Individual Guidance

The unfolding of your Dharma path depends largely on two key elements: sitting and meeting with a qualified teacher. Through meditation, we come to know our experience more deeply; through meeting with a teacher, we receive guidance, perspective, and support. The Dharma is transmitted warm hand to warm hand, through the living relationship between teacher and student. A teacher can help us recognize the pitfalls of practice and, most importantly, stay oriented toward what matters through the many twists and turns of spiritual life.

There are several ways to work with me, depending on where you are in your practice and the kind of support you’re looking for.

A note on fees: On retreat, I offer my teaching freely. Outside of retreat, teaching is part of my livelihood, and I charge fees that reflect the time, experience, and care this work involves. I also want this work to remain accessible, so I offer a sliding scale. If you’re a full-time Dharma bum or monastic, please don’t let the rates below keep you from reaching out. I’m happy to talk with you about an arrangement that works for your circumstances.

An initial conversation

I’m happy to meet for a brief, free, one-time conversation with anyone interested in exploring practice with me. This is an opportunity to ask questions, share a little about your practice, and consider whether working together might be a good fit.

Practice discussions on retreat

Practice discussions are an integral part of the retreats I offer through Boundless Refuge. Daylong and overnight retreats include opportunities to meet with me individually about your practice.

Ongoing individual guidance

For those who would like to meet regularly outside the retreat context, I offer individual practice discussions of 30 or 60 minutes. Rates are $125–$190 for 30 minutes or $230–$350 for 60 minutes, on a sliding scale. You can choose the rate that best reflects your financial circumstances.

Mentorship in Daily Life

$1,750–$2,500 for three months, on a sliding scale, with payment installments available. You can begin at any time.

What if you could bring the depth, structure, and continuity of monastic training into your everyday life, without leaving home?

Mentorship in Daily Life is a three-month program that brings key elements of monastic life and a monastic practice period into the circumstances of lay life: a steady rhythm of sitting, structure and accountability, community, and sustained, individualized guidance. Drawing on my experience leading intensive three-month retreats and working with students across a range of stages of practice, I’ve developed this program as a way to bring the transformative potential of sustained training into the lives we are already living.

We begin with an extensive intake, through which I develop an understanding of your life, circumstances, and practice. Together, we establish an intention for the three months ahead, and I offer personalized recommendations to support your practice. We meet one-to-one each week, with periodic opportunities to connect and practice with other mentees. You commit to daily sitting, while I offer guidance, perspective, and accountability as you work with the unfolding of your practice. Depending on your interests, our work may also include Dharma study, additional retreats, or other complementary approaches.

Each three-month period begins and ends with a ritual we undertake together, marking the intention, commitment, and completion of our work. A single period can bring significant learning and open up new possibilities for practice. Over several years, these periods can become a substantial course of training, bringing many of the benefits of monastic life into your home and daily relationships. This way of practicing also offers something distinctive: rather than stepping away from our conditioning, we learn to work directly with it, bringing the Dharma into our relationships, responsibilities, habits, and ordinary encounters with the world. In doing so, we may discover more deeply our particular calling and how we are meant to express ourselves in this life.

The program is open to all levels, from those just beginning to those who have experienced profound openings and are exploring how to integrate them into daily life, including those developing as teachers. Mentorship takes place in person in San Francisco or online.

To learn more or arrange a meeting, email team@boundlessness.org with a little about what you’re looking for and your availability. If you’re interested in Mentorship in Daily Life, you’re welcome to request a free exploratory call.