Note from John Harricharan: It was many years ago. I was among a large lecture audience, watching this man lead the participants through a guided meditation. His voice was calm and gentle and just hearing it, one felt safe . As I sat there listening to the inspirational motivational, almost hypnotic voice of Brad Steiger, a strange and comforting peace filled my heart and I knew, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that we had a deeper connection that spanned the very fabric of time and space. That was decades ago. Since then, Brad and I have become close friends. I probably would not be an author today had it not been for his encouragement, his inspirational and motivational counsel and assistance.

We have lectured together, spoken at seminars together, laughed and joked together and still do so after all these years. An added honor and benefit was my getting to know Brad's wife, Sherry Hansen-Steiger who is also an author and teacher. Yet, no ordinary person is this. Her accomplishments and contributions would fill volumes. Together, Brad and Sherry write, travel and lecture. Every once in a while our paths cross and then, in a tiny, mid-western cafe, you may find us past the hour of midnight, sharing our experiences as we delight in seeing each other again.

I share with you, parts of a conversation with my friend, Brad Steiger.

John Harricharan: You are often referred to as the leading "New Age" author. The words, "New Age" have been understood in totally diverse ways by different people. How do you define the New Age?

Brad Steiger: I am not at all secure with labels and categories. When I published my first book in 1963, I wished to become recognized as a serious communicator of metaphysical concepts and as a reporter of the kinds of remarkable phenomena that fascinated me as an individual. I have always written the kind of book that I would most like to read. It is up to the readers to accept or reject the information as they wish, or they are free to shape it to fit their own construct of reality or their own cosmological reference points.

I am today exactly that which I was in 1963--a searcher, an explorer, a communicator.

When people speak of New Agers and start trying to define them, they simply prove my contention that we should never attempt to derive a definition of any group that pretends to fit all of the members within that group. New Age enthusiasts embrace a wide variety of individual belief constructs. There is no single New Age Creed.

John Harricharan: But you have written over 200 books in the category of what some people will term "New Age".

Brad Steiger: I often refer to myself as a "phemomenologist." A journalist once called me a "science faction" writer. I have written a book about the contemporary revelatory experience; numerous books about UFOs; four books about Native American belief constructs: and dozens of volumes about various types of phenomena, both physical and spiritual. On the other hand, I have written biographies of movie stars, true crime books, and a good deal of fiction. I truly desire to explore as completely as possible both the seen and unseen worlds of our universe. I am not a "New Age" writer nor a science fiction writer. I cannot call myself a biographer or a writer of detective novels. And yet, I am all of those and much more. The parts are contained in the whole, but the whole is far greater than any of its parts.

John Harricharan: Yet you could never claim to be a skeptic or a totally objective journalist. You obviously have a bias toward the spiritual side of reality.

Brad Steiger: Of course. I would never deny such a bias. I am very much a transcendentalist. I passionately believe that our one, truly human factor is our spirituality, and that most wonderful aspect of what we are may never be fully revealed by scientific elucidation.

As I have stated in a kind of creed that I prepared in the late 1960s, I believe that our artificial worlds of the various sciences are no truer than dreams, visions, or inspirations. The quest for absolute proof or completely objective truth may always be unattainable when it seeks to limit our souls.

John Harricharan: I know the answer to this one, Brad, but just for our readers, do you believe in God?

Brad Steiger: This is the favorite question of media interviewers, John. I believe in the God within and the God without. I believe in an eternally powerful energy source with which we may interact. I believe in what Yogananda terms the "Father-Mother-Creator- Spirit." I most certainly believe in the Holy Spirit and the amazing grace that It may bestow.

I consider myself a mystical Christian. I believe Jesus promised that we may each become "christed" if we follow the methods of self-discipline and spiritual growth that he outlined as "the way." I believe the promise that we, too, may create miracles. And I know that love is the most powerful energy in the universe.

John Harricharan: Your wife, Sherry, is an ordained Protestant minister. How does she feel about your beliefs?

Brad Steiger: At this point in her own searching, she, too, considers herself a mystical Christian.

