The Wisconsin countryside here is lush and green. A very large man dressed in worn work clothes and scuffed hiking boots whom many will think is the Maitreya, the last incarnation of the Buddha from the West, stands in front of an enormous circular building that at first appearance looks to be a sporting arena or a cathedral. It is in fact an unusual monastery that houses a group of teachers, a dangerous quartet called the Masters of Revels, workers, monks engaged in researches and practices that portend radical changes of the symbols of transformation that might save or destroy the world. The tramp decides to join this community at the risk of his sanity and life, but in which he will help to take the path of this subversive place. He barely survives his various ordeals and leaves the ABC Center to make mischief in the wreckage of the America of his time. In the distant present-future occurs a gigantic battle led by him where many issues between warring monist and dualistic philosophies will finally be settled.
About the Author: Steven Fortney started life in Rogers, North Dakota and was born 2 January 37 in Minneapolis Swedish Hospital. Raised in the Lutheran Church by a Chaplain and later Pastor father, in a military family that traveled extensively all over the United States in Army Posts, including childhood residences in Germany and Austria, immediately after WWII. Military Service includes Civil Air Patrol, US Reserve Navy, Army ROTC; married, Ruth Ann Geyer, since 1960, has four children, nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin in Classics and Philosophy 1959, attended Luther Theological Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota for the 1960-61 term. He was a newspaperman (adman, reporter, columnist and printer) for four years, 1961-64. He graduated from the School of Education at UW-Madison and certified as a secondary teacher in 1964 and taught high school for 31 years; has lived in Stoughton, Wisconsin since 1961. He was a union negotiator for 25 years and became an alderman on Stoughton City Council 1976-1997 and for six years served as the Chief Negotiator for the city, and was acting mayor twice. Took initiation in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition from the Dalai Lama in 1981 and again in 1986. Had his naming ceremony in the Zen tradition at Fukujuji Temple, with Priest and celebrated novelist Sokyu Hashimoto, in Miharu, Japan in 1992. Took early retirement in 1995 to devote full time to writing. He fishes and hunts and gardens and reads like mad. He has lived in Stoughton, Wisconsin on and off since 1955. Has published poems in the following magazines and anthologies and has been listed in A Directory of American Poets and Fiction Writers, since the 1989-90 Edition.