Milo North Burn
I was born in San Francisco, California. My journey into studying suffering and its causes was sparked by an identity crisis in my teens when I realized that I am gay. This exploration became all-consuming and led me to withdraw from society. I struggled to articulate what had become an existential quest to others, except by saying that I was "following the jewel in my heart."
When I encountered my first Dharma teacher, I immediately sensed that he also recognized this jewel and had discovered a way to express it. It was later revealed to me that the archetype representing Bodhicitta—the awakened and awakening heart—is the jewel in the lotus of the heart. The challenges I faced in my late teens and early 20s led me to live as a hermit for two years and subsequently embark on an intensive Vipassana retreat for a significant part of a year. Along this path, the lotus in my own heart blossomed, initiating me into a way of life dedicated to the awakening of all beings.
For the past twenty years, I have devoted myself full-time to practice, primarily in Insight Meditation and Soto Zen schools, as well as other immersive settings. Collectively, I have spent approximately five years in monastic communities, two years in silent intensive retreats, and several years in solitude and self-directed study. The core spiritual benefactors whose guidance has shaped my practice include Joseph Goldstein, Greg Scharf, Leslie James, Tenshin Reb Anderson Roshi, and Adyashanti.
After leaving monastic life in 2019 and serving as Resident Teacher at Dharmagiri Hermitage in South Africa, I founded Boundless Refuge in 2021 and have since guided four consecutive three-month intensive retreats. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Hi, my name is Mitra. I received my lay ordination name, Xūramitra ("heroic friend"), through Shinzen Young and Soryu Forall.
I often share that my spiritual journey began in the confusion of childhood. As the child of immigrant Korean parents, I felt pulled between the values of my American schooling and my Korean home life. Both felt incomplete, so I spent a lifetime seeking what is true and good beyond the boundaries of culture or ideology. This pursuit began through study, reflection, and inquiry. I completed a Master's degree at American University, focusing on bridging East and West, with a thesis that synthesized Existentialism and Buddhist philosophy. After graduate school, feeling lost and having abandoned my dream of academia, I traveled the country in a van for two years.
In college, I had my first glimpses of deep practice through the study of Tai Chi Quan and a 10-day Vipassana course. However, dedicating myself full-time to a spiritual path still felt like a privilege reserved for others. In my late 20s, after repeatedly failing to find happiness in city life, I committed to a monastic path.
For seven years, I lived full-time at the Monastic Academy (MAPLE) in Vermont, where I undertook countless meditation hours and other practices. I was the first resident to complete a three-month solitary retreat in a cabin, and afterward, I became the first to be promoted to teacher, conducting one-on-one interviews with students. I taught several week-long retreats, co-taught with Shinzen Young, and completed three winter retreats. In my last three years at MAPLE, I also served as Executive Director, overseeing construction, fundraising, and more.
After stepping down from my roles at MAPLE, I spent a year designing and building a cabin. Upon its completion, I left Vermont and moved to Asheville, North Carolina. A few friends and I started a dharma house collective where we practice together, cook for each other, and support one another in our spiritual and life vows.
Currently, I stay involved in a variety of projects. I am a facilitator on the Relateful platform, an Aletheia-trained Unfolding coach, and a core member of Madrona Meditation, a startup focused on integrating mindfulness and psychotherapy techniques. Recently, I've been exploring Contact Improv (CI) as a new modality for personal growth. You can reach me at peterxpark.com.
