We grew up sharing a small bedroom in a Brooklyn, NY apartment. Living so closely was challenging since we were all quite different. However, we found many ways to have fun.

Outside of bike riding, roller skating, basketball and tennis one of our favorite activities was to go absolutely nuts and rough house when my parents went out. 

I  love them dearly and although we live on opposite coasts, we are still close and very much a family.

I was the middle child and  attended PS 255, Cunningham Junior High, James Madison High School. I then went on to RCA Institute and became an electronics technician. After graduation,  I worked as an electronics technician for GE Semiconductor Division in Auburn NY. However, my technician job status only exempted me from the draft for 1 year and the Vietnam war was going strong. So when my draft exempt status was about to run out, I quit my job and enrolled in CCNY's (City College of New York) Engineering School.

From my high school years on I had a strong interest in electronics and became a ham radio operator (N6TGF) after several years of being an SWL (short wave listener).  I enjoy experimenting and building circuits. Also communicating with  people from all around the world is very interesting since you never know who will be answering your CQ or general call for a contact.  Presently using the internet and computers, I communicate with and share ideas with practically an unlimited  number of people. Perhaps that is the prime reason that the number of active ham radio operators has diminished.

The Vietnam war was in full steam while I was in college and many young man were being drafted and many died fighting in this war. From meeting and talking to many returning Vietnam Vets on campus, I knew that there was no way I would participate in this mass insanity. Thousands of my brothers and sisters died in vain fighting in a no-win war. That is not counting all the innocent Vietnamese people whose country, homes and lives were needlessly destroyed or harmed.

I graduated with a B.E.E. and worked as a quality control and digital design engineer for RCA in Heightstown, NJ. After about 1 year, the company laid off most of their workers due to a lack of contracts. I then applied for many jobs as the market was oversaturated with laid off engineers. I applied and was hired as a manufacturing engineer for Westinghouse Electric in Jersey City, NJ.  They were computerizing their elevator control systems and needed more qualified engineers that could provide support in testing and manufacturing the updated systems.

At first, I enjoyed the work and the challenges. However, after several years on the job,  this company started to lay off it's workers and announced that they were closing this plant in a year or so and relocating to Dover, NJ.  The work environment soon became very depressive as many of my co-workers were being laid off. I went home each night and felt completely drained by the negativity and the grim prospect of moving to a remote (from NY) city,  where my social life would be severely disrupted.

I engaged in religious practices, yoga and also prayed and meditated frequently  to help balance myself out.  After several months of doing this, I received some much needed spiritual guidance. A profound spiritual awakening revealed that I was to surrender it all, including my attachments to being an engineer.  It was time for me to begin a new life with a heightened awareness. It was a major shift in realities to leave behind the decade of work and preparation for my chosen profession of engineering. However, my recent revelation was not to be denied. I  was literally propelled by spirit to travel and begin a new life. It wasn't easy to do as old identifications do feel like they are who you are, but as soon as I began the trip, I felt both divinely guided and elated because a magical adventure into the unknown was upon me.

I said my goodbyes to friends and family  in '78 and began touring the country in a Dodge X'plorer. A picture of this well designed mini-motorhome is shown below. While traveling cross country, I had many amazing experiences visiting several spiritual communities which could be a book in itself. Finally,  I settled down in Santa Cruz, California to explore a new way of living. While living there I met William Zodda, who was also dedicated to the path of self discovery and self realization. He met me while I was feeding the ducks in San Lorenzo Park, Santa Cruz.  We started to hang together and soon a great friendship began. I prayed for the experience of raising children, since I intuited that there was a great lesson for me in this. It was thru him that I met a wonderful new friend, partner, gifted artist and spiritual channel named Suzanne McMillan.  For almost 2 years, I  helped her raise her two children. We created several workshops and gave presentations at Esalen Institute on healing. Along with the help of Robert Clarke, photographer, we created a multimedia event called the Egyptian Connection which was performed in several major cities. Suzanne loved being "on stage" and was a natural at it.

Suzanne was a great inspiration for me because she truly "walked her talk" and enjoyed living in an expanded awareness. Together we started the "Santa Cruz Tantric Heart Center" which offered massage workshops, spiritual alignment classes and a place for anyone to come and be received with much compassion and heart. We had an amazing assortment of spiritually minded people visit the center and it was a wonderful experience to share with them because each one of them presented their own unique piece of the puzzle. She founded and ran a spiritual retreat and tour guide center in Sedona, Arizona.

In September of 2006 she was liberated from her body in a head on crash while driving home. I'll miss her sweet, inspiring and healing presence and believe that she is still dancing and performing on "the other side".

