Radical Awakening

Much is currently being published on awakening and non-duality with the concomitant deconstruction of the ego and sense of separation. I agree with the author when she says that there is an urgency today to evolve beyond an egocentric perspective in which we experience ourselves as separate from each other, from the world and from life. Our planet is looking for a more interconnected humanity. Metaphysically, this means recognising that we are all manifestations of the one divine life. When we see the divine in everyone, all separation dissolves and we become aware of our true identity. The author describes her own process of surrender, leading to an experience of unbounded spaciousness. So the book invites readers to embrace every moment and realise that every experience can reveal our true nature. The injunction to welcome everything is perhaps the most challenging and evokes the most resistance. The author rightly criticises the spiritual materialism of our time, which associates becoming spiritual with doing spiritual things rather than looking inside ourselves. Indeed, reading books like this can be another form of distraction from taking responsibility for our own inner reality. If the first stage is finding God in everything, then the next is awakening in the midst of everyday life, to which the second part of the book is devoted. Here there is much valuable practical advice from one who has herself trodden the path.