Paths of Practice with Ram Appalaraju

Paths of Practice with Ram Appalaraju

Author: Vincent Moore July 11, 2025 Duration: 57:34

Ram Appalaraju has served on the boards of nonprofit organizations for over eight years after retiring from the high-tech industry where he worked for 35 years. Ram has been studying Buddhism under Gil Fronsdal and is currently in the Insight Meditation Center’s Dharma Leaders Training. He also graduated as a chaplain and an eco-chaplain from the Sati Center for Buddhist Studies. He now teaches as a faculty member at Sati Center’s Eco-Chaplaincy program and is one of the organizing team members at IMC’s Earth Care community group. He also serves as a Buddhist chaplain and Mindfulness Meditation teacher at Santa Clara County Jails and is currently pursuing Clinical Pastoral Education.

Ram has been practicing Buddhism for over 14 years and has engaged with several underprivileged and marginalized communities, teaching meditation and offering support. He is deeply committed to social and ecological causes and serves various groups in nature-based education through science and spirituality. He currently serves on the board of Insight Meditation Center at Redwood City and teaches at the San Jose Insight Meditation Sangha. Ram has also studied Vedanta at Sri Ramakrishna Mission and Chinmaya Mission for over 20 years.

Ram serves as president of Insight World Aid. For more information about Insight World Aid, please see the following link:https://insightworldaid.org/

We talked about Ram's dual practice of Vedanta and Vipassana and how they inform and influence each other, his decision to transition away from a ‘spreadsheet life’ to foster a spiritual life, the importance of watering the seeds within us that help us see the dignity in ourselves and others, as well as eco-chaplaincy and how we are inextricably linked to the Earth and its well-being.


Vincent Moore hosts Paths of Practice: Conversations on Journeys into Buddhism, a space where personal stories take center stage. Each episode is built around a simple, profound question: what does it actually look like to live with Buddhist teachings? You’ll hear from people whose lives have been shaped by this path, from long-time monastics and dedicated lay practitioners to those who have just felt a curious pull toward mindfulness and compassion. The conversations avoid dry theory, focusing instead on the messy, human, and often surprising realities of integrating practice into daily life-through family, work, doubt, and discovery. This podcast operates on the belief that there are as many ways to walk this road as there are people walking it, gently exploring that diversity one honest conversation at a time. It’s less about providing answers and more about sharing the map-making process itself, offering companionship and insight for anyone interested in the varied terrain of spiritual life.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 100

Paths of Practice: Conversations on Journeys into Buddhism
Podcast Episodes
Paths of Practice with Dawn Mauricio [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 53:49
Dawn Mauricio (she/her), a Filipina-Canadian, has been practicing and studying Insight Meditation since 2005. She graduated from the first teacher development group of True North Insight, Spirit Rock's Mindfulness Yoga a…
Paths of Practice with Rev. Chimyo Atkinson [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:00:20
Rev. Chimyo Atkinson is a Soto Zen priest that serves the Great Tree Zen Women’s Temple in Alexander, NC, as well as sanghas and centers throughout the United States and internationally. Rev. Chimyo was ordained by Rev.…
Paths of Practice with Rev. CJ Sokugan Dunford [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 55:59
Rev. CJ Sokugan Dunford (they/them/theirs) is a Jōdo Shinshū minister serving as minister's assistant at the Berkeley Buddhist Temple and Tokudo minister at the Buddhist Temple of Marin. Rev. CJ recently completed a Doct…
Paths of Practice with Rev. Cyndi Jikaku Yasaki [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 59:35
Rev. Cyndi Jikaku Yasaki is a Jōdo Shinshū minister that serves the White River Buddhist Temple based in Auburn, WA. Rev. Cyndi completed her Certificate in Shin Buddhism from the Institute of Buddhist Studies in Spring…
Paths of Practice with Fresh “Lev” White [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:16:13
Fresh “Lev” White is a love and compassion activist. He offers mindfulness, mediation, and diversity trainings as tools for shifting towards more authentic, conscious, and passionate living. He teaches and writes about h…
Paths of Practice with Rev. Myozen Joan Amaral [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:08:10
Rev. Myozen Joan Amaral is a Soto Zen priest and the Founder and Guiding Teacher of the Zen Center North Shore located in Beverly, MA. Joan is a dharma heir of Zenkei Blanche Hartman in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki, Ros…
Paths of Practice with Rev. Dr. Duncan Ryūken Williams [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 51:39
Rev. Dr. Duncan Ryūken Williams is a Soto Zen priest and the Professor of Religion and East Asian Languages & Cultures as well as the Director of the USC Shinso Ito Center for Japanese Religions and Culture. Dr. Williams…
Paths of Practice with Rev. Dr. Enrique Galvan-Alvarez [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:03:22
Rev. Dr. Enrique Galvan-Alvarez is a professor of Humanities and Digital Society at the Universidad Internacional de La Rioja-UNIR and a Jōdo Shinshū priest that serves Jinen-Kō, an online community of Portuguese and Spa…
Paths of Practice with Mushim Patricia Ikeda [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:19:55
Mushim Patricia Ikeda is a secular mindfulness and Buddhist teacher working primarily with justice activists and BIPOC meditation practitioners as well as with people with disabilities and chronic illnesses. Mushim is a…
Paths of Practice with Bonbu Stories [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 51:56
Bonbu Stories is an Asian American arts collaborative dedicated to using music as a medium for raw storytelling and building connections. Featured on the podcast are Sydney Shiroyama, Miharu Okamura, and Miko Shudo. For…