The Light That Awakens: A Guidebook to Higher Consciousness - Softcover

Consciously or unconsciously, we are all seeking fulfi llment in life. The Light That Awakens reveals that the source of our seeking is not outside of us but withina boundless reservoir of wisdom, peace, power, light and bliss. That reservoir has been called consciousness. Speaking from direct experience of the highest spiritual attainment, Swami Amar Jyoti shows us that spirituality does not have to be austere or difficult. Aspirants from many paths and traditions will appreciate this gentle guide for finding the sublime in every moment. This book is divided into 5 sections: The Art of Living, Body Mind and Healing, The Spiritual Path, Consecration and The Ultimate God six to seven brief teachings for easy reading and meditation. In Praise of The Light That Awakens: With adamantine brilliance and crystalline clarity, Swami Amar Jyoti leads us on an exploration of what really matters. The Light That Awakens is a luminous teaching, which can transform lives. Larry Dossey, M.D., author of The Power of Premonitions: How Knowing the Future Can Shape Our Lives Like the beloved sixteenth century mystic, Teresa of Avila, Swami Amar Jyoti is a practical saint, with a warm sense of humor and attainable teachings. In this new compilation of Swamiji’s discourses, we have access to fresh, yet timeless guidance for the art of livingliving awake, living lovingly, living in the light of the divine. Mirabai Starr, author of new translations of the Spanish mystics: Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross The Light That Awakens: A Guidebook to Higher Consciousness will inspire a wide audience with its universal teachings, beautifully presented and written in clear, elegant prose. This is a truly helpful and deeply sensitive guidebook for spiritual living in a troubled world. Shelley Brown (Kalpa Tree Press), co-author of Shafts of Light and other contemporary classics in Vedanta

Prabhushri Swami Amar Jyoti was born on May 6, 1928 in a small town in northwestern India. Much beloved by family and teachers, He shocked everyone with the decision to leave home a few months before college graduation, saying, I would like to read an open book of the world for my education.” At the age of nineteen, without money or any particular destination, He took the first train He found, eventually arriving in Calcutta. It was 1948 and thousands of refugees from East Bengal (now Bangladesh) were pouring into West Bengal each day. Living on a railway platform near the border of India and Bangladesh, He soon headed the entire volunteer corps there, working tirelessly twenty hours or more each day. After about ten months, the flood of refugees subsided and He returned to Calcutta. There a government officer who had witnessed His work at the border offered Him a high position for rehabilitation of refugees but He turned it down. He lived in Calcutta and later on the outskirts of the city in a quiet ashram. It was during this time that visions began awakening in Him. He began to meditate and do yoga and attended puja (traditional worship) at a nearby temple of a well-known saint. In a short while He knew” His life work. As He described it, He picked up there from where He had left off in the last birth. Very soon He traveled to Himalaya where He lived in silence and meditation for about ten years. Soon He traveled to Himalaya where He lived in silence and meditation for about ten years, one pointed on the goal of Liberation. Many places of pilgrimage were visited during those years, walking on foot many miles each day. But a small cave at Gangotri, the temple village near the source of the Ganga River, was the place of His greatest spiritual disciplines, awakenings and, finally, Illumination. In 1958 He took Vidyut Sannyas initiation (lit: lightning”a form of monasticism that is Self-initiated) at the holy site of Badrinath of Himalaya, taking the name Swami Amar Jyoti (SwamiKnower of the Self; Amar Jyoti Immortal Light). Later He descended into the plains of India for His God-given mission to the world. The first ashram Gurudeva founded was Jyoti Ashram, under Ananda Niketan Trust, located in Pune, Maharashtra, India. In 1961 Gurudeva accepted an offer by a devotee to visit the United States. Again He traveled unknown, though soon attracting many who had never seen such a holy man. Eventually He was persuaded by the sincerity of American disciples to establish Sacred Mountain Ashram in 1974 followed in 1975 by Desert Ashram, both ashrams a part of Truth Consciousness, a nonprofit organization that serves as a vehicle for Gurudeva’s work in the United States. The spiritual awakening on earth that Gurudeva reveals is the glorious destiny of mankind, once freed from our limited identity of self. Lovingly and ceaselessly He continues to uplift and purify each of us for this awakening, for His way is the ancient relationship of the Guru to the disciple, the candle lit directly from the burning flame of Truth. Prabhushri constantly reminds us that we are at a breakthrough into a new age where religions will be transformed into direct awakening and communion with our Highest Source. Like a mother whose love knows no bounds for her child, the Guru guides and nurtures the disciple on his or her own path to Perfection, revealing in Himself the attainable Reality of God Consciousness. After four decades of continually traveling, giving Satsang and Retreats, establishing ashrams and guiding innumerable souls to higher consciousness, Gurudeva took Mahasamadhiconscious release of the mortal bodyon June 13, 2001 in Louisville, Colorado. According to His wishes His Asti Kalash (urn containing Sacred Remains) was brought back to India and within a year a Samadhi Sthal, a pure white marble pyramid, was consecrated. Immortal Light: The Blissful Life and Wisdom of Swami Amar Jyoti was published in 2004 and is now available as an eBook.