I Came to the United States from Honduras, Central America, in 1963 at nine years of age to get a better education. To make the trip possible, I had to detach from my immediate family, friends, the environment I knew and loved, my culture, and native language, What I found in this new life was the chance for a better education and a more meaningful livelihood. After becoming a citizen, my journey led me to a career in science. As Professor of Cognitive Science and Neuroscience at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) for twenty-eight years, I directed the Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory where I explored the relationship between mind and brain. I am the author of many widely cited papers in animal and human cognitive and systems neuroscience. I am also a writer and poet, focusing on mind-brain relationships with an emphasis on spirituality, mysticism, environmentalism, and social activism. I have written that true seeing, hearing, feeling, and thinking quiets the overactive mind and allows silence to become the fountain of creative thought. From such silence emerges a new awareness: one of unity infused with intrinsic joy and filled with a deep and uncompromising dedication to what is true and real while exuding love and empathy toward others. Book jacket.