She is a very disciplined person. She had to have been a dedicated seeker or she could not have survived the remarkable number of trials and tribulations which she has undergone. And, yet, she remains a highly spiritual person who emanates love and good will to all. She is certainly the wind beneath my wings. She is my hero, as well as my best friend, and my life partner.

John Harricharan: What disturbs you most about the so-called New Age movement?

Brad Steiger: The fact that so many of its adherents have retained the kind of prejudices, hatreds, distrusts, and ego displays that would seem to contradict the very beliefs that they claim to espouse. They speak of having left mainstream churches because they wanted to escape the hypocrites, the back-biters, and the clerical hierarchies that had turned them off from organized, orthodox religion. But then they join a metaphysical group and perpetuate the very same negative behavior patterns in their so-called new way.

Sadly, it seems, in all forms of organized spiritual expression, there are within the ranks those self-appointed judges who feel somehow empowered to decide what is truth and who has the only proper path to God. And, of course, any one who disagrees with their analyses is damned to some kind of hell or other.

I like to quote the American poet Edward Arlington Robinson who observed that the world is a vast spiritual kindergarten--with everyone trying to spell "God" with different alphabet blocks.

One of my favorite books of my own body of work is Revelation: The Divine Fire. I am convinced along with William James that all religions and all philosophies begin with the individual mystical experience, a pure revelation. And then, generally speaking, it is the followers of the various prophets who begin to add and to superimpose dogmas and ecclesiasticisms on the original spark of the divine fire. Perhaps that is why individual shamanism is becoming once again so popular: People are beginning to return to the truth of their own dreams, their own visions, their own revelations.

John Harricharan: And do these people then become channelers?

Brad Steiger: We all have the cosmic birthright to "channel" for ourselves through our personal dreams, visions, and revelations, but there can be great dangers in seeking to apply our personal truths to others and to large sections of the mass populace. A teaching received in a vision may have been intended strictly for our personal growth and gaining, and we should therefore not seek to demand that others follow our individual revelation.

We must also learn to test the various spiritual entities who may claim to be our guides or our angels. We must practice discernment and continually test such beings, for there are many spiritual tricksters on the various levels of reality.

John Harricharan: Speaking of tricksters, I know that you have probably written more books about the UFO mystery than any other author. Any conclusions there?

Brad Steiger: I believe that our species has been in contact with something even before we straightened our spines and began to walk upright. The UFO mystery is so complex, so multi-layered, so far-reaching in all its many manifestations and implications that we may never as a species fully comprehend its complete range. As Sherry once said in a speech before a group of UFO researchers, the phenomenon touches all aspects and facets of our society, from our sciences and religions, to our social interaction and species evolution.

I have consistently perceived the UFO enigma to be paraphysical or multidimensional in nature. It has been with us since our earliest beginnings, and it will somehow carry us into the future.

John Harricharan: For the many years I've known you, Brad, you have always been involved in exploring new and different areas. What are some of your recent projects?

Brad Steiger: We have been adding British material to our book Strange Powers of Pets, which was a Literary Guild selection in hard cover here in the States and which was released in paperback from Berkley. Headline Books in Great Britain brought out the book in an enlarged edition, so we added photographs and stories with a British flavor. I also have a book entitled Cats Incredible published in the U. S. by New American Library and in Great Britain by Pan Books.

And then, of course, there are the many workshops, lectures, and appearances to which we are committed. We also plan tours to Egypt, Israel, Italy, and Greece, and return research trips to Peru.

Brad Steiger, 'The Amazing Kreskin', John Harricharan,  Anita Bergen in Omaha, Nebraska

John Harricharan: Brad, it's always a joy and an inspiration to see you and Sherry. Although we've met so many times, each time seems so new. There are millions who are grateful that you've written so many wonderful books.

You've inspired many of us to share our thoughts with the world, much as you are doing. It was because of your encouragement and example that I wrote When You Can Walk on Water, Take the Boat. You were even kind enough to write the introduction for me. In those days, I was so afraid to ask you because I thought that you'd turn me down. Instead, you were all love and understanding. I'm eternally grateful to you, Brad.

Brad Steiger: It was a pleasure to be with you again, John. Stay in the Light and be in the "Oneness."

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