Soft Moon Shining: Poems for the Mother of the Universe
Walker was a practicing counter-culture hippie in 1967 at the age of 18 when he began to explore eastern philosophy and the European mystery schools in an attempt to find a path that would permanently affix the cosmic perspective. He spent two years in the Rosicrucian Order and then four years under the tutelage of Mark Prophet, the founder of The Summit Lighthouse. He studied, practiced and worked at that organization as a renunciate. After the death of Mr. Prophet, Walker had an intense samadhi experience while studying the sayings of Ramana Maharshi in which the ego completely disappeared. This prompted him to dedicate himself to the philosophy of advaita or non-duality and the practice of atma vichara or meditation on the formless Self. By the end of this twelve year period, he had been given several insights including the ability to see everything as appearing within consciousness as opposed to the conventional mind which experiences objects as being external. This advaita practice also culminated in a clear awareness of the deeply entrenched nature of the ego. A strong desire to be permanently rid of the ego arose within him. Shortly thereafter, Walker met his guru, Mata Amritanandamayi or Ammachi, the hugging saint, in 1988.By her grace, their first meeting resulted in Walker experiencing God as the Divine Mother of the Universe. This was precipitated by a brief moment of eye contact with Ammachi. Ammachi advised him that practicing non-duality alone is dry like eating stones and she directed him to practice the devotional path. She explained that non-duality is the goal and devotion is the means. Walker’s devotional practices began with the Divine Mother as the point of concentration. At this stage She appeared to him much like Mother Mary – a benign, loving and compassionate mother figure. This continued for several years until he had a vision of the Divine Mother in the form of the Goddess Kali who wields the compassionate sword of liberation.  As his devotional meditations continued, an intense love affair with Mother Kali ensued with frequent bouts of ecstatic union, joyous weeping and absorption in Mother Kali’s presence. Walker experienced Her as a river of love and compassion. After several years of this, he began to know the Divine Mother as everyone and everything, establishing an even more intimate and personal relationship with Her. All along this journey, Ammachi endowed him with numerous teachings and insights by way of non-verbal communication known as diksha. These experiences normally occurred when in her presence as she toured the United States each summer.Throughout this 35-year spiritual odyssey, Walker has also maintained a deep interest in Buddhism with particular fondness for the Zen master Suzuki Roshi and the Tibetan tradition. Walker is greatly influenced by the Indian saints Ramakrishna and Nisargadatta Maharaj. Later in his practice, he pursued the study of Jesus, his life and teachings, and experienced deep devotional states of union with the Master. Inspired by the similarity between Jesus’ life and teachings and the path of the eastern masters, Walker spent five years researching and writing The Mystic Christ.Walker is the author of two other books. Soft Moon Shinin, is a collection of 230 devotional poems and 60 illustrations that revolve around his spiritual love affair with the Divine Mother. Finding God’s Love is a how-to book exploring the theory and practice of the path of love and devotion.He was married in 1978 to his wife Marsha and has three children and two grandchildren. He hand-built the house in which he and his wife have lived for 27 years. He and his wife have owned and operated an electronics and software manufacturing company since 1990. He is also an accomplished musician and singer and has composed numerous devotional songs. He has been the coordinator for the Oklahoma City Ammachi satsang group since 1995.