From SGI USA, I'm Cassidy Bradford and this is bootability.

The weekly series where I talk with Buddhists from all walks of life about the power we each have to change our lives and the world around us.

Making friends can be tough.

Maybe when you were a kid it was easy to make fast friends on the playground,

but as we get older, it becomes more challenging to develop true and lasting friendships.

Not just people we see in class or someone who will maybe get dinner with us sometimes,

but friends who we feel we can be our true selves around, people who help us become better,

and are by our side in hard moments. Today's guest, Dominic Califano of San Diego, was a timid kid who struggled to make good friends.

Then he started chanting Namyo Hōengikeyo, which changed his perspective on everything.

Welcome, Dominic, to Buddhability.

Thank you so much for joining me.

We're coast to coast, New York, and San Diego.

I was mentioning before I'm really excited to hear your story as a young person that's really recently started practicing Buddhism.

You know, I always have our guests start with an introduction.

So if you could just tell me a little bit about like who you are, how you spend your time,

and then we'll kind of dive in deeper after that.

So hello, my name is Dominic.

I practice in San Diego North. I've been practicing for about a year and three months now.

Wow.

I'm a martial arts instructor for work.

I work with kids.

And then at school, I attend Cal State San Marcos for psychology.

...