Culver City resident Donna Quesada, a professor of Asian philosophy at Santa Monica College has recently written a book as a means rekindling joy in the classroom. She admitted being on the verge of burning before finding her way back to balance, patience, enthusiasm, and ultimately, her passion for teaching. 

In Buddha in the Classroom, Quesada tells the story of her experience with common classroom issues – tardiness, cheating, disruption, tedium and her own forgetfulness. She offers a Dharma lesson for teachers with lighthearted sincerity and humor. She asserts that once she found stillness within herself, she realized that escaping her job would not solve her feelings of boredom and frustration. It was her own mind that was the root of her unhappiness.