Rating: 
Summary: When ou wake up, it is seen there is no one
Review: Leo takes his readers by the hand and shares with them his own story of unmasking the belief systems we all believe(d) in. And behind Leo's story, the reader is reminded that waking up from and in the dream has nothing to do with Leo or you or me, but with the one Light seeing Itself.Jan Kersschot, author of Nobody Home
Rating:
Summary: easy to read and understand; an important book to read
Review: This book covers, in very simple language, the illusion of ego and seeking. It is comprehensive and like a smooth story. It removes the possible misconceptions about enlightenment, one-by-one, in simple style. This should be highly useful for anyone who seeks clarity in one's spiritual pursuit, as it is sure to bring some objectivity to the search within and without. On Page 9, in the foreword, Tony Parsons, the author of "AS IT IS", says "The book begins very well, with a clear explanation of its intent, and throughout the work there is the feeling of reading a letter written by a friend who gently, but passionately, wants to make something very clear. As the writer communicates his perception of the mystery, he intersperses his ideas with appropriate traditional and contemporary quotations. In simple terms, it is the absence of seeking that reveals the wonder of that which already is, but although this simple and awesome mystery is impossible to express in words, Leo's exploration is a joy to share in." The above is a very apt description of the content and style of writing in the book. The following excerpts from the book explain very clearly what is enlightenment. Page 12: "So here we go: The answer is that you will get nothing out of it because enlightenment is the realization that there is no you to get enlightened; that the sense of separation and individuality is an illusion." Page 13: "While reading texts from non-dual systems such as Zen, Advaita, Taoism, or Dzogchen, you will find the affirmation that Self-realization has no promise other than to release you from your belief in a separate self or ego. That's it. The dropping away of an illusion simply revealing THIS AS IT IS, often summed up in the phrase 'Before enlightenment chop wood and carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood and carry water.'"
. . . . "Enlightenment not only shows that your separate identity is an illusion, it reveals that sheer purposelessness is at the heart of this whole creation. This sounds absurd to the goal-and-future-oriented mind; yet I will tell you unequivocally that the whole point of this manifestation is nothing other than this manifestation." "Realizing this is far from the bleak reality the mind imagines it to be. True, this is of no use to the ego, since it is about freedom FROM the ego, not freedom FOR the ego." The whole book is very easy to read and covers all essential points to know about enlightenment, in simple language with some logic drawn out of our day to day life. No metaphysics is involved. Beyond the general observations, the following comments are outstanding observations of the author. Page 74:
"Witnessing is not something we progress to. It is not about self-improvement or mental states. It is about recognizing that which is already fully present; this presence observes both the 'I' and its states while, at the same time, it remains unaffected. If we see this witnessing as a new way to make us feel good, we are back at square one. Instead of identifying with the conceptual ego, we have now identified with the conceptual witness - still an independent, identified entity, merely in different garb. From this more cushioned perspective, it's easy to get trapped again in the same old illusion. As soon as the witness has become an object or concept, it becomes part of the witnessed. The real witness will never be an object of experience, but always remains that which is aware of the experience. Objectified, it becomes the 'new ego'; non-objectified, it merges with Pure awareness - that which we so intimately are that we cannot get at it; like an arrow, able to point in all directions, but not at itself." Page 80: "The paradox in the suggestion that the ego should be dropped is that when one is not the doer, one cannot do the dropping. What happens is more like a falling away, which comes in its own time and which is nothing other than the impersonal recognition of the ego's illusory nature. Although this realization comes by itself - it is often referred to as grace - it is not something one has to wait for. Waiting is just another way of trying to get it, which only perpetuates the illusion that there is SOMEONE who should get SOMETHING." Page 127: "The silent space of Pure Awareness is not what we call attention. Attention wanders from place to place."
