The much needed message of this book is that spiritual practice is not something mysterious or alien to ordinary existence. Neither is it defined by difficult exercises or maintained by unruffled tranquility. Waking to Ordinary Life speaks directly to the false presumption that our relationship to the Divine, to Spirit, somehow precludes a simple life based in human maturity, dignity and kindness toward others. It casts unrelenting light on how clear-cut spiritual practice actually is, if only we have the courage to choose it.
This courage, the author states, means squarely facing the unconscious or destructive habits we've used since childhood to keep us comforted, and to get us through the day. Lalitha challenges and guides her readers in how to work with this denial mechanism, and how to pay attention to the body's innate wisdom which consistently signals us, yet is consistently overridden. We do know what serves, she says, once we admit to lying to ourselves; we can take greater responsibility for what is...both at the personal and planetary level. "We can grow up!" she exclaims, demonstrating what this means for the practitioner on any spiritual path.
Waking to Ordinary Life is derived from recent talks and conversations Lalitha has held with her students and those interested in spiritual practice, making its message fresh, accessible and real. Her many examples bypass heady concepts and pretty words, and bring the reader down to earth where messy relationships, greed and cancer must be handled. She speaks with compassion, yet is categorically unwilling to compromise the demands of committed, unsentimental work on self.
Topics include: the necessity for articulating an aim, which may then be applied as a guiding principle in all one's endeavors; the power of genuine forgiveness; the urgency inspired in the face of death, and the experience of delight in ordinary life.
Overall, the book emphasizes that merely understanding the nature of mind, and how mind creates neurosis, does not dispel the neurosis. For that, consistent, accurately-directed effort (i.e., practice) is required. Paradoxically, the author asserts that such effort may actually consist in relaxing, especially the habits of self-hatred. Her wise counsel encourages simple daily practice for the purpose of infusing this knowledge into the body, and thus affecting one's behavior on every level. The bottom line is to rest in the unadorned truth. Waking to Ordinary Life points the way.