This Side of the Gate John P. Johnston
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This Side of the Gate
John P. Johnston
Authorhouse
Paperback
336 pages
October 2005
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In “visionary fiction” as described by author Michael Gurian, the expansion of the human mind drives the plot; Carlos Castaneda’s The Teachings of Don Juan, Marlo Morgan’s Mutant Message Down Under, and James Redfield's The Celestine Prophecy are examples of
the genre. Much like Paulo Coelho in The Alchemist, John P. Johnston presents a series of spiritual lessons in parable form in his first visionary novel, This Side of the Gate
The story is told from the vantage of a narrating soul describing its cycles of reincarnations. Each life is historically, speculatively and spiritually instructive, painting a vivid journey on the karmic wheel. Each lifetime fills a chapter, and the soul is incarnated in a wide array of personalities, beginning with that of a runaway Atlantean boy whose Beloved Master assists his varied, often troubled reincarnations - disciple, teacher, warrior, an Arab desert navigator - when they cross "the gate" to the other side. As the back cover states,
Through it all the answers to life's deepest mysteries are revealed by his Soul...so that others might profit from his experience. He might contradict everything you hold sacred, but in the end he just might reunite you with your own Divine Inner Presence. Come along, if you dare, and if you are not forever changed, then perhaps you too are destined to endure life after life upon the Wheel of Rebirth.
As the Soul of Johnston's story develops spiritual wisdom and understanding as he moves around the wheel of death and rebirth, the reader gains insight into his or her own struggle for wholeness and peace within the individual's own eternal soul. Recommended for seekers on the path less trodden.
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