Hometown:
Mexico

What was I doing before DRBU? 
Working for a German company that makes mental games.

Influential book I’ve read: 
The Sixth Patriarch’s Dharma Jewel Platform Sutra and A Comprehensive Manual of Abhidhamma

Concept that blew my mind: 
Non-duality

How has DRBU changed me? 
It has opened up a window to a new reality that my heart already knew existed. But when I got here, I could see it and really live it, which started a process of deconstruction and reconstruction of myself.

What surprised me about DRBU? 
How friendly, homely, and cheery the environment is. Also, that it is very challenging (in a good way)!

Title of a recent paper: 
A Dharma-door: The teachings of the Sixth Patriarch

What is it about? 
That there are different Dharma doors that can open our eyes and let us see our real nature.

What is it really about? 
An argument against how the different Dharmas are contradictory. There are different teachings only because people have different mental states and conditions. There is no best teaching because people are different.

What language are you taking? 
Sanskrit

What’s your service scholarship (work study) job? 
I have four jobs: helping with the Spanish website for Dharma Realm Buddhist Association, working at the farm, washing dishes in the dining hall, and preparing community dinners on Tuesdays.

Do you have a daily practice— if so, what is it? 
I contemplate the five precepts. Sometimes, I meditate and recite the Shurangama mantra.

What do you do for fun? 
I hang out with friends, attend pottery classes, and practice qigong.

How has financial aid played a role in your being here? 
Without it, there would be no way that I could gather all the financial resources to be here.

How does what you’re learning here carry out into the world? 
I still do not know, but I bet that it is going to be great.