James Connor: The Superyogi Scenario
James Connor: The Superyogi Scenario
James Connor began writing supernatural thrillers when he won a Raven Society Award at the University of Virginia in support of his creative writing. But it wasn’t until two decades later, after completing a three-year isolated meditation and yoga retreat in the high-desert mountains of Arizona, that James felt compelled to publish stories that allow readers to experience deep wisdom gained from his fifteen years of detailed Buddhist and yoga training. Following in the footsteps of his story-telling idols C.S. Lewis, Neil Gaiman, and the Wachowskis, James is a firm believer in combining philosophy with fun. He is also the founder of GoBeyond.org and travels teaching Buddhist and yoga philosophy with an emphasis on meditation.
OMTIMES Magazine is delighted to interview James Connor and introduce to our readers a new exciting new genre of Spiritual Thrillers.
Exclusive Interview with James Conner
OMTIMES: What is The Superyogi Scenario about?
James Connor: The Superyogi Scenario is a new take on the superhero story. Instead of supernatural powers coming from laboratory mishaps or spider bites, powers come from yoga and meditation as described in The Yoga Sutra and Buddhist texts from the early centuries.
Using the metaphor of superheroes, the novel explores what makes someone a hero or villain and clarifies what we all can do to develop the superhero within each of us.
OMTIMES: What makes someone a superyogi?
James Connor: The main thing that differentiates heroes from villains is a hero puts other people’s needs before their own. Villains pursue their selfish desires at other people’s expense.
We can all get better at putting other people first and worrying less about ourselves.
In The Superyogi Scenario, the thing that takes the heroism to the next level—and makes someone a superyogi—is they have both wisdom and right action. They have a deeper understanding of the true nature of reality and they put other people first. Using wisdom they learn specific causes that create each supernatural ability. And using right action, they fight the temptation to use those powers selfishly.
