Santi

I was a monk (bhikkhu) in the Thai forest tradition, a meditation-centered branch of Theravada Buddhism. I lived for eight years as a monastic, and six as a fully-ordained monk in monasteries, as a wanderer, and in traditional and Western lay-Buddhist communities. Prior to ordination, I lived a varied adult life of writing, teaching, and plenty of miscellaneous jobs; travel and settling down; relationships, marriage, and singleness; fatherhood. All of these experiences continue to inform my developing spiritual practice and understanding, which integrates early Buddhist approaches with an engaged commitment to naturalism and humanistic values.

I teach meditation, offer talks, and write on the intersections of Buddhism, modernity, and personal life; on renunciation and monasticism; on the conscious use of technology; and on other spiritual and practice-related themes. My recent writings appear in Tricycle magazine, here, and on my website.

Santi means “peace.” It was given to me as a monastic name — an encouragement to me and others to value and foster peace, the defining quality of balance, the quality I’m offering as the theme of this course.