Radio Interview
RADIO
INTERVIEW OF DONALD
JAMES GIACOBBE
The following is an interview of Donald James Giacobbe, who discusses his autobiography Memory Walk in the Light: My Christian Yoga Life as "A Course in Miracles." This interview was conducted in May of 2010 on the Christian Author's Radio Show. Simply click below and the MP3 interview will immediately start playing:
COMMENTS BY DONALD JAMES GIACOBBE
The following are comments by Donald James Giacobbe. In the first section below, he talks about the picture above. In the second section below, he comments about his autobiography.
About “Seekers of the Light”
As a young man, I thought I would have a
vocation as an artist. My paintings expressed the darkness I felt within. I
ended up being a nondenominational Christian monk, who practices yoga
disciplines and is now also an author. I don’t have time to paint these days,
but sometimes I make magic marker drawings. The darkness of my early art work
has been replaced by light that I now realize is within. The magic marker
drawing “Seekers of the Light” represents all seekers but includes some symbols
of Miracle Yoga.
The
sun in the center is a symbol for God or Heaven. The white fish symbolizes
Christ. There are four rectangles and four fish because these four represent all
seekers. Every seeker is the Son of God and is part of the one Christ. Each
seeker is travelling on his own path, but the four rectangles fit together in a
unified way. This unity of the four rectangles symbolize that the parts of the
one Christ fit together as the fabric of God’s unified divine plan. God’s plan
is the plan of salvation that eventually will enable all seekers to awaken in
Heaven.
Within
each of the four rectangles, the stem of the flower stands for the individual
seeker’s spiritual path. The green leaf is the seeker and the leaf on the other
side is the shadow self, the false self, or the ego. The flower opening is the
flowering of the spiritual path that is enlightenment, meaning spiritual
awakening. The heart of the seeker is on one side, and the heart of a fellow
traveler on the path is on the other side. A
Course in Miracles describes these two hearts as the “holy relationship” in
which you join with one other person for a common purpose. Your holy
relationship partner becomes your savior lifting you to God. The heart is also
used as a symbol here because a spiritual path—whatever that path is—must
always be connected to the human heart or it will be incomplete. It represents
love, and what good is a spiritual path without love?
About the Autobiography
My
life is an example of following in the footsteps of Jesus, while practicing
yoga disciplines and applying the principles of A Course in Miracles. I am a “monk in the world,” not a father with
children. Yet, as every father, I would like to leave behind an inheritance.
This autobiography is my inheritance, but it is simply a reminder of our
Father’s inheritance—His gift of Himself—to all of His children. The only gold
in this inheritance is the message of love and forgiveness that God wants me to
hear, to live, and to share with you. If you read my autobiography, I hope that
you are entertained by my life story of blending the East and West. However,
providing entertainment is not my goal. My purpose is to encourage you to
increasingly awaken to the spiritual dimension of your own life. Consequently,
this book includes how-to appendices on Christian meditation, exercise, and
yoga postures, which can be practiced by anyone to grow spiritually. The goal
is to let your spiritual practice become a way of life firmly centered in
Christ. With this goal your spiritual practice starts out as an effort, becomes
a necessity, and eventually becomes a delight, bringing many blessings.
Memory Walk in the Light:
My Christian Yoga Life as
"A Course in Miracles"
Author:
Donald James
Giacobbe
“The central message of the Course
is forgiveness, and the key to yoga is opening to the divine presence.
As a
teacher of Miracle Yoga based on Course principles, my goal is to live
my life
as an expression of forgiveness and openness to the experience of
Spirit.”
Donald James Giacobbe worked for sixteen years as a case manager for the state of Arizona serving developmentally disabled clients. The professional nature of his human service work placed limitations on his ability to express his spiritual motivations overtly, so out of necessity he served as an "undercover agent" for God.
A more direct approach to spirituality was facilitated by living with Zen Buddhist seekers and then being part of a yoga community. Later he was the director of the Aquarian Age Yoga Center in Virginia Beach, VA. He served as an instructor of meditation and yoga, teaching college courses and appearing on television. He specialized in providing yoga teacher training certification courses and leading meditation workshops and retreats. Don has attempted in his teaching of meditation to strip away the rituals of Zen Buddhism and yoga practices and transpose only the bare essence into a Christian context. Techniques of meditation inspired by Eastern sources enhance the use of traditional Christian practices, such as the "Jesus Prayer," and lead to the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit that occurs in Christian contemplation.
Don encourages the doing of God's Will, being receptive to the Holy Spirit, and finding Christ within the temple of one's own heart. While respecting all Christian spiritual expressions, he became a monk by making his vow directly to God, without the stamp of approval from any religious organization. For many years Don used the term "Christian yoga" to describe his spiritual path, which combined following Christ with yoga disciplines. However, in recent years he has adopted the term "Miracle Yoga" to describe the specific path of Christian Yoga he has chosen. This form of spirituality is a synthesis of yoga and the philosophy of A Course in Miracles, encouraging the seeker to see with "forgiving eyes" and perceive Christ in everyone. Don's goal is to maintain a balance between opening to divine love inwardly and allowing that love to be extended outwardly to others.