HeartAwake.com

Author, meditation teacher, political activist, and director of the HeartAwake
Center, Alan brings a unique perspective to his examination of political and
spiritual topics.

Raised a Roman Catholic Christian, Alan became an atheist in his teens but by
his early twenties had begun a spiritual search and taken up meditation. (This
early period of spiritual searching is fictionalized in his novel, Heart Awakening.)

This search eventually led him back to Christianity through the contemplative
tradition of Christian mysticism, although he maintained a continuing interest in
other spiritual traditions, particularly Zen Buddhism.

After working with poor inner city residents at a church in Detroit, Michigan,
Alan's concern with economic justice induced him to complete an M.A. in
political philosophy and a PhD in public policy studies (he has also done
academic work in Religious Studies), and he taught in a graduate program on
Ethics and Policy Studies for ten years, becoming a tenured professor in 2000.

As he approached age fifty he experienced a spiritual crisis, due in part to a
feeling that his spiritual life had been stuck against some invisible obstacle for
many years. An encounter with the American Zen teacher Adyashanti helped
him break through this obstacle, and Alan subsequently left his academic career
to pursue other projects.

Since then he has published two books and written a number of essays, began
giving guidance and talks on spiritual growth, and has continued to be engaged
in political work. Alan currently lives in Eugene, Oregon, with his wife and
daughter. He also has a son who lives in Las Vegas, Nevada.