What if you spent years of your life seeking spiritual enlightenment, but were looking in the wrong place over a long time? It’s happening right now to millions of seekers around the world.
That’s why Dr. Robert Forman has written his revolutionary book, which has recently become an Award-Winning Finalist in the Spirituality Category of The USA “Best Books 2011″ Awards. Told in often poetic prose, Enlightenment Ain’t … offers new direction for people looking for a sane and healthy spiritual pathway in our increasingly confusing world.
Traditional spiritual models are giving seekers a wrong and frustrating impression about spiritual enlightenment. By exploring his own 39 year experience of spiritual enlightenment, Dr. Forman offers a remedy to folks who are:
- Convinced they don’t have the right stuff to achieve enlightenment in this lifetime.
- Disillusioned by spiritual teachers who don’t live up to their lofty self-portraits
- Worried that choosing a spiritual life means leaving their everyday life behind.
- Hungry for a different way to be, but unable to express it.
Through metaphor, humor, vulnerability and achingly beautiful prose, Dr. Forman’s book offers new found hope to spiritual seekers everywhere.
Dr Robert Forman – ‘Enlightenment Ain’t What It’s Cracked Up to Be’ – Interview by Iain McNay
Dr Robert Forman ‘Enlightenment Ain’t What It’s Cracked Up to Be‘ Interview by Iain McNay
Author of several books including ‘Enlightenment Ain’t What It’s Cracked Up to Be’ and Director of ‘The Forge Institute for Spirituality and Social Change’ talks about his spiritual search and how the ‘pot of gold’ he longed for was not what it was cracked up to be. But in time he realised that it was of a kind and nature, wholly different than anything he could have known to wish for. He also discovered that transformation at that level comes by grace and not by self-adjustment. ‘It is time we stopped mistaking the content for the awareness that beholds it.’ ‘Vastness issues a challenge; tell the truth so completely there is nothing left to be afraid of.’
In this book, psychotherapist David Richo explores how we replay the past in our present-day relationships—and how we can free ourselves from this destructive pattern. We all have a tendency to transfer potent feelings, needs, expectations, and beliefs from childhood or from former relationships onto the people in our daily lives, whether they are our intimate partners, friends, or acquaintances. When the Past Is Present helps us to become more aware of the ways we slip into the past so that we can identify our emotional baggage and take steps to unpack it and put it where it belongs.
David Richo, PhD, is a therapist and author who leads popular workshops on personal and spiritual growth.
Whatever the differences in their methods and goals, psychotherapy, existentialism, and Buddhism are concerned with the same fundamental issues of life and death and death-in-life. In this unique work, David Loy brings all three traditions together for the first time in a synthesis receptive to the insights of each, thereby casting fresh light on familiar problems.
Igor Anvar Kufayev was born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. In his childhood he had many experiences associated with awakening. An artist by nature he studied philosophy, theology, aesthetics and sacred geometry. In his late twenties, faced with crisis brought by personal traumas, he was trampolined into the higher level of awareness. Initiated into meditation in a dream, Igor immersed himself into the practice of yoga. A year later he learned Transcendental Meditation and practiced it diligently for several years.
Many of us identify with a mixture of thoughts, perceptions and sensations. The people around us, our teachers and our friends, believe that they are separate entities and we naturally follow their example without question. This identification with our body and mind seems deeply rooted but investigation reveals that it is the origin of discontentment and unhappiness. 
The Ancestral Continuum is an extraordinary investigation into the spiritual and emotional legacies we inherit at our birth from our ancestors, and a powerful and revolutionary blueprint for transforming how we feel about ourselves. The book takes you on a journey to discover how humanity, throughout time and around the world, acknowledges loved ones who have died and honors those who came before them. And it will give you the tools to explore your family tree, meet your ancestors anew and find your way through the labyrinth of your own legacy. You will begin to see yourself as just one strand in a never-ending tapestry of history and emotion, personality and achievement, tragedy and death, that will continue through your family into eternity.
Natalia O’Sullivan is a holistic therapist, psychic, and spiritual counselor who combines modern psychological thinking with ancient wisdom. She has studied psychology and mastered holistic arts. She lives in Somerset with her husband Terry O’Sullivan a spiritual healer, Soul Rescuer, and land healer and their three children.
Nicola Graydon is a freelance journalist, broadcaster, writer, and editor who has written for The Sunday Times Magazine, The Saturday Telegraph Magazine, The Daily Mail, and Mail on Sunday, The Evening Standard, Eve, Marie Claire, and Harpers Bazaar. Currently she lives in Los Angeles where she is writing and developing film and television programs. 
Most of us know it well – the almost physical sensation that we are the object of someone’s attention. Is the feeling all in our head? And what about related phenomena, such as telepathy and premonitions? Are they merely subjective beliefs? In The Sense of Being Stared At, renowned biologist Rupert Sheldrake explores the intricacies of the mind and discovers that our perceptive abilities are stronger than many of us could have imagined.
Rupert Sheldrake, one of the world’s most innovative biologists and writers, is best known for his theory of morphic fields and morphic resonance, which leads to a vision of a living, developing universe with its own inherent memory.
