History

History

In 1986, Roger Cantu was standing outside of the Japan American Theater looking at the Zen garden located off the side of the auditorium. Rama, Dr. Frederick Lenz approached me and said, "Hi there."

"Hi Rama," Roger replied. After a moment of silence and contemplation of the garden, Roger asked Rama, "Are you going to organize the Meditation Club again at UCLA?" (Rama and a few of his students had organized a student organization at UCLA aimed at holding free meditation seminars on campus).

Rama said, "Yes, we are."

"Great! Well, I'm a UCLA student. If you need any help, let me know. I would be happy to help."

"I will keep you in mind." Said Rama, and slowly walked away.

In 1991, a small group of Rama students came to UCLA and were looking for a faculty or staff member who would sponsor the group. I was working at UCLA at the time and told the group to ask Rama if I could be the sponsor, and he agreed.

A year later, Rama came into town to meet all the UCLA students that participated in the Meditation Club during the year and meditated with them in Malibu. During Rama's visit, I met with Rama, and he told me that I should start teaching basic meditation classes at UCLA and keep the Meditation Club going. He felt that it would be good for me to teach young people how to meditate. He also mentioned that he remembered our brief conversation outside of the Japan American Theater years before. We both laugh about how long it took us to get this done.

Since that time, I have kept the Meditation Club going even though I have moved around the country. I have organized the Meditation Club at UCLA, the University of Texas at Arlington, the University of Houston, California State University - Dominguez Hills, and now we are meeting on Zoom for a nation-wide audience.