Please note this book has been scheduled to be published in March 2005.
This second published book of John is the result of his search of the various
groups of religious organizations around the world in order to study with them.
He explores all the various Christian religious groups along with other
religions and philosophies. Surely it cannot be so difficult to find a group of
spiritual people who practices tolerance and understanding among all the
different religions and cultures of the world.
The interesting thing is that most of these spiritual groups are not large by
international standards. They gravitate around living spiritual leaders who are
the continuation of past spiritual leaders such as Buddha, Jesus of Nazareth,
Prophet Mohammad, Guru Nanak and others. Some have only a few thousand adherents
while others may have a few million initiates.
The initiates of these spiritual groups tend to be quite different from
mainstream religious people. Somehow the initiates of the spiritual groups are
more compassionate, caring and loving among themselves and for others as well.
These people are mostly more intelligent, more open-minded and most of all –
they are fun loving people. They tend not to be pious and holding a
‘holier-than-thou’ attitude. These are general statements made for most of
the members of these spiritual organizations based on John’s experience.
Hopefully, this brief account of John’s spiritual life and the subsequent
changes in his life will give the readers an exposure to the background of
spiritual enlightenment through the practice of meditation. If we can understand
the reasons and logic behind meditation, then there is a greater chance of
discovering our divinity and ourselves. Discovering the meaning of life becomes
a closer and more viable option this way.
This second book is the sequel and autobiographical account
of John’s spiritual search for life’s meaning to his first published book
‘My Journey – Confessions of a Christian Fundamentalist”. The first book
rejected religious fundamentalism as a way of life and points towards a
spiritual search for meaning. While the first book ‘Confessions’ was being
edited and finalized for the print process, John got involved with a spiritual
group. In a sense, this second book is a continuation of his first book, which
must be read to provide the reader a sense of continuity. John’s first book
‘Confessions’ may be ordered through his web site.
In his search for answers, John accidentally stumbled upon
the greatest secret in the world. A free lunch event was the initial lure. After
that it was history and the path to enlightenment. There are some hilarious
moments that enliven the readability of his spiritual journey. John hopes that
the readers will enjoy sharing his life experiences. John’s other books
document his other life experiences. John’s other books focus on the cultural
differences between East and West, the Australian migrant scene at the end of
the last millennium and his discoveries on science, genetic, archaeology and
palaeontology subjects and their applications and implications to all of us.
Chapter Outline
Chapter 1 gives a brief introduction to John’s
first published book ‘My Journey – Confessions of a Christian
Fundamentalist’ (Confessions). As this second to-be-published book is a sequel
to the first book, the main message of tolerance and understanding among all
religions and cultures of the world was summarised in this chapter. John
stressed that a quick read of his first published book ‘Confessions’ would
be the beginning point before reading this book on his search for spirituality
and meaning.
Chapter 2 describes his first contact with this new
spiritual and meditating group Sant Mat. John has been searching for a spiritual
group with open minds to study with. He accidentally stumbled into this
spiritual Sant Mat meditation group. The goals of this group are almost
identical to the messages of John’s first published book ‘Confessions’.
They were seeking spirituality rather than being religious. They rather have a
practice of tolerance and understanding than condemning other religions and
faiths. Personal enlightenment through meditation is the only way. This practice
of meditation is the first experience for John.
He explains his initial dubious personal goals for
attending his first meditating retreat in the USA. All he wanted was to go for a
holiday and visit his friend who lives in nearby Vancouver, Canada and maybe
have an opportunity to sell his first published book in USA. Spiritual matters
were the last things on his mind, or so he thought.
Chapter 3 briefly examines the first six days,
including the first three days of the workshop ‘The Way of Life’ (Day 1 to
6), during his sojourn in the Lighthouse Oregon Retreat (LOR). John was
evaluating the organization, the leaders and a lot of the available initiates he
encountered at the retreat. He spoke with everyone he met asking for details of
the initiates, new and old, their previous religious or spiritual stand, the
circumstances how they join the spiritual group and their experience so far with
the group. He then started to analyse all the data sources of his writings
collected so far at the retreat. It is looking good. The workshop he was
attending has the right approach to life and the appropriate philosophy.
Chapter 4 describes his experiences over the
following three days, including the last three days of the six-days workshop
‘The Way of Life’ (Day 7 to 9), at the retreat. He has accumulated as much
spiritual and secular knowledge as he possibly could. He was also documenting
all his new discoveries. During the last few days of the workshop, John
encountered a very tricky situation.
