Awakening to Wholeness - A Practical Guide to Spiritual Growth

Overview

Awakening to Wholeness describes a two-fold path of awakening that combines psychological and spiritual development. Psychology is concerned with the personal aspects of our being (i.e. body, emotions, mind and ego-self) and spirituality is concerned with the transpersonal aspects of our being (i.e. soul and true-Self):

•  Psychological Development means "growing up" psychologically, i.e. freeing ourselves from the childish, defensive, reactive and egotistical programming that keeps us from living life fully consciously. It involves mastering (not repressing) our thoughts, emotions and bodies to free ourselves from the fears, inhibitions, conditioned behaviours, reactive emotions, critical judgements and limiting beliefs that prevent us from living happy, peaceful and fulfilling lives. This is achieved by dissolving the "negative" psychological material that keeps us trapped in these old patterns, and by actively expressing positive qualities in our daily lives.
•  Spiritual Development means "waking up" spiritually, i.e. raising our level of consciousness (to connect with our true-Self) and widening our breadth of consciousness (to experience life more fully). It is not about transcending the world; it is about bringing higher levels of consciousness down into our being and expressing them in our daily lives. It is about being here as fully as we can and experiencing all of life. There is nothing we can actually "do" to spiritually evolve because it is the result of not doing, undoing or being. Simply "being" is at the core of every authentic spiritual practice, including meditation, mindfulness and prayer.

Awakening to Wholeness clearly and comprehensively describes the dynamics of human consciousness, ego-development, psychological healing, personal development and spiritual growth. It also includes a range of powerful transformational tools, techniques and practices that can help us to:

• Understand why we think and behave the way we do.
• Heal and re-integrate the wounded parts of our psyche.
• Manifest our full potential.
• Let go of the things that are holding us back.
• Lead a happier, richer and more fulfilling life.
• Know and express our true-Self.
• Realise that what we have been searching for has always been here – inside of us.
• Recognise that the opportunity to awaken is always right here and now.

Reviews

Simply remarkable!

I have spent many years studying human psychology and the various methods of approaching psychological healing. However, nothing comes near to this! The author has once again written a concise and useable volume that anyone should be able to understand and derive tremendous benefit from. The author doesn't offer any quick fixes, but instead gives qualitative direction as to how to heal our psychological wounds and re-engage with our core Self, the residence of our soul - the holy of holies, where we can once again rejoin the flow of life from a balanced and harmonious basis. In order to heal ourselves we must first understand our sickness and those influences that are toxic to our soul. The author does a fine job in explaining why and how this happens to us. But more importantly he clearly shows how we can reverse this process, should we choose to put the effort into it. If you put this understanding and the techniques detailed in this book into regular, sustained practice, then you will undoubtedly enjoy what Carl Rogers once coined as 'the Good Life'. Buy it - you wont regret it!

Extremely Helpful, Insightful and Reader-Friendly

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning to live their life gracefully. It is a priceless book for any spiritual seeker because it emphasizes the practical, daily aspects of living and dealing with psychological obstacles. In addition, it would be helpful to anyone interested in psychological healing and developing a new, higher perspective on life. This book provides us with a deep understanding of our being and allows us to heal ourselves and become whole by understanding and accepting all aspects of our psyche. It emphasizes the importance of treating ourselves with love, compassion, and acceptance, and is devoid of "moralism" and dogmatism. Living life is an art, and it takes wisdom, psychological knowledge, and skills to master that art. This book offers much needed guidance on doing this. The book is extremely reader-friendly in that it presents the information in a highly coherent and personal manner. It is not overly technical and yet it makes all the necessary distinctions and clarifies a lot of gray areas. In addition, it is greatly formatted which makes it appealing and easy to read. Highly recommended.

A Must Read for Those on the Spiritual Path

This book explains, in a logical and straightforward way, the daily methods, techniques, and living of one's life that lead to Self-realization and the evolution of one's spirituality. If you are seeking direct answers to the questions "Why am I here?" or "Who am I?" etc., this is the book for you. This work transcends the Eurocentric theological dogma that permeates Western approaches to living a spiritual life. This book provides accessible, practical wisdom that you can apply in your daily life. This work is not pedantic and does not proselytize any belief system making itself applicable to any faith, religion, or non-sectarian. This work adds to the literature and methods for achieving enlightenment rather than simply recompile what has already been said in so many other publications. Read it! You won't be disappointed.

Quite Unique!

This new book is quite different to the author's first book (The Science of Spirituality), which is great because I wanted to read something new... and it really is quite unique! This book is focussed more on inner realms of psychology and experiential spirituality rather than the external realms of metaphysics. It describes an "integrated two-fold path", which involves exploring the psychological depths of our being and integrating them with the spiritual heights of our being. On an intellectual level the book has helped me to understand how and why my ego-self developed, how to accept it, and how to reintegrate it into the wholeness of my being. On an experiential level the techniques and practices are helping me to realize more of my true nature and begin to liberate myself from my ego's reactive patterns.