Balancing Heaven and Earth: A Memoir

I truly wish I had read this book before I read Johnson's other works, as I think this very personal account of the author's spiritual and intellectual journey have shed a lot of light on how he came to believe the things he wrote in his more academic writings. This man's connection to the unseen world, his openness, his ability to see truths about himself, about humankind and about the nature of the Divine are a wonderful foundation for reading and understanding books like He, She and We. This is his latest book, but I recommend to anyone interested to read this one first. It will leave you hungry for more.

Beginning at the age of 11 and occuring several times more throughout his life, the author found himself in an altered state where he was able to view Heaven, or "The Golden World" as he called it. The title of this book then, "Balancing Heaven and Earth", chronicles his spiritual journey which was characterized by the need to balance or integrate the nearly undescribable bliss of heaven with the author's ordinary existence. Looking back on his life while near the end of it Johnson examines and chronicles his life and spiritual journey for us, including his experiences growing up as a poor kid without a leg, his meeting with Carl Jung and subsequent career as a Jungian analyst, writer and speaker, and his adventures traveling around the world. Especially interesting are his tales of India. Johnson's "voice" comes across as grandfatherly and warm. He doesn't claim to have achieved enlightenment, doesn't claim to know all of the answers, and he clearly isn't attempting to recruit followers, or build up his ego, resume or bank account. He writes simply and elequently, and avoids the complex, philosophical jargon that render many writers (such as Ken Wilber) somewhat inaccessible to simple lunkheads like me. (Note however, that a basic understanding of Jungian psychology will add to one's understanding). Here is a sample passage that I particularly liked, which is the author's take on sainthood, coming after a small town in India had asked him to live there as their local "saint": "I have meditated on the subject of sainthood many times since this experience, and I find a bit of wisdom in understanding that saints are people who suffer the projection of unlived holiness from a group of people and are made to serve in this strange role whether they like it or not. It is only the other side of the coin of scapegoating, in which a group chooses an individual to carry the dark side of their own personalities, which they are unwilling to own for themselves...God help the poor person who is landed with either of the excesses that humankind finds equally difficult to bear." (The theme of people unwilling to "own" their own best qualities, and therefore projecting them onto a religious guru, is touched upon several times throughout the book). Overall, this is a wonderful story of someone following God's leading throughout life and finally coming to a place where they are comfortable in their own skin, both physically and spiritually - having learned to lay down the ego's agenda and follow the subtle leading of the Spirit of God.

My soul (as my mind percieves it) has not yet found the thread of enlightenment. I accept the path to stumble, fall, rise up and down and to reach into the oblivion of understanding. I have seventeen short years behind my eyes, and strive to become an old woman. I thank Robert Johnson and his writings in "Balancing Heaven and Earth", as it is of great comfort to known although I am alone in my personal journey, I am not alone in my attempt to find a middle path between the extremes of human despair and joy, and the truths behind it. I have often gazed upon the world in realization that I do not, in fact, understand it in the least! I cannot comprehend the forces behind the companies which constructed the buildings and the societies that mesh and become urban life (although the boundaries between urban and sub-urban, country, city, town and household have been blurred beyond recognition). Yet it is of comfort to me to have the opportunity to read Robert Johnson's biographical writings...as I have great respect for him. I shall further indulge in his other works!

This is less a review than a hymn of gratitude. For me, this book is one of the "slender threads" Johnson talks about, a serendipitous opportunity that, grasped, changes your life. If you, like he, have experienced "the Golden World," you are likely to sob as I did at his description of it and his yearning to return to it. Johnson is an old soul, an introvert, a solitary by nature, who wrestled with his destiny for decades. His memoir gives me hope for my own struggles, and I believe this will hold true for many, many readers. I have rarely been so moved by a book; perhaps the only other I have found so affecting was Matthew Fox's collection of Meister Eckhard's thought.If you are seeking the light in any way or form, don't miss it.

As a student of depth psychology, particularly Jungian, I have read all of Johnson's work and this most personal work is the one that has affected me the most deeply. By revealing the details of his life's journey, Johnson gives the reader insight into how it looks to "follow your bliss." Sometimes the call we receive is not an easy one and Johnson poignantly shares his struggles with this as well. But remaning true to the "still small voice" and allowing his ego to be used in service to the Self (God) has resulted in a life that is both rich in texture and joyful in experience. This book is a treasure and one to be savored at that!