About the Author

Daniel Strain is the Executive Director of the Spiritual Naturalist Society. He is a Humanist minister, speaker, and writer on the topics of ethics, spirituality, and ancient philosophy. He leads meditations and speaks on occasion at Jade Buddha Temple, for the V.A. Hospital meditation program, and for other local groups. Daniel also serves on the Board of Directors of The Stoic Registry. Daniel is former president of the Humanists of Houston and has served in the Chapter Assembly of the American Humanist Association. He has written for the Houston Chronicle Belief page online and his work has appeared nationally in other magazines, on Houston PBS television, and the journal "Essays in the Philosophy of Humanism".

Since 2005, Daniel has been a practitioner studying the intersection of Eastern and Western ancient philosophy. He came to specialize in the overlap of concepts between some varieties of Buddhism and Stoicism. Carefully mapping out, comparing, and integrating these philosophies and their techniques, he has created a new path free of historical orthodoxy and open to integration with modern thought, including cognitive behavioral therapy and complex systems theory. He calls this practice The Mulberry Path - one of many possible approaches to Spiritual Naturalism.