By his own account Michael has lived a charmed life. The oldest of four boys, he grew up in a loving home where he enjoyed all the blessings of life in suburban San Francisco: great schools, great friends, great community support, summer camp, swim team, water polo tournaments, and an appreciation of these gifts.
After graduating from UC Berkeley in 1987, Michael made his living as an actor in New York City, then as a stand-up comic on the West Coast. After becoming frustrated with what he came to regard as “the basic superficiality” of his life, he began looking for a spiritual practice that had depth and integrity. He was anxious to contextualize the deep spiritual longing that was arising in him at the time, and despite his reservations, he looked into several religious traditions, hoping to find deeper balance but over time, however, he became increasingly discouraged with the hypocrisy and the exclusivity of most traditional versions of faith.
Then a friend introduced him to Zen meditation and things began to shift.
“I initially viewed Zen like every other tradition: trapped by its own sense of self-worth,” he says. “But the more I sat still and simply watched my experience, just as the priests trained me to do, the more that things began to make sense in a way that went past any intellectual understanding or physical sensation. Plus,” he continues, “my ego liked the fact that wearing a priest’s robe didn’t mean that you were any closer to God than the next person. Women were also seen as equals”, he added, “and the teaching, rather than the teacher, fueled the journey for each of us on the Path to Awakening.”
His active participation in the Zen community lasted for many years. For a time he also studied other Buddhist traditions with teachers in Thailand, and Nepal, thus rounding out an approach to contemplative practice that incorporated aspects of Zen, Vajrayana, and Theravadan schools of Buddhism. Both during and after his travels, he experienced a series of profound realizations that nearly made him decide to ordain as a Buddhist priest. Yet “all things change,” as Michael consistently reminds us. Rather than continuing his monastic life and going through the ordination process, he decided, as he says, “to bring the whole blessing back into the world.”
He currently lives with his wife, and daughter in Pleasant Hill, California, where he leads retreats, intensives, as well as weekly meditation gatherings. Since 2003 he has led the Infinite Smile Sangha and posts a weekly podcast infused with a depth, wit, and humor that have attracted listeners from around the world.
For the last fifteen years he has taught courses in history, economics, comparative government, and psychology at his alma mater, Acalanes High School. Among his favorite activities are meditation, scuba diving, skiing, squash, spending time with friends, enjoying family gatherings, hiking, open-water swimming, drinking great wine, running with his dog Sumi, making his daughter laugh, and smooching with his wife.
