50 Years of FPMT: Scott Brusso’s Story, From Kopan Monastery to the Trading Floor

Scott Brusso shared his experiences as a pioneer student of Lama Thubten Yeshe as part of the FPMT 50th anniversary celebration.

Brusso met Lama Yeshe in the early 1970s and later ordained to lead monks at Kopan Monastery. He served as the spiritual program coordinator at the Chenrezig Institute and Tara House in Australia, where he taught East and West psychology at the request of Lama Yeshe.

Following the death of Lama Yeshe in 1984, Brusso returned to Chicago to work in financial markets. He noted that his background included early interests in reincarnation and the concept of the body mandala, a tantric practice that views the body as a universe. Brusso stated that his life demonstrates how Buddhist teachings can be applied to Western environments without relying on specific religious terminology.