Help Mateo study Buddhism in Nepal

I first met Mateo Buki in 2019 while attending a retreat in the Andes mountains of southern Ecuador, where he was working as a facilitator. For such a young man, I was deeply impressed by his gifts of healing, music, meditation, and the sacred arts. He supported me through a very difficult healing process and over the years has become a beloved friend and younger brother. I’ve watched him work very hard to achieve fluency in English, graduate from high school, impact the lives of hundreds of people, and begin his journey as a Buddhist with compassion and devotion.

In all my years of travel around the world, Mateo is one of the most exceptional young people that I have ever met. His life gives me hope for the future - and it is an honor to support his dream of earning a bachelor’s degree in Nepal. His vision to carry the Dharma back to Ecuador and be a bridge between the fields of spirituality and ecology, has the potential to bring great wisdom and renewal to our world at a turning point in history.

I hope you will join me in giving from your heart and supporting this noble dream of service. Below I share his own words about the campaign.

With gratitude,

Brian

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“If you are afraid to get close to the pain of our world you'll be banished from its joy as well”, says Joanna Macy.

How not to fall into despair in the face of brutal violence, economic crisis, the destruction of the natural environment, and the countless crises that afflict us? How not to give up spreading the seeds of love when the opposing forces are seemingly so robust?

I have found answers to these questions in the teachings of the Buddha, which in my heart in very simple words sound like this: By responding appropriately.

By attending to the sorrows of the world, compassion can open its vast lotus petals to embrace all beings and all things across space. But that alone won't do the work, the discerning power of wisdom and the down-to-earth application of skillful means are necessary in order to respond appropriately. These are the echoes of the Buddha’s voice.

Therefore, my wish to bring Buddhism to Ecuador and my aspiration to promote Ecology as a facet of spiritual practice, is my best attempt to help.

In very practical terms, I first need to prepare myself, that is why I have chosen to do a Buddhist studies program at Rangjung Yeshe Institute in Nepal. The college tuition fee alone is 30,000$ for four years in total. This funding campaign will help me cover a significant portion of the tuition fee, and I will also be working part-time in Nepal to support my studies.

If you feel inspired and you want to see this seed grow and bear fruits, please support this project. Any help is gracefully welcomed and adds up. I want to thank all of you in advance for supporting this project financially, by sharing with your community, and with your prayers.

-Mateo Buki

“Generosity brings happiness at every stage of its expression. We experience joy in forming the intention to be generous. We experience joy in the actual act of giving something. And we experience joy in remembering the fact that we have given.”

-Buddha