The Container

I’m Casey, and this is a place where various threads of my life come together.

The Work
I’m a Buddhist chaplain and ordained ngakpa (like a householder priest) in the Yuthok Nyingthig lineage of Vajrayana Buddhism. I serve incarcerated communities both within prison walls and through post-release integration. I am also a private mental and emotional health counselor with complimentary certification in trauma-informed IFS and mindfulness therapies. My foundations are in contemplative healing, life balance, and non-judgmental presence. I am currently completing Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) at the Pacific Institute for Essential Conversations, and serve on the Board of Directors of Buddhist Prison Ministry.

I am also a published author with several acclaimed books. My first nonfiction title, William S. Burroughs and the Cult of Rock ’n’ Roll (University of Texas Press, 2019) has been published in eight editions, including seven translations. I am also the author of Music Copyright: An Essential Guide for the Digital Age (Rowman and Littlefield, 2021), which is primarily of interest to music industry professionals and law students / practitioners.

My forthcoming book, Dead Dharma: The Grateful Dead and the American Quest for Transcendence (Oxford University Press, 2026), traces how the Grateful Dead and their extended cultural sphere became vehicles for exploring improvisation and transformation as individual and collective expressions of awakening. Combining spiritual sociology, musicology, and cultural history, the book situates the Dead within a broader tradition of American seekers—from Transcendentalists and Beats to psychedelic pioneers and spiritual-creative radicals shaped by Eastern philosophies and practices.

In a previous life, I worked at the intersection of music, law, and policy—as a music licensing executive, a federal policy advocate, and a professor at Georgetown and Berklee teaching copyright, digital disruption, and the economics of creativity in the digital age. That background still shapes how I think about culture and power.

The Play
And then there’s the other stuff. Motion picture rabbit holes, media analysis, fresh cultural criticism. That’s a big part of the Apocrypha. In fact, it may be why you’re here. If so, welcome. If not, welcome!

How to Engage
Anyone and everyone is invited to signup for my weekly email spiel, which features a mix of cultural-creative reflections, along with occasional updates on my pastoral and expressive work (books, music, experiences in spiritual caregiving).

For those currently in a caring relationship with me, this platform offers support for ongoing integration through strategies and contemplative tools meant to nurture and deepen practice and self-healing.

If you are interested in one-on-one “spiritual friendship” along these lines, please reach out.

Support my work
You can support my work whether or not we are working together directly! Subscribing at the paid tier is one way to do that, and it’s easy. You can also make one-time contributions here.