GOD IS NOT A NOUN

This book is an exploration into the origin of religious beliefs. Starting with the story of the author trying to find a religious path in the dawning of the Age of Aquarius. Starting as a born-again Christian in the new 'Jesus Movement' of the late 1960’s. He travels with a spirit-filled Christian ministry of 160 believers touring the SW United States in 18 buses. They set up in circus tents in different cities baptizing hundreds of people a week. He gets thrown in jail for Jesus in Las Vegas, trying to save Sin City. 'We were going to jail for Jesus, and we were so happy. You would think they were taking us to Disneyland instead of taking us to jail.'After getting out of jail he starts hitchhiking for 2 years. Thousands of miles and many stories from California to Colorado across the Southwest. He ends up in the thick of the New Age, with yoga groups, doing chanting, meditation, and hanging out with swamis. He meets many leaders of the guru/swami/yogi alternative religions from India that were popular in the 1970’s. He lives in 3 yoga ashrams, becoming a vegetarian and wearing a turban every day. He moves on to live at Stephen Gaskin’s The Farm in Tennessee growing vegetables for a 2000-member hippie commune. He spends time with the Hare Krishna people, American Sikhs, and a Sufi master. He smokes a joint with Baba Ram Das and spends time at Swami Rama’s institute. He ends up studying Taoism and Vedanta.The book starts with some extraordinary psychic experiences. He postulates ideas like early religious believers in ancient times, may have created scripture, based on telepathic experiences. Then he asks the most important question about his subjective relationship with God, 'Can someone be a 'believer', and not believe teachings about 'miracles', and all the ideas that make one adherent to the Christian Church.Rich with insight, humor, and deep reflection, God Is Not a Noun invites readers to embrace the mystery and question the unquestionable. Whether you’re a believer, skeptic, or seeker, this book will challenge your perceptions and inspire new ways of thinking about the Divine. Simple enough for young people as well as thought provoking for scholars.