Have you ever had a thought so monumental, it literally changed your life?
Why is it that despite our best efforts, many of us remain fundamentally unhappy and unfulfilled in our lives? In this provocative and inspiring book, David Richo distills thirty years of experience as a therapist to explain the underlying roots of unhappiness—and the surprising secret to finding freedom and fulfillment. 
BLUEPRINT TO THE BOOK
Dr. Gersten practices integrative psychiatry and nutritional medicine out of his office in Encinitas, California. He writes from his personal experience, his work with patients, and the wisdom of the ages. Author The POW Survival Guide (dedicated to the Allied Troops of Operation Desert Storm), Mental imagery consultant to Rodale Press on 18 books, columnist on Alternative Medicine for The Life Connection, publisher Atlantis the Imagery Newsletter, and author of more than 300 published articles. He has consulted to the White House on alternative medicine. Dr. Gersten is also an accomplished musician and composer of 2200 songs and 7 symphonic works. Being half doctor/healer and half artist/musician allows him to bring a wide breadth of experience to his work with patients. While psychiatry tends to focus on what’s wrong, Dr. Gersten strives to place as much emphasis on “what’s right,” helping through his clinical work, personal experience, and writings, to help people deepen their spiritual connection, find their purpose or mission and remove the obstacles to their dreams. 
An ancient East Indian concept of human beings is the five sheaths. The soul or spirit is believed to be the center, like an onion, with five layers that surround the Center. The outer layer is the physical body. Inside that is the “vital energy sheath” and inside that is the “mental sheath” or the mind. Inside the mental sheath is the “wisdom sheath.” Between the wisdom sheath and the soul is the “bliss sheath.”
The High Heeled Guide to Enlightenment is the must have book for females who are looking to connect to something other than their internet provider! Alice Grist jumps stilettos first into all things spiritual and conjures up an entertaining, witty and honest account of her search for Enlightenment.
An experiential guide to the spiritual path of the Holy Grail
David R. Loy is a professor, writer, and Zen teacher in the Sanbo Kyodan tradition of Japanese Zen Buddhism. His essays and books have been translated into many languages. He lectures & leads workshops nationally and internationally on various topics, focusing primarily on the encounter between Buddhism and modernity, social and ecological issues.
In this luminous collection of poems, Walker casts her eye on history, politics, and nature, as well as world figures. In tributes to such people as Jimmy Carter, Gloria Steinem, and the Dalai Lama, she reminds us of the urgency of our times and of our human capacity to come together and take action. Walker imbues her poetry with memorable images, anger, forgiveness, and profound wisdom. Chronicling the conditions of human life today, she demonstrates in The World Will Follow Joy her deep compassion, profound spirituality, and necessary political commitments.
Alice Walker was born on February 9, 1944, in Eatonton, Georgia. She worked as a social worker, teacher and lecturer, and took part in the 1960s Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi. Walker won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for her 1982 novel, The Color Purple, and is also an acclaimed poet and essayist.
Awakening and using intuitive abilities no longer causes eyebrows to rise. Women, in particular, are seeking information on how-to wake up their inner expert. Their interests range from chakra balancing to cosmic-ordering, future life progression to self-hypnosis with plenty in-between This book has all the techniques that Barbara demonstrates and teaches during her retreats and workshops. These were developed as a fun way to meld the esoteric with the corporate. Barbara shows how to understand your mind using hypnotic meditative techniques that lead naturally to expansion of self-awareness. Inner abilities are switched on in a fun easy manner. The Psychic Way is everything you need to know about being super-intuitive plus how to use the knowledge for pleasure or to ensure success in business.
Barbara is a holistic therapist and muse. She has been running a private hypnotherapy and training school for twenty years.
Khenpo Gawang Rinpoche is the founder and spiritual director of Pema Karpo Meditation Center in Memphis, Tennessee. Having completed twenty-seven years as a monk, twelve years of teaching experience, and nine years of study at the Buddhist University of Namdroling Monastery in South India, he holds a Khenpo degree, the Buddhist equivalent of a PhD. Gawang Rinpoche came to the United States in 2004 at the invitation of Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche and Shambhala International. He proudly became an American citizen in 2012. 
Richard Harvey (Granada, Spain) is a psychotherapist, author, and spiritual teacher with thirty-five years of experience. He is the founder-director of Therapy and Spirituality, a personal and spiritual growth center in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in Spain. He has helped thousands of people find greater peace and fulfillment in their lives through workshops, courses, training, and private therapy practice.
The keys to self-knowledge and deep contentment are right here before us in this very moment—if we can simply learn to live with open awareness. In The Unfolding Now, A. H. Almaas presents a marvelously effective practice for developing the transformative quality of presence. Through a particular method of self-observation and contemplative exploration that he calls inquiry, we learn to live in the relaxed condition of simply “being ourselves,” without interference from feelings of inadequacy, drivenness toward goals, struggling to figure things out, and rejecting experiences we don’t want. Almaas explores the many obstacles that keep us from being present—including defensiveness, ignorance, desire, aggression, and self-hatred—and shows us how to welcome with curiosity and compassion whatever we are experiencing.
