For Mira who asked about my books and anyone else who's interested, they are:
'Levin's God - novel - pub 2004
'Happy to Burn' - about meditation - pub 2004
'Love & Imagination' - about meditation - to be published
'Acrobat' - novel - in progress
Actually ... I'll go the whole hog and tell you all about them.
This was largely based on the life I and many of my ratbag friends lead throughout the '70's and '80's, when I was a singer in a band ... another life.
As the cliche goes, the first book is always semi-autobiographical, and indeed this is, though, not specific to me, so much as 'me and friends' all rolled up in a big ball of stories, that revolve around a central driving narrative.
This central narrative is the story of how a schoolyard friendship slowly evolves into a destructive conspiracy, in which one becomes predator, the other victim - the nature of which which only becomes clear at the end of the book
But I suppose the entire book explores the nature of friendship in all it's permutations. It was very cathartic to write, and apparently, from all reports, very cathartic to read - especially for those who lived through the glorious madness of the '70's and '80's.
Now, at this point, I should address issues of content - the book is a frank account of the mischief that me and my friends got up to, and in the writing of the boom, I didn't want to be coy about it. I hate 'coyness' in writing.
I wanted it to be as raw and ruinous as it sometimes was - but also as full of a lust for life as it often was.
So all I'm saying is ... for those who have stupid issues with language, drugs or sex, DON'T BUY THIS BOOK.
And for those who have issues with a meditation teacher writing a book of this kind (some of whom sent me very judgemental emails when it was published) - I have only this to say:
Though I practice meditation, I'm not a monk!
I'm a guy living in a toxic world and I love it - the whole ridiculous circus - so whatever fiction I write is bound to reflect everything I love - the humanity, courage and frailty of us all as we grapple with life as it appears to be, and then die.
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The reviews were very good here in Australia - of the 'a writer to watch' kind.
Oh ... one more thing - just found some reviews on the Campusi book selling site ... how nice.
I'll paste them here ...
5 star A great book. 2005-06-19 00:00:00
One of the few truly interesting Australian books I've read.
Set in the thriving rock music scene of late 70ties Melbourne, it details the spiritual journey of a young musician, Levin.
This is a story of sex drugs and rock'n'roll in gory detail, but also an amazing insight into a young man's psyche with a surprise and uplifting ending.
Highly recommended!
5 star An amazing journey 2004-10-31 00:00:00
I read this book because a girlfriend recommended it. Now, I don't usually like the books she recommends but she nagged me to read it so I did. And I'm glad I did.
I have to say, this book is without a doubt, one of the most engaging, humorous, thoughtful, interesting books I have ever read. It seems to span a whole lot of different genres, being like a cross between 'Trainspotting' 'Siddharta' and 'Gullivers Travels' if you can imagine that.
You can buy it from HERE
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This was my first book on meditation - written in response to what I saw (at that time) as a dearth of books explaining meditation as a practical skill. I had wonderful teachers in this - Acharn Thawee, Phra Manfred and Mae Che Brigitte - all of who took care of me so well throughout the months of my initial struggling with meditation.
They all spoke of meditation, and my problems with it, in very practical terms, which was just what I needed. So as the lights slowly went on in my head, and my body slowly acclimatised to the new psycho/physical paradigm that meditation creates, I found myself wondering why this practical kind of information about meditation was not available outside of Theravadin monasteries. So I decided to re-language what I had been taught and what I had experienced, to make a bridge between the monastery and everyday life.
I'll leave it up to you to decide where I was successful or not.
You can get a FREE pdf copy of it from HERE.
Or, you can buy it from HERE
This book also has a CD of the three main meditation excercises, which can be bought with the book as a package from HERE
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As my own meditation practice developed, and I began to teach it, I began to realise other potentials in meditation, and in particular, to understand the true nature of our difficulty when it comes to doing it.
For the average Westerner meditation, though essentially a simple act of being still - something any dog, cat, bird or reptile does at will - is terribly hard to do. This is because the habits of analysis, nervous energy and languaged thinking, which we've developed to deal with our anxiously though-filled culture, all push against the kind of mind we need to meditate. So in this book my objective was to come to grips with those problems and extend the methods to deal with them.
I wrote this in 2002, and it's basically finished - but I never got around to finding a publisher for it because I got a deal for my novel and got diverted into fiction writing. But those who have read L&I have said it's very 'illuminating' - so I assume it'll be published soon - well, as soon as I can get around to it anyway.
So if you're a publisher, I'd definitely be interested in hearing from you ... save me having to look for you, wherever you are.
I have made it available for FREE from HERE
Or, if you want to buy a copy, you can get it from HERE
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And my new book is titled 'Acrobat'.
Enough said about that for the moment.
CYA
