flamingseed

My primary focus for the last dozen years has been spiritual practice. I have also worked as a transpersonal counselor and in book publishing—both as an editor and as a book designer—and have taught writing and coached authors.

While I’ve drawn spiritual inspiration from many sources, I am grounded in the daily practices of Buddhism. On the advice of Bokar Rinpoche, my study has crossed lineages and my path has been largely intuitive. In 2009 I was authorized to teach in the Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism by Lama Palden—my mentor, teacher, and spiritual big sister in San Rafael, who I also apprenticed with in Buddhist-based counseling after completing graduate training in Integral Counseling Psychology.

Other important influences include the writings of the Catholic mystics, as well as vital and humbling transmissions of indigenous wisdom during visits to the Menominee reservation (where my maternal grandmother was born and raised) and from eco-psychologist Leslie Gray, a modern-day shaman with a powerful clarity that continues to inspire me. I’ve also received personal spiritual guidance from the Indian scholar and Tantric Master Kamalakar Mishra of Varanasi, whose depth of practice and sublime teachings on maitri and bodhicitta have touched me deeply.

Traveling has been an important part of my life and I’ve become something of a nomad. I’ve spent a great deal of time in India, first working in the slums of Bombay, then on extended retreat in the Himalayas and finally, leading student groups to Spiritual India and studying sacred chant in Varanasi. 2 years ago, I spent the winter in a small Andean village in Ecuador, where I taught meditation and Buddhist compassion practices, and a month in the tropical forests of Costa Rica, where I fell in love with an orphaned howler monkey named Francesca. Last year, I stayed for 9 months in an open-air house in the Balinese countryside with my partner, writer and dharma astrologer Hunter Reynolds (www.astrodharma.org). Now I am back in Ecuador, living simply in a little cabin the Andes mountains outside of a small village, meditating and writing in a tiny wooden structure that is perched out over the river valley like an eagle's nest.

From here, I am nurturing the new online writing from the soul community (see www.writingfromthesoul.net) and taking forays into town to teach meditation.