“Who in the world am I? Ah, that's the great puzzle.” -Lewis Carroll 

“There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that’s your own self.” - Aldous Huxley


The time has almost come for me to depart on an epic journey, spanning the globe and the depths of myself. I am truly blessed to be able to participate in the 2014 Fo Guang Buddhist Monastic Retreat where I will live like a buddhist monk for one month. The program takes place June 26th through July 24th at Fo Guang Shan Temple in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. I would like to take this time to thank both of my parents, Chico State University, and everyone involved at Fo Guang Shan for making this a possibility. I would also like to send the deepest regards and respect to Professor Jason Clower (and his Shi Tzu Snoot) for not only encouraging me to apply (and being there for support every step of the way) but also for writing me an awesome letter of recommendation that I'm sure got me in! Now to the fun stuff, the retreat is designed to mimic the schedule and lifestyle of a Chan Buddhist monk, culminating in a four day youth seminar designed to facilitate communication between young Buddhists as well as three days of traveling Taiwan, seeing the sights and staying at various temples along the way. The first two weeks will be spent introducing students to the monastic lifestyle consisting mostly of vegetarian meals (yum), meditation, community service, evening chanting (awesome!), and classes about Buddhist preachings and monastic activities. After this intensive two weeks we will put the practice to the test in a one week silent meditation retreat. I am not sure if this means total silence, or just periods of elongated silence but either way I am excited to have a week to practice meditation and expand my thoughts. I've heard there is a bit of an "intensity factor" which includes the switch to vegetarian meals and waking up at 5:30 am. The vegetarian meals will be easy as I have eaten vegetarian off and on for the last couple of years but the 5:30 wake up call will be a bit of a learning curve. I am all set to arrive by plane then train then shuttle the morning of the 25th where I will find my lodging and get acquainted with the sacred spaces I will be calling home for the next month. Now to answer the BIG question I keep getting asked, yes I will be shaving my head. This is not a requirement of the program but something I think will help propel me into my new environment. In other words when I go under the razor, I will (in a sense) be shedding my personal, social and societal identity and become something new. I will try to update this blog with words, images and love as often as I can. Laugh with me as I travel across the globe to travel inwards to my deepest self. If you have any questions feel free to leave them in the comments and I will answer them in my next post or check out https://www.fgs.org.tw/events/fgmonasticretreat/ for more information including the schedule we will be following. Infinite love!