, meditation, and kong-ans (koans), and the importance of knowing your needs when you’re exploring Buddhism and Buddhist communities.

Shohaku Okumura, founder and abbot of Sanshin Zen Community, was born in Osaka, Japan, in 1948. In 1970, he was ordained by the late Kosho Uchiyama Roshi, one of the foremost Zen masters of the twentieth-century. He received Dharma transmission from his teacher in 1975 and, shortly after, became one of the founding members of Pioneer Valley Zendo in Massachusetts. He returned to Japan in 1981 and began translating the works of Dogen Zenji, Uchiyama Roshi and other Soto masters from Japanese into English. In 1993, he moved back to the United States with his wife, Yuko, and their two children. He has previously served as teacher at the Kyoto Soto Zen Center in Japan and at the Minnesota Zen Meditation Center in Minneapolis, and was Director of the Soto Zen International Center in San Francisco for thirteen years.Today he is recognized for his unique perspective on the life and teachings of Dogen Zenji derived from his experience as both practitioner and translator, and as a teacher in both Japanese and Western practice communities. He gives frequent lectures on the Shobogenzo and other foundational texts. His translations and commentaries include Dogen’s Extensive Record: A Translation of the Eihei Koroku, Realizing Genjokoan, Living by Vow: A Practical Introduction to Eight Essential Zen Chants and Texts, and The Mountains and Waters Sutra: A Practitioner’s Guide to Dogen’s “Sansuikyo”. His lectures have appeared in Buddhadharma: The Practitioner's Quarterly, Dharma Eye, and Buddhism Now.For more information, please visit the links below:Sanshin-ji (Sanshin Zen Community)https://www.sanshinji.org/The Dōgen Institutehttps://dogeninstitute.wordpress.com/We discussed Kosho Uchiyama Roshi and early Zen practice at Antaiji, jiko and how understanding the emptiness of the self fosters compassion, the poetry of Dōgen Zenji and Taigu Ryōkan, practicing Zen Buddhism through lectures and translation, Kannon and the sound that perceives the world, and the importance of finding a teacher and sangha.

Arisika Razak is Professor Emerita at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco, where she also served as the director of the Women’s Spirituality MA and PhD program and as Director of Diversity. She has been an inner-city midwife for over two decades, has performed nationally and internationally as a spiritual dancer, and has led embodied healing workshops for over thirty-five years. She teaches at East Bay Meditation Center in Oakland.Please see below for Arisika's upcoming and ongoing events as well as recommended resources:Afrikan Healing and Wisdom With Vimalasara Mason-John, Arisika Razak, and Aleta Toure’ First Sundays at East Bay Meditation Center (online)https://eastbaymeditation.org/calendar/online-afrikan-wisdom-and-healing-2-2-2/Honoring the Past, Revisioning the Future: Afrikan Healing & Wisdom Taught by Vimalasara, Arisika Razak, and Aleta Toure’In-person, Residential Retreat: February 5 - 8, 2026https://www.dhammadena.org/retreats/Afrikan-Wisdom-Retreat-Feb-2026Middle East Children’s Alliancehttps://www.mecaforpeace.org/Crushing Wheelchairs (Film)https://wraphome.org/2025/11/03/crushing-wheelchairs-premiere-of-the-movie-in-the-sf-bay-area/We discussed civil rights activism and growing up listening to Malcolm X in Harlem, midwifery and identifying connections between breath techniques used during labor and meditation, karma and the caste system, kinship and learning how to recognize those that are different than us as meaningful and integral to our shared sacred hoop, and the importance of remembering to trust that you have a life purpose and that you have your own path of heart.

Žarko Andričević is the founder of Dharmaloka Chan Buddhist Community and Chan Retreat Centre (Chan centar Hartovski vrh) in Croatia, where he currently lives and teaches. Žarko first encountered Buddhism 1975 and has been a martial arts and yoga teacher since the 1970s. In the mid-80s, he started the first Buddhist study and meditation group in Croatia. In 1996, he meet Chan Master Sheng Yen and became one of his students. Žarko received Dharma transmission from Master Sheng Yen in June 2001. Since then, he teaches and leads Chan retreats in Europe, USA, Canada, Taiwan and Australia.For more information about Žarko and Chan centar Hartovski vrh, please visit the following link:https://chan.hr/en/chan-retreat-center-croatia/We talked about martial arts and forming Croatia's first Buddhist practice group, Master Sheng Yen and silent illumination practice, Zenyoga and awakening your body through physical movement, and the importance of remembering to approach dharma with a joyful seriousness.

