I love to learn how things work and create, design, and build things; I’ve been doing that forever, and I doubt I’ll ever stop. I’m also fascinated by psychology, consciousness, and spiritual awakening.
As a kid, I loved video games and science fiction. In high school, when home computers came out in the ’80s, I was magnetically attracted to them. I wrote video games in BASIC and assembly language for friends and classmates. Later, I studied computer science—first at Swarthmore, then at Indiana University, where I got a PhD.
Determined to land a job in the high-tech mecca of Silicon Valley, I eventually ended up at Intel developing software performance tools. After six years in the Valley learning the ins and outs of corporate life, I moved to Albuquerque in search of a slower pace of life and better dating. A few years later, I left the corporate world looking for more meaningful work and more time for spiritual practice.
Spiritual Explorer
In my early 30s, I discovered philosopher Ken Wilber. His work helped me break out of my scientific materialist shell, and his Integral framework was a helpful guide as I started exploring meditation and mystical spirituality.
Determined to access spiritual insight, I explored many spiritual traditions and communities looking for a good place to “go deep”. Eventually, I settled into a local Tibetan Buddhist center (Albuquerque Karma Tegsum Chöling, an affiliate center of Karma Triyana Dharmachakra). With a lot of study, practice, and guidance, I started to awaken to new ways of experiencing life. This awakening deepened as I shifted my attention to the Buddhist teachings of Ken McLeod and (later) Kenneth Folk.
Eventually, having found what I was looking for, I let go of my focus on Buddhism. These days, I’m not affiliated with any particular approach or religion; my spiritual life is guided by an inner knowing and informed by a wide range approaches. I continue to seek both deeper levels of awakening and ways to integrate awakening more deeply into my life.
Psychotherapist
I’m living proof that spiritual insight does not automatically perfect the personality. The good news is that insight is a great complement to inner work (like building self-awareness, building social and emotional intelligence, and healing emotional wounds). I facilitate this type of inner work with others as a psychotherapist.
Founder of Spiritual Awakening for Geeks
I created Spiritual Awakening for Geeks as a way of giving back. It’s a place where I can share what I’ve learned and get feedback on what I’ve shared. It’s also the community I wish I’d had when I was first starting to explore awakening. If this sounds interesting, take the first step toward getting involved: sign up for our newsletter.
I describe my journey of awakening—and some lessons learned along the way—in my short book Tricksters in the Desert. I live in Santa Fe, New Mexico with my wife Emilah DeToro and our furry “kids” Dora, Manu, and Maisy.
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