From childhood onward I felt the call to travel distant lands, share in other cultures, and expand my horizons. I experimented with hypnagogic induction in middle school though I did not even have a word for it. When I went to bed one night a visualization spontaneously occurred to me while staring at the ceiling in the dark. I developed that visualization into an activity. This exercise removes stress and relaxes me. All of this led to experiments in what I now know as hypnagogic induction.
Subsequently, I read books on lucid dreaming and tried their authors' exercises as well. I also met others who experimented with altered states of consciousness or meditation and compared notes. Sometimes we collaborated. They gave me exercises, which I also tried. When I got into high school, a man there offered a summer tai chi course. So, I learned actual meditation techniques, tai chi, and chi kung from my first Sifu (A word for teacher). I credit him with introducing formal structure.
After high school I served in the United States Army. While there, I would use the tai chi standing and moving meditation techniques when I stood or marched in formation under the hot, Alabama sun with sweat running down my shaven head, snug in my headgear. It made the stresses of the day easier.
My first station of duty was in South Korea, and afterwards they shipped me to Kansas. Through chance, I met a teacher from Mississippi who traveled to me. Through him I learned bodily discipline, breath work, concentration meditation, discursive meditation, insight meditation, mandala, mantra, visualization, and other techniques both inhibitory and exhibitory. I am grateful for his instruction as it formed the foundation of all my current work. His tutelage allowed a major refinement and I worked with him until I completed my military service and maintained contact during and after my travels.
After military service, I embarked on a low-budget trip. I traveled around East Asia, Southeast Asia, India, Turkey, and other locations for about six years. During that time, I had the opportunity to learn from monks, devotees, and teachers of several traditions. From these instructors, I learned various methods of meditation, relaxation, and other things. Most importantly, I developed a vocabulary to discuss these techniques and I refined my own practice and understanding. I continue to refine today.
Certain mentors urged me to share this knowledge with others, so while I was on the road, I started teaching friends who showed interest and commitment. I found that I enjoy teaching meditation and I found it rewarding to hear of and observe their results. After coming back to the United States, I started helping people I met through social activities with meditation. One evening, my wife suggested I teach meditation professionally and I heeded her advice as I generally do, and have been teaching meditation ever since. I enjoy working with committed people to help them unfold on their meditative journey!
