Scott Manley

My interest in politics started in the 60's. As a child, I used to march with my father in anti-war candlelight vigils and in spirited civil rights open housing demonstrations with Father Groppi in the mid-west. My intrest in spirituality began in high school in the early 70's, when I started soul searching. I read Ralph Waldo Emerson and quoted him in my journal. "The only literature worth reading is transcendental or extraordinary." Emerson was heavily influenced by Eastern thought, especially the Bhagavad-gita. In 1979, I was initiated into the Vaisnava tradition of India, and lived as a celibate monk in a farm community. In the early 90's, I moved to Pittsburgh, and got married. During the last election I became much more involved in politics.