Another Look at Beyond Recovery
I got a first look at the new edition of my first book this week. I have to tell you, it’s beautiful–front, back, and everywhere in between. I’m so pleased to see it take it’s place among the other Awakening Clarity Press books. John Ames, the editor of both this website and The Book of Unknowing, has again worked his magic by re-proofing and re-editing this edition. I also added the ten Zen ox-herding pictures, sort of in placement with the twelve steps.
Beyond Recovery was originally conceived as a “bridge book,” that would introduce recovery to people in the nondual community, and the truth of unity to people in recovery. It does both of those things, using language that is familiar to both audiences, but It really does something more than that as well. It offers a structured view of nondual philosophy in general and of The Living Method of Awakening in particular.
It was while I was writing this book that I first discovered that there was some sort of “pattern” to what I was doing. In the autumn of 2010 people close to me started waking up. I knew that I was doing inquiry with them when it happened, but I couldn’t guess why. I think I was more surprised than my first victim when he woke up! Because I wrote Beyond Recovery around the structure of the steps. I was forced to pull apart what I was doing. So the philosophy behind The Living Method begins to take shape in that book.
Beyond Recovery introduces the general concepts of Nonduality in a different sort of way, and offers information, insights, and actual tools to enable your journey. Fully half of the people who’ve written me about this book–and that’s a lot of people–are not in recovery nor do they need to be. They’ve used it to help them tackle the one core addiction we all have in common–the addiction to separation. Many of my clients started on this book and have been with me ever since. It really is about life beyond recovery and into awakened living.
Beyond Recovery
Nonduality and the Twelve Steps
~
December 11, 2014 @ 12:15 am
Hi Fred, saw this post the other night when it went up and meant to comment then but forgot and wanted to circle back around. This was my “bridge book” between the 12 Steps and non-duality. When I was about eight months sober, and felt myself being drawn again to non-duality teachings, I googled “non duality and recovery” thinking that there was no way this was going to turn up much at all…and there was your book.
By the end of my drinking days (like the last two years) I was so numb and lost in a fog that most spiritual teachings, but especially non-duality based teaching, bounced right off of me. I couldn’t have found “deeper meaning” in anything even if you stapled a map of it to my forehead. I was beyond separated…the unit was swimming in poison, literally and metaphysically. And the force that animates the unit was taking an extended leave of absence in a spiritual Tahiti somewhere until “I” either died or came to my senses and stopped. Thankfully, I chose the latter.
However, when I tried to dive back into Adya or Gangagi or Eckart, I was overwhelmed. I needed “the message” but I needed it structured in a way that my poor addled brain could process it. And there was your book. It brought those teachings/the message back to me and also turned me on to your site and your other articles. And here we are nearly a year and a half later!
So while I am one of the ones who used this book as a bridge between recovery and non-duality, it worked and it worked well. I highly recommend it to anyone coming from a background in recovery and looking to open the door for the first time (or again) to the non-dual path.
Congrats on the new revisions, look forward to reading it again.
With thanks, Patti
December 11, 2014 @ 12:58 am
Hey, Patti! Thanks so much for this glowing report! I’m so glad my writing has been a help to you. Now your writing is a help to me!
All love,
Fred