My First Retreat with Pa-Auk Sayadaw

This is an excerpt from an interview with the Clear Mountain Monastery Project on December 3, 2025. The full interview may be found here:    • Deathless Zen: Sati, Satori, & the Koan of...   Stephen has written several books including: "Liberating the Self": https://amzn.to/4gQEVm9 "Trust in Awakening": https://amzn.to/3Lx4Ktq "Demystifying Awakening": https://amzn.to/3L5RXh4 "Buddha's Heart": https://amzn.to/2ULkNKv For upcoming retreats and Zoom offerings, please see: https://awakeningdharma.org/ Stephen Mugen Snyder, Roshi began practicing daily meditation in 1976. Since then, he has studied Buddhism extensively—investigating and engaging in Zen, Tibetan, Theravada, and Western non-dual traditions. He was authorized to teach in the Theravada Buddhist tradition in 2007 and the Zen Buddhist schools of Soto and Rinzai in 2022. Stephen is a senior student of Roshi Mark Sando Mininberg.