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An Amateur(‘s) Guide to Spirituality
As tempting as it is for me to babble on about An Amateur(‘s) Guide to Spirituality and tell you what a great book it is, how inspiring I hope it will be for many people, and how so many people will relate to my story. I think it will be better for me to give you a sample to read for yourself, and make your own decision about whether you would like to read further…
Introduction
To have picked up this book over others and made a conscious decision to read it (or just see what it's about) you must consider yourself an amateur in the field of spirituality right? Well that’s okay; in fact it's a good thing because that brings you into alignment with my way of thinking…
But before you start throwing “ego” labelled stones at me, allow me to admit that I consider myself an amateur as well, and that is why the title is amateur(’s) guide as opposed to just amateur, because it was written by an amateur for amateurs, making it a very fertile environment for spiritual growth.
Another reason I've called it An Amateur(’s) Guide to Spirituality is because I believe spirituality is about bringing attention within from the outside world and focusing it on the Self, the Being as opposed to just the body and personality. It is about Self-enlightenment, Self-development, Self-centeredness, true Self… everything to do with the Self, so automatically that signifies individuality to me.
And what makes spirituality different from religion in my eyes is that although it may be practiced religiously by some (including me); every person practices their own version which will differ from another’s. There are no set rules to follow, no one way to go about it, and all routes ultimately lead to the same place.
For example, if you happen to catch a bunch of spiritually enlightened people together in a room somewhere, you will find that although they may have a common point of agreement, not everything they do, think, say or believe will be the same, or indeed done in the same way as each other, and they will all be aware of and perfectly happy in that knowledge.
Like I said it’s all about Self, and one person’s truth will not be another's, the key is to respect their truth even if it differs from your own. However, if it somehow infringes on your personal space step away, but keep that respect because we all have the right to exist and believe whatever the hell or heaven we want to believe in.
"Live and let live" I say, and the beauty of free will prevails.
So in coming from that point of view (where everyone sees and interprets a different version of the ultimate truth), I believe that when you subscribe to someone else’s point of view you become an amateur to them, just the same way as if someone else subscribes to your point of view they become an amateur to you. You are both amateurs if you come together with a common point of view because you are looking to learn from each other.
So welcome my amateur friends to my point of view!
Another thing that makes me an amateur in this room, is the fact that I don’t have any academic achievements related to spirituality that at all qualify me to write this book. Yes, I am a writer with a gift of the gab (I talk even more than I write), and yes I have years of personal experience incorporating spiritual practice into my life that has served me so well, I am now sharing it with the world.
But no, I don’t have any certificates hanging up on my wall to prove it, although I do have one qualifying me as an Integrated Energy Therapist; I'm proud of that.
I must also warn you that this book isn't like the majority of books on the market (every writer says that), it has not been professionally perfected by a team of editors and trimmed to perfection. It is a straightforward and raw account of my journey to spirituality from childhood, through my teens and into my early twenties, with no airy-fairy paint brushing my experiences through depression, alcohol dependency, unhealthy relationships, dropping out of university, attempting suicide, and ultimately how I came out of it a new woman.
I have done it this way because when I was starting out and read anything on spirituality that my intuition led me to, I never came across a book that detailed the writer's experiences, what they felt, what they thought, and how they dealt with it. Not to say that there aren’t any books like this, I just never came across them.
Believe me I am not criticising because I recognise and respect that people like to keep their personal lives and experiences private, and so they should. But I feel a certain release when I share my issues and challenges, a sense of liberation and growth when I finally come through a situation and then go on to help someone else do the same.
When I went through experiences that I considered traumatic I felt alone, like I couldn't talk to anyone about what I was feeling, and that was painful. I had no role models to look up to and nobody I felt was talking, so I would like to bring it to the forefront and hopefully get to someone going through similar experiences so that they know it is possible to get through things with the ideas I share on how.
I am hoping that many more people will come forward in the future with their experiences and how they got through them, so that others will also have somewhere to look for and find assistance, because sharing facilitates growth!
An Amateur(‘s) Guide to Spirituality is £5.99 as an e-book
and £.7.99 + p&p for a (signed) printed book,
available to order exclusively from
www.myspace.com/d_inspiration.
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