I’m a married father living in the suburbs of Kansas City, the place I’ve called home for nearly fifty years. For my day job, I work as a software developer for Children International, a global humanitarian nonprofit committed to improving the lives of children and families around the world.
Outside of work, I play bass in a punk‑rock band called The Unfinished. Between my career, music, and family life, what keeps me grounded is my Buddhist practice—something I’ve devoted my entire adult life to. I’m an active and continuous student within Tara Mandala’s programs and pathways, and I practice locally with Dharma in the Wild, a Kansas City–based meditation community.
A few other pieces of my story: I hold a degree from Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas. In 2018, I anonymously donated a kidney through the University of Kansas Health System. For about a decade, I also ran a charitable arts collective called Freshcassette – Creative Compassion.
I have been studying and practicing Buddhism for more than twenty-five years. What began as a simple curiosity gradually unfolded into a dedicated lifelong path. In the early years, I immersed myself in the writings of renowned teachers such as His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Thich Nhat Hanh, letting their wisdom shape my understanding of the Dharma.
Kansas City is home to several Buddhist sanghas from a variety of schools and lineages, and over time I practiced with most of them, as well as with several global online communities. My journey included American Buddhism, Korean Zen, Soto Zen, the Thai Forest tradition (Theravada), Plum Village, and finally Tibetan Buddhism. Practicing with such a wide range of groups allowed me to appreciate the unique strengths of each tradition while discovering what resonated most deeply for me. For many years my experience was broad but not yet rooted in a single path.
That changed when my dear dharma friend, Nicoya Helm, introduced me to Feeding Your Demons, a modern adaptation of Machig Labdrön’s Chöd lineage, developed by Lama Tsultrim Allione. The practice had a profound impact on me and sparked a desire to explore its origins more fully. Lama Tsultrim is the founder of Tara Mandala, a global Tibetan Buddhist sangha and retreat center in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. As I engaged with Tara Mandala’s teachings, my practice deepened significantly.
I am now a dedicated practitioner of the Ösel Nyingtig Path at Tara Mandala—a step-by-step journey into the heart of Vajrayana and Dzogchen. This terma was revealed in 2002 by Orgyen Khakhyab Lingpa and is currently being taught by Tulku Ösel Dorje and Lama Tsultrim Allione.
I was given the Tibetan refuge name Yeshe Dorje (Vajra of Primordial Wisdom) and the bodhisattva name Zopa Rangdröl (Self‑Liberated Patience), both by Lama Tsultrim. Together, my full Tibetan Buddhist name is Yeshe Dorje Zopa Rangdröl.
I also graduated with the 2025 cohort of Tara Mandala’s year-long Heart of Buddhism program, which offered invaluable teachings from a distinguished group of lineage holders and scholars, including: Lama Tsultrim Allione, Tulku Ösel Dorje, Adzom Gyalse Rinpoche, Dorje Lopön Charlotte Rotterdam, Dorje Lopön Chandra Easton, Lopön Karla Jackson-Brewer, Robert Thurman PhD, Amelia Hall PhD, Erik Pema Kunsang, Miranda Shaw PhD, and Wendy Garling.
Other teachers that have shaped my understanding of the dharma include: Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, Nicoya Helm, Upasaka Upali, Zen Master Bon Hae (Judy Roitman), Roshi Jundo Cohen, Bethany Klug, Ajahn Kovilo, Ajahn Nisabho, and Nima Taylor.