The Conscious Activist: Where Activism Meets Mysticism

Here is a book for our times. Wherever we turn in any nation, we witness injustice, danger, chaos. Even H.H. The 14th Dalai Lama has said ours is a time not just for compassion but also for action. It is activists who work to liberate captive innocents, change laws in health and justice, win rights of legal participation and speak against war. Author James O'Dea's life has been dedicated to the principle that really effective activism needs to be rooted in consciousness.Perhaps no one in the world is more qualified in this hopelessly hopeful pursuit on behalf of humanity than James O'Dea – former Director of the Washington DC office of Amnesty International, the immediate past President of the Institute of Noetic Sciences, former Executive Director of the Seva Foundation, former faculty member of the Omega Institute, etc. (You can google his many other credits and honors) – who resides here with us in Crestone/Baca).Be ready to be captivated. From his youth in Ireland where he stood up for fellow students to his early teenage social activism in London, James has melded a path of personal transformation with global activism on many fronts. With decades of evolutionary effort in Social Healing, Restorative Justice, Global Conflict Resolution, it has been James' difficult yet fortunate lot to affect untold individuals and communities and nations – Israel/Palestine, Northern Island and Rwanda, to name a few. From confronting national leaders to getting stabbed and left for dead, every word of The Conscious Activist is earned. His experience on the great stages of the world inscribes the vibration of authenticity in every chapter.The Conscious Activist, available December 9th (the day before Human Rights Day...pre-order on Amazon) is both extraordinary biography and nuanced manifesto. To read of James' life is to enter the never-say-quit focus of social activism coupled with the expansive vision of his many mystic encounters. It is what he learned from meeting remarkable souls by which he celebrates their lasting bestowals. A marvelous story teller, the author conveys the his life's grit and glory, and in so doing unites the underpinnings of the activist and the mystic, thereby bringing fullness to our understanding of the heroic quest.For idealists whose longing for peace translates into actively working for peace, The Conscious Activist is a paramount gift. The author's life testifies to the visionary potential of oneness, in which the passion of activism rooted in selfless service and the egoless quietude of the mystic rooted in divine unity can, when merged, wake up humanity from tragic self-annihilation. Admiring the matching tapestries of James' training and hands-on development as both mystic and activist allows us to meet his teachers as he met them. His insights move The Conscious Activist beyond rigidity, beyond power and control, beyond judgment and agenda. It is then that dynamic social action can be backed by the unifying force of love. James O'Dea commands in language and scope of experience the work of peace that has been the hallmark of all his efforts and association. His integrity and inspiration conveys the gusto that places each of us at the center of our powerful times – finding transformation at the nexus of history. Freed from past angers and unafraid of future unknowns, we can stand and act from wholeness in the amazingly potent present. This, the author's third major literary contribution to the cause of global harmony, is a clear call for a new yet proper standard of cutting-edge integrity that alone can bring mystics to activism and activists to mysticism.

There are too many books in the world filled with information. The Conscious Activist is filled with inspiration. It is a book for the ages, a book a tree would gladly give its life for. To read it is to step into a field of infinite wisdom. The writing is of a high level; it feels as if it were channeled from Spirit through the author to us largely unchanged. Rarely, if ever, does the ego of the author interfere with the transmission. This is writing at its best.The author could have become smug in his accomplishments. He has certainly led a fascinating life. He has been the head of important organizations: the Washington bureau of Amnesty International; the Seva Foundation; and the Institute of Noetic Sciences. His work took him to war torn regions of the world: Turkey, Lebanon, and Guatemala, among others. He survived attacks on both his spirit and his physical body, either of which could have killed him, but, in the end, only made him stronger.O'Dea led a life of service from an early age, but all along, he yearned for something beyond calling and duty. He wanted to know the heart of service. He quotes Tagore:I slept and dreamt that life was joyI awoke and saw that life was serviceI acted and behold, service was joy.Tagore's words, wise as they are, were something O'Dea had to discover for himself. He was called not only to the cauldron of war, but to the cauldron of the inner mind. He found himself burnt out, an activist whose successes were drowned out by the torrent of works yet undone.It was then that he met a mentor whom he refers to only as: "the guide. " This wise person helped him let go of using his own mind to try to manipulate events. Rather than seeing a broken world that needed fixing, he embraced the world as already whole and masterfully creative. All one needed to do was to get out of the way. It was a profound journey from lack to blessing, from ego to pure witnessing consciousness.This became the foundation for marrying activism with mysticism. The immature activist sees the world in black and white polarization. The mature activist no longer sees division, but a dance of interconnection and interdependence. Compassion flowers, and compassion, as Ling Rinpoche teaches him, has the capability to loosen the rigid structures of the mind. The journey of "me" becomes the journey of we. We, victim and perpetrator, are all in this together.While not an autobiography, The Conscious Activist traces the deepening of O'Dea's soul. It is written from the core of O'Dea's being. It radiates sincerity. It shines light upon shadow (his own and the world's). It awakens us to be more conscious. It is healing to read it, and even more healing to practice it. O'Dea has. We can too.

What a gift Mr O'dea provides for us as he threads his personal story of deep challenge, learned wisdom, and triumph into the fabric of what it means to be a mystic and activist in today's world. He's able to write in such a personal way that I felt like I was there with him as he recounts his story of a knife attack in Turkey. He teaches us how to take such senseless acts of violence and transform them into meaningful steps along our own path.We MUST ask ourselves, how will I create deep meaning from my most difficult challenges?How will I transcend my deepest wounding (physical or otherwise)?How will I serve and share in a way that only I can; to do my part in shifting the global consciousness into one of Peace?This book holds keys of wisdom that can assist everyone one their path to unlock the potential that may be bursting inside, but has been kept below the surface. I continually kept nodding my head. My own path has not been near the depth that the author shares of his own, but he relates his in such a way that I feel like it's mine. I'm able to connect parts of my life where certain events have happened, and parallel them with what Mr O'Dea shares. In this way, it become more than just words on a page. It becomes three dimensional. It allowed me to integrate, rather than just read, the words on the page. It's alive.His story becomes my story. As it becomes my story, it becomes OUR story. And as it becomes our story, WE are ALL connected. WE learn how WE can all begin to express or inner mystic and activist to live more fully and integrated.It really can change your life. It has mine.

Another great book by the author. Recommended.

James O'Dea helps to elevate the level of activism to a space of Oneness, love and compassion that is required in today's movements in order to transform the world around us in a positive and impactful way. His insight through his countless years as stories as an activist will help to shed light on some of the challeges activists face. James offers insight into the path that activists can take in order to achieve a more peaceful and successful resolution to the many crisis we face.Thank you for sharing your insights, knowledge and experience so that emerging activists can be elevated into a place of concious activism.

A good easy read that leaves you an upward shift. Not many books you can say that about.