is 

Title: Youthful Maturity

Gender: Male

Age: 28

Sun Sign: Libra

Chinese Sign: Earth Goat

Location: Boulder, CO

I'm Ayako's husband.  I head the member support team (also called the “Member Actualization Team” or MAT) on Gaia.

• Found a bug?  Please post on the support pod.
• Have a question or want to know how something works?  See the How To's and FAQ's pod.
• Have a suggestion for how we can improve?  Post on the Think Tank.
• Need help with your gPro site?  See the gPro Support pod.
• Wanna just chill, meet some cool people, or post to a bulletin board?  Check out the Lounge.
• Wanna see a quick list of our most common FAQ's as well as a host of other support tools?  Go to http://support.gaia.com.
  

“We're not just building tools for people, we're building them for incredible, amazing, wonderful people!!!” ~ Jake




My name is Matthew Steven Vogel Mogen. “Mogen” is a name my wife (Ayako) and I decided on. Instead of either one of us taking the other's last name, we decided to both take someone else's. Ayako's name is now Ayako Mochizuki Mogen. We both pushed our former last names into the middle. So, my middle name is actually the same name as my uncle's full name, “Steven Vogel,” except he has a separate middle name that my middle name does not have. Ok, so how did we decide on “Mogen” you ask? Well, we thought about combining our names but couldn't come up with something that sounded acceptable enough. We thought about Mochivogel, Vogelzuki, Mochivogi, Mogel, Mitsubishi Motors, and a few others. Then Ayako (who lived in Japan for the first 24 years of her life) came up with “mu-GEN,” which in Japanese means “infinite,” or “without limit.” I'm sure all of you are familiar with the word “mu” as a concept to meditate on. In Japanese, we pronounce our name the Japanese way, but in English we decided to convert it to Mogen because we thought it would be less confusing for English speakers and easier to pronounce.

Do you want to know more about me?  Just pop me a message or check out my blog here at Gaia.  And if you REALLY want to get to know me, visit me in Boulder, CO.  I look forward to hearing from you!!  And if you send me a message, please tell me a little about yourself.  If you are feeling awkward and don't know what to say, just say the following:

“Hello ~Matthew.  I like your tilde.  I'm feeling awkward and don't know what to say, but I just wanted to let you know that I'm sending you a message… (*cricket, *cricket).  Um… so… yeah… Hope all is going super! Uh… bye!

Sincerely,
________”

So, go ahead… send me a message! ;)

“Buddhism states that our normal views inhibit us and chain us to the limited condition of samsara, whereas the correct view can lead us to our ultimate spiritual destination. We should not conclude from this—although modern Western Buddhists often do—that meditation is all about getting rid of views, or that all views will hinder us from attaining our spiritual goal. This assumption is based on the legitimate premise that Buddhist teachings emphatically identify the need to develop a non-conceptual wisdom mind in order to attain liberation and enlightenment. However, many people mistakenly think that this implies that we do not need to believe in anything and that all forms of conceptuality must be dispensed with right from the beginning. It is only incorrect views that we need to overcome. The correct and noble view is to be cultivated with great diligence.”- Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche

“The one who meditates without the view
Is like a blind man wandering the plains.
There is no reference point for where the true path is.
The one who does not meditate, but merely holds the view
Is like a rich man tethered by stinginess.
He is unable to bring appropriate fruition to himself and others.
Joining the view and meditation is the sacred tradition.”
- Kagyu master Jamgol Kongtrul Lodro Thaye