The story starts in 1969 when, at the age of 44, Bill Stephens went
through a near-death experience that changed him instantaneously
from an agnostic to a spiritual seeker, erased his lifelong fear of death
and eradicated his crippling addictions. He "...exploded into a brilliance
beyond anything I could imagine, and I was immersed in the warmth
and joy of a Living Presence that loved me and accepted me totally."

During the experience, Stephens saw a face in the light that he later
identified as the great 20th century spiritual master, Avatar Meher Baba.
That was the beginning of the author's love affair with God. His
compelling book includes many personal and graphic stories
of the ups and downs of treading the Path of Love by following
the divine footsteps of the Master.

The author has written many previous books about science and the
oceans, marine animals, and undersea research. But this
is his finest work because it comes straight from the heart.

This book is brimful of God's presence. It weaves
His shining light between the sentences,
dancing with the words. The real-life vignettes are wonderful!

I was enthralled, inspired and tickled by the range
of potent, poetic images, intimate and
fascinating life details and real insight into
the nature, direction and synchronicities of
following a God-Realized Master in today's world.

Along with the inspirational material, superb
metaphors, and wisdom, I think the book
fills a significant niche. [Special appreciation
by the way for the material on Repeating God's
Name, tidbits like VP Gore's contact with
Meher Baba, and the light touch in much of the
poetry.] We've never before had published
biographical material about American followers
of Meher Baba that readers can identify with.
I admire the home-movie quality the author
brings to this volume.

Allan Y. Cohen, Ph.D., clinical psychologist;
author of Mastery of Consciousness (Harper),
co-author, Understanding Drug Use:
an Adult's Guide to Drugs and the Young. (Harper)

I have been blessed twice in my life with books that have changed the way I view the world. The first was "The Nature of Personal Reality" by Joan Roberts, and the second was "A Course In Miracles"- both channeled works. Now I hold the third in my hands. What a joy to find a challenge and a hand up to the next step in my spiritual evolution I knew from the beginning that it had already moved mountains inside my mind and opened up waterfalls. Peace, Betty Lee

Something compelled me to read the book so I finally located a copy at the Local Hero bookstore in Ojai. I was disappointed that at that time no other bookstore in this area was willing to stock it. I find the story teller Hinono a person I can identify with. He and his family's spiritual journey is full of wisdom and love that anyone would appreciate regardless of their religious faith. I wish to thank Barbara and John for putting this material together. I'm sure there is a story behind how this was done with Hinono your source person. I hope this book does get recognition it deserves.

"For the Land of the Lost" is a story - charming, funny, insightful and intriguing - told by an ancient shaman, Hinono, who lived in the years following 636 BC. But more than a story, it is a revelation about the power of Love and a reminder that no matter how far we have come from remembering our connection to Creator, there is a way back.. Book I, "Fire," introduces Hinono's tale, taking him from his birth to his journey with his family to visit the ancient Hopi people, years away from his native land. Among the Hopi, Hinono and Shuinono, his wife, share the revelations and experiences of the Hopi, after which they return home, now with daughter Fiece. On their way back, the parents marvel at their infant daughter's certainty about life and at the deep spiritual connection she already shares with her mother and with Creator. Her badger medicine is obvious and soon to be made more evident in her communication with nature and with people in her tribe. Book II, "Earth," immerses the reader in the family's ancient tribal life, painting a tender picture of how conflicts were solved, fears addressed, and love was shared. Fiece becomes a central figure in helping the tribal council see through the fear that faces the tribe - the "big cold" expected somewhere in the near future. Book III, "Water," details the workings of our physical selves and expands on issues woven throughout the first two books - the healing of all relationships, particularly those between men and women; the barriers that keep us from returning to Love; and the opportunity set before us to escape from our perception into the reality of who we really are. Book IV, "Air," consists of short, charming creation stories by Great Mother Earth, told through the eyes and voices of her native creatures. "For the Land of the Lost" is a masterpiece created by a skillful artisan. It takes the reader on a mesmerizing journey through language (sometimes literary but often strikingly mundane); through time and space, with little regard for boundaries; but most definitely into that "within" space in each of us that desires to be known and brought to light. It is an invaluable guide to be read repeatedly throughout anyone's journey back into wholeness.

The guru's grace is infinite, gives the perfect aswer even to the wrong question. Actually this is not a book but a process of learning betwen the Guru and the devotees. There is only a one aswer to all question, this is medite, "honor your self, God lives withing you as you, discover that". Even the aswer is the same allways the Guru gives to everyone the most apropiate one so they can undesrtand. There is not a day thay i don't thank God for the Guru's grace.

