Paths of Practice: Conversations on Journeys into Buddhism

Bhante Sanāthāvihārī is a Mexican-American Theravāda monk at the Sarathchandra Buddhist Center in North Hollywood, a Sri Lankan center. He is a student of the late Dr. Bhante Madawela Puññaji, and the founder of Casa De Bhavana–an outreach project to bring the Dhamma to the Spanish-speaking world. He is also the co-author of Buddhism in 10 Steps.For more information about Sanāthāvihārī Bhikkhu and Casa De Bhavana, please see the below links:https://sanathavihari.com/https://casadebhavana.com/We talked about personal expression and creativity while still operating within the Vinaya, serving in the Air Force and co-founding a Buddhist sangha while on base in Afghanistan, Casa de Bhavana and balancing pre-sectarian and non-sectarian Buddhist teachings, and the importance of believing in yourself (and if you can’t do that, knowing that the Buddha believes in you).

Stephen Mugen Snyder, Roshi began practicing daily meditation in 1976. Since then, he has studied Buddhism extensively—investigating and engaging in Zen, Tibetan, Theravada, and Western non-dual traditions. He was authorized to teach in the Theravada Buddhist tradition in 2007 and the Zen Buddhist schools of Soto and Rinzai in 2022. Mugen is a senior student of Roshi Mark Sando Mininberg and a transmitted teacher in the White Plum Asanga—the body of teachers in the Maezumi-roshi lineage.Mugen’s resonant and warmhearted teaching style engages students around the globe through in-person and online retreats, as well as one-on-one coaching. He encourages students to turn toward their true nature and, with realization of their true nature, embody their true identity. Mugen is the author of five books, including Liberating the Self, Demystifying Awakening, and Buddha’s Heart. He co-authored Practicing the Jhānas.For more information about Awakening Dharma, please visit the following link: https://awakeningdharma.org/For Todd Mushin Lisonbee's interview with Mugen Roshi, please see the following link: https://youtu.be/pscxTP2ckeE?si=bgvZ9n1pyKCpcZbeWe discussed Inka Shomei and the sacred and humbling experience of sharing a dharma eye with a teacher, koan study and working with our bull tails that are sticking out, the Enneagram and being your uniqueness without being your dysfunction, how deeper levels of awakening reveals deeper levels of work that needs to be done, and the importance of making contact with your innate goodness.

Damiano Finizio was born in Italy in 1992. He began practicing traditional Japanese martial arts in 2012, where he met the Buddhist monk Seiun, who transformed his curiosity for Eastern disciplines and philosophies into dedicated practice. In 2014, he officially took refuge in the Dharma at Tenryuzanji Temple, receiving the name Seiryu, symbolizing his deep bond with his teacher and the temple. Since 2020, he has been living and working in Spain as a hostel owner, while also working seasonally in Italy and Croatia as a trip leader during the warmer months. Despite his commitments, he remains an active member of the Tenryuzanji community and continues to participate in its activities whenever possible.For more information about Tenryuzanji Temple, please see the following link: https://www.tenryuzanji.org/We talked about finding Buddhism through martial arts and how martial arts training cultivates self-development, foraging for local weeds and keeping a vegan diet at the temple, Tenryuzanji Temple's status as Italy’s only Tendai temple and its warm relationship with the nearby mountain village (Cinte Tesino), how Buddhist practice brings out your inherent compassionate energy, and the importance of finding a teacher and not giving up!

Ordained since the late 1970s, Ven. Robina has worked full time since then for Lama Thubten Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT). Over the years she has served as editorial director of Wisdom Publications, editor of Mandala Magazine, executive director of Liberation Prison Project, and as a touring teacher of Buddhism. Her life and work with prisoners have been featured in the documentary films Chasing Buddha and Key to Freedom.Here's a link to Chasing Buddha, which is mentioned throughout the episode:https://youtu.be/B3Xx4vSHUyY?si=URaiHqlIAD_G_NSPWe talked about opinions and the impact of negative thoughts, prison chaplaincy and the doors that open when you adjust your attitude, activism and changing the world by exploring your self, the need to abstain in order to perceive the nature of your attachments, and the importance of recognizing your enormous potential.

