Awakening to the Sacred: Creating a Spiritual Life from Scratch

‘If you have picked up this book, then in all probability you are a seeker. Seekers are ubiquitous: They can be found in every nation; they can be part of any religious group or denomination. The search for truth and love– something beyond and bigger than ourselves– is the common element.’ Lama Surya Das In AWAKENING TO THE SACRED Lama Surya Das addresses one of the greatest challenges that spiritual seekers face today– how to create a daily spiritual life from scratch and thereby find ways to integrate spiritual values and practices into whatever we do. In this continuation of the teachings that began in his critically acclaimed AWAKENING THE BUDDHA WITHIN (Bantam), Lama Surya Das shows readers how to creat a personalised, day-to-day spiritual practice based on the rituals and spiritual philosophies of a variety of religious traditions. The thoughtful and inspiring essays in this sourcebook explore meditation, chanting, yoga, prayers, affirmations and breathing exercises as simple ways to connect with the sacred in everyday life. Lama Surya Das is the most highly trained American lama in the Tibetan tradition, and has spent close to twenty-five years in Tibetan monasteries around Asia. He is a leading spokesperson for Western Buddhism and regularly organises Buddhist teachers’ conferences with the Dalai Lama, lectures at a range of US institutions, and conducts retreats and workships in ten different countries each year. In 1991 he founded the Dzogchen Foundation in Massachusetts and New York.