Biography

The War years and early post-war period.

The Second World War was the next defining influence for Ken.

In 1941 he joined the Australian Army and within a month of enlisting was sent overseas, assigned to an artillery unit and occupational garrison duty in Palestine. But Ken was a young man seeking action, and so he volunteered and was transferred to the Australian 9th Division.

The division went to Lebanon, where Ken was seconded for a time to British counter-intelligence before he saw action at El Alamein.

In 1943, after briefly returning to Australia, Ken was again to join the front line. He saw action in New Guinea, including the landings at Lae and Finschhafen and on both these occasions, he was with a forward scout party.

At Finschhafen, encountering heavy fire, Ken's bodyguard took a grenade - intended for Ken - in the chest. He died in Ken's arms. The bodyguard, Corporal Appel, was married with children at home and his action was to have a profound effect on the rest of Ken's life. At that point, Ken determined his life had to be worthy of something very special to justify this man's action. This incident provided a powerful, deeply rooted motivation that fuelled Ken's ceaseless quest to help people enhance their lives.

To survive great insanity, one must understand great love. Ken attributed much of his survival throughout the War to the knowingness, and spiritual and human realities, made real to him by his father. And well he knew that to survive, you had to take care of each other. He often said "If the human viewpoint was present, there would never have been a war. If we remove that common factor between people, we invite insanity".

Ken was honourably discharged from the Australian Army in 1946.

Post-war years

Returning to civilian life in Australia, Ken confronted that a different kind of 'war' continued to rage. He began to realise that the soldiers‚ honour, friendship, honesty, decency, love and commitment to the survival of your mates which he had shared and which was so vital for survival in life and death conflict, was not always present in peace time.

In a life and death situation, we often naturally detach from the body and become aware of ourselves spiritually and this enables us to survive. During battle, remaining unaware of yourself spiritually reduced your chances of survival. Yet in this 'war' socially-acceptable hatred and bigotry substituted for spiritual understanding and human consciousness.

When we make the mistake of thinking we do not need spiritual awareness, we lose it. In losing awareness of who we are, negative thoughts and pictures identifying with the physical take over our thinking and actions. This never results in happiness or life success.

It started Ken on a new journey of spiritual understanding, to which he would dedicate the rest of his life.