Saturday, July 6, 7pm
in the Bear Gallery

In her book Master on the Mountain, Neville Abbott Jacobs takes her readers on the spiritual journey she took to find herself and a deeper understanding of the world. Closely connected to Buddhism herself, Neville tells of a two year period between 1977 and 1979 that changed her life. On this Saturday in the Bear Gallery, she will take her audience on a recollection of this journey with her, to share the experiences she has made along the way and across the world.

“The Master on the Mountain was called a travel-adventure memoir by someone. I originally named it “The Magic Quest,” but a friend said it sounded like I was learning how to pull rabbits out of a hat.  So I renamed it, because that idea, that there are beings, or masters, meditating in caves in the mountains to benefit mankind, is an inexplicable belief I had, and a theme running through the book. I always felt, even as a child, that there were such beings, and I was on a quest for greater spiritual truths, and to know if that were true. Strange moments of a memory, impossible except as in a previous life. I was pretty sure they were in India, and I longed to go there. Of course, I was considered fairly odd.  

I had to tell, through flashbacks, about certain periods in my life when I describe experiences that are essential to understanding these later events. I grew up in Southern California, and in 1949 moved to Anchorage with my parents at 19. I was fascinated by eastern and traditional cultures so began taking classes in anthropology, finally moving to Fairbanks where I received my bachelor’s degree.

After I graduated from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, I went to graduate school in Hawaii for a year then returned to Fairbanks to continue for M.A.’s in anthropology and journalism. I often visited Hawaii, especially to Jean Burns, a physicist who was interested in consciousness as a discipline, and we shared an interest in what some call “the greater spiritual path.”

I had to tell, through flashbacks, about certain periods in my life when I describe experiences that are essential to understanding later events discussed in the book. These include moments when traveling with Eskimo friends to Diomede Island; or being at Nuchalwoya at Tanana. The main focus of the Master on the Mountain, however, is on a two year period, from 1977 to 1979, from my first meeting the Nechung Rinpoche in Hawaii, to Seattle, where the Dalai Lama came on his first visit to the United States.”
– Neville Abbott Jacobs

 

For more information, email literary@fairbanksarts.org or call (907) 456-6485 x224.