About the author

You can probably learn a lot more about me and the way I see the world by reading the other pages on this site. But I also know that personal connections are important to people, and so I'll make some effort here to introduce myself.

I grew up in a small town in California during the 1960s and 1970s, a time when suburban life looked and felt a lot like the syndicated TV shows of that era. My family was pretty typical, and the town, despite being best known for its massive physics lab and its rodeo, was also pretty ordinary. Spiritually, other than the brief few years that I spent resisting the catechism of the Catholic church, there isn't much else to say.

Professionally, I've had what could be called an uncommon career path. I began my adult life with a Ph.D. in mathematics, got married right out of graduate school, and spent the next 10 years or so as a mathematics professor. After writing a handful of very esoteric research papers in the field of algebraic topology (for example, this one), I left my academic mathematics post in 2001. At the time it came as a shock to people, especially professional colleagues, as I already had a tenured appointment, and up to that point in my career had worked hard to establish myself.

In retrospect, I can attribute my desire for professional change mostly to some spontaneous spiritual experiences that began sometime around 1998. It started in earnest with an experience that I can only briefly describe as a kind of "unity consciousness". Since that term has also been used by practitioners of Transcendental Meditation to describe a particular state of being, I can't assert that my experience equated to the TM version. Most likely not. But I do think there were some commonalities. In any case, it doesn't really matter, and the initial shock of the experience wore off pretty quickly. But something of an "awakened state" remained, and from there many more subtle experiences followed.

I was actually unemployed for a short period following my resignation until I eventually landed another academic position where I did research in systems biology, genomics, and pharmacology (see here and here for a few papers that I wrote between 2003-2007). During that phase I also did a brief, two year stint working on DoD (US Department of Defense) contracts for a small private engineering company.

Between 2003 and 2004, I started reading various spiritual works related to my previous experiences, the most notable being the Bhagavad Gita, various works of Swami Vivekananda (on Vedanta), and Yogananda's Autobiography of a Yogi. The latter especially inspired me to begin meditation as a regular daily practice. Before long I was meditating 3+ hours daily. In 2005, I met a teacher and by grace my process accelerated significantly, including significant "energetic" breakthroughs.

Anyone who has experienced such a process has some idea just how disruptive it can be. In my case, life turned completely upside down. I got divorced, gave up virtually all of my possessions, got a new job, and moved to a new city. Then not too long after that, I started a new relationship (eventually leading to my 2nd marriage), got a new job (in a new field), and moved to a new city (again). But in fact, these external changes don't even begin to describe the tumultuous nature of what was going on "inside". It was nothing short of a total rearrangement of my being.

Toward the end of 2007, I was working for another small engineering firm, in the field of CSP (concentrating solar power). I did also manage to write a few research papers in that field as well (for example, this one), but most of the work was on proprietary technology. It was super fun while it lasted, but the company eventually went out of business at the end of 2016.

In the interim, I met another teacher shortly after my father passed away in 2013. He introduced me to the Yoga Vasistha, which to date is the most amazing and impactful work that I have ever read. It was during this time period that I began to deeply question many of my preconceived notions about reality. I can't begin to describe all the bizarre experiences and "tests" of the "fabric" of my reality that I encountered during this period, but in brief, it completely rewired my relationship to everything. Again.

Sometime in 2012, I was invited by a friend to participate in a ceremony involving ayahuasca. Normally I wouldn't give much consideration to such an endeavor, but during that particular time period, it was something I did. I participated in a handful of those ceremonies, and I did learn a lot from the experience. I'm also very grateful to the teacher who facilitated those events. But in retrospect, nowadays, I don't generally recommend it to others. I think it's better not to foster a dependence on external (natural or artificial) substances to reach such states of consciousness.

In 2014, I had another breakthrough, in the form of deep meditative absorption. This also changed everything.

In 2017, I began working for a small engineering company focused on artificial intelligence and automated vehicles. This endeavor didn't last a long time, but did introduce me to that world. I also began work as an independent engineering consultant. It was the first time in my career that I had my own business, and thus a milestone that my father had always wanted for me, which he never attained himself though he had the desire. There is a certain freedom that comes with such a work arrangement, and toward the end of 2018, my wife and I moved to Taiwan (her birthplace).

Thus began my life as an expat. In 2018, there weren't nearly as many (pre-pandemic) remote workers as there are today, but both my wife and I were among them. I've worked remotely since that time. Spiritually, a new phase commenced, and with the change also came a new (human) teacher. During the pandemic there arose a deep awareness of collective consciousness and all of its implications. As an American living in Taiwan and consulting in mainland China, I began to face the implications of the collective through a very unusual, though impactful lens.

For those familiar with Vedic astrology (Jyotish), it was also the occasion of my 2nd Saturn return, 3rd sade sati, and first two levels of Saturn dasha (mahadasha and antardasha), all rolled into one simultaneous period. Needless to say, it became a time to examine karma, on both individual and collective (both ancestral and societal) levels. This was also happening at a collective level with the pandemic and the "great conjunction" of Saturn and Jupiter that reached its apex on the winter solstice of 2020, which also happened to be within one degree of both my birth moon and Jupiter's maximum point of debilitation. Although this dominant role of Saturn may sound scary to those with a passing familiarity with astrology, the experience taught me that such a phase is also one of life's greatest teachers. Indeed, my human teacher said of this time that given the opportunity, Saturn's energy will grind down even the most resistant facets of one's egoistic nature. Indeed, something I would likely never do, if left to my own devices. Incidentally, here is an insightful blog article I discovered recently, written toward the end of 2019, about the Saturn and Jupiter conjunction in 2020.

During this same period my wife had the opportunity to write the (recently published) biography of one of Taiwan's few remaining aboriginal shaman practitioners. Her research pulled us into a world of many occult mysteries and synchronicities (緣分 in Chinese). For me, it only served to enhance my experience of the multiple facets of collective karma that I was experiencing at the time. Our time in Taiwan has also taught us so much about partnership and the dynamics between people. We've both had to depend on each other in ways that we never imagined while living in the US. And I've witnessed aspects of her that were only dormant while living in the US, but have come alive during the past several years.

With the end of the pandemic and Saturn's transit to Aquarius a new phase began. I started to become more interested in the interdimensional aspects of consciousness, and with that I met another teacher who has much to share about such things. Although I would classify my experiences among the extraordinary realms of consciousness as somewhat limited, there were a few times over the years that I "left my body" or experienced shifts from the dream state into lucid awareness of more subtle dimensions. I also learned much from this teacher about "aliens" and multidimensional technologies, and most especially, how all of these other dimensions are linked with our own consciousness. I'm still learning and exploring when it comes to these topics, although I would say that recent years have helped me a lot in my understanding of the more subtle aspects. One thing I can say for certain - there is much nonsense published about these topics online! Caveat emptor.

On a professional level, a new opportunity arose to found a company in the business of utility scale energy storage. This one is based in London; and so I am finding myself still working remotely, but with some new partners and in another new field (although closely related to my work in CSP).

With recent times also came the death of my mother, and the establishment of a new residence back in the US. Our primary home is still in Taiwan, but I suspect we will be spending significantly more time in the US in the years to come. I have also encountered some new teachers, each of whose primary characteristic is silent transmission. I think perhaps this is indicative of where I am now, although ironically I'm at the same time suddenly inspired to share these personal notes online.

It remains to see where that leads next.