This interview is just one of the many that took place for “A New Generation of Buddhist Young Practitioners,” the cover feature of Mandala July-August 1998:

Was your family Buddhist?

Yes, they turned Buddhist when I was 2 years old. They went to Pisa in Tuscany. Three main people founded the center near there, Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa, and my parents were some of the friends of the first residents. Since then I have been raised as a Buddhist. My mother would bring me to the teachings or she would bring me around the world to Kalachakra, and every time a teacher would come she would take me to them to be blessed.

Are there any teachers who were particularly memorable?

Yes. They have always influence me because I was small and I was always happy to see them. They were very peaceful and I was influenced by their constant happiness. I was happy just to be around them.

I remember Geshe Yeshe Tobden, because I would always run around making noise and he would always give me chocolate. I remember Geshe Jampa Gyatso, who is resident teacher at the center. He has always been there and we have known each other a long time.

Also, with Lama Zopa, I have always felt like, of all the teachers, I have always felt closest to him. I’m not sure why, no particular reason. I always felt close to, attracted to his particular personality. Also His Holiness the Dalai Lama came, and I saw him. Whenever I was blessed by any of these teachers I would be so full of joy and would walk around with a big smile on my face for five minutes afterwards. I would be so full of happiness.

Did you begin any practices or prayers when you were younger, or was your experience more about going to teachings and being exposed to the environment?

When they had pujas, my parents would bring us along and we would sit down some of the time. My friends and I would read, and some of the time we would listen – we would be quite, but we would also wait to get the tsog food offerings! It was a lot of fun. We would try to speak Tibetan and get some offerings. Other than that I remember in high school my mother told me some mantras, so I remember reciting them sometimes, very few times, if I had an exam. My mother told me it was good, so I did it. I didn’t do it much.

Did you friends know you were Buddhist?

Yes, but in the community down in Tuscany there were other friends of my family who had Buddhist children. In a way, we were “the Buddhists,” so we were strange in the city. They would say, “These are the Buddhists,” and they might have had some stereotypes.

People knew I was Buddhist because of the center, so they would say, “Are you one of the Buddhists from Pomaia.” I would say, “Yes, I’m one of them.” But we all went to school and we were friends.

What makes you continue to turn to the Dharma?

Honestly, what made me really turn to Dharma was in interest in meditation. I had never read before that you can actually change, or that anger wasn’t even real, but that you can actually have a quiet mind or no thoughts at all. I remember once before middle school I said to myself that I want to learn about the mind, and I thought I would learn some psychology in high school. One day I read about meditation and I was interested right away because I already had this desire to know. It was natural because of my previous desire to know about the mind.

I also wanted it because I was going through a difficult breakup with my girlfriend, and I felt if what had happened then would happen again with someone else, it would be so bad. I would have to feel so bad again and I just couldn’t stand feeling even worse than I was feeling. So I said I don’t want to feel like this anymore and I want to understand what happened. I think from the beginning I might have practiced so I could understand what happened, why and how it happened. I wanted to give myself an explanation of what was going on inside because I was really confused.

Now, after I have practiced for a while, I feel I should practice more. I feel that it is something very good for daily life. I think it is good to practice for future lives, but just in general it is so helpful. I don’t feel so good when I don’t practice. After some experience, and after being a Buddhist for some time and being told how fortunate I am, I think I should take this opportunity and do what I am told by Lama Zopa or Geshe Jampa Gyatso. I have seen some of the benefits – I have done very little practice and am very much a beginner and get distracted easily – but I have seen some benefits. I realize that at some point in my life I would have to do this, so better if I do it now.

Even yesterday I was thinking about this relationship that ended already two years ago, about how my first motivation was to understand it, but now I think it will change to some better, higher motivation. I think this change will come naturally, it will grow if I keep meditating. All I really know is that I will always follow what my Buddhist teachers tell me to do.

Why?

I feel that what they say, what they teach, is what they are. They practice what they say, so by looking at them is looking at what they teach. I feel I should try to do what they say, because I also see some benefits. I feel a responsibility towards them to do this.

It’s not easy – it’s hard. In a way, I think there is no way out, though. It is something I feel I have to do.

How do you see the Dharma fitting into your life in the future?

I’m not sure about the future. For now I am going with the flow of things. One thing I know is I will follow Buddhist teachers, and I will meditate. I will see where I go to work. Whatever I do, it will be there. In a way I think it will be the base, and my work will come on top of that.

As a young practitioner, what would make practice harder?

As I started meditation, people might have wondered why I meditated, or thought I did it too much. But after I did it awhile, it became normal, and my friends would accept it as normal. It’s not a big deal.

Before I used to ask people why they did this or that, and since I began meditation I have stopped asking them. I don’t really have to tell someone not to do something. I don’t do things that, as a Buddhist, I am not supposed to do, and if I see someone else doing something, I won’t ask them to stop unless it’s someone I really care about deeply.

At first a few people would criticize me for meditating, and I realized I had criticized people in the past for things they had done. I have stopped doing that to others, and I find no one does it to me. Now others are happy I do this and tell me to keep meditating. It grew from people asking why I meditate to general acceptance.

If you could contribute something to society coming from a Dharma standpoint, what do you think is the most important element to introduce?

I think it would be that meditation has so many benefits. For example, if you go to the gym, you practice on your body so your body is healthy, and if you read, your mind is exercised, so you learn better. It is the same that meditation is good for the mind and also for future lives. It is important to integrate meditation as something that should be done for the future and for right now, as with exercise and learning.