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By Deardra Shuler
Dr. Kanya Vashon McGhee is a fascinating man. He is a man who has committed his life to learning and the acquisition of knowledge; all knowledge -- including spiritual, scientific, historic and ancient knowledge. At one time, his bookstore “The Tree of Life,” attracted 15,000 patrons a month. Scholars, theologians and wisdom seekers from all over the world came to the Center to take advantage of the vast wealth of information McGhee had compiled. Even school dropouts came to the Center to study in the stores’ Aquarian Science Reading Room. The Tree of Life became so revered as an edifice of learning, it was known as Harlem’s metaphysical Mecca for seekers of truth. The Tree of Life bookstore was the pride of Harlem until greedy Harlem politicians decided monetary wealth was more valuable than intellectual and spiritual wealth. These politicos forced the bookstore off the corner of 125th Street and Lenox Avenue (a location they considered prime real estate), even though Harlem Community Planning Board #10 had given The Tree of Life a mandate to remain at the site for 20 years.
Born Norman L. McGhee, Jr., in Cleveland, Ohio, Dr. McGhee (a.k.a. Dr. Kanya) had an innate spiritual gift that enabled him to tune into his spiritual nature. Possessing a clear memory of his former lives, he was very aware he was born to a specific purpose. Educated in a predominately Jewish H.S., Kanya went on to study civil engineering in college but it didn’t hold his interest. Conflicted, Dr. Kanya went into the military for awhile. After his stint in the service he returned to college and attended Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea, Ohio. The college was too racist for his taste so Kanya decided to seek his education elsewhere. He ended up attending McGill University (a.k.a. the Harvard of Canada) in Quebec where he studied science and business. “While at McGill, I studied alongside the likes of Edgar Bronfman, the president of Seagram Distilleries and many of the sons and daughters of the wealthy. I learned that fraternities and sororities in White Ivy League schools were very different from fraternities and sororities in Black schools. Primarily, they are social clubs in black schools but in white schools these organizations are about business. These clubs help the sons and daughters of the privileged to place themselves in powerful positions, gain influential connections and marry into the ‘right’ social strata in order to keep the power within a small circle” recalled the purveyor of wisdom.
McGhee stumbled upon a book while at the university entitled “Cosmic Consciousness” written by a doctor who had attended McGill University. The doctor’s book turned Kanya onto the 3 levels of consciousness and how they are changing. As well as how man’s higher consciousness could be accessed. These books left Kanya thirsty for knowledge and set him off on a quest to obtain greater understanding. He followed his quest to England where he sought to study under an Indian professor at Oxford University. His area of interest became psychology and philosophy. However, Oxford did not offer him the spiritual philosophy he sought. Eventually, the roving scholar heard that the American Academy of Asian Studies (affiliated with the University of the Pacific in San Francisco) was offering MAs and PhDs so he pursued courses which eventually earned him a Masters degree in the Study of Indian Philosophy. After securing his degree, Kanya realized he would need to pursue something more practical to earn money. Because his father was the first black man to found a mutual fund, he decided to move to New York where he formed a partnership with two Wall Street brokers in an effort to underwrite the Every Man Mutual Fund. The funding effort was successful until the stock market crash of 1970.
“Around1969/1970, I started the Tree of Life bookstore as an experiment,” stated Dr. Kanya. “I initiated the bookstore, because at the time, I discovered 80% of the kids in Harlem dropped out of school before completing high school. I found out that many of these kids got into drugs and then prison. I went to teach in the prisons and discovered that many of the men in prison were highly intelligent. Initially, I set up a booth within the African Market right next door to the Michaud Bookstore. Most of the people going into Michaud went there to read the works of black authors. My books were metaphysical and focused on the inner man not the outer man. However, these books turned on so many people that we ended up taking over the African Market which was 12,000 square feet of space. That marked the official beginning of the Tree of Life Bookstore. The Tree of Life was in operation 10 years when eventually Congressman Charles Rangel decided he wanted to put up a $100 million dollar Trade Center Hotel Complex right on the corner where the Tree of Life was located,” alleged Dr. McGhee. “Finally, these politicians and forces to be got together, accused me of being a squatter, suppressed the information I showed them to prove I wasn’t, took me to Court, got me out, and tore down the building that housed the Tree of Life. As a result, a wonderful, serious project to aid and educate our black community in Harlem was lost.”
Kanya was bankrupted. Though he tried to fight back and relocate he was unsuccessful. Eventually, he moved to Florida and then to Atlanta, Ga. “I tried to start the bookstore in Florida but it just wasn’t the ideal location. The south is the Bible belt. People go to Florida to retire and vacation. Within the southern black communities there tended to be both monetary and spiritual impoverishment. People’s mindsets were closed to any spiritual information outside of their religious training. Although, I did see some interest in my project in Florida, it wasn’t sufficient enough to make it worthwhile. Therefore, I decided to move to Atlanta in 1992. I thought a bookstore of the Tree of Life’s caliber might have a better chance in Atlanta. I started doing radio shows, seminars and classes and set up the store in a very small way. However, to date, I haven’t been able to reinstate the Tree of Life in a way that would be most advantageous and beneficial to its long term growth and survival” explained the educator.
Among the books, people and topics Dr. Kanya has compiled, interviewed and discussed throughout his career have been: colloidal silver, the ozone, chemtrails, disease, forbidden cures, immunity boosting, nutrition, politics, cell phone towers, vaccine dangers, extraterrestrials, lucid dreams, bioelectrification, the Indigo children, the Hermetic Principles which are the 7 Universal Laws; information on ancient civilizations such as the Lemurians, the Atlanteans, the Egyptians, Africans, Indians, Chinese, South Americans, the Near Eastern societies, the indigenous North Americans, the Greeks, the Mayans and Celts. He has interviewed notables such as Al Bielek of the Philadelphia Experiment, Medicine man and Spiritual teacher Red Elk of the Heyoka Society, Viktoras Kulvinskas, author of the book Survival In the 21st Century, Civil Rights Activist Dick Gregory, Ted Terry, publisher of Afrocentricnews.com, Dr. Boyd Graves, author of State Origin: The Evidence of the Laboratory Birth of AIDS’ and well known conspiracy author David Icke. Kanya is the host of his own radio show, The Tree of Life on the Rainbow Soul channel which is aired on BlakeRadio.com, an Internet radio station, broadcasted on the BlakeRadio Network where he features guests and subject matters such as Consciousness; God; Karma; the New Sexuality; Life, Death and Reincarnation; Enlightenment; Astrology; Drugs; Mind Control and a myriad of subject matter to enlighten and influence mankind.
Married to his work, Kanya sees his patrons as the children of his mission in life, which is the opening of knowledge within each person. “I am not a teacher per se but rather a nudger that enables people to find the wisdom within. We have a saying within the Tree of Life that says: ‘The books at the Tree of Life contain knowledge that you know but that you do not know you know” states Kanya.
Dr. Kanya is presently in consultation with individuals who may possibly be able to provide the funding and enough sufficient capital to enable the Tree of Life to once again regain its former grandeur. These assets may even enable his bookstore to expand into 43 cities throughout the nation.
Interested parties who wish to learn more about the Tree of Life and about Dr. Kanya’s volume of work can reach him through his website at www.naturalusa.com/ads/treeoflife.html or at his toll free number of (866) 840-5700.
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