Welcome!

Thank you for visiting my website. The site has information about three areas of my life: my public education project called Incite Seminars; my work in Buddhist studies and on Speculative Non-Buddhism; and playing music with Ruin; In some strange way, all of these activities are intimately intertwined.

For a fuller account, here's my Linktree. Here is my Wikipedia page. The Home page image is “Street Musicians” by Eugene Atget (1857-1927).

ABOUT ME

I hold a Ph.D. in Buddhist studies from Harvard University. My training was mainly philological, concentrating on Sanskrit, Pali, and Tibetan Buddhist literature. For a long time, I have been concerned with how to make classical Buddhist literature, philosophy, and practice relevant to contemporary life. So, much of my work stems from that concern.

I have written books and articles on various aspects of Buddhism, radical education theory, and anarchism. Some of this work is intended for the public, some is more specialized. I have also practiced for many years in several Buddhist traditions, including Vipassana, Dzogchen, and mainly Soto Zen. 

My recent work is best summed up in the title of my books: A Critique of Western Buddhism: Ruins of the Buddhist Real. (The book is open access, which means you can read it for free.) This critique draws from François Laruelle's non-philosophy. The blog I founded in 2011, Speculative Non-Buddhism, contains many essays, by me and others, that reflect this critical direction. My tract Non-Buddhist Mysticism: Performing Irreducible and Primitive Presence is an example of what I would like to see more of in the world: buddhofiction.

My book An Anarchist's Manifestosignals my intention of bringing anarchist values to bear more explicitly on my work.

Before leaving academia to be an independent scholar, I taught in the religion departments of several universities, including the University of Georgia (where I received tenure), Brown University, Bowdoin College, and the Rhode Island School of Design.

My most recent book, Nietzsche NOW!The Great Immoralist on the Vital Issues of Our Time is out now.