Hometown:
Miami, FL

What was I doing before DRBU?
I was living in a Zen Buddhist Temple, practicing and working as the property manager for the temple.

Influential book I’ve read:
The Avatamsaka Sutra. I traveled around India and Nepal for half a year, and anywhere I found myself I’d recite the sutra. It took almost the whole six months to recite it.

Challenge(s) I faced:
After practicing in Soto Zen Temples and monasteries for the last decade, leaving and returning to the “market place” has been challenging. Although there are challenges, the challenges have become motivators or fuel for practice. The vows that I received in my ordination have become much more relevant.

What surprised me about DRBU?
What surprised me about DRBU is the strong presence of community.

What is one of your recent papers about?
“Time present and time past are both present in time future, and time future is contained in time past. If all time is eternally present, all time is unredeemable. What might have been is an abstraction, remaining a perpetual possibility, only in the world of speculation. What might have been and what has been point to one end, which is always present. My words echo thus in your mind.” -T.S. Eliot, 20th Century

What is it really about?
“In the word “sometimes,” Time is already just existence, and all existence is Time. Because it is Time, it has the resplendent brightness of Time. Each individual and each object in this whole universe should be glimpsed as individual moments of Time. When we arrive in the field of the ineffable, there is just one concrete thing, and one concrete phenomenon, here and now, beyond understanding of phenomena and non-understanding of phenomena. Because [real existence] is only this exact moment, all moments of Existence-Time are the whole of Time.” -Eihei Dogen, 13th Century

Do you have a daily practice—if so, what is it?
Zazen, chanting, prostrations, and yoga.

What do you do for fun?
Reading, cycling, camping, and other fun stuff.

How has financial aid played a role in your being here?
Thank you, Financial Aid!