The Dreaming Circus

• Explains how the author became a student of Toltec spiritual teacher don Miguel Ruiz and how he traveled the world, as well as the astral realms, undergoing a deep spiritual journey of change • Details how the author discovered LSD after the Vietnam War and even tripped while skydiving • Recounts his time as a civil rights advocate and war correspondent, and how Toltec shamanism helped prepare him to ease his wife's long end-of-life journey During his third tour of duty in Vietnam where he served as a Green Beret, Jim Morris was wounded badly enough to be retired from the army. He came home bitter, angry that his career had been ended. After reading The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, he realized that many members of Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters had also been combat officers. Following this spiritual "hint," he spent the next couple of years as an acid head, even skydiving on LSD. Awakened by his LSD experiences, Morris immersed himself in the books of Carlos Castaneda as well as in Kriya yoga, Charismatic Christianity, and A Course in Miracles. From these experiences he was led to Toltec spiritual teacher don Miguel Ruiz and began a deep spiritual journey of change. Sharing his journey from PTSD to spiritual awakening, Morris recounts his time as a civil rights advocate for the Montagnard people in Vietnam and his years as a war correspondent at the same time he was following Castaneda's Warrior's Way. He describes his momentous meeting with don Miguel Ruiz as well as his travels around the world and in the astral realms. Sharing how his wife developed dementia and later became paralyzed, Morris explains how it required all his Toltec training, all his military training, everything he had to share her final years in a meaningful and fulfilling way. Written from a deep understanding of Toltec techniques this book shows in a heartfelt and resonant way what a spiritual path can give you.

Retired U.S. Army Special Forces Major Jim Morris served three tours with the Green Berets in Vietnam. He has worked as a civil rights advocate for the mountain peoples with whom he fought, the Montagnard, and his Vietnam memoir, War Story, won the first Bernal Diaz Award for military non-fiction. He has covered wars for Rolling Stone, Soldier of Fortune, Esquire, and the Saturday Evening Post. For decades he has immersed himself in a deep study of Toltec shamanism. He lives in Bell Canyon, California.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: WHY I WROTE THIS BOOK PROLOGUE PART ONE Disorder after Stress 1 IT'S ALWAYS HALLOWEEN IN VIETNAM 2 TURN ON, TUNE IN, DROP OUT 3 THE ELECTRIC KOOL-AID FREE-FALL TEST 4 FINDING AND LOSING LOVE 5 CAMBODIA 6 BUMMER 7 FINDING CARLOS CASTANEDA 8 LUCID DREAMING 9 VISION QUEST ATTEMPTS 10 THE SPIRITUAL LESSONS OF MILITARY SCHOOL 11 THE SPIRITUAL LESSONS OF JUMP SCHOOL 12 FINDING MY BENEFACTOR 13 FINDING MY MOJO 14 A RECAPITULATION EXERCISE 15 CHEROKEE BLOOD 16 SOLDIERS AND THEIR MOMS 17 VISION QUEST: 9/12/2001 PART TWO From PTSD to Spirit 18 THE DON MIGUEL INTERVIEW 19 THE DON JOSE INTERVIEW 20 JOURNEY TO TEOTIHUACÁN 21 DREAMING 22 THE SPECIAL OPERATIONS ASSOCIATION AND THE CIRCLE OF FIRE 23 PERU 24 DREAMING IN VEGAS 25 JOURNEY TO BOULDER AND SEDONA 26 JOURNEY TO SEATTLE 27 MAKING A MOVIE IN TEOTIHUACÁN 28 THE SPIRITUAL LESSON OF A BURST APPENDIX 29 ON THE WINGS OF EAGLES 30 TEO FOR JUMPERS 31 AFTER THE TOLTECS 32 POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER 33 SOUL TRAVEL 34 THE DAY OF THE DEAD 35 SOUL RETRIEVAL 36 HER FRIENDS AND MINE 37 CAREGIVING 38 LOVE'S FINAL LESSON 39 ALONE, NOT LONELY THANKS