Dr. Brian McCorkle was first introduced to Buddhism and meditation as a child in the 1960s, when his parents studied with Philip Kapleau Roshi at the Rochester (NY) Zen Center. Needing to rebel as a young adult, he immersed himself in contemplative Christianity and graduated from the Episcopal Divinity School. In 1999 he returned to Buddhism when he joined the Shambhala/Vajradhatu community. He became an authorized meditation instructor, teacher, Shambhala Training Director, senior leader of the unique Shambhala form of protection called the Dorje Kasung, and senior student of Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche. Professionally, he earned a PhD in clinical psychology, and after originally working with serious mental illness became the founding director of the Center for the Study of Religion and Psychology of the Danielsen Institute at Boston University. Since retiring, he took up the serious study of classical piano and now performs a dozen or more times a year in venues such as the BSO Café, a dinner venue before performances of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He studied cooking for a year at the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts. He is also totally besotted with his wife, all dogs, and his four delightful grandchildren, although not necessarily in that order.