September, 2025 

By Sarah Hodges

How did a Lutheran kid from Minnesota end up in a leadership role at the Buddhist Honolulu Diamond Sangha in Hawaii? Bob Buss has quite a story.

At Still & Moving, we know Bob Buss from the way his eyes light up during our Saturday Gems from the Wisdom Traditions Conversation Circles. When we get stuck or tangled up, Bob can share a passage from the Old or New Testament. Or he’ll tell a delightful story about a Taoist sage. Or he’ll explain a Zen Koan. He’s always sparking our conversations… But what happened in the decades before we met Bob?

During his childhood in Minnesota, Bob and his family attended the local Lutheran church. Bob was an “above average kid,” as Garrison Keillor said of Lake Woebegon. “My main takeaway from this early Christian childhood was a love of the wisdom and stories in the Bible,” Bob shares. This familiarity provided the foundation for Bob’s future spiritual and intellectual pursuits.

Bob attended college and came of age during the politically tumultuous times of the late 1960s and early ‘70s, The social and political environment, the war in Vietnam, protests and counter-culture, popular culture, music and the arts: Bob mulled over and reshaped himself in the light of all these influences. He discovered poets and thinkers such as Wallace Stevens, W.S. Merwin and Mary Oliver; along with Henry David Thoreau, Franz Kafka, Samuel Beckett, and Wendell Berry; and, of course, Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Neil Young and Joni Mitchell. From small-kid times, sitting alone on top of a big oil drum in back of his house, singing to the wind, Bob has loved music. Just ask Adella.

“I think much of ‘the old’ – including church-going and getting a ‘normal’ job – just got pushed off to the side during those college days,” says Bob.

What interested him most – philosophy and spiritual experience – were both “readily available and mutually supportive” in this era of the early 70s, Bob explains. Hawai’i called, and Bob answered. In graduate school at the University of Hawai’i, he began taking Asian philosophy classes on Taoism, Confucianism, Buddhism, and comparative aesthetics and ethics. These led him to his first yoga, tai chi, and Zen meditation experiences.

“As I started getting more into zen, taking lots of retreats and meditating regularly, I connected with a couple of dedicated and innovative zen teachers, Nelson Foster and Michael Kieran. They have made all the difference in my life,” Bob tells us.

“Buddhism and I connected even more. It fit into my work and study life. Everything has to flourish together – work, spiritual pursuits, marriage, and the community.”

Bob began teaching religious studies at local community colleges and philosophy at Chaminade University. “My ongoing interests and reading, as well as teaching, kept my natural bent toward the eclectic and broad-ranging thinking at the forefront,” shares Bob.

Over several decades, Bob served as the Executive Director of the Hawai’i Council for the Humanities. Here, he dedicated himself to bringing in-depth education on the humanities to local communities and youth. For example, Bob actively led the Hawai’i History Day for grades 4–12, sharing his passion for learning, reflection, and the life of the mind. Now retired, Bob fills his days with meaningful pursuits. “My major activities remain reading and thinking about the humanities, judging Hawai’i History Day student projects, and participating at the Zendo,” he reflects.

Fortunately for us, when we had to close our doors due to Covid and Renée Tillotson started our online conversation circle, Gems from the Wisdom Traditions, Bob heard about it. His wife Adella, an avid Still & Moving student told him it would be right up his alley, and she was right! Bob elevates every conversation he attends or presents at. He lends humor, compassion, and a broad, multifaceted perspective to each session.

Bob describes his transformations as: “More of a gradual snowball effect than any sort of grand peak explosion that cleared the heavens. I resonate with the Taoist saying: ‘Heaven, earth, and I are one.’ All those old philosophers’ words continue to ring true for me.”

You can watch a couple of his past Gems presentations HERE
And HERE
You’ll see that Bob Buss’ generosity of spirit and his quiet yet playful wisdom – garnered from his life-long spiritual journey – sparkle among our Gems!