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Toby
Johnson's Facebook page
Toby
Johnson's YouTube channel
Toby Johnson on Wikipedia
Toby
Johnson Amazon Author Page
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https://tobyjohnson.com
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Toby
Johnson's books:
Toby's books are available as ebooks from
smashwords.com, the Apple iBookstore, etc.
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FINDING
YOUR OWN TRUE MYTH: What I Learned
from Joseph Campbell: The
Myth
of the
Great Secret
III
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GAY
SPIRITUALITY:
The Role of Gay Identity in the Transformation of Human Consciousness
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GAY PERSPECTIVE:
Things Our Homosexuality Tells Us about the Nature of God and the
Universe
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SECRET MATTER, a sci-fi novel with
wonderful "aliens" with an
Afterword by Mark Jordan
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GETTING
LIFE IN PERSPECTIVE:
A
Fantastical Gay Romance set in two different time periods
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THE FOURTH QUILL, a
novel about attitudinal healing and the problem of evil
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TWO SPIRITS: A Story of Life with
the
Navajo, a collaboration with Walter L. Williams
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CHARMED
LIVES: Spinning Straw into
Gold: GaySpirit in Storytelling, a collaboration with
Steve Berman and some 30 other writers
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THE MYTH OF THE GREAT
SECRET:
An
Appreciation of Joseph Campbell
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IN SEARCH OF GOD IN THE
SEXUAL UNDERWORLD: A Mystical Journey
Unpublished manuscripts
About ordering
Books on
Gay Spirituality:
White
Crane Gay Spirituality Series
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Articles
and Excerpts:
Review of Samuel
Avery's The
Dimensional Structure of Consciousness
Funny
Coincidence: "Aliens Settle in San Francisco"
About Liberty Books, the
Lesbian/Gay Bookstore for Austin, 1986-1996
The Simple Answer to the Gay Marriage Debate
A
Bifurcation of Gay Spirituality
Why gay people should NOT Marry
The Scriptural Basis for
Same Sex Marriage
Toby and Kip Get Married
Wedding Cake Liberation
Gay Marriage in Texas
What's ironic
Shame on the American People
The "highest form of love"
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Gay Consciousness
Why homosexuality is a sin
The cause of homosexuality
The
origins of homophobia
Q&A
about Jungian ideas in gay consciousness
What
is homosexuality?
What
is Gay Spirituality?
My three
messages
What
Jesus said about Gay
Rights
Queering
religion
Common
Experiences Unique to Gay
Men
Is there a "uniquely gay
perspective"?
The
purpose of homosexuality
Interview on the Nature of
Homosexuality
What the Bible Says about
Homosexuality
Mesosexual
Ideal for Straight Men
Varieties
of Gay Spirituality
Waves
of Gay Liberation Activity
The Gay Succession
Wouldn’t You Like to Be Uranian?
The Reincarnation of
Edward Carpenter
Was I (or you) at Stonewall?
Why Gay Spirituality: Spirituality
as Artistic Medium
Easton Mountain Retreat Center
Andrew Harvey &
Spiritual Activism
The Mysticism of
Andrew Harvey
The
upsidedown book on MSNBC
Enlightenment
"It's
Always About You"
The myth of the Bodhisattva
Avalokitesvara
Joseph
Campbell's description of
Avalokiteshvara
You're
Not A Wave
Joseph Campbell Talks
about Aging
What is Enlightenment?
What is reincarnation?
How many lifetimes in an
ego?
Emptiness & Religious Ideas
Experiencing experiencing experiencing
Going into the Light
Meditations for a Funeral
Meditation Practice
The way to get to heaven
Buddha's father was right
What Anatman means
Advice to Travelers to India
& Nepal
The Danda Nata
& goddess Kalika
Nate Berkus is a bodhisattva
John Boswell was Immanuel Kant
Cutting
edge realization
The Myth of the
Wanderer
Change: Source of
Suffering & of Bliss
World Navel
What the Vows Really
Mean
Manifesting
from the Subtle Realms
The Three-layer
Cake
& the Multiverse
The
est Training and Personal Intention
Effective
Dreaming in Ursula LeGuin's The Lathe of Heaven
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Gay
Spirituality
Curious
Bodies
What
Toby Johnson Believes
The
Joseph Campbell Connection
The
Mann Ranch (& Rich Gabrielson)
Campbell
& The Pre/Trans Fallacy
The
Two Loves
The
Nature of Religion
What's true about
Religion
Being
Gay is a Blessing
Drawing Long Straws
Freedom
of Religion
The
Gay Agenda
Gay
Saintliness
Gay
Spiritual Functions
The subtle workings of the spirit
in gay men's lives.