American Buddhist Fellowship (ABF) disciples Keith and Sissi share what they have learned from Venerable Xingren since volunteering at the temple, their Buddhist journeys, the upcoming Consecration Ceremony that ABF will host on December 25, 2025, and the teachings Venerable Xingren plans to resume after the New Year. For more information about the American Buddhist Fellowship, please visit the following website: https://www.meifo.org/Speakers introduction：At 19 years old, Keith came from China to the United States and first encountered Buddhism through Master Chin-Kung’s Pure Land teachings. For 17 years his main practice has remained reciting Amitabha Buddha’s name and aspiring for rebirth in the Western Pure Land, even as he later studied other masters and methods. During his years in the U.S., Keith has lived in several cities, completing his studies and then working for over ten years. In July this year, Keith met Venerable Xingren through Dharma Sister Shen Yun, whom he had long admired for overcoming late-stage, metastasized cancer through unwavering recitation of Amitabha Buddha’s name. Sister Shen introduced Keith to the American Buddhist Fellowship and invited him to support its multimedia work. Since joining as a volunteer, Keith has built the temple’s website, secured Google Workspace for Nonprofits, and helped produce more than ten related videos.Sissi has been studying Buddhism for 3 years and practicing Pure Land Buddhism for about 1.5 years. After learning that the American Buddhist Fellowship was raising funds to build and renovate its new temple in Covina, CA—and with the introduction from Dharma Sister Shen Yun—Sissi began volunteering in July 2025. Since then, she has humbly assisted with the shipping and customs clearance of the Buddha statues for the new temple, YouTube video editing, website development, and other projects assigned by Venerable Xingren of American Buddhist Fellowship.We discussed the American Buddhist Fellowship and how community members connect digitally, aspirations and how ambitious vows can manifest, Pure Land Buddhist practice and the potential impact of reciting Amitabha’s name, and ABF's upcoming Consecration Ceremony.

Rev. Devon Matsumoto is a Minister’s Assistant at the Mountain View Buddhist Temple. Devon grew up in the Jodo Shinshu community and has a deep interest in understanding how his Buddhist teachings can inform social justice movements and movements toward liberation. Devon is also a founding member of The Young Buddhist Editorial, an organization that seeks to share the stories of young Asian American Buddhists while preserving the experiences and stories of their ancestors. Please see the following links for more information about organizations and efforts that Devon works with:Raffle Fundraiser for Mona Alshourafa & Familytinyurl.com/raffle-for-monaMountain View Buddhist Templehttps://mvbuddhisttemple.org/The Young Buddhist Editorialhttps://www.youngbuddhisteditorial.com/We talked about moving to Japan for Kaikyoshi certification and the benefits of studying Jodo Shinshu in Japanese, social justice advocacy and recognizing 'the cries of the nembutsu' as a wake up call, Buddhist youth groups and understanding that children aren’t just the future but are part of the present, and the importance of remembering that you're never alone where you're walking the Buddhist path.

The Queer Leather Meditation group is a peer-led meditation group for those who have a meditation practice and are queer and leather/kink-identified. QLM's intention is to create an inclusive space where participants can support each other as they practice in their daily lives. The group meditates together and also offers a time for check-ins with individual meditation practices. This group provides an accepting space where folks can include the queer and leather/kinky parts of their identities and experiences when talking about their practices.This episode features a conversation with Ro Rose and Kota Rook, who are members of the Queer Leather Meditation group.For more information about Queer Leather Meditation, please visit their Instagram account: @queerleathermeditationPlease also see below for account information for Ro Rose and Kota Rook:Ro Rose  @queerlyfluid  Kota Rook @soulskin.bodyworkWe talked about scar care and the joy of attending to healing, BDSM and stillness, the power of place and identifying similarities among dungeons and temples, the Queer Leather Meditation group and the value of meeting in a peer-led space, and the importance of remembering that we all have different access points and that all rivers lead to the sea.

Pedro Kaiten Piquero was born in 1976, exactly 38 years before the death of his master Gudo Wafu Nishijima, of whom he was the last disciple. In 2017, he received Dharma transmission in Japan from Venerable Peter Rodo Rocca in the lineage of Nishijima Roshi. He is president of the Dogen Sangha in Spain and director of the Zendo Gudo, as well as an active member and guest lecturer of the Dharma Voices for Animals organization.For more information about Venerable Kaiten and the above organizations, please see the following links:Zendo Gudohttps://zendogudo.es/Dharma Voices for Animalshttps://www.dharmavoicesforanimals.org/We discussed perfectionism and classical piano, animal rights and having compassion for the bull and the bullfighter, impermanence and the relief in knowing that you'll be forgotten in 100 years, and the importance of taking your time.

