Troy Harris
PROFILE | TROY HARRIS Senior Research Poet Venerable Tantidhara troydeanharris@gmail.com 1953 Born, Los Angeles 1971–1972 The Shaping of an Interior Compass, he turns 18 and formally registers for the draft, and then immediately confronts the system by proclaiming Conscientious Objector Status (1-O) in opposition to 'the slaughter of Vietnamese people'. He presents a 'legal defence of conscience' before the Pasadena Draft Board with testimonies from his father, David Keith Harris, a World War II veteran, and Evangelical religious leader Rev. Watson. He wins a landmark victory for sovereign conscience and social dissent, well before Nixon orders the end of compulsory military conscription on 27 January 1973. 1976 Graduates CalPoly Pomona in philosophy; straightaway departs for Japan. Gains direct, unspoken entry into an esoteric lineage of grand masters; a deeply examined life assumes the natural guidance of one's internal compass. Upasampa...