Faculty and Staff

Hasan earned his BA in Literary Arts from Brown University, and his MA in Buddhist Classics from Dharma Realm Buddhist University. In addition to leading the Summer Program, he serves as DRBU’s Associate Director of Recruiting and Enrollment. Before coming to DRBU, he spent several years working in education, including at the University of Virginia’s Young Writers Workshop, and at Great Hearts Veritas Academy in Phoenix, AZ, where he served as director of the after-school program. His passions include literature, philosophy, painting, and exploring the beautiful natural world of Northern California.

Blake Plante is an alumni of DRBU. After graduating from Pomona College in 2019, he traveled around Europe and Asia for a year as a Watson Fellow to explore spiritual movement practices. After some extended stays in monasteries, he completed his MA at DRBU. Currently, he teaches Meditation and P.E. for the Instilling Goodness & Developing Virtue Boy’s School, where he also serves as weekend Dorm Supervisor. He’s worked with many summer programs before, including the Great Books Summer Program at Haverford, Pepperdine, and Stanford, EXPLO at Yale, and the Claremont Debate Union at Claremont McKenna College. His hobbies include meditating, writing, yoga, and taking hikes in nature. 

A poet by heart and a global citizen by vision, Ziqian graduated from Dharma Realm Buddhist University in 2023, with prior Master’s education in international affairs and Bachelor’s in business management. Dedicated to spiritual growth and human integrity, almost a philosophical trait inherited from her parents, Ziqian ponders over the big questions of life often and can’t wait to celebrate a summer of exploration and realization with you!

Professor Lauren M. Bausch teaches at Dharma Realm Buddhist University, located in the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas in Ukiah, California. She completed her PhD in Sanskrit in the Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies at the University of California, Berkeley in 2015. A specialist in the philosophy of the Brāhmaṇa texts, she explores the relationship between Vedic tradition and early Indian Buddhism. She is the editor of Self, Sacrifice, and Cosmos: Vedic Thought, Ritual, and Philosophy (2019) and the author of articles such as “The Kāṇva Brāhmaṇas and Buddhists in Kosala,” “Philosophy of Language in the Ṛgveda,” “Bráhman as the Absolute in Late Brāhmaṇa Texts,” “Dual Varṇa in Vedic Texts,” and “Vedic Travel: The Agnihotra and Beyond.” Prof. Bausch has given invited lectures at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, the National Museum, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Jawaharlal Nehru University, and Savitribai Phule Pune University. In addition, she received the first annual International Association of Sanskrit Studies’ Honorary Research Fellowship in 2019, for which she organized a conference at Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute in Pune. She is currently doing research on the Vedic Philosophy of Language and Causality as a Fulbright-Nehru scholar in the Department of Pāli and Buddhist Studies at Savitribai Phule Pune University (2023-2024).

Justin Howe earned his BA in Theater from Lehigh University and his MA in Buddhist Classics from DRBU. He is currently a PhD student in the Rhetoric, Communication, and Information Design program at Clemson University. He has led classes and translation teams for DRBU’s Graduate Certificate in Buddhist Translation. He loves a good book at the coffee shop or in the park.

I came to higher education via an unconventional route. I graduated from Stanford (with an M.S. in Material Science and Engineering) in 2001 as the first dot-com bubble was about to burst. Two months after graduation, I left the startup I helped found while at Stanford and began working as a research and development engineer at silicon IC manufacturer Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). I came to DRBU in Fall 2010, just as the university began to work intensively toward regional accreditation. I have a personal connection to DRBU and its parent organization DRBA. I attended and graduated from Developing Virtue Secondary School, which shares the same campus as DRBU, and I have been a member of DRBA’s governing board since 2000. In addition to the accreditation work, I enjoy teaching outside of my background in DRBU’s integrated, all-required curriculum.

Sandy is a certified Iyengar Yoga Teacher (Level 2) and Ayurvedic consultant. She holds a BA in East Asian studies and Chinese. She has been teaching yoga for over 10 years to adults and children.  Her yoga classes cultivate the mind-body-spirit connection in an engaging way, and are geared to meet the needs of each student. 

Loc has been a long-time student of Chinese martial arts. As a licensed acupuncturist and herbalist, he combines his passion for traditional Chinese medicine with his martial arts training to promote holistic well-being. Loc finds solace and inner peace through meditation and savoring a cup of green tea. Loc strives to embody the interconnectedness of mind, body, and spirit central to Chinese philosophy and healing arts.

Alexandra Reintjes is an MFA candidate in sculpture at the Rhode Island School of Design where she will graduate next year. She is interested in the nexus between theory and practice and is drawn to both art and Buddhism as places where these two things can co-exist and inform one another. She has experience working with both secondary and college students and has a particular interest in how disabled, neurodiverse, minority and non-normative students can transform education for all students by challenging norms and reinforcing the importance of all activities in the educational setting. She believes that education should be grounded in the everyday quotidian, and mundane– the edifying and heuristic potential of which she believes can be transformative. She loves to make art and believes that art making, viewing and education are some of the best tools for empathy and learning available to us.

Hi :”> Nancy is me. I am Nancy. I’m a Bachelor’s student at DRBU and I’m really looking forward to meet all of you guys this summer. I like to watch movies, and think blobfish deserves better. Come talk to me if you want, I’ll listen with all my heart.

Hello! I’m Patrick Chin! I grew up in Daly City, CA. I’m in the BA program to read classical books and learn more about the self. I have over 5+ years experience of working with students as young as kindergarten to secondary schooling. So let’s all enjoy the summer together! And Have Fun!!!

Caden Hill is a DRBU BA2 student. He has been extremely passionate about philosophy and religious studies since his early teens and has maintained that until it brought him to DRBU. Caden’s most interested in Buddhist Madhyamaka Philosophy and the works of Jason Mohaghegh and Michel Serres. On a personal level Caden enjoys tea, hiking, and writing.

Victoria completed her degree in Chinese Studies and enjoys translating Classical Chinese literature and Buddhist sutras. In her free time, she writes, plays the piano, and meditates. Recently, she began getting more into poetry writing, singing, pottery making, and playing the dizi (Chinese flute) all thanks to being a DRBU student. She is always open for a chat or a deep life question.  

I am a DRBU student enrolled in the Bachelors program. Originally growing up in Pennsylvania and Maryland, I came to DRBU in 2023 to expand my understanding of Buddhism and to develop myself in spiritual practice. I consider myself a Jack of many trades, as I have explored and continue to work with many different practices and mediums. With that being said, my dearest outlet is writing poetry and music.