| Contact Us
 
 
 Table of Contents
 
 
 Search Site
 
 
 
 Google listing of all pages on this website
 
 
 Site Map
 
 
 Toby
Johnson's Facebook page
 
 
 Toby
Johnson's YouTube channel
 
 
 Toby Johnson on Wikipedia
 
 
 Toby
Johnson Amazon Author Page
 
 
  
 Secure site at
 
 https://tobyjohnson.com
 
 
 
 Also on this
website:
 
 As an Amazon Associate
I earn from qualifying purchases.
 
 
 Toby
Johnson's books: Toby's books are available as ebooks from
smashwords.com, the Apple iBookstore, etc. 
  
 FINDING
YOUR OWN TRUE MYTH: What I Learned
from Joseph Campbell: The
Myth
of the
Great Secret
III
 
 
  
 GAY
SPIRITUALITY:
The Role of Gay Identity in the Transformation of Human Consciousness 
 
 
 GAY PERSPECTIVE:
Things Our Homosexuality Tells Us about the Nature of God and the
Universe 
 
 
 SECRET MATTER, a sci-fi novel with
wonderful "aliens" with an
Afterword by Mark Jordan 
  
 GETTING
LIFE IN PERSPECTIVE: 
A
Fantastical Gay Romance set in two different time periods
 
  
 THE FOURTH QUILL, a
novel about attitudinal healing and the problem of evil  
 
 
  TWO SPIRITS: A Story of Life with
the
Navajo, a collaboration with Walter L. Williams
 
 
 
 
  CHARMED
LIVES: Spinning Straw into
Gold: GaySpirit in Storytelling, a collaboration with
Steve Berman and some 30 other writers
 
 
 
 
 
 THE MYTH OF THE GREAT
SECRET:
An
Appreciation of Joseph Campbell 
 
 
 
 IN SEARCH OF GOD IN THE
SEXUAL UNDERWORLD: A Mystical Journey 
 
 Unpublished manuscripts 
 About ordering 
   Books on
Gay Spirituality: White
Crane Gay Spirituality Series 
    
 
 
  
 
  
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" 
 
 
 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 
 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
 
 
 
  
 
  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 
 
 
 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 
 
 
 
 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 
 
 
 The Hero's
Journey
 The
Hero's Journey as archetype -- GSV 2016 
 The  Gay Hero Journey
(shortened) 
 You're
On Your Own 
 Superheroes 
 
  
 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 
  
 
 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 
 
 Joseph
Campbell, the Hero's Journey, and the modern Gay Hero-- a five part
presentation on YouTube
 
 
 
  
 
 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 
 
 
 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
 
 
 Enigma by Lloyd Meeker
 
 
 Scissors,
Paper, Rock by Fenton Johnson
 
 
 
 
 
 Toby
Johnson's
Books on Gay Men's Spiritualities:
 
 
  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  
 
 
 
 
 
 
  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
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  Charmed
Lives: Gay Spirit in Storytelling
 
 edited by
 Toby Johnson
 & Steve Berman
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  Secret
Matter
 
 Lammy Award Winner for Gay
Science Fiction
 
 updated
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  Getting Life in
Perspective
 
 A Fantastical Romance
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Getting
Life in Perspective is available as an
audiobook narrated by Alex Beckham. Click
here    
 
 
 
 
 
  
 The Fourth Quill
 
 originally published
as
PLAGUE
 
 
 
 
 
  
  The Fourth Quill is
available
as an audiobook, narrated by Jimmie
Moreland. Click here
 
 
 
 
 
  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
 
 
 
 
 
  Finding
Your Own True Myth: What I Learned from Joseph
Campbell
 
 The
Myth
of the
Great Secret III
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  In Search of God  in the Sexual Underworld
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 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.
 
 
 | 
 
 
        
 
          Meeting the men behind the myths
 
        
            
 
 
        
  
 
          
            A Walk with Four
Spiritual Guides:Krishna, Buddha, Jesus, Ramakrishna
 
 by Andrew Harvey
 
 
 Skylight Paths Publishing
 170 pages, trade paperback $15
 ISBN 978-1-59473-138-9
 www.skylightpaths.com
 
 reviewed by Toby Johnson
 
 
  
 
 This is a sweet, and very readable, book about four men who have
changed history by their example and by their teaching about the
meaning of life and the transcendent side of human spirit.
 
 Andrew Harvey, himself a modern spiritual guide and teacher, introduces
each of these relatively familiar "guides" in short essays about what
these men have meant to him personally, and what they offer the world,
then gives an excerpt from Sacred Texts in their regard, along with
explanatory and contextual footnotes and side commentary.
 
 The guides are: Krishna, the semi-mythical lead character in the Hindu
Bhagavad Gita. Krishna is an incarnation—avatar—of the high God Vishnu.
He appears in many stories in Hindu tradition, and most familiarly in
the story of  Arjuna going into battle. The spiritual
advice/aphorism "Renounce the fruits of action" comes from this story.
 
 Buddha, the historical Indian prince who abdicated the throne to seek
religious, yogic perfection and ended up leading a reform of Hindu
mythology and practice,  taught that the gods don't matter. What
matters is controlling one's thoughts because thoughts become real. The
section from Scripture cited begins with the Buddhist aphorism: "All
that we are is the result of what we have thought."
 
 Jesus, the historical, but highly mythologized, reformer of Judaism,
who in his own way dismissed the rules and taboos of the old religion
and taught that what matters is how people treat each other.
Interestingly, the section from Scripture here is not from the
mainstream, orthodox New Testament, but from the so-called Gnostic
Gospel of Thomas. This document, only discovered in 1945, does not tell
the usual story of Jesus's life and heroic death and resurrection. It
is rather made up of 150 out-of-context sayings. Jesus comes across
more like an Oriental Magus teaching in paradoxes. This is mystical
Christianity set on discovering the secret that "the Kingdom is within
you and it is outside of you." (Saying 3a)
 
 Ramakrishna, the 19th Century Indian yogi, was an eccentric ecstatic
who experimented with God in the forms of other religions, Allah and
Jesus Christ, and the worship of God as Mother. He developed a kind of
inclusive world religion—"All religions are true." He was a charismatic
and beloved man who developed a following through talks he gave in his
humble room in a temple on the Ganges near Kolkata (Calcutta). A
disciple, Mahendranath Gupta, transcribed these talks and they became
The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. The Scripture section here comes from
that Gospel and includes Ramakrishna's explanations of levels of
consciousness and various mythic and trans-mythic ways of thinking of
God. Mostly he urged "bhakti yoga," the practice of personal love for
the Divine as a lover and/or as an all-gracious Mother.
 
 Andrew Harvey's book is a wonderful introduction to the variety of
religious, mystical visions around the world. This is the kind of book
that's nice to pick up again and again and read in snippets. Harvey's
introductions, the explanatory essays by other writers, and the
Scripture sections all contain insights, observations, and welcome bits
of wisdom. I think the result of walking with Harvey as he walks the
guides is itself a taste of that Kingdom within you and without you
that the guides call us to discover all around us.
 
 
 
 Walk
with Four Spiritual Guides: Krishna, Buddha, Jesus and Ramakrishna
(SkyLight Illuminations)
  |