Look and Listen

Biography

James W. Bush (AKA Zen) was born in 1960 in Southern California. He graduated from high school in 1978, where his main studies focused on the theatre arts. He performed in over twenty productions during that time. Then he carried over this major into his first semester of college, before joining the U.S.Navy as an MMS. After his discharge, he held a couple of small jobs and continued his education part time. He was hired as an assistant manager/ baker II at Tiffany's Bakery in Brea, Ca.(1981). He held that position for one year, during which time he headed the new product development/research duties. He was then promoted to manager / baker 1 and held that position for another 3 1/2 years. During that time he trained a number of students from the North Orange County Regional Occupational Program (N.O.C.R.O.P.) in the skills required to be a professional baker. His students included individuals from Mexico, Romainia, and Korea with very limited language skills. Jim bought his first computer in 1982, and taught himself to program it, as software was pretty much unavailable at the time. He soon found that the memory limitations of the early P.C.s could not keep up with his creativity. So he put that hobby aside to give technology a chance to sufficiently advance. He also studied the martial art of Moo-Yea-Do (1982-1986) under the forms creator Grand Master Tiger Yang in Fullerton Ca. This training would profoundly alter the course of his life. Also during this time (1984) a series of spontaneous "spiritual" experiences led him on a personal path of self discovery. A devine intervention discouraged his attempt at suicide, and gave him the proof of a higher being and purpose that he sought. He delved into the mysteries with a passion, embarking on a self-initiated study of world religions, mind sciences, and even the "paranormal". He found these to mix as well with the spiritual aspect of the martial arts, as they did with the logical aspects of computer programing. All of this culminated in his taking a year long professional hypnotist training. In 1986 he was inspired to participate in "The Great Peace March". An anti-nuclear protest march from Los Angeles, Ca. to Washington, D.C. during the height of the Reagan administrations nuclear build-up. Things changed dramatically during that time, and after the march he had to start over. He worked small jobs and built a small business selling gemstone jewelry and gift items. The business grew from swap meets and fairs, to a storefront in Sedona, Az. He later sold the store in favor of pursuing his vision to organize a sustainable eco-community in the fashion of the Rainbow Family he had met on the march. People who "lived more like Christ than any I have ever met." He met an "alleged" financier for such a project, a self titled "benefactress". This heiress to one of America's most powerful families offered him an unsecured parcel of 50+ acres for the project. In exchange she required his services as her bodyguard. Thus began one of the most bizarre experiences of his life. After his release from this nightmarish existence, he was again left with little to show for it. He lived on the beach on Maui and worked occasional manual labor jobs, learning about tropical plants and organic farming. Eventually he saved up enough to put a roof over his head. He started a small business propagating tropical plants and found a job at a natural foods store. He saved up enough to buy three acres in the Hawaiian rainforest. Taking his knowledge of tropical horticulture with him, he is continuing his dream of creating a sustainable eco-community.

Inspiration

God