Getting sober at a very early age, it became very apparent just how many addictions a human being can be afflicted with... You put one down and another or several pop up, seemingly from nowhere, and the battle starts all over. This became the pattern of my life for years until I became interested in what the source of these addictions was. Because obviously a life directed by desire is painful...we call it in Buddhism “suffering.”

It was at this point I was introduced to Zen Meditation and everything seemed to click into place, like the missing puzzle pieces were at my fingertips. This didn’t mean that any of it was easy, or it went away, but rather, here was a real solution.
So I became a student of the Buddha dharma and found a teacher: Seijaku Roshi. He founded Pine Wind Monastery in Shamong, New Jersey, and was the guiding teacher until his death in June 2021.

I was ordained as a Zen Priest in 2016 after years of training with him and our Sangha and continue today as a student and teacher at our Zendo in Cherry Hill, NJ.

My focus still lies in the pursuit of understanding and action through these ancient wisdom practices that have been handed down for thousands of years.