During the workshop, the attendees had to decide whether
our Spiritual Master was perfect in every way or he is just a man, a Living
Master, trying his best to guide us along the spiritual path. John made a stand.
He threatened to leave his discussion group if they as a workshop group
presented a perfect Master version. The workshop group spitted into two groups
of four initiates each and presented two separate versions. John told the
workshop group and the Instructor that if the whole workshop decided that we are
following a perfect man, he will be leaving the retreat campsite immediately.
Reason prevailed.
At every opportunity John was making presentations but it
was always based on his real life situation rather than a theoretical situation
in life. As most of John’s religious and spiritual life was contained in his
first published book ‘Confessions’, he was in a sense relating to his first
book and other initiates believed that he was flogging his book to all. That is
the truth.
Initiates who were interested in the statements made by
John at the workshop presentations discussed the issues raised during the breaks
and after the workshops. Christian fundamentalism was explained to the initiates
who were interested. The divinity of Jesus of Nazareth, the virgin birth, the
bodily resurrection of Jesus and other miracles were explained. The difference
between religious issues and spiritual issues was also explained. This subject
is actually part of the workshop material. It stressed that our organization is
a spiritual one, not a religious group. The six-day workshop was a complete
success; thanks to our excellent Instructor, the new course material and the
outstanding group of initiates in the workshop.
Chapter 5 describe some of the new concepts,
thoughts and replacement beliefs from the following two days after the first
six-day workshop (Day 10 to 11). John goes through the chronology of his
discoveries in the areas of the multi-level spiritual concept, the history of
the spiritual group and the experience of all the initiates at the retreat.
There was no organised workshop for him for those two days.
The relatively new concept of meditation and its benefits
are briefly explained to John by all and sunder at the retreat. John tries to
understand the tricky subject of reincarnation. The reality regarding miracles
was exactly the same as those expressed by John in his first published book. To
a Christian like John, now that the Christian Bible is no longer the sole source
of human knowledge and wisdom from God, what are the replacement teachings? The
group touches on subjects like the new role of the Bible and all other religious
books, the role of Buddha, Jesus, Confucius, Lao Tze, Prophet Mohammad, Guru
Nanak and Kirpal Singh as Living Masters and also the importance of meditation
for personal enlightenment. This looks and sounds like what John have been
searching for all these past twenty-two years.
Chapter 6 briefly describes John’s
experiences from Day 12 to 14 at the retreat where he attended the ‘Presenting
Sant Mat’ three-day workshop. He is still continuing search for enlightenment
and spirituality. John used his personal experience to relate his journey of
enlightenment in his own words. He explains why initially it is so difficult for
him to develop an open mindset. It took him ten long years of serious study. The
evening of the fourteenth day was a question and answer sessions with the
spiritual leader. A question regarding a new initiate writing ‘bad’ things
about the spiritual leader was posed to the leader. What was the leader’s
response?
Chapter 7 describes his four-day road trip (Day 15
to 18) to visit his friend who lives in Vancouver, Canada. John was still trying
to find a publisher, hopefully through his friend in Vancouver. He encountered
the effects of Christian fundamentalism again in Vancouver. Life is never fair.
Chapter 8 contains John’s last two partial days
(Day 18 and 19) stay at the retreat. On arrival on the evening of Day 18, he
discovered that the letter he sent to Master went astray. He wrote another
similar letter and handed it to Inge, the administration manager at the retreat.
He flew home to Sydney via a stopover in Los Angeles.
Chapter 9 describes the writing activities of this
book after the retreat. While the contents of this second book gradually expand,
the first published book ‘Confessions’ was being organised for printing.
This first published book is finally coming out in print by mid October 2003. In
the meantime, business managers were being appointed to create a web site to
market and sell John’s books in print form and e-book form through mail order
and credit card order.
Chapter 10
provides a summary for the book based on all the available information
gathered at the Lighthouse Oregon Retreat. Overall it was a fabulous experience
and an eye-opener for John. There are so many spiritual organizations that are
outshoots of our previous Living Master Kirpal Singh. This is good news for
mankind. There are spiritual groups throughout the world for people who are not
exactly satisfied by the teachings of the established religious organizations of
the world.
Chapter 11 gives a short conclusion to the book. Do we
need to belong to a spiritual group to improve our spiritual enlightenment and
knowledge? Please find out by reading John’s conclusion. |
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