Marina Kazakova, Volunteer Supreme
ACI's super volunteer, Marina Kazakova
Marina, born in Russia and now living in Guadalajara, Mexico, has been a mainstay of the Asian Classics Institute technical table for several years now. Every time Geshe Michael sees her during her visits to Sedona, he sings the West Side Story song, I Just Met a Girl Named Maria [sic], to her! Marina is the detail-oriented wizard who makes sure all the translators are present, ready, and able to translate, in all the multiple language channels ACI broadcasts its many courses, events, and activities in almost every day of the week.
She was introduced to the idea of the pen in March 2017 by an ACI student named Vladimir who was handing out--guess what! pens. Marina got a pen and hasn't looked back since. She started taking DCI courses in Moscow, where she met Geshe Michael Roach for the first time during DCI Level 4 on Relationships.
"When I met Geshe Michael, I didn't feel he was a 'normal' person," says Marina. "He had great power and energy. I thought, maybe he's from another planet!"
For Marina, Geshe Michael opened the door to understanding how our world works. She thought about the pen, learned how to walk the path, and began to understand more fully that what we give is what we receive.
Marina was already familiar with studying, practicing, and meditating in her birth faith, Christianity, when she met Buddhism. "I didn't feel any kind of contrast or contradiction with the new teachings I was learning," she says. "I was a little worried about the yoga, though. Peter Moertl and Tim Lowenhaupt helped me understand I could do it like regular exercise. So I did it and just trusted it was right for me."
Her "day job" is in the tourism industry, in which she's been involved since she was 16 years old. She has worked in different locations, traveling to open and manage new offices for her company. Her current paid job is as a tourism consultant; she works on a contract basis.
Marina loves learning new things, and that's how she got to be the expert in technology she is today. "If ACI needs it, I learn it!" she tells us. "I want to know everything. I get involved with all the details of a new piece of technology, and learn how to manage it as well."
This is how Marina began volunteering for ACI. "My friend Galina needed help with a video. I said, 'Ok, I can do it!' Then I learned how." Marina has continued to learn and master new technology, which makes her a valuable volunteer asset to ACI.
Today, Marina has moved her base of operations to Guadalajara, Mexico. She makes frequent long visits to Sedona, but can't quite move here yet. This is because getting the right visa to work in the US is a challenge, as is the case for many people. Why did she make the move to North America? "It was as if my world was broken," says Marina. "I kept researching Geshe Michael and his team. When I met people like Tim, I thought, 'His spirit is so strong!' I wanted to be closer to this kind of person. I saw Tim always helping more and more people. I came to understand that it was Buddhism I was seeing, not actual people like Geshe Michael and Tim."
Marina has used the Four Steps to change her jobs and her positions within companies for the better. She is a practitioner of Medicine Buddha and does tonglen every day in her meditation. "My Buddhist practices have changed my heart and my perception and my life. How I see everything is different now!"
As a volunteer, Marina helps not only ACI but Three Jewels and anyone in the sangha she can. She works particularly closely with ACI's Pachi Coquet as a recording engineer making recordings for the ACI platform and YouTube. Her main task is arranging and coordinating translators and teaching materials in 17 languages.
Marina speaks Russian and English and is working on Spanish. "I'm passionate about spreading the teachings in the world!" she exclaims. She has a five-year plan to move to Sedona. "I'm taking it day by day," she tells us. "I'm not in a rush. I want to help the dharma and ACI. And I want to see everyone in the world as very happy!"
She's on track to complete the 18 ACI Foundation Courses, and already has her own group of students. "I have a tonglen meditation group with between 100 and 200 members," Marina shares. "And I lead discussion groups on topics such as the Buddhist approach to negative emotions, finances, etc. I'm going to all the ACI Teacher Trainings. And I encourage everyone in my groups to volunteer for ACI!"
Asian Classics Institute thanks Marina from the bottom of our hearts. We wish we could clone her!
