Not the whole thing. It's not that important. Just the part where I find out about the Buddha Dharma.
It all started... give or take 4 years ago. I was sixteen and a sophomore in high school. I was born and raised catholic and with the encouragement of some really devout fundamentalists at a church in Georgetown, TX decided to let go of Christianity and religion all together. I embraced the world of science and strong atheism with open arms. For a while I was satisfied with my situation as an atheist, but I was very curious about philosophy, particularly philosophy from the east. At the time I was beginning to study Buddhism and learn about Buddhism it was framed in a very uh... new age-y perspective (I was into the band tool at the time and payed a lot of attention to the lyrics in their songs) and it was all kind of confusing from that point of view so I decided to let it go. After letting go of the new age-y perspective, I thought Taoism might be interesting so I took that up. I was swept away by the simplicity of it's teaching and finding out it and 'Zen' Buddhism had much in common I also found Zen to be quite captivating. At this time (let's say the summer of 2007), as I was getting to Zen - reading some introductions by Alan Watts and the like - I had the growing pains of any 17 year old to be senior in high school had, such as relationship trouble. One break up really got me down and studying Zen, just pouring myself into the study and then the practice of Zen manage to help me cope with my bout of depression and it seemed like such a nice fit for me personally from what I had been learning from Alan Watts. By December of that year I was heavily into reading the Diamond Sutra and the Platform Sutra of Eno. I really wanted to jump right into the heart of Buddhist scripture, then again I also wanted something more substantial so I started getting more heavily into the meditation aspect, but still avid read any bits and translations of scripture I could find. In the beginning it is a really daunting practice, especially without knowing how exactly to hold your posture or hands or what to do with your mind, so after a few months of flying solo with what seemed to me like little success I ventured out to seek help. I found the Austin Zen Center - a Soto Zen 'center'/temple in the Shunryu Suzuki Lineage - and began sitting here on the weekends in late April of 2008. At that point in time Barbara Seirin Kohn was head preist and Kojin Dinsmore (Now a Bhikku in the Theravada tradition) and John Grimes (Now resident priest at San Antonio Zen Center) were the resident priests, but those people have gone on to different things (as you can see from the parentheses) and there is a whole new cast of characters there.
In August of 2008 I ventured off to the University of North Texas in Denton, TX to study Philosophy and Religion. During my first semester my interests took a wild turn towards Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism, but that didn't last too long, only a few months. When I returned for my second semester I joined the sitting group at the Maria Kannon Zen Center under the guidance of Ruben Habito in the Sanbo Kyodan lineage and found it pleasant, however I wasn't wild about the synergistic attitude held by those who practiced there. Most of the people sitting with me were not Buddhists, but Catholics, nor they did care to become Buddhist or obey precepts - it was very antinomian. This experience with the MKZC alongside some personal disappointments with my life at UNT urged me to seek a transfer to another. I ended up spending the fall semester of 2009 at Texas State University. In the summer of 2009, I returned to practice at the Austin Zen Center and was introduced to the new head priest, Kosho McCall. When I was there I met a handful of interesting people and had mixed feelings about my time there. I became close friends with Lutheran chaplain by the name of Jaime Bouzard who runs the Christ Chapel at Texas State. His compassion, his connection with parishioners and students and his honest and open extended hand to people of other faiths (considering our close friendship and his inviting nature) were an incredible inspiration to me and continues to be as I wish to become a college chaplain because of him, except in the Buddhist tradition. During my time spent at Texas State I aslo met Kosho McCall - the new head preist of Austin Zen Center. Only a few weeks after meeting him I asked him allow me to take on the Bodhisattva precepts and sew a lay robe. After a few rounds of interviews with him he allowed me to start sewing and my ceremony is the 23rd of this month. The following semester (spring of 2010) I returned to UNT, bought a small butsudan (a home altar) and started praticing alone under the guidance of Kosho. I plan to continue practicing under Kosho in the coming years.
Like I said before I would really like to become a college chaplain in the Soto Zen tradition, hopefully attending the Institute of Buddhist Studies or the Upaya Institute for my training and ordination. I'd be happy spending time training in a monastery as well, yet I would love to make Buddhism more available to kids my age, in the late teens and early twenties. I also hope to embody the same character as Jamie Bouzard for those who are looking for a refuge from suffering.
But enough about me... what is your story, reader?
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