The Sinfulness of
Homosexuality
Proposal
for a study of gay nondualism
Priestly Sexuality
Having a Church to
Leave
Harold Cole on Beauty
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Marian Doctrines:
Immaculate Conception & Assumption
Not lashed to the
prayer-post
Monastic or Chaste
Homosexuality
Is It Time to Grow
Up? Confronting
the Aging Process
Notes on Licking
(July, 1984)
Redeem Orlando
Gay Consciousness changing
the
world by Shokti LoveStar
Alexander Renault
interviews Toby
Johnson
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Mystical Vision
"The
Evolution of Gay Identity"
"St. John of the
Cross & the Dark Night of
the Soul."
Avalokiteshvara
at the Baths
Eckhart's Eye
Let Me
Tell You a Secret
Religious
Articulations of the
Secret
The
Collective Unconscious
Driving as
Spiritual Practice
Meditation
Historicity
as Myth
Pilgrimage
No
Stealing
Next
Step in Evolution
The
New Myth
The Moulting of the Holy Ghost
Gaia
is a Bodhisattva
Sex with God
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The Hero's
Journey
The
Hero's Journey as archetype -- GSV 2016
The Gay Hero Journey
(shortened)
You're
On Your Own
Superheroes
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Seeing
Differently
Teenage
Prostitution and the Nature of Evil
Allah
Hu: "God is present here"
Adam
and Steve
The Life is
in the Blood
Gay retirement and the "freelance
monastery"
Seeing with
Different Eyes
Facing
the Edge: AIDS as an occasion for spiritual wisdom
What
are you looking for in a gay science fiction novel?
The Vision
The
mystical experience at the Servites' Castle in Riverside
A Most Remarkable
Synchronicity in
Riverside
The
Great Dance according to C.S.Lewis
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The Techniques Of The
World Saviors
Part 1: Brer Rabbit and the
Tar-Baby
Part 2: The
Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara
Part 3: Jesus
and the Resurrection
Part 4: A
Course in Miracles
The
Secret of the Clear Light
Understanding
the Clear Light
Mobius
Strip
Finding
Your
Tiger Face
How Gay Souls Get Reincarnated
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Joseph
Campbell, the Hero's Journey, and the modern Gay Hero-- a five part
presentation on YouTube
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About Alien Abduction
In
honor of Sir Arthur C Clarke
Karellen was a homosexual
The
D.A.F.O.D.I.L. Alliance
Intersections
with the movie When We Rise
More
about Gay Mental Health
Psych
Tech Training
Toby
at the California Institute
The
Rainbow Flag
Ideas for gay
mythic stories
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People
Kip and Toby,
Activists
Toby's
friend and nicknamesake Toby Marotta.
Harry
Hay, Founder of the gay movement
About Hay and The New Myth
About
Karl
Heinrich Ulrichs, the first
man to really "come out"
About Michael Talbot, gay mystic
About Fr. Bernard Lynch
About Richard Baltzell
About Guy Mannheimer
About David Weyrauch
About
Dennis Paddie
About Ask the Fire
About
Arthur Evans
About
Christopher Larkin
About Mark Thompson
About Sterling Houston
About Michael Stevens
The Alamo Business
Council
Our friend Tom Nash
Second March on
Washington
The
Gay
Spirituality Summit in May 2004 and the "Statement
of Spirituality"
Book
Reviews
Be Done on Earth by Howard
E. Cook
Pay Me What I'm Worth by
Souldancer
The Way Out by Christopher
L Nutter
The Gay Disciple by John Henson
Art That Dares by Kittredge Cherry
Coming Out, Coming Home by Kennth
A. Burr
Extinguishing
the Light by B. Alan Bourgeois
Over Coffee: A conversation
For Gay
Partnership & Conservative Faith by D.a. Thompson
Dark Knowledge
by
Kenneth Low
Janet Planet by
Eleanor
Lerman
The
Kairos by Paul E. Hartman
Wrestling
with Jesus by D.K.Maylor
Kali Rising by Rudolph
Ballentine
The
Missing Myth by Gilles Herrada
The
Secret of the Second Coming by Howard E. Cook
The Scar Letters: A
Novel
by Richard Alther
The
Future is Queer by Labonte & Schimel
Missing Mary
by Charlene Spretnak
Gay
Spirituality 101 by Joe Perez
Cut Hand: A
Nineteeth Century Love Story on the American Frontier by Mark Wildyr
Radiomen
by Eleanor Lerman
Nights
at
Rizzoli by Felice Picano
The Key
to Unlocking the Closet Door by Chelsea Griffo
The Door
of the Heart by Diana Finfrock Farrar
Occam’s
Razor by David Duncan
Grace
and
Demion by Mel White
Gay Men and The New Way Forward by Raymond L.
