Everything on this site except for this page is written in a market-y sort of way, intentionally and (hopefully) obviously—because I’m trying to market something. Hell, this website only exists because I have something to market.
This page, though, isn’t written for marketing. It’s written to address very real questions you may have asked yourself or possibly have thought about while reading the content of this site.
Hahaha, really? This “non-markety” page is the most markety bullshit I’ve ever seen.
… sorry?
So, really, why charge money?
Money is simply an exchange of human energy, and it itself is not evil.
I charge money because of very real circumstances: I live in the United States, and to live here, I need to buy food and pay rent. I could maybe get away with a different way of living, with little to no money, if I were living alone or in another society, but I’m not.
I have a wife and a child, and I want my daughter to grow up fully integrated in society with other children. So I choose to play certain parts of the game.
So the mission is to make money?
No, the money is to eat.
The mission is to help people who can resonate with my personal story find understanding, peace, forgiveness for themselves and life’s circumstances and the greater society at large, ultimately to love themselves and all of life.
Why do you teach?
I teach because the world needs teachers.
I believe I provide a perspective that’s valuable and resonates with certain people.
I offer meditation practices and tips for living because I believe that we can learn to live better together through mindfulness meditation and practices like it.
Do you really want to teach?
Yes and no.
I want people to learn the dharma and to practice mindfulness. And to top it off, I’ve found that I’m a pretty decent teacher (at least that’s what the students say).
However, I’d rather not need to teach, nor have anyone teach at all. I’d rather everyone already have these tools under their belt and we can just get along with eating cupcakes and playing mah jong, or whatever we do with our lives.
Also, stepping into the role of a teacher is fraught with internal conflict as well, seeing as there is such a torrid history of abuse and misuse of power in many traditions of Buddhist teaching.
Sometimes I inhabit the teacher role, in formal settings, but for the most part, “teaching” is too strong of a word for what I do. Think of me more as a spiritual friend.
I really do believe that we’d all be better off as a human society if we all did mindfulness meditation.
Are you teaching Buddhism?
No.
A lot of what I teach originates from Buddhist philosophy, or at least I think it does, considering I learned from teachers teaching dharma who have roots in Buddhism or have practiced as monks.
But I’m not teaching Buddhism because I don’t consider myself Buddhist. It would also be a disservice to Buddhists because I don't have great knowledge of the Buddhist texts.
I draw upon my own life experience, things I’ve heard from my teachers, the Buddha, the Tao, neuroscience, psychology, philosphy, science, poetry, art, history, books, Google…I include it all.
What does “living better together” mean?
There are two key words there: better and together.
The “better” part is discretionary—it’s left up to you.
But since we’re all doing it “together,” it’s left up to us to figure out what it means.
Why better? Aren’t things already perfect as they are?
They are. And they can also be better.
You are perfect just the way you are. And there is still room for improvement.
— Zen master Shunryu Suzuki
Please, forgive me.
In the tradition of Buddhist ethics, I strive to do no harm. Yet, in the light of the concept of reciprocity of the original peoples of Turtle Island, I know that harm is inevitably caused.
Meaning, in life there is give and take, and there's a balance. I don't intend for the content of this site or my videos to offend anyone, but I know that sometimes the balance will be upset.
So, I ask for forgiveness ahead of time, for any harm I've caused you.
And, I forgive you for any harm that you may have caused me.
I realize that this website is very United States-centric, and I apologize for that. I realize that there are ongoing conflicts and massive turmoil in many parts of the world, and I do not mean to belittle those situations with the bias to American views that I write about. It is simply where I live.
Anything else?
If I've missed anything, please email me.