A. H. Almaas is the pen name of Hameed Ali, the Kuwaiti-born originator of the Diamond Approach, who has been guiding individuals and groups in Colorado, California, and Europe since 1976. He is the author of Spacecrusier Inquiry, The Pearl Beyond Price, Facets of Unity, and other books. 
We live in difficult and stressful times. You’ve read books and done workshops, but you still have to face so many stubborn obstacles. Yet it’s often our pain and dissatisfaction that pushes us to seek a more conscious life.
The Essential Mystics, Poets, Saints, and Sages is a treasury of quotes and passages from the great Sufi mystics, Buddhists, Hindus, Taoists, Jews, and Christians throughout the centuries.
Richard Hooper is a former Lutheran pastor with degrees in both theology and the philosophy of world religions. He has been a nationally syndicated radio commentator on religion, Hooper and a columnist for United Press International’s web forum: 
Silent Power, book & CD, is like its bestselling predecessor Life Was Never Meant to Be a Struggle, is filled with practical advice on living more fully using your “silent power.” Author Stuart Wilde claims that there is a silent power within you, an inner knowing that grows because you understand its infinity. Silent power teaches you hour by hour; it is with you this very minute! As you begin to trust your power, it can lead you step by step to the next person and place in your life. Stuart Wilde is a bestselling author and lecturer whose style is humorous, controversial, poignant and transformational.
In Infinite Self: 33 Steps to Reclaiming Your Inner Power, Stuart Wilde teaches you how to consolidate your inherent power and transcend all limitations by releasing yourself from the constraints of your ego. Your ego traps you, according to Stuart, and it is never happy for long, always wanting more, whether it’s a new job, new relationship, or bigger bank account.
In Loving Memory of Stuart Wilde
“It was 3 days before the Solstice and the sage must prepare him;” was the beginning of the stunning first spiritual novel by Geof Spalding. In The 33rd Sage and the Initiate, Geof Spalding once again weaves into this story profound elements of spiritual teaching. This modern day fable allows the reader to access worlds and dimensions which have been previously hidden from view, except to those who have been initiated into the mysteries.
Geof Spalding is a homoeopath, teacher and writer who has traveled the world in search of spiritual teachers and teachings. The teachings have led him on many adventures through many lands where he has met and studied with many wise men and women. Through dedication, persistence and especially patience he was able to gain a deeper understanding of his place in the world.
In this groundbreaking classic, investigative journalist Lynne McTaggart reveals a radical new paradigm—that the human mind and body are not separate from their environment but a packet of pulsating power constantly interacting with this vast energy sea, and that consciousness may be central in shaping our world. The Field is a highly readable scientific detective story presenting a stunning picture of an interconnected universe and a new scientific theory that makes sense of supernatural phenomena. Documented by distinguished sources, The Field is a book of hope and inspiration for today’s world.
Journalist and author LYNNE MCTAGGART is one of the preeminent spokespersons on consciousness, the new physics, and the practices of conventional and alternative medicine. The author of The Intention Experiment, she lectures worldwide and is co-executive director of Conatus, which publishes well-respected health and spiritual newsletters. She lives with her family in London.
This book details the vision of interspirituality within a comprehensive and powerful synthesis of world religions and spirituality, the discoveries of modern science, and the developmental and evolutionary view of history. It is the first book to review and predict the ongoing history of world religions and spirituality in the context of developmental history, the evolutionary consciousness movement, and current scientific understandings of anthropology, human cognite development, brain/mind and scientific consciousness studies.
Kurt Johnson, PhD, is well known internationally as a scientist, comparative religionist, social activist and former monastic. PhD in evolution, ecology, systematics and comparative biology and extensive training in comparative religion and philosophy. Author of 7 books on ecology and evolution.
David Robert Ord is a former Presbyterian (USA) minister and Graduate of San Francisco Theological Seminary. Coauthor with Dr Robert B. Coote of The Bible’s First History, In the Beginning, Is the Bible True, Understanding the Bible Today, Your Forgotten Self.
Charles Eisenstein explores the history and potential future of civilization, tracing the converging crises of our age to the illusion of the separate self. In this landmark book, Eisenstein explains how a disconnection from the natural world and one another is built into the foundations of civilization: into science, religion, money, technology, medicine, and education as we know them. As a result, each of these institutions faces a grave and growing crisis, fueling our near-pathological pursuit of technological fixes even as we push our planet to the brink of collapse.
Charles Eisenstein is a teacher, speaker, and writer focusing on themes of civilization, consciousness, money, and human cultural evolution. His writings on the web magazine Reality Sandwich have generated a vast online following; he speaks frequently at conferences and other events, and gives numerous interviews on radio and podcasts. Eisenstein graduated from Yale University in 1989 with a degree in Mathematics and Philosophy, and spent the next ten years as a Chinese-English translator. The author of Sacred Economics (EVOLVER EDITIONS, 2011), he currently lives in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. 
Question: Recently you said that at this moment in time there is a danger that the soul cannot evolve?
