Will Johnson received his B.A., magna cum laude, in Art and Archaeology from Princeton University in 1968. After graduation, he worked for several years as an art critic in New York before moving to the west coast of North America. At this time, earlier experiences that he had had as a child were reawakened, and he began exploring the practices that would come to be known as Gazing at the Beloved and The Faraji Dance Troupe. He became a Buddhist practitioner in 1972 and was trained as a Rolfer in 1976. He began the formal sharing of the practices of Embodiment Training in 1995.
He is the author of several books, all of which can be ordered through your local bookseller or online at www.amazon.com
- Balance of Body, Balance of Mind (Humanics, 1993).
- The Posture of Meditation (Shambhala, 1996; also available in a German and Italian translation through Herder/Spektrum and Ubaldini Editore).
- Aligned, Relaxed, Resilient: The Physical Foundations of Mindfulness
(Shambhala, 2000).
- Rumi, Gazing at the Beloved: The Radical Practice of Beholding the Divine (Inner Traditions, 2003; also available in a French translation through Gange Editions).
- The Sailfish and the Sacred Mountain: Passages in the Lives of a Father and Son (Inner Traditions, 2004).
- Yoga of the Mahamudra: The Mystical Way of Balance (Inner Traditions, 2005).
- The Forbidden Rumi: The Suppressed Poems of Rumi on Love, Heresy, and Intoxication (Inner Traditions, 2006; commentaries and translations by Will Johnson and Nevit O. Ergin).
- The Rubais of Rumi: Insane with Love (Inner Traditions, 2007; commentaries and translations by Will Johnson and Nevit O. Ergin).
- The Spiritual Practices of Rumi: Radical Techniques for Beholding the Divine (Inner Traditions, 2007; this is a softcover republication of Rumi, Gazing at the Beloved)
His magazine articles include:
- The Balanced Body and the Middle Way (Shambhala Sun, July 2001)
- Full Body, Empty Mind (Tricycle, Fall 2007)
Audios:
- When Every Cell Surrenders (6 CD series from Sounds True, available December 2008)
While he very much enjoys to share these practices with people whose interest is genuine and sincere, he is emphatically not a guru of any kind. He's just another practitioner on the path, attempting to take responsibility for the multiple experiences of body and mind, encouraging others to do the same. His preferred teaching style is not just to remain a talking head at the front of the room, but to participate in practices right alongside everyone else.
If you resonate with the information posted here, then please accept this as an invitation to come and play with us. The practices are deep and profound. The embodied ground is your birthright. It's yours for the taking. You simply have to take it.