Sinclair Shinryu Thomson is the abbot of the Village Zendo in New York City. He received Denkai, or full priest ordination, from Enkyo O’Hara Roshi in August 2007, dharma transmission in December 2009, and Inka in January 2021. He has been affiliated with the Village Zendo since 1998. He is a also member of the Phajjsi Qollut Jalsu Zen Center in La Paz, Bolivia, which he co-founded in 1992. Shinryu teaches Latin American History at New York University and is the author of books on Native American politics, colonialism, and revolution in the Andes.We discussed how Shinryu Roshi began a meditation practice after picking up a copy of Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind as a teenager, living and researching in Bolivia and founding the Phajjsi Qollut Jalsu Zen Center in La Paz, the richness of zazen in living rooms with small sitting groups, “Manhattan” as practice, and the importance of listening to your self and working with the ingredients that you have.

Naomi Matlow is a writer and educator specializing in integrating mindfulness and meditation into the lives of those that struggle with busy minds. She recently published her Mindfulness Studies Masters thesis from Lesley University, “A Thought is Just a Thought: A Buddhist Guide to OCD” which is available on Amazon and naomimatlow.com.We talked about musical theatre and Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), attending an Insight Meditation retreat in New Mexico and the experience of eating in silence, how clinical OCD therapy methods reflect techniques found in mindfulness practices, doubt and the courage needed to let the thought just happen, and the importance of being kind to yourself.

*Disclaimer: this episode features brief mention of self-harm.Phoenix Song is a queer, nonbinary Korean American adoptee teacher, performer, writer, and healer featured in SF Magazine’s Best of the Bay for yoga music. Phoenix was initiated on the spiritual path at Plum Village with Thich Nhat Hanh and is a dharma teacher at East Bay Meditation Center and Spirit Rock. They believe that everyone can sing and love to help people free their voices and rhythm in private and group classes. Much of Phoenix’s life has been about exploring identity issues and healing ancestral, racial, sexual, and gender wounds. They offer tools that have helped them by leading ancestral healing, grief, and diversity/solidarity workshops and trainings that use expressive arts and somatic processes. To learn more about their sound healing offerings, classes, and performances, please visit phoenixsongmusic.comWe discussed how breath impacts your speaking voice and your singing voice, their profound experience during an ancestral healing ritual at Plum Village, focusing on voice work after recovering from dengue fever in India, the invitation to ask yourself “what season am I in?”, crafting rituals for others and for yourself, and the importance of taking your time.

The daughter of Chinese immigrants born and raised in the SF Bay Area, Dr. Vickie Chang first encountered the dharma through the doorway of mindfulness meditation in 2008. She graduated from the Spirit Rock Dedicated Practitioner’s Program and has benefited from extended periods of retreat at Spirit Rock and IMS. She lived in a Taiwanese Guanyin Pusa monastery and worshipped at the feet of Arunachala. Most influential in her practice has been her relationship with the land, culture, and people of Tiruvannamalai, India, northern New Mexico, and the Divine Buddha Temple in Taiwan. Her main teacher is the Earth/body and her path is love. She is a psychologist and works in West Oakland and Berkeley.For more information about Dr. Chang, please visit: https://www.vickiechangphd.com/We talked about coming across a statue of Guanyin Pusa while working at a horse barn in Montana, learning how to listen deeply to the Earth at Spirit Rock, living at the Divine Buddha Temple in Taiwan and visiting Arunachala in India, racial trauma and facilitating conversations around Asian diaspora in America, and the importance of being open to the mystery and spontaneity of life with support from like-minded people.

