Gary Yamamoto founded the Self-Navigation™ Institute in 1996. A spiritual life usually begins at some defining moment. For many, these may be one of great loss or illness. For Gary Yamamoto, this moment arrived with the death of his grandmother who lived with his family. She was his guardian, the one who took care of the children while both his parents worked. When he saw what leukemia had done to her, it scared him. It was at her passing that he made a silent resolve to find out what life and death was all about. While he is still on this journey, unraveling the mysteries of life. He shares his insights with the world in order to help those who are suffering and undergoing great changes in their lives.

Gary believes that spirituality is not about what happens after death. It is not about guaranteeing your entry into heaven. Instead, he shows people that spirituality is about your life, right now. He teaches people that there are three important states that everyone is seeking in life. These are more love, more joy, and more peace of mind. These states define the quality of a person’s life. Without these, life is a lot of work, frustration, and suffering.

A professional speaker since 1972, Gary started the Self-Navigation Institute as a means to share spiritual information with people. The primary goal of his speaking is aimed at improving performance is best achieved by improving the person. While his primary business is speaking to corporations, trade associations and government agencies, he also speaks to groups with people who are struggling with medical problems and trying to understand their relationship with the Creator.

Gary’s professional background gives him a wide variety of experiences to draw from. He began a 22-year engineering career designing complex communications systems. Gary has worked in most of the countries of the Far East and South Pacific, including Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, and Antarctica. 

As an engineer, Gary was also the reliability and vulnerability engineer for the Polaris, Poseidon, and Trident warhead systems. After moving to Arizona, Gary managed the testing and evaluation of the most sophisticated communications systems for the U.S. Army.

Gary then changed his career to become the founder and CEO of a trade book publishing company for nearly five years. Gary then sold his share of the company to devote full time to his speaking and consulting careers. Even with this busy schedule, Gary has managed to find the time to author 4 books, including his popular, Professional Power, Personal Excellence: 7 Steps to Accelerate Your Career! and Creative Dream Analysis: A Guide to Self-Development.

Gary was raised as a Buddhist and has studied Buddhism. Gary is an ordained priest under the Malabar Rites of the Catholic Church. Although he no longer has time to conduct services, his ministry is to share spiritual development information through the Internet. As a result of being able to combine his practical engineering mind with spiritual development, Gary's teaching are always practical and applicable in the real world.

Gary is an enthusiastic and dynamic speaker. His speeches always come from his heart, sharing personal stories and appropriate examples to help people. Gary has spoken to a wide and diverse clientele and also provides individual counseling. Gary is a former faculty member of the University of Arizona and is also a member of the National Speakers Association. 

Gary’s spiritual presentations are insightful as well as life changing. He always communicates from his own life experiences, always tailoring his speeches to the needs of the audience. While his presentations help a person’s personal development, it always guides them in improving their professional skills and results. Again, Gary is able to translate personal development into professional development, because he feels that without personal changes, all professional gains are done without authenticity. Without authenticity, life is hollow and empty, having little real meaning and significance.