Many assume that enlightenment is the result of arduous effort - self-denial such as fasting, travel to far-flung places, encounters with teachers thought to be enlightened themselves. But here, Steve Taylor shows that ordinary people - from all walks of life and every age and place - can and do regularly experience the kind of life-changing moments many of us seek. Taylor seeks out the common features of these diverse experiences. His resulting cross-cultural investigation of spirituality, belief, and human psychology shows how spiritual awakening - a shift into a more expansive and harmonious state of being - can be both recognized and cultivated. How is it triggered and experienced? How do people feel in the midst? How are their relationships and goals affected? Because the experiences Taylor describes are at once unique to those who experience them and obviously available to one and all, this is the rare work that both describes and inspires. Steve Taylor' s previous books include The Calm Center. A senior lecturer in psychology at Leeds Beckett University, and one of Mind, Body, Spirit magazine's '100 Most Spiritually Influential People,' he lives in Manchester, England. Eckhart Tolle is the author of The Power of Now and A New Earth. |