Welcome!

Hello! Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Roberto Rodriguez. I'm a political scientist by training, a high school teacher by profession, and a Zen student. My intention for this site is to track my personal journey through Zen. A process I expect will last a lifetime.

The motivation behind doing so is threefold. First and foremost, as a writer I find this personal journey fascinating. The internal pull towards something in a very palpable yet inexplicable way is worth some consideration.

Second, Zen is not an easy practice, many come to it and find frustration. Yet, in the Zendos I've participated in I found a strong reluctance to talk about these frustrations. I've decided to share my experiences with anyone who might be interested.

The third reason is that by writing my experiences, thoughts and reflections, I'm able to let the thoughts go, and hopefully obsess a little less. Right now I'm not sure what the subjects will be about, I'm sure they will be varied. While my intent is for the posts to be related to my practice as a Zen student, often the things that come through the practice are related to Zen only in that came through practice. My intent however is truth in advertising, this site will be about the things I reflect on as I try to expand my practice from the cushion to the rest of my life.

So in the first couple of posts I'll share how it is I got to this point. After that, we'll see what comes up.