I
left my home to train at a Japanese Buddhist monastery when
I was 19. As a child, I saw people create deep suffering in the world and I felt unable to accept it. I wanted to face the problem directly, and upon learning
that monasteries are built for that purpose, I immediately began to search. After visiting teachers for some time, I found a true Zen
Master, Shodo Harada Roshi, with whom I was fortunate to train
for four years, and under whom I was ordained. I also trained, and
served as head monk, at Sariputta Boudh Vihar, an Ambedkar Buddhist
monastery in southern India, where I worked for the rights of those
born into the lower castes and helped to raise thirty boys with the
understanding that we are all inconceivably valuable, regardless of
family circumstances. I led peaceful protests and organized community
efforts to overcome the injustice of the caste system. I
further trained at Hemis Gompa, a Kagyud Tibetan monastery in the far
north of India where I maintained an extremely rigorous meditation practice, and Xue Feng Si, an ancient Ch'an monastery in eastern
China. Since returning to the United States, I have had the honor of participating
in several Native American ceremonies, including the Sun Dance and a
four-year cycle of Vision Quests. I am currently living in Burlington, Vermont, near the house where I began meditation practice when I was 16. I am now 33, and over the past 17 years, I have practiced formal meditation, sometimes joyful and sometimes painful but always exciting, for more than 20,000 hours. I teach meditation techniques at residential retreats around the US and internationally, one-on-one in Vermont, over the phone and the Internet and through text messages, and in local schools and at King Street Center with youth. I wander around Chittenden County for the warmer half the year in the traditional Buddhist mendicant style, sleeping when offered shelter and eating when offered food, speaking with anyone I meet and accepting invitations to stay at homes, schools, churches and other locations. Please feel free to invite me. It is a blessing for me to have the chance to provide meditation guidance as a full-time job. -Soryu Forall (a note on my names) |
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