Venerable Clear Grace Dayananda is a Buddhist Monk who received novice ordination in 2018 as Sister True Moon of Clear Grace in the Plum Village Vietnamese Zen tradition headed by the Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh. In 2020, she received higher ordination and carries forward both the Theravada and Mahayana lineages of her preceptor, Venerable Dr. Pannavati Karuna of whom she was transmitted the name Dayananda.The Dharma has been her greatest source of insight and transformation to heal from injustice and suffering of all kinds. She shares these learned truths to help others unlearn deeply embedded beliefs that have kept them away from the liberation of such sufferings in daily life. She shares these integrative skills, understandings, wisdom traditions and worldviews to help alleviate suffering for self and all beings.For more information about Venerable Dayananda and Sangha House NOLA, please see the links below:https://travelingnunk.org/https://www.sanghahousenola.org/We discussed viewing marketing as an opportunity for practice while developing a slogan (or mantra) for Sangha House NOLA, participating in the MAAFA 25th anniversary Commemoration and healing with the Ancestor Tree at Congo Square, traveling around the US in a van called "The Great Aspiration," and the importance of accepting the invitation to “come and see for yourself” and let the dharma work in you.

Ram Appalaraju has served on the boards of nonprofit organizations for over eight years after retiring from the high-tech industry where he worked for 35 years. Ram has been studying Buddhism under Gil Fronsdal and is currently in the Insight Meditation Center’s Dharma Leaders Training. He also graduated as a chaplain and an eco-chaplain from the Sati Center for Buddhist Studies. He now teaches as a faculty member at Sati Center’s Eco-Chaplaincy program and is one of the organizing team members at IMC’s Earth Care community group. He also serves as a Buddhist chaplain and Mindfulness Meditation teacher at Santa Clara County Jails and is currently pursuing Clinical Pastoral Education.Ram has been practicing Buddhism for over 14 years and has engaged with several underprivileged and marginalized communities, teaching meditation and offering support. He is deeply committed to social and ecological causes and serves various groups in nature-based education through science and spirituality. He currently serves on the board of Insight Meditation Center at Redwood City and teaches at the San Jose Insight Meditation Sangha. Ram has also studied Vedanta at Sri Ramakrishna Mission and Chinmaya Mission for over 20 years.Ram serves as president of Insight World Aid. For more information about Insight World Aid, please see the following link:https://insightworldaid.org/We talked about Ram's dual practice of Vedanta and Vipassana and how they inform and influence each other, his decision to transition away from a ‘spreadsheet life’ to foster a spiritual life, the importance of watering the seeds within us that help us see the dignity in ourselves and others, as well as eco-chaplaincy and how we are inextricably linked to the Earth and its well-being.

Yogi Acharya Lama Gursam Rinpoche was born in India and received a monastic education from the age of six. He went on to study at the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies in Varanasi where he received his bachelor's and master's degrees. He graduated at the top of his class, receiving honors from His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. Thereafter, he taught language and philosophy at the Drikung Kagyu Institute in Dehradun, serving His Holiness Chetsang Rinpoche for six years.In 1995, he was invited to teach in the United States. He has taught and travelled extensively for more than 25 years. In addition to teaching in numerous Dharma Centers, he taught in schools, prisons, mental health and addiction settings, and in animal hospitals. He completed a traditional three year retreat and created The Bodhicitta Foundation, a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization which aims to support the flourishing of Dharma activity. His Holiness Chetsang Rinpoche has officially recognized The Bodhicitta Foundation as an affiliate of the Drikung Kagyu Lineage.As part of his ongoing activities, Lama Gursam maintains a regular retreat and teaching schedule internationally. Online classes are offered multiple times per week for the study and practice of authentic Dharma texts, some of which are translated into Spanish and Chinese. Every year, Lama goes on retreat in various mountains and holy places, including some of Milarepa's caves and Bodh Gaya. He also leads pilgrimages to holy places in India and Nepal.Lama teaches in English, and always tries to focus on the practical application of the Dharma in everyday life. For more information about Lama Gursam and his offerings, please visit https://lamagursam.org/We discussed Lama Gursam's experience meeting His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Lama Gursam’s personal connection to Milarepa, visiting sacred caves in the Lapchi mountains, making time for walking meditation while traveling, the Bodhicitta Foundation, organizing and leading pilgrimages to sacred sites, and the importance of applying the Buddha's teachings to the real world.

