Step-by-step practices for cultivating spiritual awakening, from a renowned spiritual psychologist who has studied the phenomenon in hundreds of people and experienced it himself
Steve Taylor has devoted his life to investigating spiritual awakening. In his books The Leap and Extraordinary Awakenings, he discussed case histories of dozens of people who experienced profound shifts in consciousness. The Adventure draws on this groundbreaking research, together with Taylor's own awakening experiences, to offer guided meditations, contemplative exercises, and other practices for catalyzing spiritual transformation, as well as lyric poems and inspirational stories.
The Adventure outlines how to:
• recognize and cultivate the eight defining characteristics of wakefulness, including presence, acceptance, gratitude, and disidentification from the ego
• expand awareness and quiet the mind through meditations and practical exercises
• transcend our normal "sleep" state and the "thought mind" to move toward increasing heights and depths of spiritual awakening
• use the challenges of everyday life - of home, workplace, and relationships - as doorways to enlightenment
Steve Taylor, PhD, is a senior lecturer in psychology at Leeds Beckett University and the author of The Calm Center, The Leap, Extraordinary Awakenings, and other books. Eckhart Tolle describes his work as "an important contribution to the shift in consciousness which is happening on our planet." He lives in Manchester, England.
StevenMTaylor.com
Foreword by Eckhart Tolle
Introduction
1. Guidelines: Beginning the Adventure
2. Disidentification: Freedom from the Thought-Mind
3. Gratitude: Overcoming the Taking for Granted Syndrome
4. Presence: Freedom from Time
5. Altruism: Giving to the World
6. Acceptance: Becoming One with Reality
7. Integration: Harmony with the Body
8. Detachment: Freedom from Psychological Attachments
9. Embracing Mortality: Awakening through Awareness of Death
10. The Endless Adventure "Steve Taylor's inspiring contribution in the field of consciousness and spirituality continues with The Adventure. I warmly recommend both Steve and this book, his most practical to date, to anyone wishing to discover true happiness and uncover the awareness of being."
- Rupert Spira, author of You Are the Happiness You Seek
"If you follow this book's guidance, your life's journey can become what it is meant to be: 'a glorious adventure, full of grace and joy.' "
- from the foreword by Eckhart Tolle, author of The Power of Now
"The Adventure is a brilliantly clear and pragmatic guide to spiritual awakening, expertly written by Steve Taylor, a transpersonal psychologist who has spent decades researching the characteristics of life-changing awakenings. If you're ready to drop the heavy baggage of the past and future and enter the sublime freedom of the Now, this wonderful book is your ticket to transformation."
- Mike Kewley, author of The Treasure House: Discovering Enlightenment Exactly Where You Are
"This is such a warm book. It's like sitting down with a wise friend who can lead you step-by-step to remember the qualities of who you are and how to bring them into the foreground of your experience. A beautiful book for anyone looking for practical ways to experience the feeling of their awakened, present being."
- Helen Amery, awakening guide and coauthor of The Complete Book of Awakening
"This is a book about how to do it! The book is of unique value, offering a variety of tested and verified practices leading toward a healthy and rounded development of an awakened state. Steve Taylor offers us a program to transform and grow the entire personality, giving us peace, competence, and inspiration in a world of increasing complexity and struggle."
- Allan Combs, PhD, award-winning author of Consciousness Explained Be
