I was raised Catholic all the way up until around 19 years old, and then I decided to leave the Catholic Church. I was essentially without religion or anything like that in my life until my early 40s, when I discovered the Jodo Shinshu Pure Land school of Buddhism, and I just fell in love with it.

I remember telling my wife after service—she asked how it was, and I said, “They were speaking directly to me. I finally found my people. I found my temple. This is going to be my home. This is the religion I’m going to study.”

The reason I chose Buddhism is because it doesn’t exclude anyone. It really is all-encompassing. Especially the Pure Land Buddhism that we study here as Shin Buddhists—they truly invite everybody, and you can feel that compassion and acceptance every time you come. Every Dharma message I’ve ever received here, part of it—if not all of it—has touched my soul and resonated with me on some level.