Rigoglioso
The
Dimensional Stucture of Consciousness by Samuel Avery
The
Manly Pursuit of Desire and Love by Perry Brass
Love
Together: Longtime Male Couples on Healthy Intimacy and Communication
by Tim Clausen
War
Between Materialism and Spiritual by Jean-Michel Bitar
The
Serpent's Gift: Gnostic Reflections on the Study of Religion by
Jeffrey J. Kripal
Esalen:
America and the Religion of No Religion by Jeffrey J. Kripal
The
Invitation to Love by
Darren Pierre
Brain,
Consciousness, and God: A Lonerganian Integration by Daniel A
Helminiak
A
Walk with Four Spiritual Guides by Andrew Harvey
Can Christians Be Saved? by Stephenson & Rhodes
The
Lost Secrets of the Ancient Mystery Schools by Stephenson &
Rhodes
Keys to
Spiritual
Being: Energy Meditation and Synchronization Exercises by Adrian
Ravarour
In
Walt We
Trust by John Marsh
Solomon's
Tantric Song by Rollan McCleary
A Special Illumination by Rollan McCleary
Aelred's
Sin
by Lawrence Scott
Fruit
Basket
by Payam Ghassemlou
Internal
Landscapes by John Ollom
Princes
& Pumpkins by David Hatfield Sparks
Yes by Brad
Boney
Blood of the Goddess by William Schindler
Roads of Excess,
Palaces of
Wisdom by Jeffrey Kripal
Evolving
Dharma by Jay Michaelson
Jesus
in Salome's Lot by Brett W. Gillette
The Man Who Loved Birds by Fenton Johnson
The
Vatican Murders by Lucien Gregoire
"Sex Camp"
by
Brian McNaught
Out
& About with Brewer & Berg
Episode One: Searching for a New Mythology
The
Soul Beneath the Skin by David Nimmons
Out
on
Holy Ground by Donald Boisvert
The
Revotutionary Psychology of Gay-Centeredness by Mitch Walker
Out There
by Perry Brass
The Crucifixion of Hyacinth by Geoff Puterbaugh
The
Silence of Sodom by Mark D Jordan
It's
Never About What It's About by Krandall Kraus and Paul Borja
ReCreations,
edited by Catherine Lake
Gospel: A
Novel
by WIlton Barnhard
Keeping
Faith: A Skeptic’s Journey by Fenton Johnson
Dating the Greek Gods by Brad Gooch
Telling
Truths in Church by Mark D. Jordan
The
Substance of God by Perry Brass
The
Tomcat Chronicles by Jack Nichols
10
Smart
Things Gay Men Can Do to Improve Their Lives by Joe Kort
Jesus and the Shamanic Tradition of Same Sex Love
by Will Roscoe
The
Third Appearance by Walter Starcke
The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight by Thom Hartmann
Surviving
and Thriving After a Life-Threatening Diagnosis by Bev Hall
Men,
Homosexuality, and the Gods by Ronald Long
An Interview
with Ron Long
Queering Creole Spiritual Traditons by Randy
Conner & David Sparks
An Interview with
Randy Conner
Pain,
Sex
and Time by Gerald Heard
Sex
and the Sacred by Daniel Helminiak
Blessing Same-Sex Unions by Mark Jordan
Rising Up
by
Joe Perez
Soulfully
Gay
by Joe Perez
That
Undeniable Longing by Mark Tedesco
Vintage: A
Ghost
Story by
Steve Berman
Wisdom
for the Soul by Larry Chang
MM4M a DVD
by Bruce Grether
Double
Cross
by David Ranan
The
Transcended Christian by Daniel Helminiak
Jesus
in Love by Kittredge Cherry
In
the Eye of the Storm by Gene Robinson
The
Starry Dynamo by Sven Davisson
Life
in
Paradox by Fr Paul Murray
Spirituality for Our Global Community by Daniel
Helminiak
Gay & Healthy in a Sick Society by Robert A.
