Practical spirituality for a complicated world.
Dear Robert,
I've been a faithful reader of your column for years, but this is the first time I've written you. I have enjoyed the columns where you've written about your life, especially your earlier experiences. I think you should write a book about growing up in the South, religion, politics, and your spiritual life. I would be interested in hearing what has influenced your spiritual path, what has brought you from your early life to Hinduism in Northern New Mexico. You have a unique sense of humour, and are also a needed gay voice in The Reporter. Please consider doing a book. I'd buy it. Keep up the good work.
JP, Santa Fe
Dear JP,
I was telling a friend of mine about your email, and she encouraged me to use it as an occasion to go public on the fact that I am working on a book. So, thanks, JP, for a timely nudge. Before I tell you about my book, I should say that I really don't consider myself as having a gay voice, or a male voice, or a Southern voice, or any other category, except spiritual. I would like to think that I am a voice for Spirit, encouraging people to explore and think for themselves. My desire is to be a spiritual writer, to be an influence for spiritual searching. I don't promote any belief system as being the only way to go. I have reached the point on my own spiritual path where I am not a disciple of anything except freedom of thought, speech and belief. Too many people are trying to force others to live by a certain set of rules or beliefs, without stopping to practice those beliefs in their own lives. All their energy goes into converting others, and then enforcing compliance. I'm so tired of all the preaching, and frankly, I'm not interested in hearing about anyone's beliefs, beyond a simple sharing. One of the greatest gifts we can give the planet is to share our truth and then leave others alone, to decide for themselves. I would be slow to criticize anyone's beliefs, unless they are trying to limit or harm someone else in the quest for God. For example, I would maintain that human sacrifice is not an acceptable religious practice, nor is genital mutilation, especially of male infants. However, I don't think it's anybody's business if you eat meat, meditate, are a vegetarian, are celibate, or practice any belief system, at all. Speaking of celibacy, what's that supposed to be about? I've never understood it. Ram Dass says many celibates spend most of their time not having sex. I've also heard it said that celibacy is like have a Porsche in the garage and never driving it. In my opinion, a healthy balance is better than any extreme. Generally, I would prefer to err on the side of freedom, religious and otherwise.
Now, let me tell you about the book I'm working on. First of all, I am having a lot of fun with it. Several years ago, a reader wrote an angry letter to the editor about one of my columns he didn't like, and he referred to me as a "redneck Hindu." I really thought that was a clever term. I promised that my next book would be called
Autobiography of a Redneck Hindu
. I'm a man of my word, therefore, that is the title of my new book. It's also an affectionate nod to one of my favorite books,
Autobiography of a Yogi
, by Paramahansa Yogananda. The people with whom I've shared this have all found the title to be intriguing. I know for myself, personally, if I were in a bookstore and saw something called
Autobiography of a Redneck Hindu
, I'd pick it up. So, to my one-time critic, I say, "Thanks for a great title."
As we all know, you need more than a terrific title for a book to make it into the stores. So, in typical Coyote-Redneck Hindu fashion, I decided to get an agent. A dear friend, who is an author, got me recommended to an agent in New York, who liked my manuscript, and offered to represent me. That was nice. But, I couldn't get him to talk to me after that. He wouldn't return my calls or emails. Finally, I got enough of that, and fired him. Now, I don't have an agent, but I'm shopping around for one. Friends have told me, "You don't need an agent." Well, yes, I do. I have some talents and gifts in this lifetime, but business doesn't seem to be one of them. I need a professional to help me with that. Sometimes, I can be a bit brusque. Okay, rude. It's not good to tell prospective publishers that they're "full of it." It's probably not even a good idea to tell a negligent agent to pi*s off. Nevertheless, I've managed to do both. I prefer to call my behavior "eccentric," although I have heard myself referred to otherwise.
If I wanted to put a positive spin on it, I'd say it's all grist for the mill. This latest experience with a New York agent will make an interesting chapter to add into the manuscript. I still feel very good about the future of
Autobiography of a Redneck Hindu
. I predict that one day you'll see me at The Ark for a book signing. I'm not sure how I'll get to that point, but sometimes the best thing we can do is to get out of the way.
The book is not really an autobiography in the traditional sense. It is, rather, an account of my own personal walk with Spirit. I've also included some of my stumbles with Spirit. I even included a few of my crawls with Spirit. Looking at it all from 2006, I'm amazed that I've had such a life. In many ways, it seems as if I've had five or six lifetimes just in the present one. I could've easily called my book,
Looking for God in All the Wrong Places,
for that is, indeed, what I've done. Actually, that's the title of one of the chapters.
Believe it, or not, I am a bit calmer than I used to be. Part of that is due to being in recovery from people pleasing. That recovery has brought me a measure of inner peace, of being able to relax, knowing that most of the Universe can take care of itself. I'm a believer in the power of affirmations, and in the communal power of spiritual people, concentrating on a common goal. Therefore, I'm inviting you all to affirm with me that
Autobiography of a Redneck Hindu
is now a bestseller, and in all the bookstores. If we all start saying that out loud, every day, then it's only a matter of time. Even my propensity to alienate publishers and agents couldn't stand in the way!
Dear JP, thanks for a timely email which allowed me to humbly enlist the positive thoughts and prayers of all my readers. All right, all right then, to shamelessly promote myself. OM
To ask Robert a question, visit his website at www.RobertOdom.com, email desertrj@msn.com or send mail to PO Box 33, Santa Fe, NM 87504.