Since 2001, John Roger Barrie has served as literary executor of influential author, historian, and philosopher Gerald Heard (1889–1971). He is the creator and publisher of the Gerald Heard Official Website. He has overseen reissues of 18 classic Gerald Heard titles, both nonfiction and fiction. In addition, he served as a regional freelance writer and editor for many years.
For more than four decades, Mr. Barrie has studied and practiced spiritual disciplines from many different religious traditions and has studied with and received blessings from numerous spiritual teachers. Raised a Catholic, he has intentionally followed the spiritual path since 1974, branching out thereafter to embrace an interfaith approach while maintaining his Christian roots.
His interfaith approach incorporates teachings and practices from several spiritual paths, including the rich mystical traditions from his native Catholicism, and the universal principles advanced by the respected, interfaith-oriented Ramakrishna-Vedanta tradition, of which he is an authorized lay instructor. For more information, visit his personal website, Explorations in Contemporary Spirituality.
Sky Parlor Publications is pleased to announce the publication of John Roger Barrie’s first book, Dialogues With the Lord of Time, a spiritual novel.
Paperback edition now available!
Independent bookstore resources include Bookshop.org and our favorite local bookstore, The Book Seller.
Major online retailers include AbeBooks, Alibris, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Walmart.
International booksellers include Blackwell’s (U.K.), Booktopia (AUS), and Book Depository (U.K.).
Hardcover edition now available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
Kindle edition now available on Amazon.
In the spiritual novel
Dialogues With the Lord of Time,
a wise teacher brings authentic spirituality
and inspired teachings into many seekers’ lives.
Summary:
Father Christopher, a retired priest and university professor, lives in Northern California’s remote coastal region. Endearing yet tough, approachable yet scholarly, the charismatic Father Christopher is in his twilight years. A group of seekers gathers at his cabin in the early 1990s to converse with him on spiritual topics. Well-versed in world religions and always a bit of a rascal, Father Christopher’s profound, transformational dialogues frequently leave his listeners spellbound and their lives changed.
Join his rapt audience as he describes uncommon spiritual states of consciousness and how to attain them. Listen with attentive seekers as he shares practical methods for their spiritual journey. Sit alongside the assembled aspirants as he helps them discern genuine spiritual teachers from the dubious. But whether discussing abstract concepts or doling out practical advice, the ever-engaging, sometimes controversial, and occasionally iconoclastic Father Christopher never ceases to captivate.
We follow along through the eyes of the author, who wrestles with various issues in his life. During the course of several visits to Father Christopher, we witness his inner metamorphosis as he finds ways to integrate the secular and spiritual aspects of his daily life. Join him and other seekers as they explore the mysteries of spirituality on a magical journey of self-discovery with Father Christopher, whose wise teachings provide insight-filled antidotes for our spiritually challenged times.
Endorsements:
Dialogues With the Lord of Time has received several glowing endorsements from noted experts:
“An engaging and illuminating trek into the multiple religious understandings that foreshadow a new universalism.” —Philip Novak, PhD, Sarlo Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Dept. of Philosophy and Religion, Dominican University of California, and bestselling author of The World’s Wisdom
“A thoughtful, engaging fruit of the spiritual imagination, a work of fiction that nonetheless bears within it many simple, powerful truths. It is beautifully written, concrete and free of pretense.” —Francis X. Clooney, SJ, PhD, Parkman Professor of Divinity and Professor of Comparative Theology, Harvard Divinity School, Cambridge, MA, and author of numerous books and articles
“Aa very good example of interfaith dialogue, where ideas on religious experience from some major world religions are discussed and compared. It incorporates a mystical perspective into situations in everyday life, and it has a depth approach that is sadly lacking in much modern religious discourse.” —June McDaniel, PhD, Professor Emerita of the History of Religions, Dept. of Religious Studies, College of Charleston, SC, and author of Lost Ecstasy and many other books and writings
“John Roger Barrie’s luminous text takes the reader on a voyage into the heart of the world’s great religious traditions. Told with humor and gentle wisdom, Barrie’s tale … is at once deeply personal and utterly universal. It is a timeless parable of seeking, finding, and then integrating spiritual wisdom into human life, a task as urgent now as it has ever been.” —Elizabeth M. G. Krajewski, PhD, Adjunct Assistant Professor and World Religions Instructor, Humanities Department, Colby-Sawyer College, New London, NH
“A refreshing and much-needed return to spiritual basics. Its main character … imparts a universal vision of religion that is right in the mainstream of the centuries-old mystical traditions, although colorfully and contemporarily presented. John Roger Barrie has produced a captivating, timeless story that should be required reading for any modern-day spiritual seeker.” —William H. Forthman, PhD, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, California State University, Northridge, CA, and co-author of the textbook Religions of the World
“Part memoir and part guide for those seeking a deeper spiritual path in life – both beginning and experienced practitioner. Within these pages John Roger Barrie chronicles his quest for a life of deeper meaning: his explorations into various meditative disciplines, religious expressions from the east and west, along with his frustration at the highs and lows of his practice. This text provides a beginning for a life of spiritual exploration.” —Charles G. Krajewski, MDiv, Ordained Pastor with the American Baptist Churches USA (retired)
“Inviting interfaith colloquies of enlightenment and connection to the universal. … These rich, engaging discussions, alive with fresh insights and challenges, will reward readers eager for connection to ‘a universal spiritual self—God—that contains all individual souls and every particle of the universe.’ ” —BookLife Review by Publishers Weekly
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