Meet Stuart Tennis

Greetings,

I have been a Buddhist for six years with several of those years as a student at a Tibetan Sangha in Seattle. I have also done many years of independent Buddhist study with meditation at the core of my practice. While a Buddhist I am also a Christian; in my spiritual journey through these years I came to realize that these two worlds deeply enrich and clarify my life. Continuing my Buddhist journey at the Open Gate Zendo, I am drawn toward doing bodhisattva work as I deepen my Zen Buddhist practice. Further I hope to have the opportunity to join the Order and one day be ordained. I was lead to the Order of the Boundless Way through the chance meeting of a soon-to-be ordained member of the Order. Our afternoon discussing dharma and the Boundless Way over tea inspired me to send a letter of introduction to Koro Kaisan Miles.

Having explored many Sanghas and spoken with many Buddhist practitioners over the years I had been seeking a Buddhist tradition which would allow me to maintain my Christian roots while affording me the space and guidance to deepen my Buddhist practice and meditation. In the beginning of this journey I decisively knew that I could not be a Buddhist for the sake of myself alone. Rather as a Buddhist I desired, and still do, to engage with the world and want to help those in it instead of cloistering myself from that world.

One of the many blessings in my life for the past 16 years is my full-time work as an American Sign Language interpreter. As an interpreter I have seen all of the joys, sufferings and seasons of the lives of others and in part all that I have seen has drawn me toward bodhisattva work and to deepen my Christian and Buddhist practice. I am also an artist, photographer, keyboard musician and lover of the arts and all things creative. Be it spiritual or "foot to the path" I am a traveler at heart. Born in England, I was raised in the States and I visit my family in England twice yearly as well as exploring Europe and having time with my friends there.

Sending a letter of introduction to Koro Kaisan Miles and our following correspondence gave me a good sense that the Order of the Boundless Way might become the sangha and Buddhist tradition I'd long been seeking. After my first meeting with Koro Kaisan Miles and first time at the Open Gate Zendo I saw that the Boundless Way answered my search.

Stuart Tennis