Gulwinder “Gullu” Singh is a mindfulness and Dharma teacher who also practices corporate real estate law. Although he was exposed to meditation as a child, he found his own practice when, after law school, he found himself working at high-powered law firms where the job was extremely stressful.Gullu completed the four-year Spirit Rock Meditation Center Teacher Training Program and qualified to teach Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction. Gullu is core faculty in the Mindfulness in Law Teacher Training, the Spirit Rock Dedicated Practitioner Program, and a mentor for the Sounds True Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program. He is also a core teacher and board member for Sacred Mountain Sangha, a senior teacher at InsightLA, and a member of the guiding teacher’s council at Spirit Rock Meditation Center.Gullu is deeply inspired to share meditation as an antidote to stress, a path to well-being, and a way to inject more sanity, compassion, and wisdom into this world. For more information, please visit https://gullusingh.com/ and check out Gullu's YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@Gullu-Meditation/videosWe talked about what it's like to live in Los Angeles during this time of unrest and the power of awareness, befriending emotions and the RAIN technique, developing mindfulness trainings specifically for lawyers, listening to Jack Kornfield talks on tape and Spirit Rock, and the importance of maintaining your practice so you can go and play your “music” out in the world.

The Venerable Lobzang Dorje, Leon E. Pettiway, Ph.D., began his dharma studies in January 1999 and took refuge under the guidance of Kyabje Dagom Rinpoche in May of that year. In 2002, he received Getsul (Novice) Vows in Kathmandu, Nepal, and took Gelong Vows (full ordination) in Switzerland from Kyabje Dagom Rinpoche in 2005. While he has studied with and has received numerous empowerments from many Gelug teachers, he also had the opportunity to study at Rangjung Yeshe Institute, Centre of Buddhist Studies in Kathmandu, where he studied Tibetan and Buddhist Philosophy.As the founder of Dagom Geden Kunkyob Ling, a Buddhist monastery in Indianapolis, Ven. Lobzang Dorje fulfills a wish to provide a space where Buddha’s teaching would be available to an urban audience, particularly to minority group members and other underrepresented group members. In doing so, he hopes to create a setting that supports the ideals of social engagement where it intersects with concerns around racial and gender equality, sexuality, poverty, crime, and justice.Ven. Lobzang Dorje holds graduate degrees from the University of Cincinnati, the University of Chicago, and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and much of his adult life has been spent teaching as a university professor. After 33 years of university teaching, he retired as Professor Emeritus from Indiana University, Bloomington. As a faculty member in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, one of his primary research interests was the integration of geographical and criminological theories to explain patterns of crime in urban areas.For more information about Ven. Lobzang Dorje, please visit: https://www.leonpettiway.com/For more information about Dagom Geden Kunkyob Ling, please visit: https://dgklbuddhistmonastery.org/ We talked about moving to Bloomington, IN from Philadelphia, mystical experiences and meeting Kyabje Dagom Rinpoche, the novice vow experience vs. full ordination, and remembering that you are not your mind or your body and to never ever give up!

Rev. Dr. Enrique Galvan-Alvarez is a professor of Humanities and Digital Society at the Universidad Internacional de La Rioja-UNIR and a Jōdo Shinshū priest that serves Jinen-Kō, an online community of Portuguese and Spanish speaking folk who are interested in learning and practicing the Dharma, or teachings, of Pure Land Buddhism. For more information about Jinen-Kō, please see the following link: https://jodoshinshu.org/We discussed modern ritual elements of Jōdo Shinshū and how 'the periphery can influence the center,' ritual archaeology and how some sanghas enact “lost” rituals, online dharma with Jinen-Kō and engaging with a digital sangha, and walking and hearing the name.Rev. Dr. Galvan-Alvarez will be speaking during Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii's Summer Session 2025 at the Buddhist Study Center from August 4-8, 2025. The BCS Summer Session is held both in person at the Buddhist Study Center in Honolulu and online via Zoom. For more information about Rev. Dr. Galvan-Alvarez's upcoming lectures at the BSC, please see the following link: https://bschawaii.org/summer-session/

