A “Way-Finding Talk” is the tradition of telling one’s path as to how one arrived in our sangha. It is sharing. The person giving and receiving gently holding the story as an opus. As Zen practitioners we ebb and flow with the narration, gaining insight into the story and teller and into ourselves as well. I often mention Murial Rukeyser’s famous line… “the universe is made-up of stories not atoms.”
Mike Viola, a practicing Zen Buddhist who took precepts in the Kwan Um School of Zen Buddhism in the early 2000s. His Buddhist given name is Bon Haeng and he practiced for many years at the Open Meadow Zen center in Lexington, MA. During COVID, he practiced less in person at that Sangha and started attending via Zoom, however the Zoom Sangha only met once per week. Since Mike was looking for a daily Sangha practice, he fortunately found the Falmouth Soto Zen and has been practicing with them each morning since last summer.
Mike holds a graduate certificate in Spiritual Direction from the Aquinas Institute of Theology in Saint Louis granted in 2017. He also leads a group of Catholics in the practice of Centering Prayer (a form of silent meditation) and Lectio Divina (a form of Scripture study) twice a week via Zoom. Additionally, Mike is one of summer ministers at the Grace Memorial Chapel in Falmouth as well as serving as their treasurer.
Mike holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering from Tufts University and works as a consultant for 3 startup companies in nanotechnology. He lives in Falmouth with his wife.
Please join us Tuesday night (6/17/25) at 7:00 PM/ET for our service followed by Mike’s Talk at 8:00 PM/ET.
Sangaku