Who is this For?

If you’re interested in awakening, meditation, Buddhism, or insight practice — and want to explore your practice with a teacher and peer-mentor — you’re in the right place.

Awakening, as the Buddha taught it, is our natural state: freedom, ease, and openness. He offered a gradual path of investigating direct experience — one that can liberate us from the constructions of suffering. Whether you’re establishing a daily practice or deepening into insight, I’d be glad to discuss your practice.

About Me

I started practicing Mahayana Buddhism in the NKT, a westernized Tibetan Gelugpa tradition that was very devotion, service, and wisdom-oriented in 2008. In 2020, I left that group and recognized that I wanted to develop more insight/vipassana skills and explored The Mind Illuminated (TMI), Mahasi-noting, and then MIDL Insight Meditation (MIDL). Currently I practice Theravada Buddhism with MIDL and Dzogchen in Vajrayana Buddhism with, Meditation Online and Dharmachanics. So it’s kinda come full circle but I’m definitely interested in multi-systemic practice.

What I teach

I teach within the MIDL (Mindfulness in Daily Life) Insight System: a Buddhist Insight Meditation practice, under Stephen Procter. I co-lead retreats and offer 1-on-1 practice interview.

MIDL is based on Theravada Buddhist Suttas, designed for daily life. MIDL uses the development of samatha (calm-abiding) as a foundation for vipassana (insight) into hindrances to calm, during seated meditation, walking meditation and daily activities. MIDL’s emphasis is how we continue our practice outside of meditation retreats in family and work life. This includes:

• diaphragmatic breathing
• stress reduction
• breath awareness practice
• metta practice
• sutta jhanas
• elemental practice
• walking meditation

When? Sundays @ 8-9:15pm ET or by appointment.
Check the MIDL page for upcoming retreats.

Where? Link to Mindfulness in Daily Life (MIDL) class on Zoom

Media

• MIDL Retreat Guided Meditations
  • Metta
  • Karuna
  • Forgiveness
  • Equanimity
  • Joy, Gratitude & Generosity
• Simply Always Awake with Angelo Dillulo
  • Awakening Interview
  • Double-Barrel Non-Duality

My Teachers & Dhamma Influences

The community of people you practice with and teach you is an important part of the path of Awakening. The Buddha called this community, the Sangha, to be, “the whole of the path.” We guide and polish each other through our examples and friendship. The list below are a few full-time Buddhist teachers who I’ve studied with and deeply respect:

My Teachers

• Stephen Procter, founder of MIDL
• Li-Anne Tang, author of “Get Off Your Meditation Cushion”
• Suvaco Hansen
• Stephen Snyder, “Awakening Dharma”
• Ron Serrano, founding member of Dharmachanics

Influences

• Angelo DiLullo, author of “Awake: It’s Your Turn”
• Lama Dawai Gocha, founder of Meditation Online
• Leigh Brasington, author of “Right Concentration”
• Nikki Mirghafori, IMS Teacher and data scientist
• Beth Upton, Pa-Auk lineage holder
• Shaila Catherine, founder of IMS South Bay
• Daniel Ingram, author of “Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha“
• Tucker Peck, author of “Sanity and Sainthood” and founder of Open Dharma Foundation
• Upali Upasaka, co-founder of Center Space Chattanooga 
• Michael Taft, founder of the Allembic in Berkeley, C
• Psyheads Dhamma Collective

One-On-One Meetings

Contact me via the form to set up a 1-on-1 Zoom call. Or drop into my weekly Sunday dhamma class mentioned above. I’m happy to talk to you about your practice. I accept dana (pali. for generosity) at this PayPal link and suggest $50 / hour.

Expectations for Students

• Please commit to practice everyday, even if it is only 10 minutes. Prioritizing practice is essential for progress.
• Meetings are offered on a dana (generosity) basis — no one is turned away. For those able, $50/hour helps sustain this offering.
• Be kind with yourself, being open to feedback and different perspectives
• Having a foundation of exercise, eating healthy, getting good sleep, etc., is an extremely supportive ground for awakening and meditation practices and are worth cultivating before and during serious practice.
• Being part of a community is encouraged as Sangha is one of the three refuges that leads to liberation.
• Trust your intuition and pursue your own awakening (understanding of truth). Trust in your capacity for insight and the possibility that these teaching can and do lead to awakening.

Disclaimer

Please note: I am a dharma teacher, not a licensed therapist, physician, or psychiatrist. Meditation instruction is not a substitute for mental health treatment.

Meditation can bring up difficult emotions and, for some people, may not be appropriate at certain times — particularly during acute mental health crises. If you are in crisis or experiencing significant psychological distress, please seek support from a qualified mental health professional (in the US, call or text 988).

I’m glad to work alongside professional care, and will always be honest if I believe your needs exceed what dharma mentoring can responsibly provide.