Formal Education/Career in Science and Technology
Paul obtained a Special Projects degree incorporating communication science, literature and accounting from the University of California at San Diego, and entered the aerospace industry as an applications engineer and marketing specialist. He became a High-Reliability Program Manager, where he directed production of electronic system components for manned space, airlines, medical scanners, and military flight and radar systems. In the course of his career, he patented an advanced system for the production of printed circuit boards that could withstand extreme stresses in space, in flight, in war, underwater, and in down-hole oil well applications. Throughout the 1980's Paul contributed to the Space Shuttle program, the Supercollider, the Keck Telescope, and many other advanced technical projects. He served as vice president of two aerospace manufacturing companies, and as president of a third. Paul is a Senior Fellow at the EastWest Institute, supporting the global cybersecurity effort and contributing to the creation of safe and empowering cyber-citizenship. See his work here.
The Study of Consciousness
From earliest childhood Paul experienced visual impressions of energy fields that appeared to suffuse people, as well as frequent spontaneous episodes of precognition. He was technically oriented, and by his teenaged years he recorded his observations in a notebook he carried with him at all times, which could be opened and compared to predicted events as they occurred. It was not until his mid twenties that he had built up a sufficient volume of data, along with compelling physical evidence, to rule out mental illness, delusion, or other explanations as causes for his anomalous perceptions. As a final step in provisionally accepting the existence of non-physical field interactions, Richards participated in an embryonic research study of extrasensory phenomena at the University of California at Los Angeles Neuropsychology Laboratory. After his period at UCLA, Paul continued active study of what he terms "non-ordinary energetics", this time with a psychologist and consciousness researcher who was his principle mentor, and later with notable others, including two advanced practitioners of the meditative arts of Ramana Maharshi and Sai Baba, receiving a total of thirteen years of highly specialized individual training.
Martial Arts
During Paul's years at the University of California, he joined the world of Shotokan Karate and became a lifelong devotee of martial arts, training under the auspices of the late tenth degree blackbelt, Hidetaka Nishiyama, training under his proteges, Sensei'sTokojiru Mori and Steve Ubl. In later years he trained extensively with Sensei George Clark and later with Sensei Aaron Ortega. As of 2014 Richards holds the blackbelt rank of fourth dan, the title Renshi (teacher of warriors), and has been actively practicing for 42 years.
Music, Writing, and Radio
Paul is the author of several books (both fiction and nonfiction), one of which sold approximately a hundred thousand copies. He also penned numerous training manuals mapping the energetic systems of humans and the environment, and a number of technical articles in the field of aerospace technology. He worked in the American music industry, producing, performing and writing for Ranwood Records, and independently. Richards had material published by Elton John’s Rocket Records, among others. For five years he produced the Max Image Radio Theater, which was distributed over the National Public Radio satellite system. Most recently, in 2015, his song, Destiny, has been covered by noted singer-songwriter Cindy Alexander, and is included on her fifth album, Curves, on BlueElan Records.
The Sente Center
In 1988, Paul resigned from his aerospace position in order to form a training center with the aim of advancing the scientific understanding of extraordinary fields and forces, and began consulting on ways to enhance professional and personal presence and performance. Paul established an independent consulting practice in New Zealand, and later moved to Ashland, Oregon. There, together with his wife, lecturer and former Nurse Practitioner Patty Richards, he opened The Sente Center, Inc. Among their specialities is teaching the applied energetics of extraordinary gender relationship—about which the two co-wrote the book, Wild Attraction. Currently, Paul lectures full time at the center, produces video broadcasts for four SenteTV online educational programs, and continues to offer individual and group training in the fusion of science, art, and the intelligently mapped extraordinary capacities of human beings.
Career Overview
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