Milestones of the Way: Where East Meets West to Enrich Your Life

This book reflects my sustained interest in Western religion, Eastern philosophy, and New Age teachings. When this book first appeared as Intermediate Spiritual Metaphysics in 1978 little was known about personal computers. Less was known about cyberspace, or the etheric realm. Since that year, so much has improved in communications that it is difficult to recall the hours I spent on a typewriter with the original book. The book eventually became Milestones of the Way in 1982, in its first paperback edition. This current volume has been entirely rewritten and brought up to date to reflect the advancements—and recidivisms—of humankind during the past quarter century.

It all really began back in the early 1960’s when I became enthralled with such writers as Tuesday Lobsang Rampa, Peter D. Ouspensky, Madame Blavatsky, Alice Bailey, Alan Watts, Hermann Hesse, Krishnamurti, and other writers of the genre. I read voraciously, took but a few notes but reflected, reasoned, and remembered what I read. All the while, I looked for more such books. I list these authors—and others—in the back of this volume for you, though I cannot find sources for some of them.

I also began to teach from the first edition of this volume several years later. There are no other “logistics” that I can give you regarding my audacity to author this book. In many ways, it is a breakthrough piece of literature, unique in its approach and wholly original in content. Where I quote others’ writings, I cite them accordingly—with the quotation, or as a footnote.

The title comes from my personal belief that millstones can be turned into milestones. Those events and practices that bow us low in our earthly experience can become opportunities for spiritual growth and magnificent manifestations. I am thinking of better health, a better job or career, a better economic situation, and more satisfying human relationships. Yes, I have had millstones—plenty of them—over the years. It was through learning to listen to the still, small voice of Spirit that I have overcome, overcome, and overcome again. Turning millstones into milestones can happen for you. Through many epiphanies, perhaps thousands of them, each one of us progresses Spiritward.

This book explores the nature and substance of the positive forces at work throughout the physical, mental, and spiritual lives of men, women, and children. They are manifest within the four major quadrants of human life: health, wealth, work, and love. These forces also work within the four major institutions of the world: church, finance, government, and education. As you progress through this little volume, it is my prayer that it will bring many an “Aha!” to your thought—giving you a sense that you have known these things from previous times—and providing you with an empowerment that heals. If there is a purpose to this book, it is in its ability to empower you, the reader, to heal in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

As I mentioned earlier, the painstaking efforts of many authors have gone into the reason and revelation that have been sources for my spiritual growth. However, as an emerging soul, my purpose is to delineate the work of the great Piscean Age Master, the gentle Nazarene, Jesus the Christ. He has been my Guide and my Friend. I strive to emulate him and his works. It was clear to me at a young age that I must do the works that he did. Hence, the beginning of a store-front church in Las Vegas, Nevada—of all places!

In a dream one night, I was given the single word “Arête.” This dream recurred for two more consecutive nights. In browsing through various resources, I found that Arête means mountain crest. It also means “virtue, uniqueness, the development of individuality; attainment of the mountaintop.” Since then the foundation of Arête Truth Center, an Interdenominational church, took form. Hundreds of mis/displaced church people have attended our classes, seminars, and services. These people gained a real sense of what is correct about the spiritual truths handed down to us by the great Masters of the world. These include Gautama Siddhartha Buddha, Jesus of Nazareth, and others mentioned in the following text.

It was the mission of Arête Truth Center to take an eclectic approach to the studies of the great concepts outlined in my several written works. The great truths of the Universe, including man’s relationship to God, require more than the seven arts and sciences or any single religious belief system.

The student needs reason and revelation to arrive at the spiritual interpretations of religious teachings. This applies, as well, to philosophical thought handed down through ages past. Finally, the student needs a reasonable standard of spiritual disciplin