Welcome! I'm so glad you're here.
I'm Jack. After spending my 20s working on other people's ideas, I'm excited to finally be working on my own.
a bit about me
I’ve spent the past decade working in tech and startups, hoping to one day build a really big business. Somewhere along the way, I fell out of love with ‘big business’ as the goal and started asking different questions: What does the world need? What is actually important? What isn’t being built?
Around the same time, I decided to go on my first 10 day silent meditation retreat in Melbourne. It ended up being the greatest unlock of my life. I became obsessed with retreats and ended up spending the next couple of years touring many retreats and monasteries around the world.
Here’s me meditating in the Himalayas with Zen Buddhist monks, a story for another day.
Annapurna Region, Nepal (2024)
These retreats blew me away. They curated everything perfectly: the food, the walls, the nature, the sounds, the time you wake up, how you eat, what to wear, how to sit, how to breathe. Everything is designed to help you go deep.
The big question in my mind remained: why aren’t more people doing this?
Returning home, I felt called to connect more people to these spaces and bring the energy of the monasteries back to my own community.
so here's my plan
I want to help as many people as I can to experience what I've experienced on retreat.
To make this happen I’m going to:
Explore retreat centers around the world
Curate the best and help you navigate all the options
Partner with teachers to create retreat experiences that feel more accessible
I'm calling it Modern Monastery, bridging the gap between monastic living and modern life.
what's next
Every Monday, I'll be sharing updates on the journey and any events I'm planning.
Reply and let me know: what's one thing you'd most want to see?
If you got this far, I love you.
See you next Monday!
Jack