. . . . "Attention moves, but Pure Awareness remains unmovable." Page 134: "You, as a dream character, are a temporary occurrence, while you as the dreamer are beyond space and time. When you wake up to this realization, you will be as unconcerned with your personal story as you are with the character you appeared to be in your dream."
. . . .
"In the same way, as long as you appear as a dream character, you will not wake up from
the dream, but you might awaken TO the dream." Finally, the life after realization is explained a kin to lucid dreaming, and sums up pointing the utter futility of effort in Self-realization. Page 135: "Lucid dreaming is a term that refers to waking up inside a dream, realizing it is a dream, and then continuing the dream with this understanding. Seeing through the illusion of separation could be termed lucid living, as it is not you waking up FROM dream of life, but the impersonal awakening TO the dream of life. From which point could an illusion see through itself as an illusion ? What could an assumed doer do to become a non-doer ? What thought could take the thinker beyond thinking ? The answer is nothing and none. Like Rumi said, 'WHOEVER BROUGHT NE HERE
WILL HAVE TO TAKE ME HOME' This 'coming home' reveals the illusory nature of the ego, the world, time and space. All this does not disappear in a blast of white light, but what does disappear is the sense of separation that constitutes the ego illusion."
Rating:
Summary: easy to read and understand; an important book to read
Review: This book covers, in very simple language, the illusion of ego and seeking. It is comprehensive and like a smooth story. It removes the possible misconceptions about enlightenment, one-by-one, in simple style. This should be highly useful for anyone who seeks clarity in one's spiritual pursuit, as it is sure to bring some objectivity to the search within and without. On Page 9, in the foreword, Tony Parsons, the author of "AS IT IS", says "The book begins very well, with a clear explanation of its intent, and throughout the work there is the feeling of reading a letter written by a friend who gently, but passionately, wants to make something very clear. As the writer communicates his perception of the mystery, he intersperses his ideas with appropriate traditional and contemporary quotations. In simple terms, it is the absence of seeking that reveals the wonder of that which already is, but although this simple and awesome mystery is impossible to express in words, Leo's exploration is a joy to share in." The above is a very apt description of the content and style of writing in the book. The following excerpts from the book explain very clearly what is enlightenment. Page 12: "So here we go: The answer is that you will get nothing out of it because enlightenment is the realization that there is no you to get enlightened; that the sense of separation and individuality is an illusion." Page 13: "While reading texts from non-dual systems such as Zen, Advaita, Taoism, or Dzogchen, you will find the affirmation that Self-realization has no promise other than to release you from your belief in a separate self or ego. That's it. The dropping away of an illusion simply revealing THIS AS IT IS, often summed up in the phrase 'Before enlightenment chop wood and carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood and carry water.'"
. . . . "Enlightenment not only shows that your separate identity is an illusion, it reveals that sheer purposelessness is at the heart of this whole creation. This sounds absurd to the goal-and-future-oriented mind; yet I will tell you unequivocally that the whole point of this manifestation is nothing other than this manifestation." "Realizing this is far from the bleak reality the mind imagines it to be. True, this is of no use to the ego, since it is about freedom FROM the ego, not freedom FOR the ego." The whole book is very easy to read and covers all essential points to know about enlightenment, in simple language with some logic drawn out of our day to day life. No metaphysics is involved. Beyond the general observations, the following comments are outstanding observations of the author. Page 74:
"Witnessing is not something we progress to. It is not about self-improvement or mental states. It is about recognizing that which is already fully present; this presence observes both the 'I' and its states while, at the same time, it remains unaffected. If we see this witnessing as a new way to make us feel good, we are back at square one. Instead of identifying with the conceptual ego, we have now identified with the conceptual witness - still an independent, identified entity, merely in different garb. From this more cushioned perspective, it's easy to get trapped again in the same old illusion. As soon as the witness has become an object or concept, it becomes part of the witnessed. The real witness will never be an object of experience, but always remains that which is aware of the experience. Objectified, it becomes the 'new ego'; non-objectified, it merges with Pure awareness - that which we so intimately are that we cannot get at it; like an arrow, able to point in all directions, but not at itself." Page 80: "The paradox in the suggestion that the ego should be dropped is that when one is not the doer, one cannot do the dropping. What happens is more like a falling away, which comes in its own time and which is nothing other than the impersonal recognition of the ego's illusory nature. Although this realization comes by itself - it is often referred to as grace - it is not something one has to wait for. Waiting is just another way of trying to get it, which only perpetuates the illusion that there is SOMEONE who should get SOMETHING." Page 127: "The silent space of Pure Awareness is not what we call attention. Attention wanders from place to place."
