SHARON SCHULZ-ELSING
Contributing Editor, Curled Up With a Good Book
An Epiphany of self-realization…
In the ground-breaking tradition of The Celestine Prophecy and Conversations with God, Serpent’s Dance (book 1) by Shri Yannam is an extraordinary memoir cum novel cum self-transformation guide. Inspired by the ancient wisdom of the author’s Eastern background, Yannam uncovers twenty-one secrets of self-mastery through a surreal but powerful conversation with his soul guide, who appears to him in the form of a cobra in the wreckage of a tornado’s aftermath.
RICHARD FULLER
Senior Editor, Metaphysical Reviews
Here is a fast-paced and in-depth look at life, the real life often hidden under layers of day-to-day situations, not unlike a downtown building in sore need of a sand blasting. Author, speaker, musician and artist Shri Yannam has woven a provocative conversation between himself and his soul…and his path to self-mastery. Serpent’s Dance cuts through these strata of self-absorption, stress, need for things and ego to reveal the secrets to transformation to re-align with one’s divine Self. The author and his soul, in the form of a cobra, penetrate the spell we cast upon ourselves when we step away from truth.
“Within you, the Masculine and the Feminine are the two major aspects of your psyche…simply put, your Masculine is the assertive force…your Feminine is the receptive force…if they dance in harmony you create success, otherwise, you fail.” This Truth begins the reader’s journey to enlightenment, and Serpent’s Dance becomes the illumination of that path. As Mr. Yannam recounts his transformation, nuggets of wisdom and discovery shine through. “Become what thou seeks, and thou shall have it.” So, if you want to have fun, become fun. This principle applies to everything you seek in life: happiness, joy, love, peace, and prosperity.
Serpent’s Dance offers the means to discover who you really are—and with the acceptance of who you really are, you become free of the influences of others. Shri Yannam has written a book of revelations in a novel format. Serpent’s Dance is all-at-once a page-turner (you’ll not be able to set it down), filled with the path to find your true Self and freedom!
MATT MATHEWS
Technical writer, Editor, Book reviewer
This book simply defies being categorized. The Serpent’s Dance, Book 1 (of a trilogy) seems to be three things at once. First, it is a fictionalized account of the author’s experience that portrays a transformational shift from being the victim of circumstances to intentionally creating his world. It integrates the author’s experience with ancient wisdom, which results in “ah-ha” experiences for both author and reader. Second, the book is very entertaining and rich with imagery. I found it difficult to put down. Yannam’s vivid descriptions put readers in the middle of the action. Third, The Serpent’s Dance is almost an instructional book. At a minimum, Yannam implies that similar insights and mastery of self are open to practitioners of meditation.
Yannam’s descriptions are so vivid it’s like you are there. And such insights he has! When our hero gets the green light to move in with a new girlfriend and is given free reign to redecorate her house while she goes on vacation, instead of red flags, he sees an opportunity. Of course when she returns, the confrontation is inevitable. A serpent named Siddhah is Shri’s confidant and mentor throughout the book. In conversations with Siddhah, Shri discovers how problems can be opportunities for learning. The serpent illustrates how events actually played out perfectly to reveal the actors’ inner needs and unspoken intentions.
Historically, the symbol of the serpent emphasizes knowledge or inner wisdom, with an initially frightening aspect. The serpent is at once both revered and reviled. It exemplifies wisdom and secret knowledge, similar to the wise old man. In The Serpent’s Dance, Book 1, the serpent at first represents the destruction of the author’s physical world and his point of view about the “reality” he has experienced in relationships and a near-fatal accident that left his lower half paralyzed. Shri (as protagonist) has a conversation with the serpent in which he discovers that destruction is necessary for creation to occur. Further he discovers how various problems in relationships and the accident actually served the purpose of manifesting his inner needs or unconscious motivations. In other words, there is perfection in how things turned out that lead to inner development.
Siddhah’s secrets seem to echo many of the enlightened perspective of the world’s treasured spiritual writings. They actually make sense when presented next to the episodes in the author’s life.
I heartily recommend Serpent’s Dance for its entertaining and readable style. As Shri fearlessly bares his soul, you just might also learn something about yourself.
SARUAH (SARAH BENSON)
Co-Director of Earth Sound Light Center, MA. Author of WITHIN THE SOUND
Come back to the Garden with Shri Yannam’s journey, “Serpent’s Dance: Secrets of Self-Mastery.” In a delightfully authentic way Shri becomes a master weaver, threading the warp and weft of the time-space continuum, magnifying the present moment with the lens of soul vision. Through dialogue with Soul disguised as the mythical serpent, universal wisdom is woven with direct individual experience of the living present.
