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About Me

My name is Brian Johnson.  I am a 50+ year old American man. I was born and raised in Arizona but also spent many years living and working in California.

Over the last decade or so I’ve cultivated an interest in Buddhism and this year – 2009 –  I’ve decided that it’s time for me to leave the lay life and look for a good place to ordain as a monk.

Buddhism has two major traditions, Theravada and Mahayana. I am a devotee of the former.  The teachings of the Buddha were written down about 2100 years ago in a language called “Pali”.

There is a Pali term – paṇḍupalāsa –  withered leaf; one who is ready to leave household life.

Contact - You can reach me at my email address:
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Alumni Of . . .

A partial list

  • Glendale, Arizona – where I grew up on a 2-acre ranch with goats, horses, chickens and dogs .  Glendale has since been absorbed into the megalopolis of Phoenix. It’s all suburbs now.
  • A Family of Nine People - I have two older brothers and four younger sisters. I sometimes can’t imagine how my parents did it, but they did!  I also have many cousins and aunts and uncles and nieces and nephews.
  • The Catholic Church – My parents did their best to give me a proper religious upbringing. I left the Church when I was 13.
  • U.S. Army, 2nd Ops Battalion – 3 years in, 2+ years in Augsburg, Germany.  I was part of the Army’s military intelligence operation in Europe. We did electronic warfare stuff during the Cold War.  Fun and scary and boring at times.
  • Ohio Institute of Technology – Now part of the DeVry system of technical schools. I received a BS there in Electrical Engineering Technology, 1984. I still sometimes miss Columbus.
  • KLA-Tencor – Maker of semiconductor manufacturing  equipment, 16 years
  • The Institution of Marriage – with a wonderful woman, 17 years
  • Homeownership – in San Jose, California. Definitely a mixed bag. 16 years
  • The process of Divorce – not fun, but what to do.
  • Ridhwan School – where they teach The Diamond Approach of Hameed Ali (a.k.a.  A. H. Almaas) – I was a member of the DH5 group for 6 years and learned a tremendous amount about human nature and my own psychology – lessons for which I shall be forever grateful and techniques that I continue to use regularly.
  • An Intentional Community – in Novato, California. For four years I lived in a huge house with my beloved woman, her son, two single women and two other families, with people coming and going over the years. It was hectic, fun, exasperating and a lot more. We had a vague idea of living a more conciously spiritual life together with likeminded people.  I think it worked, though not as we had envisioned when we started out.
  • Spirit Rock Dedicated Practitioners program (DPP-1), where I met many inspiring fellow practitioners
  • Pa Auk Monastery in Mawlamyine, Burma – I did a temporary ordination there in 2003
  • Wat Metta Monastery in Southern California – I was there as an ordination candidate “Naga” for 5 months in 2004. Things didn’t quite work out, but I learned a lot.
  • Small Business Owner – After a career in high-tech,  I took a break from work for a while. After that I spent a few years doing freelance PC Tech Support and architectural drafting. I had the good fortune to work with F+G Architects and Nancy Van Natta Associates Interior Designers.  Along the way I made some dear friends and learned a tiny bit about design and how to put together a drawing set.
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