COUNTERPOINT TO REALITY REVIEWS

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fascinating Path

Reviewed in the United States on December 16, 2013

Counterpoint to Reality: A Personal Journey by Stephen John O’Connor was an easy read for me. As O’Connor relates his personal stories, there was for me a sense of familiarity: - not with the specifics of his journey, which is his alone, and unique but, with the overall direction through the ‘matrix of life’, as he calls it. We are all on similar but remarkably different journeys along the path. As O’Connor says “Overall, what I have learned, and am still learning, is that there is a Path. It’s not outside of us. There is no one who can truly guide us into the Path or help us along its way.”

O’Connor’s path is a truly fascinating one. A musician and composer, he engaged with various esoteric schools earlier in his life including AMORC. Yet, although he saw signs and bizarre things during his time working in the occult and with magic – some of which are recounted in the book – it seems as if these simply set the scene for personal explorations with Ayahuasca and meeting the Mother Daime later in life. It is through these deep and, at times, painful experiences that he arrives at an appreciation of life and the Path. “The Path,” he says, “has no path. It can only be traveled as it unfolds within one’s spiritual domain.”

What we are treated to in the book are a series of incidents, realizations and pointers experienced by Mr. O’Connor. These are interesting and well written in their own right and make the book an easy and fast read. Through these snapshots and experiences, we are given some pointers in terms of how he sees reality. There is the ego ‘I’ and the Self. We can dream our way through life as the ego ‘I’, or wake up to the light and towards re-integration with the Self. This is the Path where everything experienced happens for a reason ‘urging us towards awakening’. Mr. O’Connor points the way forward and it is by quieting the chatter of the mind, listening to the Higher Self and following the Path of no paths. For Mr. O’Connor, each of us has set out our course before we were born and now have to awaken to it again. Unless we do as a species in general, he sees dire longer-term consequences for the Earth.

I really enjoyed this book. It is well written and thought-through and the experiences and situations it describes are fascinating. Although pointing to the way, he does not specify anything beyond looking for the signs, the synchronicities in life and stilling the mind via quiet contemplation or meditation. Beyond that, each of us has mapped our own course. By attempting to show us his, Mr. O’Connor has provided a personal example of the way.

Mary Mackey

​

5.0 out of 5 stars O'Connor's book of understated wisdom and spirituality is a beacon and template for finding one's own authentic self.

Reviewed in the United States on March 6, 2015

I have been a "seeker" all my life---but I did not go looking for this book.
It found me=-- in a tiny seaside village in Mexico.
In his honest elegant manner, Steve O'Connor Illustrates the way of the pilgrim. It is a perfect template for finding one's own authentic self--
All the while utilizing the many "gifts" LIFE offers---including short-comings, pain, talents, passions, reverence, tenacity, and love.
Ultimately, his personal journey (although different from my own) was strangely parallel and significantly validating.
My heart, soul, and mind is profoundly grateful for these pages of understated wisdom and beacons of spirituality.

Cathryn

​

4.0 out of 5 stars Counterpoint to Reality is an evocative, enjoyable read

Reviewed in the United States on September 15, 2015

Verified Purchase

Counterpoint to Reality

Stephen O’Connor’s Counterpoint to Reality explores his journey through personal crisis toward awakening to the guiding forces that speak from within, readily available once we choose to listen. The thin veil between reality, as our culture teaches us to perceive it, and the truth of a much more fantastic universe within which we exists as player, part and particle, is portrayed through O’Connor’s varied explorations of mystically oriented groups, travel and his use of Ayahuasca. One-by-one O’Connor’s adventures expand his awareness and his capacity for greater perception that both question and illuminate the meaning woven within life’s fabric. Some of his most mysterious experiences occur spontaneously, erupting out of circumstance and life’s extremes, while others marry to his pursuit of knowledge through varied esoteric realms. All give testament to the rich channels that flow through our lives, often unnoticed, yet filled with guidance, affirmation, challenge and awareness, a more than worthy purpose for the journey of any life. Counterpoint to Reality is an evocative, enjoyable read.