I moved to Harbin Hot Springs in Middletown California in 1980 to obtain my massage practitioner certificate and afterwards, I also worked as a massage therapist on staff and the Office manager. Harbin is a great place to discover "your truth" and many people in transition have made major life "corrections" from taking workshops there or just relaxing in the inviting waters. Working on the massage staff, helping several people a day and merging with their realities provided a powerful means to learn from them and it also helped me "tune-in" and gently guide each person back into balance and harmony with their uniqueness so that healing could occur.

I then felt pulled to create a matchmaking service that required a different environment to get it going.  So after a rewarding stay at Harbin, I returned to Santa Cruz and wrote a custom database program and launched a computer matchmaking service called Compatibility Plus. I ran this service for over 15 years and helped many singles find compatible partners and some did marry. It was rewarding work that required me to use a combination of intuition and practical abilities to find suitable matches for many diverse types of individuals. I had to finally put it to rest since the enrollment slowed down after 9/11.

There has been many major transformational changes in my life and therefore this lifetime feels like several lifetimes rolled up into one. For the past decade, I  have lived in a beautiful, rural setting just a few miles from Harbin in a musical household/ashram called the "Blues Farm".  The community of musicians has been very helpful for me.  It provides a creative outlet from my previous work as an engineer and it has helped me nurture a deeper appreciation of music. My housemate, Dave 'Vibrato', encouraged me to become a professional drummer so we could play the Blues together. I enjoy doing that plus playing with other bands, designing web sites, business cards, flyers and giving intuitive body work sessions.

His passion for the blues helped awaken a deeper appreciation of this soulful music in me.

We have become good friends over the years and I enjoy playing the drums in the Blues Farm Band.

Call him for private harp lessons or to find out when he is teaching another public workshop:

707-987-0165

I have been through many incarnations since the mid 70's. I don't need to  "believe" in miracles. Miracles/magical events happen all around us when we receive the grace to see life clearly as it is. Until we awaken, we are like sleep walkers who live in a dream world. Many of us take so very much for granted. We use our minds as the supreme judge of what reality is about. Contrary to what your ego asserts, your mind is not the boss! Opening ones' heart/mind and surrendering to a "higher power" is the first step to a magical fresh and new life with Spirit (God) at the center. If you are sincere then you will be motivated to purify yourself and begin the necessary "inner work".  Be patient and think positive, Divine mercy will soon help guide your way HOME.

I am reminded of a story about a horse carriage driver who spent many years driving his rig. Like most ego driven personalities, he always assumed he was in charge of his life.  One day the Master inside the carriage knocked on the window and told him to take the next right turn. He was quickly shocked awake and realized that he was not really in charge but was only a servant of the true inner Master.

The physical body is just a speck of dust - and simultaneously the indwelling spirit inspires us to fulfill whatever it is we are here for. For me, it is to be a multi-faceted, multi-dimensional, spontaneous person.  It awakened and supported a wide range of interests and activities. I regularly work on computer graphics projects.  I also am a  webmaster for several businesses. I do computer installations and have been known to fix a few too. I also am both an engineer and electronics tech. so I enjoy working on electronic projects in the little spare time I have.

I also work as a massage therapist and enjoy working intuitively with healing energies. I am an animal lover and enjoy interacting with them. We can learn much from our wild friends and pets about being fully present in each moment and being unconditional loving. I know that animals, as well as your living things, do communicate with us telepathically, if we are quiet enough inside to hear them.

Music, Massage and  Healing work are important creative expressions in my life.  I regularly play drums (Blues, R&B, Jazz, Funk, Latin and the Classic Standards)  using a vintage Ludwig drum kit. I enjoy both playing and watching the audience having fun dancing. I also recently started hosting comedy/variety shows and even doing some standup comedy. I also love attending live music concerts and spiritual gatherings. However, I am also happy to be without a busy schedule to enjoy the gentle stillness of the beautiful rural environment here.

Several years ago a gifted writer, healer and friend started to call me Allan "G". Then his eyes started to twinkle and he said why not call yourself Allanji...pronounced as "a-lon-gheee".  It  felt right so I use that name in cyberspace and a few of my friends now call me allanji too.

My spiritual practice is constantly evolving on many levels. In the stillness of the great void one can discover and be embraced by their unique relationship with "SOURCE".  I am no fundamentalist however, I do see much value in traditions that have stood the test of time. By praying to the divine, chanting, loving service and surrendering to Divine guidance, magic and miracles do happen. I especially love the Gayatri Mantra, Prajna Paramita (Heart Sutra), Prayer of Jebez and Medicine Buddha chants and memorized them.  By chanting..etc.., I become more attuned to an all-knowing divine love & light presence that resides within us all. I also enjoy  just walking the dog in the woods nearby and listening to the birds sing and the leaves rustling in the breeze.

I believe that angels and Holy Spirit are our constant companion and whenever I humbly ask Jesus or God or Spirit for help - relief soon arrives in one form or another. Because I often deal with people who are not in alignment with Spirit, I find it very helpful to align and recharge myself by sitting quietly and feeling the tingling breath of spirit moving through me. If we need to give our cars a tune up - don't you think we also deserve and need a regular spiritual tune up too?

