The Alchemy of the Heart

Foreword

To write a foreword to a book that, in a sense, was not written but was transcribed, and edited from different talks I have given in the past, is difficult. However Matt Shoemaker, John Baldock and others, have completed an extraordinary work to bring what was, after all, a distillation of thousands of hours of talks into, I hope, a readable experience! To them all I offer my heartfelt thanks.

Jalaluddin Rumi, the great l3th century poet and mystic, once said “Words are veils over the Truth.” Indeed they mostly are, but to me the word has always been able to contain, hold and transmit the Living Truth, unfolding to serve the needs of the time and place for those who truly are looking for ‘The Cause behind the cause.’ Very sincerely I offer this book as an expression of my own personal experience and not as a second-hand copy of information I never understood.

If you held the hand of Truth, what would it be? Would it be that of a friend or a lover? Would it be separate from life, or could it be the touch of a blade of grass moving in the wind by the river’s bank.

When we touch the hand of Truth, it is God’s hand, reaching out to us from before Time.

Reshad Feild.

Devonshire, England.

October 2004.

Editor’s Preface

This book is a collection of teachings from classes and workshops given by Reshad Feild over the last fifteen years. I gathered the material from a huge assortment of tape recordings, then edited and organized it all according to various themes. It was like working with pieces of a puzzle. In the beginning I had no idea how the book would come together, but after persevering through many stages of doubt and frustration, the pattern of the book finally began to come into shape.

The content of this book is universally relevant. It not only speaks from the heart of Sufism but reveals the essence of the spiritual path itself. It is a book that can plant significant ideas and reveal helpful pointers for those with an open mind and open heart. Any true path requires personal effort, study, and assimilation of the ideas into actual practice. Study/work groups are very useful for this purpose, and one can also benefit from contact with others having a similar intention. I would recommend that anyone who is interested in developing a greater understanding and application of these teachings should contact the school under Reshad’s direction.

I am very grateful for having had the opportunity to make this book a reality, because I know it can lead readers toward an understanding of themselves and the purpose of their lives. This book will live on for generations to come as a testimony of truth. Special thanks need also be given to John Baldock and Penny Feild for their excellent work of final editing. And of course a special thanks to Reshad