Secrets are revealed through the mirror of reality, illusion, and the individual’s part in the creation of that reality. Formulas are offered to aid the reader’s memory in receiving the gifts of the lessons we humans create to help us evolve into truly conscious, fully alive beings on this transforming planet.
Once you start reading you won’t stop. And then you’ll want to go back and write down those secrets and formulas in your journal for easy reference. They’ll help you through your own journey back to the Garden.
DONNA HUBER MIESBACH
Poet, writer, and teacher.
(Donna Miesbach is the author of Trails of Stardust — Poems of Inspiration and Insight. Donna is also the Editor and Publisher of Gleanings, a Bi-Monthly Discussion of Life Issues. For the past twenty years, Donna’s inspirational poems and articles have reached around the globe through such mediums as Unity Magazine, Daily Word, Chicken Soup for the teenage soul II, and the John Milton Society for the blind.)
I’ve finished your book, and just want to say that you are to be commended not only for working through some mighty big challenges, but also for finding a way to use them for the benefit of others as well as for yourself, and in such a creative way, too. … You’ve not only made it interesting to the reader, but plausible, too. You’ve hit upon things some people never figure out, and put them in such a way that they can be understood. Your on-going discussion about how our home and our environment are a direct reflection of ourself is right on, but for me the best by far was your explanation of how everything we perceive as being outside us actually exists within us. That is such a difficult concept to grasp, particularly with regard to time and space. Yours is the best explanation of that truth that I have ever come across.
If the entire book was written for the sole purpose of getting pages 219-224 (especially page 220!) into print, it would have been reason enough to do it. I’d like to see page 220 pasted on every billboard and printed in every paper so we could all wake up and realize what we’re doing to ourselves. That won’t happen, of course, but you’ve planted the seed, and every seed that’s planted does eventually reap a harvest, so just know you’ve planted some pretty important seeds, Shri, and that there are many of us who are grateful.
God bless you, Shri - and thanks so much for sharing.
With love,
Donna
JONATHAN GOLDMAN
Director of Sound Healers Association;
Internationally acclaimed sound healer, teacher and Chant Master; Author of HEALING SOUNDS, SHIFTING FREQUENCIES and the LOST CHORD.
Serpent’s Dance is a marvelous journey into the realms of spiritual self-discovery. There are fine insights in here which the readers will enjoy and find useful in employing in their own lives.
READER REVIEWS
LAUREN PICKARD
Healer/Artist/Activist
The Serpent’s Dance is a comprehensive dialogue between Shri, the author, and a serpent, the author’s chosen spirit form representing our super-consciousness or God-consciousness. This insightful conversation explores the depths of Shri’s spiritual transformation through the perspective of his personal relationships.
I came to this book during a time of deep emotional healing. Life is an anthology of relationships, and when you heal one aspect, you automatically open the doors to healing them all. As Shri shares his journey of transcendence, it’s an opportunity and an invitation to heal along with him.
The greatest teachers impart wisdom by example. The Serpent’s Dance offers any reader an example of how to exist within the dichotomy of life, naturally balanced. It’s intimate, comical, and its’ vast, colorful concepts of self-mastery are presented in simple terms, with situational references. This book reflects the innate wisdom within each of us and reminds us that our transformation, or “shedding of old skin,” is always unfolding.
SARA “SALLY” HOSTELLEY
Character Clown & Certified Laughter Leader
I am reading Shri Yannam’s book, Serpent’s Dance slowly. There’s so much to digest here…because it’s so deep and so profound. I love it! I like to close the book from time to time, and reflect on the author’s experience after each of the serpent’s secrets. The secrets quickly resonate with me, and take me to a deeper/higher level of awareness/understanding. Then I experience a release, and find myself becoming lighter in countless uplifting ways.
RAM BHANDARI
Retired Corporate Engineering Consultant
When I got Shri Yannam’s book, Serpent’s Dance, at first I merely flipped through the pages, peeking into the contents here and there to see if it’d interest me. As I did, I paused to glance at some of the so-called Serpent’s secrets (in bold italicized text). But my inquisitive mind longed to dig into the details leading to the secrets. And before I knew it, I found myself reading the entire book in just one sitting…from start to finish! As I read, I realized that the book was about the author’s own life transforming experiences. So it became that much more interesting.
As it so often happens to our rational minds, when it is blocked suddenly by an insurmountable obstacle, an intense process of self-inquiry begins. This leads one to discover the essential nature of self and its binding to universal spirit. The intellect dives into the subconscious, empties itself of all rational thought, and rises again to reach spirit in order to understand the essence nature of reality. This is precisely what has happened to Shri Yannam.
