Giving Myself Away From Beat Generation Protégé To Metaphysical Social Critic

<p></p><p></p><p><strong><em>Giving Myself Away</em></strong> is the autobiography of an American poet Catholic school boy spiritual seeker metaphysical writer social service worker and political activist-<span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>an</span> intellectual Forrest Gump who found himself part of various significant events in American history from the post-war pre-counterculture era through the spiritual revolution of the 1960's; the San Francisco poetry scene of those times; the U.S. peace movement <span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>of</span> the 60's the 80's and the 2010's; the New Age; the emergence of Islam as a cultural force in North America; and the attempt from the 80's to the early 2000's by some <span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>serious seekers</span> to return to Tradition.</p><p>It is at once a cultural history; a psychological analysis individual and collective; a <span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>record</span> of paranormal events; a meditation on how metaphysical principles work themselves out in human experience; a <span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>story</span> of spiritual seeking through many faiths<span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)></span> including 35 years of Sufi practice; an intimate view of the cultures religions and folkways of both California and Kentucky; and the record of a period of unprecedented cultural technical spiritual and environmental breakdown not just for the United States Islam and the Catholic Church but for the whole world.</p><p>This work can be seen as a kind of summing-up of the Baby Boom's relationship to Art Religion and Politics illustrated by the author's meetings with remarkable and famous people in those fields including Allen Ginsberg Lawrence Ferlinghetti Gary Snyder Lew Welch Yogi Bhajan Rev. Gary Davis Country Joe and the Fish Peter Coyote Chögyam Trungpa Swami Mukhtananda the 16<sup>th</sup> Gyalwa Karmapa Charles Bukowski Jerry Brown Huey Lewis Barbara Marx Hubbard Carlos Castaneda Wendell Berry Kathleen Raine Jack Kornfield Javad Nurbakhsh Seyyed Hossein Nasr and Huston Smith.</p>