I enjoy jamming regularly with several local musicians. The trick to playing drums is to let go of my "story" or thoughts from the past.  If I identify myself as  the "doer" or trying to play music from the mental plane, my identification with ego keeps me feeling separate from the magic of the "nowness". There is a letting go and living spontaneously and playing music from the heart.  I have played my djembe (African hand drum) with the amazing Jai Uttal group at a benefit concert. They are very talented musicians and playing with them was inspiring on many levels. Music continues to stretch me and provide a wonderful canvas for self expression.

                                   The Blues Farm pets add much love and laughter to our musical ashram.

		Tigress Zowie arrived in in early '03 and has been a wonderful friend and a good mouser too! She originally was quite wild and it took a few months for her to settle down and be relaxed around the house. At night, she often goes into hyper drive and runs around in a high pitched frenzy. Her very present awareness is wonderful to have around and I spent many a relaxing hour hearing her sweet purring while she was sitting on my lap. She also loves to get frisky and very playful with her little bites and scratches. Sometimes she gets a little carried away...ouch! She had complete rule of the house until our next "guest" arrived from parts unknown.  Zowie loves to spend most of her time outside and returns to the house for food and companionship. She was fearful in the beginning so it took a couple of months, but now Zowie  has developed a playful friendship with Lucy. She now even chases Lucy around the house for fun! Zowie went missing 2 years after we found her. The back utility room looked like a fierce fight had taken place; lamps were knocked over etc. It looks like she put up a good fight but not good enough to save her life. We never found her body but trust that she is at peace with the lord.
		I returned home from playing a night music gig in august '04, and was greeted by this adorable, young black Lab. She smelled and looked very clean so for the next 2 weeks we searched the 'hood and the animal shelter for her owner but no one claimed her or even knew where she came from. She was obviously feeling lost, fearful and abandoned and begged to be allowed to live here. Everyone in the house fell in love with her and she moved right in with numerous doggie treats to celebrate her arrival. My guess is that she was abandoned here by someone who just couldn't take care of her.  Our very gifted bass player, Darren named her Lucy. Her love and enthusiasm for life is highly contagious for us and all who visit our humble abode. Lucy loves chasing the water and I often spray her with the garden hose when on  the back deck while Zowie watches the show and playfully stretches. Lucy Update -posted 4/24/06 I returned home from showing a movie at Harbin Hot Springs on Sat 4/22/06 and was greeted briefly by Lucy. Then for some reason she quickly ran off running perhaps to chase the many rabbits that are in the woods here. I loudly called her name several times because I knew that there is sometimes fast moving traffic on our back country road. After calling her name several times, I heard a fast moving car engine in the distance and started to call her even more frantically to no avail! Then I heard the 'SMASH' sound and her last YELP as the car hit and fortunately she died very quickly from a severe head injury. I was in shock from this tragic event and had a good friend come over and hang with me for a few hours that night. Early the next morning, I buried Lucy with her favorite toy, pillow. We also put some nice flowers in her grave. Her unconditional love and friendship is so priceless and precious! I felt waves of sadness since I miss her dearly. She was more than a dog to me. She has a great loving spirit to everyone and I feel such deep sadness and also deep appreciation for having her love in my life for the past 2 years. Goodbye sweet Lucy, may you rest in peace!

In Jan '08, I moved into a new home with my  new baby black cat named Lucky. It's a beautiful 11 acre estate but unfortunately my room had extensive mold contamination that soon gave me a terrible respiratory infection which landed me in the hospital for 9 days!  So now I am looking for a new home where the air is clean and uncontaminated. Now it's late August '08 and fortunately there are several possibilities available and I'm in the process of picking the most suitable to move to.

Since 2004, I've been playing drums and cartels with the Harbin Kirtan Band, led by Peter B., at Harbin Hot Springs, Middletown.. It's a wonderful way to spend 2 hours Sunday afternoon starting at 12:30 pm. It combines both Hindu and Christian chants and it is a wonderful devotional service for world peace and to celebrate love and appreciation for our infinite Creator.

Harbin has become a my present new home since graduating from their 1 year membership/work program to become a resident. Now I am able to contribute to this community and enjoy the multi-dimensional rewards of fellowship with many other dedicated workers and spiritually awake people - both guests and residents.

When not playing music or working/playing on the computer, I am usually hanging with friends, doing seva/working at the wonderfully healing and relaxing Harbin Hot Sprints Retreat Center and  hiking and biking around the local countryside and enjoying nature with friends.

The Kingdom of pure love, light and boundless awareness is within!

Wishing you much aliveness, love, joy and peace on your journey home,

Allan (aka: Buddha Al, Big Al, Allanji, Star)