This is an absolutely incredible book by a great yogic master. A must read for every seeker for the Truth. It is an indispensable roadmap for the often long and arduous journey to God-realization. Written in a stimulating question and answer format, it is a vast treasury of wisdom covering just about every aspect of this journey, including meditation, mantra, the mind, emotions, ego, Consciousness, the Guru, God, God-realization, Shakti-Kundalini, Shaktipat, and much, much more. The questions were raised by mostly Western seekers in different stages of spiritual development, from the beginner to the most advanced yogi who is on the verge of God-realization. They answered many of my own questions I've had for a long time, and as a result my meditation has immeasurably improved. And best of all, I now have the directions for the rest of my journey, complete with landmarks and warnings of hazardous conditions ahead! I am forever grateful to the author.

In this Satsanga, Swami Muktananda answers questions put to him in a very candid and easy-to- understand manner. An excellent source of wisdom on the path of Self-Realization.

The mark of a truly great memoir is how deeply it allows us to look into a life. The actual events may be mundane, but if seen with great clarity and understanding, even an "ordinary" life story can be enlightening. Latham's story had this quality. He holds nothing back--even in circumstances where we might wish that he had. But there was nothing mundane about Jay's life. He lived life full-throttle, pedal to the metal, from Marine boot camp to his treks to the Himalayas to find God.
To find God--the phrase is ripe for parody. But Jay did seek God. And I think he found Him, not in the exotic Shiva temples of Uttarkashi, but in the temple of his own heart. We flinch as we read of his trials--his experiments with drugs, his failed love affairs, his disconnection from Western civilization where, more than anywhere else, it is the God of Money that is worshipped. Once, in Rishikesh, a poor man, who was riding with his family on a bus, asked Jay what he was doing in India. Jay told him that he was on a pilgrimage. The man exclaimed that Jay was a lucky man because poor men such as himself could seldom afford such a pilgrimage. He wondered what it could be like. Jay observed the harmony and love the family exuded, and remarked, sadly, "What it is like, sir, is like searching for what I think you already have."
That in a nutshell, is the story of Jay's life. Not fitting in the Marines, not fitting in the drug culture, not fitting in the church in which he was raised, and ultimately not fitting in the TM organization, to which he devoted nearly three decades of his life. He found solace in Nature where, at last, he discovered, "God (in actuality, my own highest Self) has never let me down whenever I have shown courage and sincerity in regards to seeing my path and walking it."
This is the man Jay Latham has revealed to us: as sincere as the jet stream above Annapurna, as courageous as a galaxy of fire. RIP.

This is a powerful book by a true spiritual warrior. It is a shame that lacking promotion by the mainstream publishing industry, it may languish among a million
Amazon titles. The author died before his book was published, but anyone who can appreciate his journey from VietNam era Marine boot camp, through sex-drugs-and rock & roll, to God-realized experiences in the high Himalayas, will find inspiration in Latham's story.

This is a really cool book. The story is about a guy who, through the course of his life, finds his true nature while among the peaks of the Himalayas. Jay came to manhood in the US Marine Corp., and chronicles his story as a marine during the Vietnam conflict. Man, this story itself is a trip, and is worth the price of the book (they should make a movie of this).

But it gets better. After an experience such as the marine corp., what's left for a young man to do? The world of hometowns and the life of a young man are too small after seeing what the wide world has to offer (check out the stories of Okinawa, they will blow your mind). Jay's adventure of self awareness leads him into the heart of the TM movement (remember them? Maharishi was the guru of the Beatles.....don't ask "who are the Beatles"...if you don't know, then you don't belong here....:) :) Continuing, Jay spent many years as a teacher of TM, and made many friendships along the way--many of which are documented in the book. The latter part of the book follows Jay and others on their various journeys of discovery to the "holy" sites of northern India and Nepal. The descriptions of the landscape and vistas conjure up very real imagery for me, it's almost as if I'm there seeing it with the author.

Jay is a very down-to-earth writer, and his style is more conversationsal--almost like sitting around a fire and being told some great adventure stories, and you think to yourself...."damn, I wish I could have been there...". It's really that good. Jay has a great story and tells it like he's telling it to you personally, no hold barred, nothing held back. It's a hell of a lot more refreshing to read someting with such a spritual message and not have to wade through the pretension of some swami .... Jay is the genuine article, man. READ IT.

