Hello. My name is Hector and I am a full fledged Dharma Punk. Yes it’s true. If you were to see me I fit the mold pretty much to the tee. I’m in my late 50’s, with a big old beard and excessively tattooed. I identify myself as a, “secular American meat-eating Buddhist”. I grew up in Los Angeles in the late 70’s and early 80’s as a punk-rocker. I have seen everyone from the Dickies, X, the Germs, the Minute Men, etc. Now I am a Buddhist. This started with my first Goenka retreat about 7 years ago, I then began to meditate and really enjoyed the fruits of this practice. Unfortunately I descended into the depts of addiction to prescription medication and realized that addiction is suffering. Refuge Recovery saved my life and helped me on my journey to follow the path. Upon returning home I found a monastery down the road from my house. I went there and found out it was a monastery of bikkhunis, (now that is punk rock!). I asked if I could come meditate there, and the answer was, “you want to meditate?” “Yes” I said. “Come tomorrow “. I did. I asked again. “Come tomorrow”. I did. I asked again. The reply was, “stop asking, just come”. I do. Every day I am in town. I am the luckiest person in the world. I get to meditate, ask questions, do work dana, study and learn about how to diminish my suffering. From scholarly monastics and their visitors. I think being a Dharma Punk is the middle way. I am not a monastic yet I do not want to get caught up with the attachments and aversions of modern American society. I appreciate my life now. I take Refuge and the precepts everyday. My suffering has truely diminished. I have a solid meditation practice, teachers which have given me the greatest gift. The gift of the dhamma. There are a lot of us in the world. I believe if American buddhism to really flourish, us as two separate groups, (monastics and lay persons), need to come together and recognize the value each of has to the other.
This happened to me the other day.
I heard a dhamma talk at against the stream. I drove home and went to my “meditation-shack” to do an hour of Vipassana. Then I got ready to go to Pappy & Harriet’s to see my friends and see the Meat-Puppets play. I got home and read some of Bodi’s commentary on the abhidhamma. I layed in bed and meditated for a second and I think I lost my mind for a minute. I experienced the insight on dependent origination on how consciousness is the cause of Nama-rupa, and visa-versa. Is my life perfect? No. Arguably it is perfect and not perfect at the same time. But the gift of the dhamma is the greatest gift of all. I love the sutta central website, even though I get lost in the suttas when I look up a citation. Sometimes this makes reading books a longer process! There is something I don’t see on this website so I will say it now. I love you all! You see that’s the thing about be an ignorant householder. I get to say things like that. 
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