Rev. Shudo Paula Lazarz is a 6th degree Black Sash in Shaolin Kung Fu and an ordained priest in the Soto Zen lineage of Shunryu Suzuki. Her over two decades of study in the martial arts and Buddhist practice has been an exploration of the idea of the historical Shaolin Temple, culminating in Warrior’s Path Buddhist Academy. Paula is a co-owner of Energy Fitness, Inc., Head Instructor at HealthKick Kung Fu and a Practice Leader at Ancient Dragon Zen Gate.For more information about Paula and the above organizations, please see the following links:Ancient Dragon Zen Gatehttps://www.ancientdragon.orgWarrior's Path Buddhist Academy https://warriorspathacademy.orgHealthKick Kung Fu https://healthkickkungfu.comWe discussed how practicing martial arts in tandem with Chan/Zen peels back the onion layers of our humanity and reveals our true nature, feeling a sense of homecoming while visiting Shaolin Temple as well as Green Dragon Temple/Green Gulch Farm, lay ordination and female representation in sangha leadership, and the importance of remembering that difficulty is part of the training.

Mindy Newman, MA, MTS, LMHC, is a psychotherapist and hypnotherapist in private practice. She has an MA in counseling psychology from Lesley University and an MTS in world religion from Harvard University. She is a graduate of Nalanda Institute’s Contemplative Psychotherapy Program and taught meditation as part of the institute’s Introduction to Meditation series at Tibet House. Newman was recently one of Tricycle’s online dharma talk leaders and has written several pieces for Tricycle as a contributor. She is a student of Geshe Tenzin Zopa, whom Mindy met on pilgrimage in Nepal in 2018.For more information about Mindy and her work with Tricycle, please see the following links:https://www.mindynewman.com/https://tricycle.org/author/mindy-newman/Please also see the following link for Geshe Tenzin Zopa's website: http://www.tenzinzopa.com/We talked about preparing for a pilgrimage to Bhutan and how sharing reflections with others can strengthen the pilgrimage experience, Geshe Tenzin Zopa and being drawn towards Vajrayana practice, grief and exploring Māyādevī through both inner and outer journeys, and the importance of remembering that the Buddhist journey can be messy.

Roland sensei was born in Richmond B.C. He attended the Steveston Buddhist temple and the Calgary Buddhist temple when his family moved there in the 1970’s. He is a retired physician who worked in senior’s care (Geriatric Medicine). While an active temple member all his life he started studying Buddhism more seriously in 2016. He received his first level ordination (Tokudo) in Japan in 2019 and his second level ordination (Kyoshi) in 2022. Besides his temple life he enjoys golf in the summer and is trying to learn the Taiko. He is married to Brenda and has two adult children.For more information about the Buddhist Temple of Southern Alberta (BTSA), please check out the following link: https://www.thebtsa.com/We discussed internment and the Japanese Canadian diaspora, the development of the BTSA as an amalgamation of other temples in the region, growing up in a temple family and asking for ministerial advice from his younger brother, geriatric medicine and transitioning from a career as a physician to becoming a minister, temple outreach and the impact that an enthusiastic young adult temple group has had on community building, and the importance of taking that step of trying out something new that interests you.

Rev. Michael Tran is an ordained Buddhist minister with over 30 years of Buddhist study and practice, and more than a decade of experience in spiritual care. His training includes lineages in Chinese Ch’an (Japanese Zen), Pure Land, and Tibetan Nyingma traditions, which inform his compassionate and inter-traditional approach to service. He holds a B.A. in East Asian Cultures from UC Irvine and an M.Div. in Buddhist Chaplaincy from University of the West, and completed Clinical Pastoral Education at USC Arcadia Hospital. Rev. Tran is ordained through the International Order of Buddhist Ministers and currently serves as a hospice chaplain, bereavement coordinator, and spiritual counselor. He is a board member and Chief Operations Officer of the Bodhiyana Buddhist Chaplain Fellowship and serves on the ritual teams of Kuang Min Buddhist Association in La Puente and Quan Yum Temple in Los Angeles Chinatown. His work centers on healing, presence, and service across communities. For Rev. Michael's blog (The Buddha Wears Glasses), please check out the following link: www.sgvbuddhism.wordpress.com For more information about the Bodhiyana Buddhist Chaplain Fellowship, please check out the following link: www.bbcf84000.org We talked about Buddhism in the San Gabriel Valley and “3-in-1 Combo” temples, chaplaincy and applying Pure Land teachings to hospice care clients and meeting their needs, recognizing ancestors as temple tenants and protectors through their lotus seats, The Buddha Wears Glasses blog and highlighting the nuanced Buddhist experience, and the importance of sangha, exploring, and the benefits of engaging with monastics.

