I'm 30, from Sri Lanka, and I work as a software engineer doing mostly automation and backend systems, the kind of work that runs quietly in the background. Alongside that, I've spent years studying and practicing Theravada Buddhism, not as a hobby, but as the quiet center everything else has been orbiting.
This page isn't a sudden announcement. It's the record of a decade-long direction, and it's what I'm trying to finish before I take the next step.
A quick idea of who I am
Work
The Engineer
Python, automation, backend systems. Senior Software Engineer and Team Lead on a healthcare automation team. I'd rather solve a hard, invisible problem than design something flashy.
Honestly, I'm no expert in this. But I've been learning Abhidhamma from time to time, and recently I've focused more heavily on it. I'm just trying to absorb these teachings deeply into my life.
Discipline
The Fighter
Martial arts and MMA are where I put pressure when it needs somewhere to go. Structured, physical, honest.
Mind
The Thinker
I write about why people get kinder or harsher after hardship, why effort goes unnoticed until there's a result, how the mind resists what it needs most. Thinking things through, in public, is just how I process.
Butterflies, moths, snakes, spiders, birds — whatever the forests of Sri Lanka put in front of me. I photograph what most people walk past without seeing.
I'll try the simplest version of a dish before the fancy one — it's the honest test of whether a kitchen actually knows what it's doing. Sri Lankan home cooking, street food, the odd experiment with jackfruit seeds or coconut husks. Taste over quantity, always.
This isn't new. Friends and I pooled money to donate to Apeksha Hospital, Sri Lanka's national cancer hospital. I've also donated to the Mother Charitable Foundation, both personally and with friends, around Christmas. I've made a monthly donation toThe Ceylon School for the Deaf & Blind. I'm also a registered donor with the Sri Lanka Eye Donation Society & Human Tissue Bank. Giving has always been part of how I live, long before this page existed.
I run a small YouTube channel called Creepy Chap. It features short videos built around the unsettling: strange facts, eerie nature, and ideas that linger rather than jump-scare. Quiet dread over loud horror.
Two to three years in crypto, treating it as a discipline to study, not a bet. I've had real gains along the way, though never reached the target I was aiming for. My wallet history is public — nothing hidden.
I worked a few months as a paid caregiver — one of the jobs I've taken simply to know what it's really like from the inside, not just assume. It stayed with me more than most roles have.
Someday
The Fish Cutter, In Waiting
One job I've never done but genuinely want to try, at least once: fish cutter. There is no grand reason for it. It's just curiosity about a skill and a rhythm completely unlike anything I do now.
Made
The Strange Builder
Most of what I build outside work starts from something unusual or sometimes outright creepy: a strange mechanic, a dark hypothetical, or an idea that won't leave me alone. So I build it and see if it holds up. A cyberpunk snake game built around bounty hunting. A rapid-fire reflex game built on twelve honest questions. An interactive true-crime story where your choices shape the ending.
I've stepped in and out of stable work more than once, chasing goals I didn't always reach. I know what it's like to push hard for years toward a number and land somewhere short of it. I'm not presenting a finished story — just an honest one, still being lived.
A note, partway through building this
When I first started putting this page together, I was in a hard place. I felt like the only way forward was getting help from strangers to reach my target — and honestly, I doubted I'd even get there.
But somewhere in the process of writing down who I actually am — the work, the giving, the small strange interests, the years of trying — something shifted. I started to feel genuinely okay. Not because the target got closer, but because I could finally see that I've done enough. Even if I never reach it, that's fine. This page ended up being for me too, not just for anyone reading it.
The path so far
Start
Completed my degree
The foundation everything after this was built on.
Entering the field
Software Engineer
Started working in software. It was the beginning of a career that would end up looping in and out over the years.
Stepping out
Self-employed
Left employed work to try building something of my own, hoping a faster path might get me to this goal sooner.
Back in
Returned to software engineering
Came back to the field, applying what I'd learned while out of it.
Stepping out again
Caregiver
Left software again to work as a paid caregiver. It was one of several jobs I've taken on simply to know what they're actually like from the inside.
In between
Self-employed, again
Tried again with a different approach this time. I was always aimed at the same target, just looking for a way there that didn't take years.
Back in, for now
Software Engineer, again
Returned once more, and this time stayed longer. I grew into more responsibility along the way, learning it as I went.
Constant, through every step
Abhidhamma
Through every step in and out of software (self-employment, caregiving, coming back), learning and practicing Abhidhamma didn't move. It's been the one constant underneath all of it.
Next
Monastic life, as soon as I can responsibly go
This isn't a new direction. It's where all the stepping in and out was always leading. What's left is one responsibility, and it's the reason for this page.
What I'm asking
I've tried to reach this on my own, in a few different ways, over a few different years. None of them got me there fast enough. That's the honest reason I'm asking now. It isn't because I didn't try, but because my time to keep trying alone has run out.
Before I go, I want to leave something behind for my family.
For a long time, my target has been $30,000. It isn't a magic number, just a goal I wanted to reach. For a while, I thought about using it to fund more experiments and business ideas. I was hoping to build something bigger so I could eventually give back to my family before I ordain.
But I've realized my time for experiments is over. My family made everything up to this point possible, and I want to give this to them directly. Not to repay them, but just to leave them with something they can use in an emergency, or spend however they want. It's simply about wanting to give them something from me before I go.
If you're able to help, I'd be grateful. If not, thank you for reading this far anyway.
$30K
$30,000 · Closing the Chapter
Timeline: next few months
$0
of $30,000 target
0% raised
Foundation
Foundation laid
The first real cushion is there. Not enough to leave on yet — but enough to know this is actually happening.
Lifting
The weight starts to lift
Close to half. The gap between where I am and where I'm going is shrinking, visibly.
Midpoint
Past the midpoint
More than halfway there. Leaving is closer now than staying is.
Near
Almost ready
The finish is visible from here. What's left is small compared to what's already been given.
Clear
Clear to go
My family is provided for. Nothing is holding me back. I can finally step onto the path I've been walking toward for years.
Live tracker · Automatically updated from wallet feeds
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$75
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