Buddhist Training for a World in Crisis

When I first heard Soryu speak about the Monastic Academy’s work with AI, I was in the jungles of Guatemala.

He said this being we call AI might never know what it’s like to smell pine trees, to hear rushing water, to look into the eyes of a child—and that this absence was its suffering. That talk touched my heart. I knew I wanted to be part of helping intelligence, both human and artificial, find its way toward wisdom and compassion.

It took me months to apply for this fellowship, and years to prepare the body of work that made it possible to come.

Entrepreneurship has been my spiritual path since I was nineteen—a way to meet the mystery through work, to serve communities dedicated to the flourishing of life on Earth. I’ve followed this thread through many places, often with very little material stability, but with a deep sense of purpose.

Coming here felt like arriving in a place that holds everything I’ve been working toward: a community, a practice, and a mission that reaches beyond any single life.

The Monastic Academy for the Preservation of Life on Earth. What a name. What an intention. It’s my last evening here, and I am filled with sorrow, hope, and gratitude.

It’s hard to express how meaningful these last three months have been—deeply challenging on many levels, yet in all the ways that I love to be challenged.

I’ve been able to see how important physical stability and security are on the path of Awakened Responsibility in the Age of AI and the existential risk of omnicide.

It makes a difference to know that you have a bed to sleep in every night.

It makes a difference to know that you will have hot, nourishing meals each day.

It makes a difference to have a gym, a zendo, a community of practitioners who are dedicated to a calling that goes beyond their own lives.

Most of the time on my journey I haven’t had those things—and yet I kept going.

Here, I’ve had them, and I can feel what becomes possible when those needs are met.

Maybe that’s something that can become invisible in a place with a higher calling, but I want to name how grateful I am for the land, the shelter, the food, the opportunities to be well and healthy, the meaningful conversations, the deep hugs, the silent moments of connection, and even the collective struggle.

The songs we sang, the trips to the lakes and apple orchards—it’s been a long time since I’ve had such simple, wholesome human experiences with people like this. My path of entrepreneurship and spiritual practice has been one of deep renunciation and loss, of letting go again and again to gain things that can never be taken away.

For this time here, I’ve been held in all that has been lost and able to deepen my connection to all that has been gained—because my basic needs were met, and that is such a beautiful thing. As I go back out into the world, I hope to carry a deepening capacity for compassion—for all those who don’t yet have the chance to know good food, safe shelter, connection with the land, or a community of practice. Being held here has shown me how much difference that makes, and how rare it still is. I feel more clearly than ever that the work I’m doing—to bridge the invisible and the visible, to bring our humanity and our technologies into right relationship—is the right work.

It can be a pathway toward social, technological, and economic evolution that allows sanctuaries like this to root and multiply across the world. For me, a fellowship isn’t something that ends with a season.

It’s a commitment to keep walking together, even when our paths diverge.

I hold that commitment deep in my heart.

I know we may be ahead of our time, yet we are exactly where we need to be—cultivating the inner and social soil that will become refuge for humans and other beings in the years to come.

Thank you for letting me be part of this circle of faith and devotion.

Thank you for the chance to practice, to serve, and to be human together.

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A few months after my first visit, I returned to MAPLE to train from June 2025 to March 2026 because of the quality of integrity, compassion, and sincerity I encountered. One year later, I can see that training here has been wildly beneficial and enriching for my life, introducing me a great breadth and depth of spiritual practice.

The training is rigorous and challenging. During my time, I was continuously invited into greater and greater roles of responsibility, pushing my developmental edge. It also asks you to be humbled, to drop all your old beliefs and investigate everything for yourself. This is not easy. I'm glad I went through it.

In addition to developing a huge host of practical and pragmatic skills (cooking large meals, construction & repair, childcare, project management and teamwork, etc), I discovered deeper and deeper wells of meaning and trust within myself. The combination of monastic practice, Dharma study, and teachings from indigenous elders has revealed a world of greater wonder & intimacy than I ever knew before.

I'm grateful for the incredible support of Soryu and this community, who continue to demonstrate the highest degree of integrity, devotion, and care for life and our friends. If you feel called to this work, I recommend you visit and see for yourself.