Minor
Coming Out: Irish Gay Experiences by Glen O'Brien
Queering
Christ
by Robert Goss
Skipping
Towards Gomorrah by Dan Savage
The
Flesh of the Word by Richard A Rosato
Catland by
David Garrett Izzo
Tantra
for Gay Men by Bruce Anderson
Yoga
&
the Path of the Urban Mystic by Darren Main
Simple
Grace
by Malcolm Boyd
Seventy
Times Seven by Salvatore Sapienza
What
Does "Queer" Mean Anyway? by Chris Bartlett
Critique of Patriarchal Reasoning by Arthur Evans
Gift
of
the Soul by Dale Colclasure & David Jensen
Legend of the Raibow Warriors by Steven McFadden
The
Liar's
Prayer by Gregory Flood
Lovely
are the Messengers by Daniel Plasman
The Human Core of Spirituality by Daniel Helminiak
3001:
The Final Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke
Religion and the Human Sciences by Daniel Helminiak
Only
the
Good Parts by Daniel Curzon
Four
Short
Reviews of Books with a Message
Life
Interrupted by Michael Parise
Confessions of a Murdered Pope by Lucien Gregoire
The
Stargazer's Embassy by Eleanor Lerman
Conscious
Living, Conscious Aging by Ron Pevny
Footprints Through the Desert by Joshua Kauffman
True
Religion by J.L. Weinberg
The Mediterranean Universe by John Newmeyer
Everything
is God by Jay Michaelson
Reflection
by Dennis Merritt
Everywhere
Home by Fenton Johnson
Hard Lesson by James
Gaston
God
vs Gay?
by Jay Michaelson
The
Gate
of Tears: Sadness and the Spiritual Path by Jay Michaelson
Roxie
&
Fred by Richard Alther
Not
the Son He Expected by Tim Clausen
The
9 Realities of Stardust by Bruce P. Grether
The
Afterlife Revolution by Anne & Whitley Strieber
AIDS
Shaman:
Queer Spirit Awakening by Shokti Lovestar
Facing the Truth of Your Life by Merle Yost
The
Super Natural by Whitley Strieber & Jeffrey J Kripal
Secret
Body by
Jeffrey J Kripal
In
Hitler's
House by Jonathan Lane
Walking on Glory by Edward Swift
The
Paradox
of Porn by Don Shewey
Is Heaven for Real? by Lucien Gregoire
In Search of Lost Lives by Michael Goddart
Queer
Magic by Tomas Prower
God
in Your Body by Jay Michaelson
Science Whispering Spirit by Gary Preuss
Friends
of Dorothy by Dee Michel
New by
Whitley Strieber
Developing Supersensible Perception by Shelli
Renee Joye
Sage
Sapien by Johnson Chong
Scissors,
Paper, Rock by Fenton Johnson
Toby
Johnson's
Books on Gay Men's Spiritualities:
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Perspective cover"
Gay Perspective
Things Our [Homo]sexuality
Tells Us
about the
Nature of God and
the Universe
Gay
Perspective is available as an audiobook narrated
by Matthew Whitfield. Click
here
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Spirituality cover"
Gay Spirituality
Gay Identity and
the Transformation of
Human Consciousness
Gay
Spirituality is now
available as an audiobook, beautifully narrated by John Sipple. Click here
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Charmed
Lives: Gay Spirit in Storytelling
edited by
Toby Johnson
& Steve Berman
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Secret
Matter
Lammy Award Winner for Gay
Science Fiction
updated
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Getting Life in
Perspective
A Fantastical Romance
Getting
Life in Perspective is available as an
audiobook narrated by Alex Beckham. Click
here
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The Fourth Quill
originally published
as
PLAGUE
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The Fourth Quill is
available
as an audiobook, narrated by Jimmie
Moreland. Click here
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Two Spirits: A Story of
Life
with the Navajo
with Walter L. Williams
Two
Spirits is available as an
audiobook narrated by Arthur Raymond. Click
here
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Finding
Your Own True Myth: What I Learned from Joseph
Campbell
The
Myth
of the
Great Secret III
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Search of God in the Sexual Underworld"
In Search of God in the Sexual Underworld
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The Myth of the Great
Secret: An Appreciation of Joseph Campbell.
This
was the second edition of this book.
Toby Johnson's
titles are
available in other ebook formats from Smashwords.
|
A Life Story with All the
Secrets Laid Open
Sage Sapien:
From Karma to Dharma
by Johnson Chong
Koehler Books (August 15, 2019)
184 pages, Paperback, $16.95
978-1633938137
Available in paperback and for Kindle from Amazon.com
Sage
Sapien: From Karma to Dharma 
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Description:
Author Johnson Chong explores the obstacles and triumphs of being a
first-generation Asian American gay man, split between a conservative
upbringing and living his truth. Follow his journey through the pangs
of youth, to growing self-awareness and life-changing lessons in India
and abroad. This is a courageous story of shifting old attachments of
self-rejection and shame into a new paradigm of peace and unconditional
love. It is about embracing our emotional fumbles and self-deprecating
tendencies as opportunities for growth, instead of sweeping them under
the rug. A unique blend of spirituality and inspirational memoir, Sage
Sapien is a universal story of an outcast who steps into his authentic
expression.
