James A. Beeby was raised Christian in the post-war American Midwest, but became an atheist as a young science student, because Christian dogma seemed to conflict with logic and his science education. However, a series of profound events in his life forced him to realize that science does not explain everything. Searching for answers, James turned to the mystical practices of Tibetan Tantric Buddhism. After far more than twenty thousand hours of tantric training, practice, and Highest Yoga Tantra initiations from more than twenty tantric Buddhist masters, including His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, not only did tantra make sense, so did Christian dogma and the tenets of other religions. Spiritual realizations followed his esoteric practices.
James joined interfaith organizations for dialog with followers of other faith traditions, learning that at the esoteric level, there is no conflict between religions, or with science for that matter. James also continued his education in science and technology as a safety and health professional for a large Silicon Valley research and development company and as an emergency responder for one of the federal search and rescue teams. Using his professional experience decoding arcane government regulations, James realized that esoteric jargon was obscuring the message of the various mystical traditions, and that the core teachings are actually fairly simple.
Because the tantric practices of personal transformation from mundane to gnostic awareness are actually working for James, he discovered tantric instructions can be both easier to understand and can be applied to any spiritual or philosophical practices, including ethical atheism. There are many fine translations available from realized tantric masters, but James found they are very challenging to understand. If you would like to see what tantra looks like from a Western author who has spent about four decades writing clear instructions as a safety and health professional, then Western Tantra may be for you.