Deep Awake

This wise and balanced book draws on many years of reading and reflection about the nature of the human journey, and is subtitled 'wake up to oneness and celebrate your individuality.' To be deep awake is to be conscious of the underlying oneness, but also of separation, of depth and surface, knowing and not knowing. This is what Tim calls the paralogical structure of both-and, so he rejects the one-sidedness of choosing only an aspect of reality, seeing the ego as a hero rather than an obstacle, as expressed in many spiritual traditions. This is both liberating and refreshing since it celebrates life in all its richness, inviting the reader to engage as a lover of life: awakening requires individuality.

He criticises the depersonalisation implied in many teachings on non-duality: he thinks they are correct in saying that all is one and everything is just happening, but on the other hand everything is separate and we all exist as individuals who can choose. We are both an irrelevant speck and the star of the show; life is to be enjoyed, but at times also endured, depending on the circumstances. Tim encourages readers to accept that our experience of life is both good and bad, since existence is predicated on paradoxicity - we can't have the yum without the yuk. This means that while life may be bad, it is always good - we can always seek out the good that is also present. Finally, when we are deep awake, 'it is obvious that love is what really matters in life.'