I was “tagged” by my friend Courtney to write a blog about my top ten teacher influences in my life. That’s really what happened. She sent me an email saying “tag, you’re it. I wrote this blog, now you have to as well.” I love how playground rules translate to the blogosphere. But I had nothing to write about specifically, so why not? So here’s me tagging all of you out there to write five (if you have a job where you can devote hours of your day to surfing, then ten, sure) of your teacher influences in the comments section or on your own blog or both. As you will see, I made two particular choices – A. If the teacher was a person, it had to be someone I met personally. So no Dr. King or Walt Whitman or Le Corbusier on this list. B. Not all teachers are people. Here goes:

1. My Parents: Janice Ragland and David Nichtern. Both Buddhists, both artists, both insightful people. My dad is a world-class guitarist, my mom used to be a painter of gorgeous abstractions before social work took up all her time. Both are slightly goofy, but my father is the most eccentric person I have ever met. He gets drunk off of pineapple juice and talks to people he just met like he’s known them 20 years. Seriously – it happened last night. You know, having meditating parents is really not a big deal. They fought, they got divorced, they were far from perfect, but they did the opposite of screw me up. I am screwed up, but it’s not their fault. Really. It’s someone else’s fault.

2. Buddhist Teacher Part 1: The Guru. Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche. Since nobody who doesn’t have a relationship with a Guru really knows what it’s about, and those of us who do have one all think it’s something different from each other, here are my two cents. A guru is a teacher in the Vajrayana Buddhist tradition who embodies our own inherently good nature. Having a guru is not at all about blind faith and prayer – it’s taking on a relationship that you can’t run away from, that you have to keep working with. Mostly this relationship is about meditation practice. The idea of a Guru is commitment to a path. Usually you don’t know your Guru all that well personally. You have other teachers for that. In the case of Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, the dude has a level of personal discipline and patience I haven’t ever seen in a living person before. He also makes the particularly shamanistic and mystical aspects of Shambhala Buddhism very accessible and practical. And he runs marathons.
3. Buddhist Teacher Part 2: The Spiritual Mentors (Kalyanamitra). Dr. Gaylon Ferguson and Acharya Arawana Hayashi. The Spiritual Mentor is the Buddhist teacher you have a much more personal ongoing relationship with. I talk to these two amazing teachers about everything from meditation practice to moving in with my girlfriend. Sometimes Dr. Ferguson sends me emails just to see what I think of the newest Kanye West album or TV on the Radio. If you can do a meditation retreat with one or both of them, that would be smart.

4. Carol O’Donnell: Carol still to this day teaches English and Writing at Manhattan Country School, possibly the coolest elementary and junior high school in the world. She was my 7th and 8th grade teacher, a two year period during which she managed to convince me once and for all that writing was part of who I was on a genetic level. She is a great great teacher.
5. My Friends: This would be a long list, but let’s just say I have some amazing friends. For the past year and a half, I’ve been spending the most time with my friends at the ID Project, and let’s just say it’s an inspiring group.
6. The Lineage of Spiritual Activism: I will let you guys sort out who’s in this category, but let’s just say it’s anyone who has viewed their spiritual practice as a political statement, and their political pursuits as spiritual practice. You can sort out who belongs in that category. Since I said i would only mention those I have met, I’m going to put Senator Eric Schneiderman in this category as a living mentor who I actually talk to on a regular basis.

7. The Practice of Meditation: sometimes nurturing, sometimes brutal, this is the most honest teacher I’ve had.

8. Heartbreak: Since my first college girlfriend Julie Strom broke my heart the summer after freshman year, this has been a series of great teachers. I hope Julie is doing well. I hold no grudge :~). I’m pretty sure I had no idea how to be a boyfriend then.
9. The Practice of Listening: I like to listen to people. I know a lot of them. People have ridiculously amazing stories. You learn a lot by listening. It is not easy to do, my mind wanders all over the place. But it’s a great teacher.
10. The Practice of Freestyling: I never freestyle in public; I’m not good at it. Zero skills. But in private I do. Those who are good at it have a confidence in spontaneous expression, and an I-don’t-care-if-this-makes-total-sense-because-no-matter-what-it’s-art mentality that I cherish. I do it for a few minutes before I start writing. Someday, when I’m not such a wimp, maybe publicly.