Touching Ground: Devotion and Demons Along the Path to Enlightenment

The vivid story of a hippie, a carpenter, a Vietnam vet, an alcoholic, a marine engineer, and a great dad who battled his demons on the Buddhist path.

From October 16, 1973, to August 17, 1974, Tim Testu walked all the way from San Francisco to Seattle, bowing his head to the ground every three steps. And that’s not even the best part of his story.

Tim Testu was one of the very first Americans to take ordination in Chinese Zen Buddhism. His path—from getting kicked out of school to joyriding in stolen boats in the Navy to squatting in an anarchist commune to wholehearted spiritual engagement in a strict Buddhist monastery—is equal parts rollicking adventure and profound spiritual memoir.

Touching Ground is simultaneously larger than life and entirely relatable; even as Tim finds his spiritual home with his teacher, the legendary Chan master Hsuan Hua, he nonetheless continues to struggle to overcome his addictions and his very human shortcomings.

Tim never did anything halfway, including both drinking and striving for liberation. He died of leukemia in 1998 after packing ten lifetimes into fifty-two years.

Timothy Testu was one of the first Americans in his Chan lineage to ordain on American soil and perhaps the first American to undertake a “three steps, one bow” pilgrimage within the United States, an arduous practice with roots in ancient Asia. He was a Navy submariner and a close disciple of Venerable Master Hsuan Hua. He passed away in 1998.

Jeanette Testu grew up and continues to live in beautiful western Washington. She works as a disability law paralegal and is now studying to be a pastry chef—not due to legal burnout but for the puzzle of perfecting a recipe and the joy of feeding her loves. She has had the privilege of helping families of children with special needs for over ten years. She has a fabulous teenage son, Liam, who plays lots of instruments and kindly eats green macarons and cookies with coriander. On any given day she follows 3 to 5 of the precepts. She values her unconventional upbringing and applies many Buddhist principles to her messy modern life.

Emma Varvaloucas is the executive editor of Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, where she’s worked with writers from across the Buddhist traditions for six years. After a childhood spent as a bunhead in tights and pointe shoes, she now moonlights as a professional aerialist and aerial dance teacher. A student in the Tibetan Karma Kagyu and Nyingma lineages, she strives to be less of a terrible practitioner every day.