Mel Pine Email & Phone Number

I’ve considered myself a practicing Buddhist for close to 40 years. For the first three decades or so, my primary teacher was the venerable Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh. Then, in January 2016, seven months after the death of my son Thomas at the age of 29, I began practicing Vajrayana (Tibetan) Buddhism with Lama Surya Das. While I remain eternally grateful to Thich Nhat Hanh and to Lama Surya, whom I consider my root teacher, in the last few years, I’ve taken on additional Vajrayana teachers, especially Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche and Anam Thubten.I practice the Dzogchen and Mahamudra traditions of Vajrayana Buddhism, but I include those words only for those already familiar with them.My wife, Carol, is a fellow traveler along the Buddhist way. We practice together with a daily Zoom group whose members are our dear sangha mates. Carol and I live in western Loudoun County, Virginia, near our son Carl, who recently became engaged to a lovely (inside and out) woman. They join us often for dinner.My professional career was varied but centered around communicating with words. I have no credentials as a Buddhist teacher, but I think I’m damn good at expressing the complex more simply without sacrificing accuracy.I call my blog From the Pure Land because I believe that the mind creates reality, and I know that I’m already in the Pure Land. Come join me there.