Book excerpt: It's 1970. A dark Wisconsin night. A once-shy farm boy, now in his twenties, stands on a bridge over a river. He's left the farm, studied for the clergy, and done a stint in the air force. He's a proofreader now. He's seen faraway places, but tonight he's in Wisconsin overlooking the dark water. He's about to see the face of God, to become a God-Realized man. From this momentous turning point, Harold Klemp's life would never be the same. His incredible experience that night was simply a prelude to a time of testing, humbling, cleansing, yet blessed experience with the Light and Sound of God. He would emerge as the spiritual leader and modern-day prophet of Eckankar. This is his spiritual autobiography. "This book," he says, "is about God-Realization and the myths that surround the highest state of spiritual realization known to mankind. The first and greatest illusion is that once God-Realization is attained, the battle for higher consciousness is forever won. This oversimplifies things. . . . "The hard part came after God-Realization. Now I had to return to the problems of life and confront them. The specter of God's haunting love was always with me. . . . It carried me beyond the pleasant cooing of belief and faith, thrusting me into a brilliant world of light shorn of all illusion." If a shy Wisconsin farm boy can master his spiritual destiny, why can't we? According to Gallup, 82% of those polled in America alone want to experience spiritual growth. Believe it or not, it is your destiny to discover your godlike nature, your spiritual greatness. "Tucked away in the hidden places of this book are clues as to how you too may reach the glories of God," says Klemp. "Now come with me on my journey." Eckankar is a modern-day spiritual teaching with ancient roots founded in 1965 by Paul Twitchell. Harold Klemp is the current spiritual leader of Eckankar since 1981.