Johnson Chong is a native New Yorker and international
yogi, meditation teacher and Self-Mastery Guide. He founded Sagehouse
based in Singapore with the intention to help people re-connect the
mind, body and spirit. He is also the creator of Exodus Retreats, where
he leads transformational retreats to sacred places around the world.
As a professionally trained actor and perpetual student of esoteric
wisdom, he integrates his love of storytelling to empower life changing
shifts in consciousness through his speaking engagements and group
coaching. Johnson runs a holistic self-mastery podcast, Sage Sapien and
offers guided meditation audios and online and live coaching programs. Sage
Sapien: From Karma to Dharma is his first book.
Review:
This is a wonderfully honest coming out story of a
contemporary Asian American gay man, but it is also a spiritual
autobiography of an aspiring actor and an accomplished international
yogi, meditation teacher, and retreat facilitator. The book captures
both of these seemingly disparate sides, showing how they naturally fit
together. Johnson Chong tells of his education as an actor, emphasizing
the consciousness-expanding and psychotherapeutic effects of acting
training.
Deeper than his interest in acting and show business was his quest to
discover the meaning of life. Raised in a Chinese-American family, he
was early exposed to martial arts and qi-gong with their mystical
overlay of energy dynamics in the mind and body. He grew up rebelling
against religion, yet ironically, it led him to delve into the
spiritual practices that can be associated with religion (like yoga,
meditation, bodywork, Reiki and shamanic-inspired practices). Sage
Sapien recounts episodes during his training in these mind-body
practices woven into a sort of travelogue; Chong has traveled and lived
in India and Singapore and has collected universal truths from very
wise teachers. In spite of the ethereal focuses in his life, his story
sounds very down-to-earth and real.
I particularly appreciated the revelation of the spiritual side of his
life. Scattered through the story are discussions of Jungian theory and
archetypal patterns, astrology, karma, reincarnation, lessons on how to
overcome suffering and how to find meaning in life. These are questions
that all people—and I think, in a special way, gay people—ask, but that
are usually left out of autobiographies because they're too personal.
Chong is an earnest young gay man seeking to serve humanity, telling
the truth about his experience, and pursuing whatever enlightenment has
become in our modern era. I think spiritually-interested gay men
(partly because we naturally see through traditional religions) are
part of a vanguard in the evolution of consciousness to discover what
"enlightenment" can mean today.
I found the book fast and easy reading. It left me hungry to know more
about the author and how his life developed even further beyond the
coming out to his parents that closes the story told in this volume. He
does not say much about his current work and projects. His
accomplishments, like the travel retreats he leads, are revealed mostly
in the author bio. I also would have liked to learn more of his
spiritual "discoveries," what all his training has taught him about
truth. There's another book still to come out of this story, I suspect.
As an author of a "spiritual autobiography", at age 35, that I've had
to revise and update several times over the seventy-plus years I've
lived, I appreciate how such autobiographies demand sequels.
While Johnson Chong doesn't draw a lot of conclusions about
transcendent, spiritual, religious, mythological wisdom, there are a
few hints here and there. Below is one I want to highlight because I
think it captures one of the essential modern insights into spirit.
Brief excerpt:
Wonderful quote that hints at the
nature of God:
"However, when
spiritual worship is practiced with the
understanding that the deities are a reflection of
qualities which are
already in us, waiting to make themselves known,
everything changes.
Worship becomes a ritual of self-respect and
self-love. It is no longer
about bowing down to a supernatural unseen force
that will unleash
a hoard of locusts on our rice fields if we don’t
pay tribute. Even in
the heart of the spiritual motherland, in the
Himalayas, many Hindus
worship from a place of separation and fear. The
individual is made
out to be at the mercy of the almighty gods and
goddesses. But what if
abundance, self-worth, transformation and love
already exist within?
And, through worship, which can be as simple as
creating a simple
ritual of remembrance, these qualities are
amplified out into world?
What if we bow down to our own mastery, and not our
master, in the
spirit of self-respect and self-love because we
don’t see ourselves as
separate from God but rather see that we are of
God? And so, we are
God. In bowing down to the guru, we are actually
just bowing down
to a mirror of our potential to co-create our
reality" (page 130).
Reviewed by Toby
Johnson, author
of Gay Spirituality: Gay Identity and the Transformation of
Human Consciousness and Finding Your Own True
Myth: What I Learned from Joseph
Campbell
and other books and novels.
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