Paul Haller grew up in a poor, Catholic family in Belfast, sharing a bed with his siblings and often going hungry.

He left Northern Ireland during the height of the Troubles to travel the world.

A chance meeting in a Tokyo restaurant turned Paul onto Zen and he eventually found his way to a cave in a forest in Thailand, where he meditated alone for 6 months. After being ordained a monk he joined the San Francisco Zen Centre where he became Abbot, and taught meditation to prisoners in San Quentin and to terminally ill hospice patients.

For many years Paul has lived in Tassajara, a remote mountain monastery in California, surrounded by deer and blue jays.