This book might conceivably have another title: “Two Rare Spiritual Guides in Conversation”. With a profundity not frequently found in books of this nature, every line offers wealth for meditation as Goettmann reconstructs conversations he had with his revered mentor. Although the book is translated, there is no sense of artificiality or labored language and we feel we have entered into the privacy of an enthusiastic exchange between two masters of the spiritual life. Each is determined to show the mystical depths of Christianity, a Christianity which has lost so much in the overlay of centuries of theologizing, bureaucratizing and law-making.

Neither one of our guides fears to use the wisdom of other religions to show that the inner longing for transcendence is a universal phenomenon, but their constant reiteration is that the “Way” of Christianity is one whose goal is transformation of the total person rather than liberation or illumination. Even so, Durckheim—who was both a philosopher and psychotherapist—used the powerful means of meditation to bring his clients to the experience of their inner self and eventually of the Divine Nature. His center in the Black Forest was a place where seekers entered Initiation Therapy, a practice solidly integrated with the teachings of the mystics of the Christian tradition. We are “initiates of the Trinity!”

The eleven chapters of the book are loosely divided in subject matter, including the greatness of our human nature, the necessity of spiritualizing the senses, the elimination of the fear of death through spiritual living, the sense of Christ as spiritual guide, the art of meditation and breathing, and the concept of conjugal union as a transformative act.

A central idea of Durckheim’s and one to which he constantly returns is that of the three fears: fear of death, of meaninglessness and of solitude. He incorporates his teachings on this into every other subject and skillfully shows the effects of these on our life at every level. To finally overcome these is to live in “right tension”—the balance between contraction (extreme tension) and dissolution (extreme relaxation) and to find the Center within ourselves, Christ who is peace.

Slow and careful reading is a must in order to garner the riches in and on the Path of Initiation. The rewards are many, not the least of which is the call to return again and again to certain passages as they continue to unfold new depths of meaning.