"I know I'm NOTHING," Joe once bellowed, "no-thing, no-thing ... just a wild-assed spark of the Infinite functioning in the finite." -- Great Song: Life & Teachings of Joe Miller (Maypop, 1993), p. 80
The legendary American sage Joe Miller was a retired vaudeville and burlesque entertainer, with an 8th grade education. He never traveled to the East. But the East came to him. Visiting Tibetan teachers called him a "Lama" and a "Tulku." Visiting Sufi teachers called him "Murshid" (Master) and "Madzoub" (Idiot of God). Visiting Indian teachers called him "Swami" and thanked him for his Darshan. Visiting Korean and Japanese teachers recognized him as a "Zen Master." He was given numerous unsolicited titles, but never used them. He shared the deepest teachings for free. He said he was not a teacher, he said he was "just a friend." He never took any money from any of us, he said he lived off his "rich uncle" (i.e., his social security check). Hundreds of people gathered in Golden Gate Park every Thursday morning to take a walk with him. His only official affiliation was with the San Francisco Lodge of the Theosophical Society. "Great Song: Life and Teachings of Joe Miller" is a collection of his talks and oral history. The book is edited, annotated and introduced by Richard Power. It was originally published in print form in 1992 by friend and colleague Coleman Barks (Maypop); Barks granted Power the electronic rights so that it can live on.
