Seeing, Knowing, Being: A Guide to Sacred Awakenings

by John Greer

Overview

Taoist sages and Sufi mystics to Christian contemplatives and contemporary Zen masters know that the real work of self-discovery-and the answer to our suffering, emptiness, and loss of meaning-is learning to see in a different way. Explores the profound truth behind all the world's mystic traditions: Living a spiritual life has nothing to do with fixing ourselves. It is simply a matter of awakening to what we already are.

This artful book traces the steps and stages of the delicate process of awakening in a unique and inspiring way. He also highlights over 100 evocative images and metaphors -- as varied and colorful as the sages themselves -- to kindle imagination and spark intuition-to shift perspective and into an awareness that no amount of explanation can achieve.

When we put aside society's hand-me-down map of the mind, we can go to work, raise a family, take out the garbage and still experience the wonders and oneness of life with deep reverence, gratitude, and joy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780615521831
Publisher:	True Compass Press
Publication date:	02/24/2012
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

John Greer has taught insight meditation for over a decade and spent 20 years inquiring deeply into the teachings of the world's traditions. He served for 30 years as a professor at the University of Memphis. He has published numerous articles and coauthored several books on education. He was a recipient of the university's highest award for distinguished teaching. He served in Nepal with the Peace Corps and has traveled extensively on six continents. He lives in Memphis.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction 1

Part One The Exile

1 Duality 21

2 Thought 33

3 Time 45

4 Knowledge 55

5 Self 67

6 Attachment 79

7 Karma 89

8 Suffering 101

9 Meaning 111

Part Two The Return

10 Yearning 123

11 Paths 133

12 Alignment 143

13 Practices 155

14 Non-Doing 169

15 Insight 179

16 Awakening 191

17 Selflessness 203

18 Freedom 215

19 Homecoming 229

Notes 241

Editorial Reviews

Meditation teacher Greer’s first book “is about the return to wholeness, going back to the source from which all manifestation evolves.” Modeled on the hero’s journey as presented by Joseph Campbell, the book itself is divided into two parts: “The Exile,” which explains how cultural conditioning leads to a distinction between self and other, and “The Return,” which traces how nonduality can be regained and ego vanquished. From Rumi and Alan Watts to The Bhagavad Gita and the Tao Te Ching, Greer carefully collects inspiring quotations from the world’s wisdom traditions to evoke a sense of oneness and interconnectivity. Also imaginative are the lists of illuminating metaphors the author includes in each chapter. The Self, for example, is explained using images of a flame, clock, prison cell, Rorschach test, clouds, and clay pot. Although the writing sometimes drags and might benefit from more autobiographical details, it is a genuine expression of Greer’s spiritual perspective. This wise and serene book is clearly the product of many years of study and practice with nondual beliefs. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

"A profound expedition into the true nature of life." -- Matthew Flickstein, author and producer, With One Voice

From the Publisher

Greer (education, Univ. of Memphis) here offers a fine guide to Buddhist awareness. With a minimum of technical language and a controlled style, he shows how, from the Buddhist perspective, human beings torment themselves as well as how they can gain insight and move toward change. Perhaps most striking of all are the images Greer offers to illuminate various stages of the process, using such concepts as "telescope," "lost keys," "arrow," and "music"; these metaphors, like poetry, convey more meaning than pages of argument or reasoning. VERDICT An intelligent and truly transformative book, Greer's guide is well suited both for Buddhists and for anyone curious about Buddhism.

Library Journal