Volunteer appreciation for Peter Wood

January 22, 2026

Peter believes in volunteering to help the community.

Sangha member Peter Wood’s life illustrates how a spiritual path can unfold through personal interest, open minded curiosity, travel, independent study, commitment, and service to the greater good. What began as a longing for spiritual awakening and desire to serve has matured into a steady presence at KCC that quietly supports the practice of many others along the path.

Reflecting on his long journey, Peter emphasizes that volunteering is not about heroics but about connection and helping a cause bigger than oneself. Though he doesn’t remember exactly when he started volunteering at KCC (approx. 2001), it quickly became central to his life. Known as a stalwart of the community, he served three terms on the board (two before his One Year Retreat, one just finishing), contributed to strategic planning and played an important role in developing our website and computer networks and archived videos—long before online platforms were common.

During the transition to the Skidmore urban center, he helped with network design, wiring our cameras and audio systems. He then managed the first version of our A/V system. His volunteer interests also included the Engaged Buddhist interest group, Social Sattva film nights, and morning meditations via Zoom. Peter’s life experiences give him an array of personal skills to contribute to the world. With great generosity, he devoted much time and energy to the development and flourishing of KCC today. 

Peter grew up in the 1950’s and 60’s in the suburbs around San Jose, California. His was a Unitarian family and at an early age he was introduced to humanism and the writings of Walt Whitman and Henry David Thoreau. Peter shared their transcendental outlook which sees the inherent goodness of people and nature.

In 1966, Peter enrolled at UC Berkeley to study computer science. Not satisfied with just technical classes, he also took classes in psychology, sociology, African history and anthropology. He took part in the student life of the times, taking part in student strikes, antiwar marches, and other actions. He experimented with drugs, searching for expanded states of awareness. In hindsight, what he truly wanted was not escape, but spiritual experience. His three big passions became spirituality, social justice, and technology.

Looking for spiritual awakening and to directly experience the Middle East, he signed up for the Junior Year Abroad program at the American University of Beirut in Lebanon. 1969-1970 was a time of relative peace in Lebanon. At AUB, he studied a mix of computer, sociology, and anthropology courses, and visited sites like Baalbek and Khalil Gibran’s birthplace. He also met students from all over the region, including Kenya and Nepal, where he would later travel. 

During his travels, Peter read The Way of Zen by Alan Watts. The book inspired him: “I have to see India!,” he thought. From that moment on, getting to India became a kind of inner guidepost as he wandered. He journeyed up the Nile, through Uganda to Kenya where he stayed with college friends and at Sikh Temples, climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, and traveled on what was usually a Muslim pilgrim ship from Kenya to Bombay, ultimately making his way toward Nepal to meet his college friend.

The train to Nepal was utterly confusing… like nothing he had ever experienced before. There were just so many people. The chaos and crowds were overwhelming. (Not surprising since he was traveling 3rd class, unreserved.) Yet amid the confusion, at the border to Nepal he saw the pristine peaks of the Himalayas and it felt like the peace of coming home.

While in Kathmandu, Peter continued trekking and spiritual exploration. He was not settled on a spiritual path. After visiting many temples, he trekked up to Jomsom (Mustang was not open at the time). Back in Kathmandu, he made an auspicious connection with HH XVI Karmapa and received a blessing. Meeting the Karmapa opened him to possibilities of achieving spirituality without drugs. Peter continued on with travels to Assam, Goa, and Mumbai and after 8 months of travel in India & Nepal, Peter returned home.

Returning to the United States, Peter explored a range of spiritual practices. He practiced Transcendental Meditation for a few years, Sufism, and Nichiren Shoshu Buddhists. His extensive travels, wide range of studies and different traditions of Buddhist practice reflect the depth and breadth of his personal search for the truth. He returned to college after a year off and got that computer degree while working at a research lab, serving as a peer counselor at the Berkeley Free Clinic and on the People’s Park Council to help keep the Park undeveloped.

Eventually, he found his way to the Nyingma Institute in Berkeley, where he spent nearly a decade taking classes and practicing. Curiously, renowned Nyingma teachers frequently visited the Nyingma Institute, though somehow Peter always seemed to miss them. But whenever Kagyu teachers came to the Nyingma Institute, he would see them. Word came that the HH VI Karmapa was visiting San Francisco in February 1977 and would be offering the Refuge Vow. Peter was both ready for formal practice and felt a connection to the Karmapa. He decided to take the vow.

At Kagyu Droden Kunchab (KDK), taking refuge required a conversation to ensure one understood its meaning. Fortuitously, Peter sat down for that conversation with the president of KDK at the time. It was Michael Conklin, KCC’s beloved lama from 1993-2019! Later that day, Peter received the Refuge Vow and an empowerment from the Karmapa. The next day, he was supposed to fly out to a computer conference in Washington, DC. He was so affected by being in the Karmapa’s presence that he couldn’t even drive to the airport! Meeting the Karmapa again and making the formal commitment to the dharma marked a turning point in his life. He felt the deeper possibility of genuine spiritual realization and awareness that he had been seeking.

20 years later, and many more stories between… 1996 and Peter attended Bokar Rinpoche’s Mahamudra teaching at Lewis & Clark College. By that time he was a good friend of  Michael Conklin. He was inspired by Bokar Rinpoche and joined several summer retreats at Salt Spring Island led by Lama Michael. Later, he joined pilgrimages to India, to Bokar Rinpoche’s Monastery in Mirik, and Tibet. When KCC started building its rural retreat facility, Peter moved from the SF bay area to Portland to help support Lama Michael and the community.

Peter completed a one-year retreat in 2014. He describes it as a wonderful, although sometimes difficult, experience. During Covid there was a strong desire to support the sangha through meeting virtually.  Peter and several others had long wanted to do that. Covid pushed them, and with Lama Eric’s help Peter along with Sally and Jeff Alworth were invited to lead morning meditation over Zoom. This has been a great success, and currently 10-20 people regularly practice together. Morning meditation is offered 6 days a week by a team of meditation leaders. Peter’s teaching style reflects decades of experience in the Buddhist path: down to earth, sincere, and contemplative. He also enjoys sharing inspiring quotations from teachers such as Thrangu Rinpoche, Mingyur Rinpoche, HH Dalai Lama, Sufis & others.

Now retired from board service, Peter continues to support the community as a mentor and as a  fill-in meditation leader. Peter encourages anyone with the interest to get involved as a volunteer. “Start small,” he advises anyone considering offering their time. “Find something you can do easily to start, then let it grow. Volunteering is how you get to know the community, and they you—you become knit into the fabric of it and contribute to the well-being of KCC & the Dharma. Look around for a niche that feels right, and go for it.”

Courtesy of Kate R.