Joseph Kazden was born in Brooklyn NY and came of age during the tumultuous late sixties and seventies. Having been encouraged to study the sciences, at which he excelled, his undergraduate years led him from Mathematics, to Physics, to Chemistry, and finally Psychology. But he found some important and vital elements missing from these studies and this propelled him to seek knowledge beyond the formal university setting. 

He delved into the disciplines of Yoga, Martial arts, Tai Chi Chuan, Zen Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism, First Nations and non-western native cultures as well as the study of altered states. Through “experiental” learning he was able to access education and knowledge that revealed the structure and workings of the human psyche itself. 

Two ideas drove his search and both are best described by Albert Einstein quotes. “Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one,” and “I want to know god’s thoughts, the rest are mere details.” It was in combining the great gifts of western civilization with the wisdom of the ancient eastern civilizations and indigenous cultures that finally led him to become a writer. The core question upon which he dwells can only be asked by conscious observers, “What is actually real and what is illusory?”