I was born in Denver, Colorado, and spent my boyhood living outside Denver, in Sausalito, Albuquerque, the windward side of Oahu (Hawaii) and attended middle school and high school in Mill Valley in Marin County, California. As a boy I had many mystical experiences of inner light, lucid dreams and several profound deja vu experiences in Denver. At the age of five, on a bright summer day in suburban Denver I experienced a deep and pervasive realization that the Primal Being of the universe pervaded the entirety of Earth—the planet, surrounding atmosphere and all beings inhabiting it—and of universal space, from our solar system to the farthest proto-galaxies and boundaries of time/space. Growing up, I was vitally engaged in learning about philosophers and their teachings—with youthful attempts to put them into practice and build my own philosophical approaches. At the age of sixteen I started practicing yoga and meditation seriously and was reading widely of Western and Eastern spiritual teachers, and also studying the leading thinkers and developers of transpersonal psychology. At age seventeen while sitting in a large crowd at the ferry dock in Sausalito, a Christian-trained psychic—part of a group of young people being trained in clairvoyance—approached me and explained that he had just seen a vision over my head—a vision of a sword and a scroll in an iridescent aura of golden and lavender light. He didn't explain the vision, but told me that I had a potent mission of spiritual service, teaching and writing in life.
I
served as a senior writer in the order for many years, and fulfilled many
years of teaching, mentoring and counseling people of all ages and backgrounds.
Much of my service was occupied in ministerial responsibilities and officiations—including
weddings, funerals and rights of passage. I was responsible for developing
several children's and youth courses and was involved as the lead teacher
in international youth retreats and adult retreats for over twenty years.
