chaplaincy
I view chaplaincy as a form of spiritual friendship and community. If you choose to collaborate with me as a chaplain, you can expect deep listening, tender curiosity, and comfortable silence. In our shared sacred space, you are free to be yourself without fear of judgment. My role is to meet you where you are and hold space for your process of sacred self-exploration.
This heart to heart service is for anyone seeking spiritual support and loving presence through instability or change regardless of faith background. People may seek the support of a chaplain when they’re experiencing loss, starting a new phase in life, or for any number of other reasons. Through contemplative reflection, gentle breathwork, collaborative prayer, meditation techniques, and ritual suggestions drawn from Buddhist tradition and beyond we can co-create sacred space for your natural wisdom to reveal itself.
Together I believe we can nourish a sense of inner freedom, peace, resilience, blessings, and adaptability to fit your unique life circumstances. I am especially committed to bringing spiritual friendship to people that are often shut out of traditional religious spaces and encourage trans women, sex workers, and queer people to reach out to me if you feel my work would be helpful.
My chaplaincy practice is under the guidance of my heart teacher Lama Justin von Bujdoss. While I consider myself just a student of the dharma, he has blessed me with permission to serve others as a chaplain. An ordained repa in the Karma Kamstang lineage and ngakpa in the tradition of Yuthok Yonten Gonpo as well as a chaplain with many years of service in hospice, emergency rooms, corrections, and beyond, I’m deeply grateful Lama Justin believes I’m ready to start this new phase in my practice.
what chaplaincy isn’t
Chaplaincy is not a replacement for therapy. If you need mental healthcare, I’m happy to provide you with resources to connect you with a qualified therapist.
I’m also not an authorized spiritual teacher, called a lama or guru in the Buddhist traditions I practice. As a chaplain, my role is friend, ally, and confidant, but it’s not my place to teach you how to practice your faith. If you are curious to explore a particular spiritual path and wish to connect with an authentic teacher, I will try my best to put you in touch with an elder from that tradition. I’m in relationship with a variety of progressive clergy and practitioners from Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Pagan, and traditional African spiritualities among others that may be able to help you.
dāna
dāna
Dāna comes from the Sanskrit for generosity. In Buddhism, it often refers to the alms collected by monks, nuns, and other vow-holders to support their religious practice. In that spirit, I’m currently offering my services as a chaplain on a donation basis to honor the selfless example of the teachers who have never turned me away for lack of funds.
Because true dāna comes from selflessness and gratitude, not as an exchange with strings attached, I don’t have suggested amounts attached to my offerings and I also won’t turn anyone away for lack of funds. It also means my financial wellbeing directly reflects the resources of the people I serve. This gives me the opportunity to practice generosity with my community and offers you the chance to explore what generosity feels like to you.
Many Buddhist practitioners in the West struggle to operate on dāna because there’s not a robust economy of generosity, service, and gift-giving here.While no price can be put on spirituality and giving is it’s own reward, I hope you understand that my work as a chaplain is only sustainable if we can form new economies of open-handed reciprocity, gift-giving, and generosity together.