Simon Kidd

“There are currently very few writers in either East or West who demonstrate much understanding of mystical ranges, and hence the values here are largely in abeyance. The typical 'Western Mysticism,' of the modern variety, is an excuse for narcissism and banality. Its vaunted therapy is sometimes classified, appropriately enough, as Neo-Reichian. It is arguably suitable fare for an increasingly illiterate audience who are narrowing down their alternatives to one only: ignorance of real values.”
― Kevin R.D. Shepherd, Meaning in Anthropos

“I do not believe that all Eastern traditions reputed to have an esoteric value actually contain such value, since it is very often only nominal values that are represented. The esoteric is, far more often than not, a highly extroverted exercise in advertisement, gimmicks, and reliance upon hoary associations yoked to simplistic or erroneous belief ... What constitutes a traditional esoteric psychology is likely to remain a subject for disagreement amongst various parties, but one might venture to suggest that it would be invisible and unobtrusive by comparison with less esoteric manifestations of great secrets and prerogatives.”
― Kevin R.D. Shepherd, The Resurection of Philosophy

“The question of Meher Baba’s background context has to date been neglected. The devotional movement associated with his name has never shown any interest in antecedents. Former biographers have exhibited an ignorance of philosophical links pertaining to the subject’s ethnic and ideational heritage. These omissions require correction, not least because of the instructive nature of the links discernible.”
― Kevin R.D. Shepherd, Meher Baba, an Iranian Liberal

“... finer tendencies of the psyche are eroded by crude stimuli, crude verbiage, and crude behaviour.”
― Kevin R.D. Shepherd, Meaning in Anthropos