Meet R.T. Good

 

 

Nine Bows to Everyone,

I am pleased to share with you a bit about myself.  My name is RT Good.   I am a lifelong resident of the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia where my husband and I share a home.  We are both practitioners of the way.  I am also an educator and administrator at Shenandoah University where I have been employed for 23 years.

 

Fourteen years ago I stumbled onto the Zen Buddhist path during a men’s retreat hosted by the Bodhi Manda Zen Center (BMZC) in Jemez Springs, New Mexico.  Immediately, the Dharma within me was lit and has grown brighter ever since.  I have returned to sit sesshin at BMZC as well as with Zen Mountain Monestary in Mt. Templer, New York.  In the local area, I have sat with the Delaplane Sangha and the ZCB Clare Sangha.  I have also gone on pilgrimages, the most transforming of which was to Bodhi Gaya, India.  I knew after that journey that it was time for me to ask for the teachings so that I might mature in my practice.  Like my first discovery of the Zen Buddhist path, the universe suddenly revealed to me the writings of Koro Kaisan Miles.  I knew immediately upon reading his teachings that I would go to him and ask for his guidance.  In August 2013, Sensei Miles accepted me into apprenticeship and I have had the privilege to attend several sesshins at Open Gate Zendo under his tutelage.

 

 

Coinciding with my affiliation over the last couple years with the Boundless Mind Zen School I have also had the good fortune of building and leading a community of practice at Shenandoah University.  For the past two years I have introduced students and colleagues to Zen Buddhist practices.  Recently, on December 8, 2014, the community at Shenandoah University held its first Bodhi Day ceremony on campus, an auspicious event that was very well received by everyone. 

 

 

 

It is with humble gratitude that I affiliate with the Order of the Boundless Way and join a Sangha that is my spiritual touchstone.  While I live a considerable distance away, I keep the Sangha close at heart.  I also hope that I am, in some small way, planting the seeds of Boundless Mind Zen to sprout here in the Shenandoah Valley.

In gassho,

RT