Ma & Me: The Story of an Apprenticeship by Thomas “Billy” Byrom
$19.95
Billy was one of Ma Jaya’s first and closest students. His “Apprenticeship” took him daily into the presence of an extraordinary teacher who, by her dangerous example, showed him what it was to truly live the scriptures.
Poet, scholar, seeker, Thomas “Billy” Byrom tells his own story, placing it in the context of thousands of years of Eastern and Western mystical traditions: How he met an unlikely guru, and how, and in spite of his innate skepticism, he followed her for the rest of his life.
As he leads us through the course of his “Apprenticeship,” we find stories of Ma’s life and of the early years of Kashi Ashram, intertwined with Billy’s own story– his seeking, his doubts, his devotion, his love of beauty, his understanding of the scriptures, and how he learned about death.
“Who will understand? And how shall I ever find words to describe the fire and the silence which provoked this absurd and bewildering life of seeking?”
“I found myself drawn into a teaching that was to turn my life upside down; and from that day I was never the same, never wholly composed or sure of myself, never again confidently moral or safely contained, never brave or steady or judicious, never sensible, never reliable.... This is my calamity. I fell in love. That’s all.”
“This book, if I could resolve all its words into a few pages, would be simply and completely a song—a single song of love. “
THE BOOK RECEIVES PRAISE FOR ITS ABILITY TO CHALLENGE AND INSPIRE READERS TO EMBRACE THEIR TRUE SELVES.
[In 1974] With perfect diction Billy could explain to me in one impeccable sentence what Ma was about.
— Yoga Acharya Laxman Das
Author of “Guided by Grace. My Journey with Ma Jaya.”
He did something not many can—he used his learning and intelligence as vessels to lead to spiritual growth, rather than for their own sakes. Ma & Me is his story of how an intelligent man falls toward illness and death, and discovers the perfect teacher —Ma Jaya, who was full of the life and joy he so needed.
— Dr. Paul G. Attinello
Jungian Psychoanalyst, Senior Lecturer in Music, Newcastle University UK
A rich mosaic of personalities, events, and contemplation, all conveying the story of two seemingly disparate lives and how they came to be intertwined. Whenever Ma’s experiences veer dangerously close to the limits of credibility, the author interposes quotations from the likes of St. Teresa of Ávila, Thomas Merton, Rumi, and Ramprasad to show that Ma is in very good company indeed.
Thanks to his extensive knowledge of the world’s religions and philosophies, Byrom is able to demonstrate time and again that true spirituality is spontaneous, unpredictable, and often paradoxical.
— Devadatta Kali
Musician, translator, author of several books on the Goddess
There is nothing easy about this love song. It demands we ignite the flame of our truest selves, embrace fear and death, and, if we’re wildly, chaotically diligent, cross over to Life, where we might be blessed to discover Love’s eternal embrace.
— The Rev. Canon Charles P. Gibbs
Founding Executive Director Emeritus, United Religions Initiative
Ma & Me: The Story of an Apprenticeship by Thomas “Billy” Byrom