Traditionally, in ancient Indian scriptures, a central principle is stated before an exhaustive explanation is put forth, further helped along by parables to drive the point home. Though Shri Yannam seeks to do the same thing, there is a difference in his approach. Shri dives into the conflict first (taking the reader with him)…before both resurface again with enough wisdom to understand and dissolve the conflict in question. This is precisely what makes his writing so interesting and so relevant to our present times. Rather than use traditional parables, Shri employs the struggles and conflicts imbued in our contemporary lives. Thus profound wisdom, inherent in spirit itself, is brought forth in a manner that makes it easy to assimilate.
MARY-HELEN LEONARD
Massage Therapist
Serpent’s Dance is a brave and intimate account of one man’s challenging journey to discovering his true nature. Compelling because of its honesty, mystery and logic. I eagerly anticipate Volume II.
ANNA PARKINS
Certified Practitioner of Sound Energy Dynamics & Energy Medicine Practitioner
In re-reading Serpent’s Dance, I am again finding the writing exhilarating and fast. Once you get past the first few pages and find the serpent’s secrets, you will be hooked. I find the stories and escapades quite amusing and understandable, that I could relate easily as we all experience in our relationships. On the other hand the lessons to be learned are hard-hitting and thought provoking. This book is so appropriate to current times. The author has bared his soul, spoken truth and surrendered to public scrutiny. In reading this book, you will grow and become enlightened to your own soul dancing.
PATRICK C. R. HOLMES
Attorney At Law, Carstens, Yee & Cahoon, L.L.P.
To me, the Serpent’s Dance is a book about learning how to live in harmony with yourself and those around you. Shri combines an excellent storytelling style with his own personal insights and experiences to weave his story, and the result is a soulful journey that is both a fantasy and a realistic look at human behavior. His counterpart in the story, the Serpent, is a frank and sagacious advisor who shows the narrator a new way to see himself. Drawing on everything from eastern philosophy to western psychology, Shri shows us in a clear and entertaining way that we too can benefit from the Serpent’s teachings.
JULIUS ECK
Retired U.S. Air Force Veteran, Artist, Craftsman, Home Remodellor
This book opens with a exciting, riveting dialog of the development of a North Texas weather phenomenon — a Tornado, its’ touchdown and the resulting chaos, devastation and frightening circumstances. So what does a Tornado have to do with a “Serpent’s Dance”? For that matter, what is a “Serpent’s Dance”? As you will see, Shri Yannam proceeds to skillfully and cleverly craft this attention-getting stormy opening into the introduction of the touchdown, destruction and change of perception that was brought into his own personal life. It is the true story of his courage, toughness, anger, tears, and then the eventual peace, or at least reconciliation, of coming to terms with human life in a new form, from a changed- perspective.
In most every book I have read I have become aware of the occurrence that somewhere amongst the pages lies a few lines or paragraphs that “glue” the book together. That is, they very directly, sometimes profoundly, express, concisely, what the message is that the author seeks communicate in through the entire book. Here, I believe that I have found such words on page 58.: “For now, suffice it to say that compassion by the self, for the self would have worked a lot better. But you see - if you had compassion, then you would have been heart-centered. Which you weren’t. You don’t know what it meant to be heart-centered, nor did you really want to know. You humans turn yourselves into overwhelmingly complex bundles of energies when you slip into your heads and out of your hearts. The head is always trying to figure things out as it tries to make sense of the infinity of variables that life seems to throw at you. The heart already knows all [that] there is to know. [The composer] Mozart once said, “All the music [that] I want to compose has already been written. Such an awareness can only come thru [sic] a heart- centered awareness, from a sense of being that permeates you through and through.” And further: ” If you had self-compassion, you would not have needed a crisis to awaken you. A warm, open heart allows for simple, powerful awareness to settle into your bones, without effort, without struggle, without friction, without pain, where no stick-and-carrot method can do the trick. A heart will take you places where no head can, [nor] no head will!
Summing it up, this entire book was apparently written by Shri Yannam from his heart and soul and it does profoundly have heart. It is his desire now to give this to the world.
JENNIFER RICE
Lead singer/musician, school-teacher
As a soon to be married couple, we were searching for guidance in the realm of spiritual exploration. Shri’s book is a candid, insightful look into the human spirit, and his personal accounts touched our lives and hearts. No matter what spiritual beliefs the reader may or may not hold, there is much to be gained in personal guidance and transformation. We have experienced a self-awareness and insight that has strengthened our relationship as a couple. Shri’s writing style is personable and easy to follow without sacrificing depth. Each episodic lesson is culminated with concise and memorable “gems”. We recommend this book to anyone who has a desire to attain self-realization and growth that will enhance their relationships.
RICHARD COURSEY
Software developer, auto-didact, garage musician, tinkerer
SERPENT’S DANCE is a case study in how the universe mirrors or reflects our consciousness. I recommend it to everyone seeking to better understand themselves!!
