Tianamen Square

I'm sitting here listening to Mary Chapin Carpenter's new albumn, The Age of Miracles. The song, "4 June 1989," brings me to my knees. It touches great sadness within me. The first two times I listened to it, I was literally sobbing. It takes me back to the Viet Nam war and when I was 17. At 17 I was clueless. It would not be until two years later when I attended the University of Texas at Austin that I would really begin to understand the great sadness in that war, in any war. Great albumn!

Chop Wood, Carry Water

Spring is a busy time around the farm--and I am VERY busy these days. I have noticed what may be for me a fundamental shift, I am now very content to chop wood and carry water--to just be at whatever I am doing. This is about being at peace, as in peace of mind, and trying to stay in the NOW. My drive to write and publish, to build my counseling business, etc. has evaporated. At this stage of my life I find myself very much at peace with my life. Cool.

Judeo-Christian Mythology: Truth vs Fact, Metaphor vs Literalism

Judeo-Christian mythology is full of great wisdom and truths if taken as metaphor and parable, but is short on facts and damaging when taken literally. Look back through history at all the atrocities done in the name of God and Christianity. Who would want to be part of a religion like that? Who would want to worship such a vengeful, wrathful God? The historic Jesus can be understood as an incarnation of God from the standpoint that he was a living model for how we should live our lives with justice, love, and in relationship, so that every member of society and the universe was cared for. Jesus' teachings were about these, justice, love, and relationship, not about individual souls and their damnation or saving. His message was about social justice and our relationship with each other and God.

ZOROASTRIANISM and CHRISTIANITY

Zoroaster was an Iranian philosopher, magician, and astrologer, who lived sometime in the 10-11th century BCE most scholars think. His philosophy is thought to have influenced Plato and Spinosa among others. It is from Zoroaster that Christianity gets its eschatology (final judgment, the book of  Revelation, apocalyptic), good versus evil, dark versus light, and heaven and hell concepts.

Early Christianity and Greek culture collide: metaphor vs metamorphosis

Greek culture and philosophy did not understand metaphors, but it did understand metamorphosis. In their mythology gods changed often into other persons or beings. Metaphors were quite alien to them though. When early Christianity, based in its Hebraic mythology of metaphors, met the Greek culture, Christianity's metaphors were changed to Greek metamorphic concepts. Example: the last supper, instead of the bread and wine being symbols or metaphors, they were "metamorphed" (transubstantiated) into the actual blood and body of Christ. And since only a god could do something like this, Jesus was deified, that is, became a God, and his message, instead of one about social justice and change, changed to one about life after death and individual redemption. 

WindWalker:

Journey Into Science, Self, and Spirit

by Darrell G. Yardley, Ph.D.

Are you searching for your own path with a heart?

Do you want to take control of your life and reclaim your personal power?

Do you want to make major changes in your life but are stopped by fear and/or finances?

An inspirational, true-life story of one man's journey in the saddle of a Harley...

Learn about...

• Enlightenment and the world of Zen Buddhism.
• What its like to do a Native American sweat lodge and vision quest...and walk on fire.
• Why chakras, Jungian shadow-sides, personality are all important in our life choices.
• Martial arts and quest for authentic personal power.
• How the Spirits and the world of the shaman will call you when you are ready.
• and much more...

Backmatter

A Vision Quest on a Harley...

Mind-Body-Spirit-Nature
Inspirational

Step through the door... from the three-dimensional world of science into the n-dimensional hyper-world of Spirit. On the other side of our everyday, ordinary reality lies another REALITY, the reality of Spirit, where past, present and future merge. Come, explore the world of Spirit that is always present but few can see...

An inspirational, true-life journey of personal empowerment and spiritual transformation. Join the author on his incredible personal and spiritual journey from the world of the scientist into the mystic worlds of Zen Buddhism and Native American spirituality. Travel with the author on the desert winds of South Dakota, Wyoming, Texas, New Mexico, and Mexico. From firewalk to Aztec and American Indian sweat lodges, from Zen meditation halls and the martial arts to spiritual journeys into past lives and to the Valley of the Dead, this is a journey that combines the living of ancient teachings from East and West with modern science.

What others have said--

"...This book is a tremendous catalyst, causing the readers to re-examine their life, decisions, and spiritual path. I know I did." --Michael Peter Langevin, Magical Blend magazine

"Darrell Yardley shares with us his challenging journey to insight and enlightenment. His style is engaging and conversational -- an easy read into a powerful subject. Thank you, Darrell, for putting yourself on the line and telling your open and honest story." --Alan Seale, author of On Becoming a 21st-Century Mystic: Pathways to Intuitive Living.

"A fantastic journey of spiritual transition and empowerment."--Diane Zimberoff, author of Breaking Free from the Victim Trap.


"Darrell Yardley's WindWalker is such an excitement, from the cover's design, color, and layout to the powerful story itself. His motorcycle is more than a bike: it is his partner, much like another person traveling with him on his spiritual and personal journey. I could not put this book down and got up in the middle of the night to finish reading it. The book is so personal that as I read, I could hear his voice as if he were speaking directly to me. So powerful is his story that it reawakened in me my own experiences in the Temazcal, Native American Sweat Lodge, and other experiences. His book also reawakened the things in my own life that I had not been doing, like meditating, to move forward on my own spiritual journey. It was like a wakeup call for my own spiritual path. The book is not only a powerful story, but is also informative, integrating his first-hand knowledge of different spiritual paths from traditions from East and West, ancient and contemporary. It encourages one to look inside and be much more than the person they thought they were. It is empowering. His journey is so powerful because it truly is a journey from the Heart."--Ruth Terry,
a reader

"Darrell Yardley's WindWalker is a story of a personal quest into purpose, metaphysics, spirituality and fun, from the seat of a Harley Davidson. It is a story of power, emotion, and adventure, touching deep into the spiritual roots of the author's journey into authentic selfhood. Described as "A Vision Quest on a Harley," WindWalker is the author's own inspirational, true-life journey from scientist and professor to mystic, teacher, and personal and spiritual coach. It is a story of personal exploration,and transition told against a backdrop of motorcycle adventures and exotic journeys into Native American spirituality and shamanism. This book is an inspiration for those wanting to make transition and changes in their own lives, searching for a path with a heart, and wanting to live a more authentic life."--Patrick Williams, President Therapist University and Master Certified Coach

Book Info

17 chapters
272 pp.
Including Afterwards,
Appendix,
Literature Cited,
Index, and
Bibliography

Price
$12.95, softcover

$10.95, e-version (Only for Windows XP. We're working on Vista and Mac versions.)

Publisher
LifeQuest Press

ISBN
0-9675559-0-6

Table of Contents

A Word about Shamanism
Preface
Acknowledgmentts

Book I: The Quest for External Power Begins
1 Sturgis, South Dakota
2 The Dakota Badlands
3 "Knock, Knock," in Wyoming
4 The Power of the Warrior
5 Teachers
6 Bandidos
7 Thunder Beings and Mountain Lions
8 Desert Chakras
9 Lajitas Lizard

Book II: The Doorway to Authentic Power Opens

10 The Internship
11 Rebirth
12 The Shaman's Door
13 Personal Power
14 Turquoise Woman
15 Zen and the Art of the Shaman
16 The Fire/The Door/The Path
17 Walking the Path

Afterward
Literature Cited
Bibliography
Glossary
Appendix
Index

Softcover version

Order e-Version