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Why is it that Terry was asked to write this book on how to use the Buddha’s teachings to help heal hurts in the body, mind and heart?
Until 1998 when her girlfriend invited her to go to a retreat led by the Venerable Buddhist Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, Terry had no spiritual practice, no interest in meditation or mindfulness; she didn’t even know what they were.
But at that retreat Terry fell in love with the powerful gentle teacher, Thay ("teacher" in Vietnamese). She fell in love with the Buddha, the Dharma (the teachings of the Buddha), and with the Sangha (the community of monastics and lay people—women and men, teens and children—who try to live in harmony and awareness.)
When Terry got home from the retreat, she began to read books by Thich Nhat Hanh and other Buddhist teachers. She attended weekly Plum Blossom Sangha gatherings in Austin, Texas. She started meditating. She visited monasteries. She went to retreats. She even made a pilgrimage, “In the Footsteps of the Buddha,” to Nepal and India.
In 2012, after more than a decade of studying and practicing the teachings of the Buddha, Terry was ordained as a Dharmacharya (Dharma Teacher) in an ancient formal Buddhist ceremony.
Now Terry leads meditation and mindfulness retreats, Days of Mindfulness, workshops, and offers public talks as well as online talks throughout the United States and Mexico.
Terry officiates weddings, baby blessings, ceremonies including ceremonies for the deceased, and blessings for homes, offices and other spaces.
For almost 40 years Terry has owned and directed MasterSchool, a summer program for gifted youngsters ages 5-15 and has offered Dharma talks and guided meditations to children and teens at the Buddhist Youth Academy Summer Camp in California and introduced young adults at the University of Texas, Austin to the teachings of the Buddha.
For more than 25 years Terry has led a weekly meditation/mindfulness/yoga class in various jails and prisons. She also leads a weekly “Buddhist Service” for inmates at the Del Valle Correctional Center near Austin.
Terry is happily married to Gustavo Cortés-Vega, a beautiful Mexican who is now also a U.S. citizen. They have children and grandchildren in the United States and Mexico.
Gustavo and Terry live in the country with horses, chickens, cats, dogs, goats, a fat polka dot pig and various wild critters.
Terry has been described as “One of the funniest dharma teachers ever and one of the wisest ones.”
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