Free thinking economists such as Mr Chossudovsky are few and far between. Please take the time to read about the reality of what we have been lured into.

These are some wonderful thougts that have stimulated my mind into asking the question "CanAfricansThink?".This book exposes the disguise of mainstream economics which leaves human society's precious values at the hands of economic lust.All Africans need to know about this big con job being operated under the disguise of macro economics.

Looking at case studies from around the developing world, backed up with a strong theoretical analysis of the IMF and World Bank's role in the international economy, the globalisation of poverty brings the reader to one stark conclusion: 'Poverty is an input on the supply side, (of the global economy.)' Particularly interesting is Chossudovsky's explanation of the economic 'miracle' of Vietnam, while his analysis of the Yugoslav disaster, co-sponsored by the IMF and international financial investors, is very timely indeed. As Chossudovsky explains, the IMF and World Bank reforms have not merely suppressed populist and socialist economic measures and achievements; they have also prevented the development of national capitalisms, by creating economies directed towards the needs of the capitalist core states, rather than to the national market. For those harbouring any illusions about the economic order which governs humanity at the end of this century, this book is a necessary read. It's a pity that Chossudovsky works at the University of Ottawa and not the LSE, an institution that definitely needs realistic economists like him.

The three volumes of Mouravieff's GNOSIS sort of slipped quietly into English translation starting in the early to mid 1990's and now have seemed to slip out of print. If you can find them they treat of the same ideas you'll encounter in the books of Ouspensky but just with a slight change in nomenclature and a slightly big change in 'angle of approach'. Without going into all that if you use Ouspensky as your source for these ideas then Mouravieff's 3-vol. work can be like a side-dish and provide somewhat exotic insights or just a little 'validation' for your own insights here and there... Mouravieff is definitely off-the-reservation (not in a GOOD way) in some areas in my opinion, but, separating the wheat from the chaff there's alot of wheat in these books, and they're definitely worth the effort of a search...

G.I. Gurdjieff often stated that the basis of his teaching was esoteric Christianity. In GNOSIS, Boris Mouravieff reveals that this Tradition is found in its complete form in Greece and Russia, transmitted by the "Great Esoteric Brotherhood." The author informs us that this ancient Tradition in which is found all of the Fourth Way's ideas, diagrams, cosmologies, and exercises, comes from the heart of Eastern Christianity. Anyone long-studied in these ideas will recognize that this book expresses the very essence of the teaching. Mouravieff, who knew both Gurdjieff and Ouspensky before their appearance in western Europe, presents an astonishing display of brilliant and profound wisdom. There is no denying the authoritative atmosphere which radiates from every page. These volumes will require all who seek awakening to reconsider in a new light the great legacy left us by Gurdjieff.

I know of no equivalent discussion of philosophicaland or metaphysical matters. This first book aloneis worthy of several years of study and practice. This book is like a finger pointing at the moon - I remember trying to show a cat where something was by pointing. The cat just sniffed my finger.

What a horrible life these people had to have in Yugoslavia, struggling for their life under Tito's communist killers.

The book shows the view of one of the creators of the Macedonian alphabet, who was sentenced to 5 years in the concentration camp Goli Otok (Naked Island) in Yugoslavia between 1956-1961. It gives dark but truthful description of the conditions in which the POLITICAL prisoners were held. A book one must read before visiting ex-Yugoslavia

a fascinating book which deals with the suffering croatians faced during Tito's regime, a subject few contemporary writers approach. an insight into the heart of communist darkness.

This classic text was written for those who wish to cultivate bodhicitta (compassion). The great path of awakening is a commentary of an earlier text The Seven Points of mind training by Chekawa Yeshe Dorje.

The development of compassion toward all sentient beings is an integral part of the mahayana path along with meditation and yidam practice, with a goal to fully realise our Buddha nature. In the mean time, the cultivation of compassion will quieten the mind, relinquish ego clinging and make us nicer people to know.

The text is easy to digest and the points are easy to put into practice. In practice, for the novice, Bodhicitta is hard to cultivate and requires diligence and dicipline in ones practice.

Although intended for practicing Buddhists any one could benefit from reading this book. Much of what is written can be found in contemporary self-help books, yet it was written in the late 19th century.

