The Bully and the Buddhist
For Southwest, Eric Steuer profiles Jeff Zlotnik, a former school bully who converted to Buddhism and now focuses on improving his community. In 2004, Jeff traveled to a monastery in Taiwan and returned home with a vision for positive change: “He started volunteering in prisons and juvenile detention centers. He took over a gift shop called Buddha for You and sold Buddhist books and meditation supplies. He led meditation classes and began building a community at the Dharma Bum Temple,” Steuer writes. Zlotnik said, “It’s not that my thoughts are necessarily different – it’s that my actions are. Buddhist teachings haven’t changed who I am, but they’ve changed what I do.”