Long an admirer of the Buddha, Tom Bruein began studying the Dharma in earnest after the coronation of Pope Benedict XVI in 2005. Certified as a clinical hypnotherapist, he was especially drawn to the Buddhist approach to understanding and calming the mind and ego. Recognizing the risk of substituting one form of attachment (the material world) for another (spiritual/philosophical attainment), he was also intrigued by the concept of “Spiritual Materialism.” A community volunteer with runaway youth and the homeless, he has also served as the board president for the Stop AIDS Project of San Francisco. Support the show______________ To participate live and be notified of upcoming speakers in advance, please Like us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/gaybuddhistfellowship) or visit https://gaybuddhist.org/calendar/ To support our efforts to share these talks with LGBTQIA audiences worldwide, please visit www.GayBuddhist.org.There you can: * Donate * Learn how to participate live * Find our schedule of upcoming speakers * Join our mailing list or discussion forum * Enjoy many hundreds of these recorded talks dating back to 1996 CREDITSAudio Engineer: George HubbardProducer: Tom BrueinMusic/Logo/Artwork: Derek Lassiter