February 11, 2023 I grew up in a church that said you had to speak in tongues to get saved and go to heaven. I often prayed fervently starting at the age of 5 for the experience in the prayer room at church, where people would cry and wail, and roll on the floor. One 80-year old lady would sometimes get happy in the spirit and run laps around the church during church services. That was always entertaining. About my sophomore year in college, I became transformed by the protest of the Vietnam War, the anti-nuclear movement, Eastern philosophy, the study of psychology, smoking reefer, and democratic socialism, which I started believing could save the world. However, the Covid crises that began in March 2020 caused me to become disillusioned with the Left, so now I would say I am more an anarchist or a libertarian, but I don't support corporate or crony capitalism. Many libertarians think it is perfectly fine to aspire to be a millionaire or billionaire, but I think incomes above certain amounts should be taxed at much higher rates. Libertarian capitalists, like socialists, are against imperialism, and I will always resonate with that. Here is a definition of anarchy that I have always liked: Anarchy: a self-governed society in which people organize themselves from the bottom-up on an egalitarian basis; decisions made by those affected by them; direct democratic control of our workplaces, schools, neighborhoods, towns and bio-regions with coordination between differing groups as needed. A world where women and men are free and equal and all of us have power over our own lives, bodies and sexuality; where we cherish and live in balance with the earth and value diversity of cultures, races, and sexual orientations, where we work and live together cooperatively. Two times in my twenties and thirties, I had brief periods where I went back to being a Christian fundamentalist or an evangelical Christian. Later going to a liberal seminary, where I studied the New Testament like a scientist, caused me to doubt believing in the virgin birth, the trinity, and the literal resurrection of Jesus in the way that evangelical Christians believe. Now I believe that Jesus could have been a highly evolved yogi to achieve the various things he allegedly achieved. Growing up in an anti-intellectual home, I had the most trouble with high school courses like U.S. history, which seemed like a boring subject that was a waste of time. Later in my life, European history would become an important and fascinating subject. Lately I have been interested in studying the history of Christianity again using the excellent textbook I read in seminary. Fascinated with yoga and meditation, I starting reading many of the books written by Swami Rama. When I later met him in person and was initiated and given a mantra (which I never did repeat over and over as suggested), I remember that being in his presence was the most powerful spiritual experience I have ever had in my life: I felt rapturous love and indescribable bliss. So I became convinced that meditation and spiritual disciplines can transform a person. My ex-wife, by the way, thought there was nothing special about Swami Rama. In my mid 50s, I started advocating the integration of the Perennial Philosophy (that's the term Aldous Huxley used; it is also referred to as Ageless Wisdom, describing the nondual, mystical experience) with a democratic form of socialism as a way to save individuals and the world. I created a website called www.NowSaveTheWorld.com because the website name "SaveTheWorld.com" had already been taken by somebody else. I created this website in 2010 right before I retired at age 60 from teaching. I was a high school special education teacher of Algebra, English, and Social Studies, but during the last 6 years of my career I taught general elementary, mostly third grade. In March 2020, I changed the name of my website to WorldWithoutEmpire.com.