An Interview With Melissa Llarena

Joining me on the podcast this week is Kuniatsu “Coonie” Suzuki. Coonie has been a Buddhist monk since 2002. He once worked in the oldest temple Shitennoji-temple in Japan for 12 years practicing zen meditation. In 2015, Coonie decided to become a freelancing Buddhist monk. Consider our dialogue to be a conversation you would have with a Buddhist monk who sees life more simply and less seriously.  This conversation is broken up into two parts. First, I want to set the stage by sharing with you some of the questions I asked Coonie where he shares his lighthearted thoughts on his career, peppers in some of his Buddhist teachings, and thoughts on meditation through his work as a freelancer Buddhist monk in this digital age. Then, I offer you a chance to sit for a 10-minute meditation using some of the insights that I think merit more thought and time. Here’s some more about Coonie: Coonie provides forest, candle, and morning meditations in Osaka, Japan where he is based. He has freelanced with Airbnb for many ye