How and Why I started a nonprofit 15 years ago

When I was in living in Thailand in my twenties, I did a lot of meditation. I was teaching English as a Foreign Language during the week, but many weekends were spent in a Forest Monastary in Northern Thailand. I would sit in the forest caves and sometimes meditate for 24 hours at a stretch. It was the most difficult and rewarding experience of my life. I was learning Theravada Buddhism at the feet of an enlightened teacher, Pra Ajarn Neewin.

At the same time my brother, one year older than me, was learning Vajrayana Buddhism and meditation with an equally enlightened, reincarnated Lama named Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche and also Chatrul Rinpoche. After three years in Thailand, I was offered the chance to study Buddhist texts with his teacher, CNR, in Kathmandu. I jumped at the chance.

My brother and I in 2003 when I was studying Buddhist Philosophy at the Shedra in Nepal

I was so lucky to get to spend that year in Boudhanath, a Tibetan settlement in Kathmandu. I did one year of a three year Master’s in Buddhist studies at the Shedra. I lived with western students from America and Europe who were all dedicated to Buddhist practice and the pursuit of enlightenment. It was like Buddhist summer camp! Yes, we meditated every day for hours, did 100,000 prostrations, and translated Buddhist dharma texts, but in the evenings, we would get together at each other’s houses and play music and have raging dance parties! We would explore Kathmandu and find the best Japanese bath houses that served sushi. We rode motorcycles everywhere and of course, we fell in love with the people of Nepal and with each other.

Morning Tai qi on the rooftop of the Namobuddha clinic

No one drank much alcohol because we were all working on becoming MORE aware, so it didn’t make sense to lose control with alcohol. Coming from my undergraduate experience at Boston College, this was so refreshing. I had already spent 3 years in Thailand where I had developed a serious yoga and meditation practice, so I was thrilled to get to spend my days and nights with people who were on a similar path as me- wanting to be the more grounded people we could be, and then, lead others to this enlightened place. It was heaven! To this day, 22 years later, the friends I made at the Shedra are still some of my closest friends in the world. They live in California, Sweden, France, and Spain, but we are dharma brothers and sisters, always connected through that experience and path.

Mom and child, both patients in our Namobuddha clinic in 2012

While studying at the Shedra, I became aware of a free clinic in Boudha that was run by volunteers. What impressed me most about this clinic was the intregration of various natural modalities of healing. There was a Tibetan medicine doctor, a homeopath, and a western doctor, all volunteering together to give free medical attention to a patient population without access to any other medical care. After seeing this clinic in action for several weeks, I knew I wanted to be part of it.

I flew home to the US at the end of the semester and after taking a year of pre-med requirements, I began my studies in Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine in Seattle, all the while, planning to return to the Sechen Clinic to volunteer after graduation. In 2008, that is exactly what I did. They had never had an acupuncturist volunteer in the clinic, so they didn’t know how the medicine would be received by the Nepali and Tibetan patients. After five days of treating patients, I arrived at the clinic to a line of 50 people waiting for an appointment with me. This medicine was very well received.

House near our current clinic in Talamarang

Patients told their friends and families that acupuncture had helped them tremendously, so the word spread like wildfire. There were no smart phones. There were barely cell phones, but their communication skills were unparalleled. Patients in Nepal knew how to spread the news of free medical care that really worked.

I spent the next nine months working at the Sechen clinic and also at various satellite clinics. People would come to me from 50 or 100 miles away, and tell me they needed my services in their village. So I went to their villages. Often what I saw shocked me. There would be a small, simple medical building and patients waiting to be treated, but there were no doctors. When I asked them where the doctors were, they told me a foreign NGO had come to open a clinic in their village but after a few years, the NGO folded and stopped sending doctors. These patients were waiting for more doctors to arrive. For YEARS.

I made a commitment there and then to start my own non-profit that would connect skilled acupuncturists with patients in these villages and we would NEVER abandon our patients. Thus, Mindful Medicine Worldwide was born.

This week is the annual Giving Gala for Mindful Medicine Worldwide and I need your help to keep our organization alive so I can continue to fulfill my promise not to abandon our patients. Since the founding of MMW in 2010, we have sent over 50 volunteers from 10 different countries to serve in our clinic in Nepal. Our volunteers have given over 90,000 acupuncture treatments. Patients have been treated for strokes, typhoid, debilitating migraines, broken limbs, infected puncture wounds, seizures, and pediatric UTIs which are immune to antibiotics.

The work of MMW not only improves the lives of our patients, but it transforms the lives of our volunteers which creates a ripple effect. When our volunteers return, they are committed to the service and support of people most in need for the rest of their lives. Our volunteers go on to start non-profits of their own. They open free clinics in their home towns and cities. They donate to multiple service organizations every year. In short, they never forget their time in Nepal with MMW. Perhaps most importantly, they never forget what is really important in life: People and generosity.

Please, consider making a donation to MMW today during our Giving Gala. There is so much strife and suffering in the world and even in our own country these days. It feels SO good to be supporting an organization that is hands on, serving people in need, in poverty, in sickness, all year round. Our goal is $20,000 which will fund our clinic for the entire year. Just $500 supports our satellite clinic supplies for an entire month! Your dollars can go such a long way to help people when you partner with a small, grass-roots organization like MMW. We have raised $10,000 so far. Can you help us to get to $20,000?

You, as my patient, know the value of acupuncture in your own life and that of your families. Imagine giving that same gift of healing to people in need in Nepal who have no access to care of any kind. If you want to see videos of this work in action in Nepal, I welcome you to watch them here.

Please support our Giving Gala today and make a difference to the health and lives of so many, across the globe.

Thank you and I am forever grateful to you.