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After realizing I was doing much more reading about Buddhism and meditation than actually meditating, but finding myself unable to maintain the discipline to establish a regular practice, I sought out a place to “trap myself”, where I wouldn’t have the option to not practice. I found that MAPLE, and in particular the stewardship program, delivered this and so much more. I learned what it meant to be held by the “container” – the intricate and exacting rituals, the challenging schedule, and the commitment of everyone at the academy to hold each other to a high standard, not to inflict suffering, but to enable and inspire one another to make spiritual progress, to cultivate discipline and diligence, and to ultimately do the opposite of inflict suffering. I also discovered a different type of camaraderie and human connection than I had ever experienced, and developed some of the most meaningful friendships of my life, as well as a connection to community that will persist even if every member of the community is replaced by someone new. My understanding of various spiritual concepts transformed as I consistently and rigorously practiced the tenets of Buddhism in many different ways, whether I wanted to on that particular day or not. Every time I return to MAPLE, it feels like I pick up right where I left off, and I look forward to evolving not only my spiritual practice, but my engagement with and perspective on life, through future periods of training at MAPLE.

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I am a former resident and seasonal guest student of MAPLE (Monastic Academy for the Preservation of Life on Earth), and I still train at and visit MAPLE for some months out of each year. I have been coming to MAPLE since 2020, staying for as long as six months at a time. I have been to at least seven other places in North America and Asia for spiritual training, ranging from periods of days to months across all three major Buddhist traditions.

Monastic Academy was the second place I found on my spiritual life-path back when I was in my mid-20s and seeking something good to do with my life, after having been disillusioned by regular work to make money and survive/ enjoy my weekends, academia, and work in charity/philanthropy. From the start of my experience training at Monastic Academy, it was clear to me that both this place and myself and works-in-progress, places where I could put in effort and do work to make progress on my spiritual path.

I had aspirations to "go beyond Buddhahood" that I shared with Soryu Forall in our first student-teacher meditation interview. He did not cut me down or correct me for stating such a goal. He also did not ask me to do anything crazy or make a fool of myself around that time or in the time that I have trained with him since. He has continuously invited me to take more and more responsibility for my actions. I was given actual roles where I managed other people and helped lead the community in ceremonies. Much of this was difficult, taking years of effort and training to gain the knowledge-to-act well in holding these roles instead of pushing the responsibility off of myself and onto someone else.

My interest in other kinds of Buddhist spiritual practice where the forms and lineages are much more solidly established also grew. I continue to appreciate what places like MAPLE are doing to offer spiritual training in a way that is truly in line with ancient, timeless teachings while also experimenting with new skillful means of practice that are being created and changed constantly.

I pray that others can benefit from this training as I have.

I offer a deep bow to Soryu/MAPLE as well as to all my current and past spiritual teachers.

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Perhaps the most valuable thing for me about the pop-up monastery experience was my interview with the head teacher. During the sitting meditation, there is a period of time when each person is given the option of a private audience with the head teacher Soryu Forall in which he shares his feedback on the person’s practice. The term “practice” as I understand it includes both the sitting meditation, and the person’s conduct in general — how the person treats all people and living beings and the planet, including oneself. And how carefully we take responsibility for our now thoughts, words and actions, and what impact they have on the world.

He had insights into my practice that were astounding, and gave me a much more a positive perspective on my own efforts. Perhaps because they face the world’s catastrophic problems head-on, i had an urgent desire to become quickly good at the practice, so as to be most effective at doing my part in caring for life on earth. I was severely critical of my own efforts at meditation, but Soryu pointed out several breakthroughs that I had discounted until hearing his comments. And in spite of the fact that the monks from Maple are, intentionally, starkly realistic about the tiny window of hope for success in this endeavor, they are so full of energy, love and positivity that one feels encouraged to throw oneself into the fray.

The reason the monks from Maple are doing pop ups is because they found that it has a more profound impact on people to spend a little time in the atmosphere of a monastery, than to spend weeks studying Buddhism, for example. And I found this to be very true. After staying at the monastery for 5 days, engaging in both meditation periods, and meals, and talking with the monks, I came away after having the best sleep in years, with much more energy and sense of confidence in our ability to save life on earth than I have had in a long time.

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My name is Vimoksha/Aman and I am currently a training resident at MAPLE and have been here for a year and a half. My experience here has been overwhelmingly beneficial and positive.

The dharma talks are the best I have ever heard. Head teacher, Soryu Forall, is able to connect the current world crisis with traditional Buddhist doctrine plus scholarly analysis from pan-Buddhist sources, and also pointing to the immediate nature of reality - all in one talk. It's really amazing and I love it.

The community really cares about maturity and responsibility. There is a strong emphasis on owning your responsibilities and owning up to your mistakes.

The training is rigorous and rewarding. By being pushed through both the strict monastic forms and by being given more responsibility than I was comfortable with, I have grown to have a lot more energy, a lot more willingness to serve and benefit others, and an appreciation of what it really means to be a leader.

Highly recommend people train here if it is right for you.

I wouldn't be here if I didn't think my precious and short life was worth giving to this organization, these people, and this mission.

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