Aaron F Chilton

Hello everyone!

My name is Aaron. I am half Chinese; the other half is mixed German and English. I was born in Santa Clara, California. As a child, I went back and forth between the United States and Hong Kong to visit family on my mother’s side. As a young adult, I spent most of my time in the Midwest region of America. I was developing my skills in abstract expressionist art on canvas, wall murals, modern dance, and music production. At the age of 18, I gave away all my material possessions and was ordained as a monk in a temple in my home city, and lived in a temple for a full year studying Eastern theology. I later moved to Chicago at the age of 22 to continue my passion for art and music, and started my first music production company with a group of very close friends who shared the same vision.

In Chicago, I began my career in sales in high-end fashion, fragrance, and skin care for companies such as Shiseido, Beaute Prestige International, and L’Oréal. Due to my attention to detail and managerial skills, I later became a restaurant manager. I managed two restaurants in Chicago and later developed a deep passion for cooking.

I later moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, and started cooking in a scratch kitchen called MELT. After leaving that establishment, I learned under the highly regarded Chef Tsvika “Vik” Silberberg at ZULA. As time went on, I found myself back in California, where I attended a Vietnamese meditation retreat given by the Venerable Sayadaw Ashin Otematata of Thabarwa in the Burmese Theravada Buddhist Tradition. Traveling to India, Vietnam, and Thailand, where I started my journey in S.N. Goenka’s Vipassana 10-day silent meditation retreats.