With the volunteer spotlight on Tim Roller this month I was given the opportunity to sit with him and got to know a little about his time with the Dharma Bum Temple, his Buddhism journey, and how much volunteering means to him. So, without further ado, meet Tim Roller, a member of our Sangha, a man of many talents who shares his truly remarkable gift of service freely, with warmth and with gratitude.
Tim arrived during the early days of the Dharma Bum Temple back in 2010 when the Temple was downtown, and he also remembers meditating in the back room of the Buddha For You gift shop when it was in the College area. In the beginning he began volunteering with mostly construction projects helping in any way he could. Those early days with DBT made an enormous impact on him. So, when he had to move away and was gone from 2013-2020 when he came back to San Diego, he found his way back to the Temple in its current location, even marrying his wife there in 2022. At that time, Tim added more services to his list of volunteering ventures when he could, hosting Thursday nights for two years, and picking up bread for the food redistribution program, even making, and passing out sandwiches to the homeless. Most recently Tim continues to work on Temple repairs and has even developed a Temple maintenance spreadsheet and a documented building plan. With this huge contribution, maintenance and repairs can now be managed timely and consistently by anyone, truly helping the Temple in achieving the ability for continued legacy.
You can also find Tim leading meditations for the Temple recovery occasionally on Tuesdays or Sundays. He also led meditation for the Alvarado Hospital recovery group when it was active. Being a part of the Buddhist recovery program himself since 2005 he has been called to give back to the recovery Sangha and contribute opportunities for others to connect and to share hope in a brighter future sharing that many who have sat with him in the hospital are now a part of the Temple recovery. With his own personal Buddhist journey starting with the books Dharma Punx and Against The Stream, Tim shared that his meditation journey has allowed him “the space to look at myself and actually take responsibility for myself” and that sitting with himself was the “hardest thing [he’s] done”. He went on to share that for him, meditation is very personal, saying, “That’s what people don’t understand. They think some ethereal transcendent thing is going to happen and you’re just facing yourself”. Tim opened up even more, sharing that through his meditation practice he felt he went from hiding and running, to a place of acceptance and awareness.
Surprisingly, Tim still finds more time to share his generosity by acting as liaison and guide for the Temple for the SDSU Buddhist fraternity and the Metta Forest Monastery. For Tim, his time at Metta Forest has truly deepened his Buddhist practice since finding a teacher in Ajaan Geoff. Explaining to me that Ajaan means teacher. Looking back, Tim recalls one of the most impactful lessons he’s received from Ajaan were some of his teachings on karma. Ajaan has taught him that he can address his karma now and change it, saying that that was huge for him. Explaining that “karma is whatever your behavior has added up to now, but you also have your input right now. Every moment there’s a choice to be skillful about it, to make the right decision”.
Tim continues to grow in his practice daily saying that for him “the journey never stops”. He also learned to do Metta meditation with Ajaan, or what is often called the loving kindness meditation. Mentioning that Ajaan prefers calling it Goodwill meditation because sometimes it’s hard to love someone, but you can give them goodwill. Tim feels that giving himself goodwill, those he loves or knows, those he doesn’t like or doesn’t know, and even giving the universe goodwill brings him a sense of peace. Also connecting Metta to volunteering Tim believes that actions of dāna (generosity) are “actions of giving that bring that kind of peace [he] gets from Metta” and simply that “volunteering brings joy”.
Having a sense of community is also an important part of volunteering for Tim. In his free time, he enjoys reading and painting and can often withdraw into those activities, and volunteering brings him back to a place of community and to “contributing”. Contributing to ease suffering and giving back remains a huge part of Tim’s practice. Sharing that Ajaan taught him that, “Buddhism is not this. It's not the books. It’s not the monks. It’s not the monasteries. It’s what you do. It’s you outside making skillful decisions to ask how can I bring something to the world? How can I bring kindness to myself as well?”.
Tim’s journey so far through the teachings of Buddhism have been insightful. Saying that Buddhism has changed his perspective on things, his ability to feel his feelings completely, and to experience completely without throwing his storyline in the mix. It hasn’t gotten any easier for him confessing that his mind is, “maybe a little quieter inside, but still crazy” but he continues to learn and implement the Dharma’s lessons through engaged Buddhism. He even has the word “impermanence” written in Tibetan on his wrist saying it reminds him to step back and say, “Oh yeah, it’s just right now”.
Listening to Tim’s insights and journey was more like being blessed with an incredible impromptu Dharma talk. Thank you for sharing your wisdom and your light. Thank you for uplifting our sangha. Thank you for being you.
Article written by Lora Daines