Rev. Hibiki Junkyo Murakami serves as an Associate Minister at the Los Angeles Hompa Hongwanji Buddhist Temple. He was born and raised as the oldest son of Jonen-ji Temple in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, Japan. Rev. Murakami received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Shin Buddhism from Ryukoku University in Kyoto in 2016 and 2018 respectively. He received Tokudo ordination in 2013 and Kyoshi certification in 2015. His Buddhist name is Shaku Junkyo.Rev. Murakami completed the International Ministerial Orientation Program (IMOP) at the Jodo Shinshu Center in Berkeley, CA in 2018. Upon completion of his IMOP studies in January 2020, he was assigned to the Los Angeles betsuin. Outside of his ministerial functions, Rev. Murakami enjoys working on and driving his car. He also has a fondness for Aikido and outdoor activities such as golf, skiing, and relaxing at the beach. Recently, he has been developing his skills as a sketch artist.We talked about the differences between the Los Angeles Hompa Hongwanji Buddhist Temple and Jonen-ji Temple in Kitakyushu, how Rev. Murakami's great-grandfather traveled to America about 100 years ago and served a Jodo Shinshu sangha in Sacramento, working on cars as a method of meditation and cultivating appreciation, and the importance of exploring your curiosity and enjoying the adventure.

Rev. Nyoze Kwong serves as abbot of Sonoma Mountain Zen Center (Genjo-ji) in Santa Rosa, CA. Kwong-roshi received a B.A. in Anthropology/Archeology from University of California Santa Cruz. He worked as a fundraiser in Stanford University’s Engineering Department. In 1998, he lived and worked at Upaya Zen Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico and studied socially engaged Buddhism with Joan Halifax-roshi and Bernie Glassman-roshi of the Zen Peacemaker Order for two and a half years. Nyoze received lay precepts in 1987 at Sonoma Mountain Zen Center. In 2009 he was ordained as a novice monk by Jakusho Kwong-roshi. In 2012 Nyoze finished his formal training at Eiheiji, the oldest monastery and head temple of the Soto Zen School in Japan. He received Dharma transmission in November 2014 and completed zuisse at both Eiheiji and Sojiji Head Temples of Sotoshu (the Soto School of Zen) in June 2015. He is recognized by Sotoshu as a Kokusaifukyoshi (international zen teacher) in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki-roshi.Since 2023, Nyoze serves as Jushoku (Abbot) and is the Head of Practice and Executive Director of Sonoma Mountain Zen Center. He lives at Sonoma Mountain Zen Center with Kashin, his wife, and Ejo, their son.We discussed Kwong-roshi's recent trip to Japan and his experience growing up in close connection with Shunryū Suzuki's family, being drawn to the depth of wisdom and warmth of visiting Zen teachers at an early age, letting go of your ego to deepen your interconnection with all things, interactions with wildlife (or "practitioners") at SMZC, and the importance of remembering not to give up, to follow your intuition, and to maintain your practice.

Sensei José Shinzan Palma was born in Veracruz, Mexico. He is an ordained Zen priest and the Dharma successor of Roshi Joan Jiko Halifax. He met Korean Zen teacher, Ven. Samu Sunim in Mexico City in 1996, and then trained in the Buddhist Maitreya Seminary while living in the Toronto Zen Buddhist Temple where he stayed until 2005. He was ordained as a Zen Buddhist priest by Ven. Samu Sunim in 2004.Shinzan arrived at Upaya Zen Center in 2006 where he lived and trained for over 8 years as a resident and student of Roshi Joan. He received Dharma transmission from Roshi in Jan 2015 before relocating to San Diego, CA.He is the founder of the Open Gate Zen Collective in San Diego, CA; Co-teaches teen retreats in the US for IBME, and is a guest teacher at Upaya Zen Center in New Mexico, Zen Groups in México City, and Bogotá, Colombia.His vision is to continue to mentor and teach young men and women and to create a Zen Hispanic community in the USA and Mexico. For more information, go to: www.joseshinzanpalma.org.We talked about the founding of the Open Gate Zen Collective, differences in what's emphasized within sanghas in Mexico and Colombia as well as the United States, the beauty of buttes and viewing nature as part of contemplation practice, training with Ven. Samu Sunim, teenage mindfulness workshops and healing your inner teenager, and the importance of following and trusting your heart while navigating the unknown.

