A Seeker's Guide To The Nature of Reality

Happy is the seeker who discovers Wisdom,
and who reaches Understanding,
for There is Life.

Take Off Your Shoes was written decades ago. I have reproduced it here exactly as it was originally written, except for a few typographical corrections (and, undoubtedly, a few new typographical errors). A lot has happened within us over the past several decades, and if I were writing the book today, I would probably write it, or at least some of it, differently. But not necessarily better.

This book neither is nor is it intended to be an academic consideration of the Bible. I am not a theologian, a biblical scholar, or an historian. In the context of this book, my interest in the passages of the Bible considered here is solely as a spiritual seeker, one who has undertaken a personal, inner journey for the Truth of who and what I am. I know that many of my statements, and perhaps even all of my conclusions, will not reflect, and perhaps may even contradict, current orthodoxy, theology, and history. I mean no disrespect by that, but it does not concern me, for again I am not an academic, and this is not an academic undertaking. For me, the Bible, like other scriptures, is a guide and a tool and a vehicle which can facilitate and accelerate my passage along the spiritual path only if I understand its message to me. Therefore, I take it to be my duty to discover and understand its meaning to me personally, to decipher what the Universal Teacher intends for me to see in it and to do by it. All of that is what I hope to share with you, and I ask that you read it in that spirit.