I am I

About the Book

The first time I saw Leonard Richards, he was on stage singing. Not just stringing a series of notes together, but becoming the phrase, dipping and rising in the lyric beauty of each poetic and melodic line.

Afterwards I went to introduce myself to him. Unreservedly, he threw his arms about me and embraced me warmly. That is Leonard Richards - Passionate and all encompassing.

When Leonard became a father to Talea, he embraced the Biblical teaching - if you do not become as a little child you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. Great Masters and spiritual writers often have a special relationship with one who opens the doors of wisdom, of love and of the Divine.

For the great Sufi Master, Rumi, it was Shams. For Leonard, it is Talea.

Through the ages spiritual leaders and sages have taught that we are one. Here is a book where genius, creativity and spirituality blossom in a unique voice.

When you play with language as Leonard has, ignoring grammar and spelling, you become a child exploring the regions of speech. You turn words upside down to reveal their hidden rhythm and truth.

Leonard urges the seeker to discover the simple wisdom of enlightenment - knowing there are no boundaries between all things , that we are all one. Leonard's work loosens the limits of conventional language. It provides a space for us to open our minds to a realm beyond ordinary perception. As we loosen our inner boundaries between right and left brain, between mind and spirit, we open ourselves to the beauty of a realm where we are all one - where I AM is I am.

To read his work, one must be completely present and simply let go. Experience it. Surrender to the sound of each word and phrase. Let it's wisdom penetrate you. Slow down. Read the words aloud. Allow their deeper meaning to illuminate your soul.

Karena Mendoza

About the Author

listener, singer, since the moment, of conception,
learnt my song of separation,
in a ripped apart world

listened, and lived this song, for the next 40 years,
ever repeating the text,
of good and evil,
better and worse

whole I am,
is my new song,
ease I am,
my now
refrain