Wired for God
Adventures of a Jewish Yogi
Antman will both inspire and aid spiritual seekers to forge their own path and make their own journey of return.
In Wired for God: Adventures of a Jewish Yogi, Dani Antman candidly shares the adventures, trials, and joys of her impassioned search for the Divine.
As a small child, the frightening sight of a crucifix in a Catholic church and her surprise and shame upon learning that some people blame the Jews for Jesus’s death caused Antman to question, then turn from, her Jewish heritage. Describing herself as a former typical “New York City party girl,” Antman still felt called to embark upon a spiritual journey. Her book retraces her path through marriage and divorce, training in the healing techniques of Barbara Brennan, inner work with various psychotherapists, psychic and tarot consultations, seduction by a “dark” teacher, immersion in Jewish mysticism through study of Kabbalah, and her training with Indian Kundalini master Swami Chandrasekharanand Saraswati, who wisely and gently led her to return full circle to her Jewish roots, made richer and fuller by the unique combination of all she had experienced.
In conversational, engaging prose that reads with the excitement of a perfectly paced novel, Antman takes a hard look at some of the pitfalls on the path, revealing the reasons she was vulnerable to them and why others might be too. She makes a compelling case that while we are all wired to experience a profoundly transformed consciousness, we must prepare ourselves to receive it. Antman makes her emotions evident as she navigates often uncharted waters trying to find teachers equipped to guide her. She shows why this quest is difficult for Western seekers, citing the lack of traditional guideposts to spiritual development and of opportunities to engage in rituals of initiation, and noting that Western religious leaders have usually not experienced initiation themselves. “Nondual spiritual teachers in the West promote the idea that we just have to awaken to who we already are and that spiritual practices are not necessary,” she writes. “While this may be true for the rare few, it has not been my experience.” The story of her struggles clearly shows the need for solid teaching, a supportive community, and dedication to correct spiritual practice.
The foreword by Marci Shimoff declares that “the path to self-realization is built right into our DNA, just waiting to be activated.” Antman assures seekers that, through practice, all can experience direct union with the Divine, and she encourages persistence on the path, not just for ourselves, but because “the spiritual evolution of each person is what is needed for humanity to survive.” Her intimate and moving spiritual memoir makes it apparent that there are costs as well as rewards to the spiritual journey, but that we can count on the Divine within and the adepts of the great spiritual traditions to aid us.
Enhanced with intimate personal stories of both the blissful and the often arduous events and experiences she navigated, including vivid descriptions of dreams and astral-state experiences, Antman’s Wired for God: Adventures of a Jewish Yogi will both inspire and aid spiritual seekers to forge their own path and make their own journey of return.
Reviewed by
Kristine Morris
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