Kaira Jewel Lingo is a Dharma teacher with a lifelong interest in blending spirituality and meditation with social justice. Having grown up in an ecumenical Christian community where families practiced a new kind of monasticism and worked with the poor, at the age of twenty-five she entered a Buddhist monastery in the Plum Village tradition and spent fifteen years living as a nun under the guidance of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. She received Lamp Transmission from Thich Nhat Hanh and became a Zen teacher in 2007, and is also a teacher in the Vipassana Insight lineage through Spirit Rock Meditation Center. Today she sees her work as a continuation of the Engaged Buddhism developed by Thich Nhat Hanh as well as the work of her parents, inspired by their stories and her dad’s work with Martin Luther King Jr. on desegregating the South. In addition to writing We Were Made for These Times: Ten Lessons in Moving through Change, Loss and Disruption, and co-author of Healing Our Way Home: Black Buddhist Teachings on Ancestors, Joy and Liberation. She is also the editor of Thich Nhat Hanh’s Planting Seeds: Practicing Mindfulness with Children. Now based in New York, she teaches and leads retreats internationally, provides spiritual mentoring to groups, and interweaves art, play, nature, racial and earth justice, and embodied mindfulness practice in her teaching. She especially feels called to share the Dharma with Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, as well as activists, educators, youth, artists, and families. Visit kairajewel.com to learn more. We discussed the Beloved Community for Engaged Spirituality and what it's been like developing a monastic space for Buddhist/Christian/non-denominational practice in upstate New York, saints and bodhisattvas, receiving Lamp Transmission from Thich Nhat Hanh, walking meditation and ancestral wisdom, skillful means and working with people in denial around the current crises of our time, and remembering that everyone has the capacity for awakening.

Rev. Blayne Higa is the Resident Minister of the Kona Hongwanji Buddhist Temple in Kealakekua on the Big Island of Hawaii. He holds a Master of Divinity from the Institute of Buddhist Studies in Berkeley, California with a focus on Shin Buddhist ministry and chaplaincy. He has been a contributor to Tricycle, Lion’s Roar, and Buddhadharma, and is a frequent speaker and seminar leader at Buddhist communities in Hawaii and around the nation. Rev. Blayne received Tokudo ordination and Kyoshi certification from the Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha in Kyoto, Japan. He is the Chair of the Committee on Social Concerns and Ministerial Training Committee for the Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii. He was also a co-planner for the 2022 Future of American Buddhism Conference. Prior to entering ministry, he had careers in state government and the non-profit sector for over seventeen-years. He holds a Master of Public Administration and a certificate in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He received a BA from Willamette University in Salem, Oregon. Committed to civic engagement, Rev. Blayne serves on the boards of the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii and Vibrant Hawaii. He is also a member of the Advisory Board of The Interfaith Alliance Hawaii. You can learn more about his work at www.blaynehiga.com.We discussed Rev. Blayne's experience serving a historic, agriculture-based Jodo Shinshu sangha in Hawaii, finding Jodo Shinshu while an undergrad, Ichi-go ichi-e or "one moment, one encounter," the dynamic nature of gratitude and how it can lead to courage and hope, sharing the lion’s roar of truth in critical times, and the importance of approaching practice “as you are” and showing yourself kindness.

Rev. Shinshu Roberts is a Dharma Heir of Sojun Mel Weitsman in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi. She received her priest training at San Francisco Zen Center and from the North American branch of the Japanese Soto School. She has been appointed Kokusaifukyoshi (International Dharma Teacher) by the Shumucho (Japanese Soto Administration). She co-founded Ocean Gate Zen Center in Capitola, CA with her spouse Jaku Kinst. She is the author of Being-Time: A Practitioner’s Guide to Dogen’s Shobogenzo Uji and Meeting the Myriad Things A Zen Practitioner’s Guide to Dogen’s Genjokoan (upcoming release on 8/19/2025).We talked about Ocean Gate Zen Center’s logo and the center's old-growth redwood altar, overthinking and copying the Heart Sutra, finding ‘home’ at SFZC in the 70s, relying on each other as part of our collective and personal practice, and the importance of remembering our shared humanity.