Rev. Tony Truong serves as Secretary of the Board of Directors and Temple Minister at Ming Ya Buddhist Foundation in Los Angeles, where he supports the community’s liturgical life and daily operations. Ordained as a Lay Minister in 2018 through the International Center for Chinese Buddhist Culture and Education, his path has been shaped by his family’s deep ties to Chinese Buddhist Chan and Pure Land practice, as well as his own training in Shingon Vajrayana.He studied and practiced at Mount Koya in Japan and later continued his formation at Gokoku-ji Temple in Tokyo, under the Buzan-ha sect of Shingon Buddhism, with which Ming Ya has long maintained a spiritual partnership. Alongside his temple service, he is active in developing English-language liturgical resources to help make practice more accessible within Chinese American communities.A second-generation Chinese-Vietnamese American of Teochew descent, Rev. Truong was born in Minnesota, raised in the San Gabriel Valley, and teaches high school English in the region. To learn more about his community and work, visit the temple’s Instagram: @mingyabf.la.We discussed Rev. Truong's early experiences with Buddhism while attending his father’s memorial service and the impact of hearing chanting in the Teochew dialect, curiosity and being drawn to Buddhist symbolism and Ming Ya’s “gold room,” becoming a part of temple leadership and working towards bringing more people into the sangha, Ming Ya’s roots in Vietnamese Daoism and its connections to Shingon, and the importance of remembering that Buddhism is not just philosophy but also experienced through community.

Howard Lazzarini holds a degree in Japanese Language and Literature from the University of California at Berkeley. He spent 12 years in Japan and for several years during that time, in the early 1970s, practiced Soto Zen at Antaiji, a small temple that was located in the north Takagamine section of Kyoto. There he met his first teacher, Kosho Uchiyama Roshi and sat in the shikantaza style of Uchiyama Roshi and Dogen. After returning to the US he began studying with Shohaku Okumura Roshi of Sanshin Zen Community in Bloomington, Indiana, where he took lay ordination. He translated The Sound that Perceives the World in close collaboration with Okumura Roshi and Shoko Hayashi Lazzarini, his wife. He currently lives in Everett, Washington, and practices with the Everett Zazen Group located in Everett.Please see below for more information about his upcoming translation, The Sound That Perceives the World: Calling Out to the Bodhisattva by Kosho Uchiyama, as well as the Everett Zazen Group:https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Sound-That-Perceives-the-World/Kosho-Uchiyama/9781614299516https://everettzazengroup.org/We discussed growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1960s and becoming a merchant mariner, finding Antaiji while hitchhiking in Japan and his early experiences with Zen, Kosho Uchiyama Roshi’s life and relationship with the Kannon-gyo, reconnecting with Shohaku Okumura Roshi in the US and starting the Everett Zazen Group in Washington state, and the importance of letting go of likes and dislikes and "opening the hand of thought."

Primož Korelc Hiriko was born in 1985 in Ljubljana (Slovenia), but grew up in Dolenjska. Hiriko spent many years as a Buddhist monk abroad, specifically in Great Britain, New Zealand, Thailand and Sri Lanka. During this period, Hiriko studied Buddhist psychology and developed self-reflection, which gave Hiriko a deeper insight into the mind and psyche. Hiriko's expertise focuses mainly on phenomenological research into the structure of the mind. After ten years of studying Buddhist philosophy and psychology, Hiriko obtained the title of acharya . In 2016, Hiriko founded the first Slovenian Buddhist monastery, Samaṇadīpa, in Goljek near Trebnje, where Hiriko was the abbot and teacher until 2023. Since then, Hiriko has been acting as its legal representative. Hiriko is also known for being the editor-in-chief of Path Press and the author of two biographical books, “The Hermit of Bundala” and “The Island Within”, as well as being a translator of ancient Buddhist texts. Hiriko is still actively working as a psychosocial and pastoral counselor and has specialized in logotherapy psychotherapy since last year. Hiriko also regularly leads meditation retreats and lectures on meditation in Maribor and Ljubljana.For more information about Hiriko and the Samaṇadīpa Forest Buddhist Monastery, please see below:https://hiriko.org/https://samanadipa.org/sl/For a link to Nyanamoli Thero's work that Hiriko mentioned, please see below:https://www.youtube.com/@HillsideHermitageWe talked about guilt as a consequence of freedom and as inherent within the broader human experience, psychotherapy and spirituality, the experience of leaving home to pursue a monastic life and investigating the mind, founding Samaṇadīpa Forest Buddhist Monastery in Slovenia and transitioning to lay life, and the importance of knowing that the Buddhist path, though fulfilling, is not always easy.