Works by
Tim Ward
(Writer)

Savage Breast: One Man's Search for the Goddess  (2006)
The Da Vinci Code tapped a deep fascination for the sacred feminine hidden at the heart of Christianity. Best-selling author Tim Ward digs deeper into this mystery, propelling the reader into the pre-Christian Goddess religions of the Mediterranean. Ward confronts tough questions

• Are men threatened by the innate power of the feminine?

• Why do men abuse, rape, and dominate women? Shouldn't loving relationships with the opposite sex be natural and easy?

• Did we all lose an essential part of ourselves when we turned our back on the feminine divine?

• How would opening to the feminine face of God help men resolve their issues with women?

• What would it take for men to really let go of patriarchy and genuinely accept women as equals?

To answer these questions, Ward decided to seek out the Goddess, with his own demons in tow. Over a period of three years he traveled to the ruined temples and shrines of the Goddess in the cradles of Western Civilization. At each he encountered one aspect of the many faces of the Goddess. He vividly recreates the experience of ancient believers the Eleusinian Mysteries of Demeter, the sexual rites of the priestesses of Aphrodite, and a human sacrifice on a mountaintop shrine in Crete. And in Turkey he sits at the feet of the many-breasted Artemis of Ephesus, whose rioting followers once threatened to kill the Apostle Paul. Facing the Goddess unleashes turbulent emotions for Ward. With frank honesty he describes the traumas that erupt in his relationship with the woman he loves, who accompanied him on many of his journeys.

This Day in Paradise: Contemporary and Historical Evidence of Life After Death (2002)

What the Buddha Never Taught (1998, 2007)
Tim Ward's classic "Behind the Robes" account of life one of the strictest monasteries in Thailand is back in print. Published in seven countries and five languages, What the Buddha Never Taught was a bestseller in Canada and a book-of-the-month selection in the US. It has been used as a classroom text in several universities as a great introduction to living Buddhism in the Therevada tradition. Notorious in Thailand for its candid observations of the struggles of white guys who put on ochre robes, the book is filled with gentle irony and self deprecating humor. How do you practice non-violence with a cobra in your bathroom? How can a novice monk overcome desire when there's a Mars Bar in his begging bowl?

Arousing the Goddess: Sex and Love in the Buddhist Ruins of India (1996, 2003)
Tim Ward spent six years in the Orient wandering the Dharma trail. He visited temples and monasteries, desert ashrams, and mountain top holy places, seeking out monks and mystics.

In this, his third and most sensual book, Tim falls in love with Sabina, who has come to India to research the temptation of the Buddha by Mara (Hinduism's devil) and his three daughters. The Buddha overcame his final temptation, in the moment before Enlightenment, by touching the earth beneath him, and asking the Earth to bear witness to his Realization. The Earth Goddess rose in his defense. For her thesis, Sabina must record and photograph rare Buddhist statues bearing this scene. Tim accompanies her as her assistant.

A mixture of sex, love, coming of age, and Buddhism, Arousing the Goddess is filled with humor and recognition of the absurdities of life. It has been praised for its honesty and insight.

The Great Dragon's Fleas (NIRVana Trilogy, 2) (1993)
From the Best selling Author of what the Buddha Never Taught comes a new metaphysical travel adventure. Exotic, entertaining and deeply thought provoking, this is the story of Tim Ward's search for enlightened monks and mystics in the course of his two year sojourn through Asia. Along the way he meets the Dalai Lama, stays at the ashram of Sai Baba, and in Ladakh studies under the Great Dragon, a reincarnated Tibetan Lama.
Yet it is the unknown Bodisattvas who affect Tim most deeply: individuals who practice compassion in the midst of Asia's most wretched poverty and strife, such as Torquil, a poor Bangladeshi social worker struggling to set up a self help group for destitute women, who invites Tim to visit him in his village home.

The Great Dragon's Fleas is sure to appeal to anyone interested mysticism, faith, occult powers, enlightenment, and the ancient cultures of a vast and mysterious continent.