I am a happily married English Buddhist, 70 years old, living these past 40 years in Slovenia. I was raised a Catholic and attended a Jesuit school but lost my faith in God when I was 15. After graduating in Industrial Engineering I traveled overland along the old hippie trail to India in search of answers to the pain I felt in the world. I encountered Buddhism in Dharamsala, home-in-exile of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Back in London I joined Sogyal Rinpoche's Rigpa group in 1981 and started practicing the Dharma.

I have been a production assistant in London, bartender in Hong Kong, English teacher in South Korea, planning engineer in London and Fife, Scotland, and a development engineer, planner, import-export agent and translator in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

My Dharma practice comprises keeping the five precepts (mind trainings) for a lay Buddhist and, as a bodhisattva-in-training, practicing the six perfections of Mahayana Buddhism - generosity, moral conduct, forbearance, diligence, meditation and wisdom. I also like to consider myself as a "socially engaged Buddhist" with my principle outlet being as a keyboard campaigner on social media for human and animal rights, social justice and the environment.

As a part of keeping the five precepts, I practice veganism to the best of my ability and to the forefront of my practice I try to generate beginner's mind (don't know mind) as well as loving kindness and compassion both towards self and others.

My meditation these days is primarily of the analytical kind but always includes understanding that firstly, everyone wants to be be happy and avoid suffering and secondly, everyone has shown kindness to me in this life and past lives.

Politically I am an eco-socialist, supporting The Green Party of England and Wales, the European Greens, American Democratic Socialists and the Levica (Left) Party in Slovenia

With my Slovene wife, Mojca, we have a son, Tom, now aged 39.