For Jake, connecting with the Theravada tradition has felt like a steady process of rediscovery and of coming home since he first heard the teachings of mindfulness at age fourteen from Steven and Michele. Since then, he has spent many months on silent retreat with teachers such as Sayadaws U Pandita, U Lakkhana, and others. He has lived as a monk for a total of three years under the guidance of Sayadaw U Pandita, engaging in intensive practice as well as studying the Buddhist Pali texts and increasing his skill with the Burmese language. Since 2001, he has interpreted between Burmese and English at retreats in Burma, Hawai'i, and elsewhere.

Jake is dedicated to developing contemporary presentations of mindfulness practice that are rooted with gratitude, humility, and strength in the 2500 years of tradition that preceeds us. He has written on the need for such authentic interpretations of the Theravada teachings in the academic thesis Strong Roots. He continues the search to understand modern and ancient ways of understanding, and interactions between them, in his studies in the Philosophy Department of the University of Hawai'i at Manoa.

He hopes to apply these understandings not only in an academic environment, but also to bring philosophical consideration and clarity into his own training as a practitioner and as a teacher of Insight Meditation, as well as into his role as a member of his family and a citizen of our world.

See also Jake's writings in Strong Roots and his Blog.