Word Smith was born and raised in New York. He is a graduate of Temple University in Philadelphia where he completed a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy. Near the end of school, Word had an existential crisis where he deeply questioned his mainstream education and the use of life at all. After this experience and months’ long reflection, Word went on to discover deeper truths about life beyond what he had considered in the past.
He traveled for the next three years, studying on his own to whatever he felt drawn. During this time, Word studied: permaculture, Chinese medicine, Tai chi, Capoeira, and whole foods nutrition, and received his black belt in Tae kwon do. Later he attended Heartwood Institute for four years, specializing in holistic healing, where he also taught.
Word continued his studies for another 3 years to become Doctor of Medical Qi Gong and opened a clinic with one of his teachers in Santa Cruz, California.
Currently, Word teaches and translates as part of the Diamond Cutter Classics (Mixed Nuts) with Geshe Michael Roach. He leads the Electronic Dictionary Project and recently published “The Golden Key”, a book about the Mind only school of Buddhism.
