My life-changing experience with Buddhism motivated me to co-found this site with Soryu Forall. Soryu is one of the most impressive Buddhist teachers I have met. I know him to be wise and highly intelligent, keeping good ethical conduct, possessing a very deep practice along with an amazing wealth of knowledge that spans across multiple schools of Buddhism, and demonstrating a deeply compassionate approach to all matters. You know, the usual.
Beyond the already-impressive “usual” for an admired teacher, there is one surprising quality that further distinguishes Soryu: his great ambition. Soryu is not content to spend his life enjoying spiritual bliss alone, or to just guide a handful of his disciples to their spiritual breakthroughs, or a hundred, or a thousand disciples. Oh no. Soryu wants to be of service to the entire world, by making Buddhism massively accessible and practicable for billions of people and, in the process, saving the planet from the worst impulses of humanity. He is also younger than me, so I often jokingly refer to him as “that blonde kid from Vermont.” In real life, he is a beloved friend, a brother and an honored teacher, all conveniently rolled into one.
Content about Buddhism written by masters tend to be deep but difficult to read, while those written by non-masters tend to be approachable but not sufficiently deep. By working closely together, one a master, the other a proficient non-master-level practitioner, Soryu and I hope to accomplish the best of both: we want this book to be deep enough to even talk about how you can reach enlightenment, and yet fully accessible even to people with no knowledge of Buddhism at all.
So, you get the best of both worlds. You get two authors for the price of one. Yay you!
This series is written in my voice (once described by a reporter as “baritone” and “seductive”, ahem). We are kind of like the Penn and Teller magic act: two equal performers, but one does the talking. In addition, I invited Soryu to close each topic with “The Abbot’s Commentary”. If Soryu were voicing this, he would have placed more emphasis on virtue, compassion and living in way that cares for all living things, but still, his voice is deeply embedded all over in Buddhism For All, and he is satisfied that all the claims made in it are correct.