The underlying text of this commentary is a deeply inspired canon on ethics. This work is as groundbreaking as the New Testament but is born from an eastern perspective. It is hard to understand that this text is so little known in the west. I would rate this, along with the Sermon on the Mount and the Tao and Kant's categorical imperative, as one of the definitive works on ethics and spirtual insight. Part of the commentary is colored by Buddhist beliefs which I personally substract from its general message(as I would with Christian dogma from the New Testament). If you are looking for some kind of exotic, new age, feel good chanting sort of philosophy you should definitely skip this. This is one of the toughest prescriptions for ethical living that I've ever come across. This goes far beyond the Judeo-Christian call to "love thy neighbor as thyself" and calls for you to "offer all gain and victory to others while taking upon yourself all sufferings"- this especially applies to your enemies who you should be most thankful to since: "In particular, all those who hurt me are worthy of gratitude since they are my companions and helpers for gathering the accumulations of merit and pristine wisdom and for clearing away the obscurations of disturbing emotions and conceptual knowledge". Pretty strong stuff. If humans, with their vast technology but miniscule ethics, are not to go extinct during the next millenium, they are going to have to eventually follow a philosophy such as this. " Winner takes All " has gone about as far as it can in a world were the losers are armed with nuclear weapons.

The underlying text of this commentary is a deeply inspired canon on ethics. This work is as groundbreaking as the New Testament but is born from an eastern perspective. It is hard to understand that this text is so little known in the west. I would rate this, along with the Sermon on the Mount and the Tao and Kant's categorical imperative, as one of the definitive works on ethics and spirtual insight. Part of the commentary is colored by Buddhist beliefs which I personally substract from its general message (as I would with Christian dogma from the New Testament).

Lex Hixon's words float in the reader's mind like clear, sweet water. Hixon is not a philosopher or theologian. He is a lover. His words melt into the heart and rise one's level of awareness into a state of ecstatic bliss. Read this book and discover the Ramakrishna that Lex Hixon knew and loved. The Ramakrishna who believed all religions were ultimately guided by the same Godhead.

burl2hall@yahoo.com

In this amazing book, Lex Hixon takes on the formidable task of trying to anticipate questions, thoughts and feelings that a reader may have on Spiritual Development/God Realisation and makes it a part of the Encounters of Sri Ramakrishna. It does not matter whether one has heard or read of Sri Ramakrishna before, Lex Hixon makes us aware of his presence nad grace in every page of the book. A very rare and enlightening book. Like a blessing.

Ramakrishna was a heart so huge he envelops you directly off the page so beautifully conveyed by Lex Hixon. I got chills of sweetness from the passages directly quoted from this jewel of a human being....

Un libro excelente para adentrarse en el maravilloso mundo de los contactos. De la mano de Sixto Paz, se pude llegar a conocer el significado profundo de los por ques? del fenomeno OVNI. Un libro con historias tan increibles como sorprendentes y reveladoras, el comienzo de la Mision Rahma, Ganimides como el satelite universal y la Hermandad Blanca, con sus 24 ancianos, regentes de la evolucion de la galaxia, todo ello en el marco de un profundo amor capaz de albergar todo lo que es.

En los Guias Extraterrestres, Sixto nos lleva de la mano acompañandolo en su historia personal, y en los inicios de Mision Rahma. Un Maravilloso testimonio de amor. Aquel que ansia encontrar tantas respuestas, se vera reflejado en ese puñado de jovenes peruanos encabezados por Sixto, que sin querer queriendo se encuentra con el contacto, un contacto que se expande en la medida del compromiso de estos ansiosos y sinceros buscadores de la verdad. Escrito en el estilo tan ameno que carecterizaria tanto al autor, el libro nos va llevando a viajes insospechados, desde los paisajes increibles en Ganimedes (Morlen), hasta el amor concentrado en el consejo de la galaxia con sus 24 Ancianos. Asi el contacto inicia con el primer encuenro con nuestra realidad, con la mas intima con la de nuestro propio ser. Si alguna vez has visto una luz en el firmamento que no puedes describir, y sabes que hay algo mas de lo que la gente y los medios puedan decir, este es el mejor libro para comenzar a conocer esa maravillosa realidad que nos conduce a "umbrales secretos" directos al corazon de la mano de "Los Guias Extraterrestres" y del siempre dispuesto Sixto Paz.

Creo que este a sido uno de los mejor libros que yo eh leido. Muestra como la mision rahma comenso y todas las maravillas que se encuentra fuera de este mundo, maravillas que todos podemos alcansar a conoser si nos ponemos en un plan de paz.