. . . . "Attention moves, but Pure Awareness remains unmovable." Page 134: "You, as a dream character, are a temporary occurrence, while you as the dreamer are beyond space and time. When you wake up to this realization, you will be as unconcerned with your personal story as you are with the character you appeared to be in your dream."
. . . .
"In the same way, as long as you appear as a dream character, you will not wake up from
the dream, but you might awaken TO the dream." Finally, the life after realization is explained a kin to lucid dreaming, and sums up pointing the utter futility of effort in Self-realization. Page 135: "Lucid dreaming is a term that refers to waking up inside a dream, realizing it is a dream, and then continuing the dream with this understanding. Seeing through the illusion of separation could be termed lucid living, as it is not you waking up FROM dream of life, but the impersonal awakening TO the dream of life. From which point could an illusion see through itself as an illusion ? What could an assumed doer do to become a non-doer ? What thought could take the thinker beyond thinking ? The answer is nothing and none. Like Rumi said, 'WHOEVER BROUGHT NE HERE
WILL HAVE TO TAKE ME HOME' This 'coming home' reveals the illusory nature of the ego, the world, time and space. All this does not disappear in a blast of white light, but what does disappear is the sense of separation that constitutes the ego illusion."
Rating:
Summary: Awakening to the Dream: The Gift of Lucid Living
Review: This is one of those rare books that invites the reader to see awakening not as a process that can be attained by spiritual practice, but simply as Being. It is that which is realised by a shift in perception - the letting go of all beliefs and preconceptions of how life should or might be and instead merely accepting what is.
Rating:
Summary: Awakening to the Dream: The Gift of Lucid Living
Review: This is one of those rare books that invites the reader to see awakening not as a process that can be attained by spiritual practice, but simply as Being. It is that which is realised by a shift in perception - the letting go of all beliefs and preconceptions of how life should or might be and instead merely accepting what is.
Rating:
Summary: Highly recommended
Review: This is the clearest book yet by a 'Westerner' on advaita / the non-dual perspective, a subject about which so much confusion exists. I really enjoyed the very patient & amazingly comprehensive approach taken by the author, Leo Hartong. Chapter by chapter, he looks at just about every aspect of non-dualism, gently exposing both the obvious & less obvious misunderstandings along the way. The book is written more as a beautiful sharing than from any position of authority... as Leo writes, "These words are nothing but a gentle reminder from yourself to yourself that you are the awakened one".
Rating:
Summary: Highly recommended
Review: This is the clearest book yet by a 'Westerner' on advaita / the non-dual perspective, a subject about which so much confusion exists. I really enjoyed the very patient & amazingly comprehensive approach taken by the author, Leo Hartong. Chapter by chapter, he looks at just about every aspect of non-dualism, gently exposing both the obvious & less obvious misunderstandings along the way. The book is written more as a beautiful sharing than from any position of authority... as Leo writes, "These words are nothing but a gentle reminder from yourself to yourself that you are the awakened one".
Rating:
Summary: Highly recommended
Review: This is the clearest book yet by a `Westerner' on advaita / the non-dual perspective, a subject about which so much confusion exists. I really enjoyed the very patient & amazingly comprehensive approach taken by the author, Leo Hartong. Chapter by chapter, he looks at just about every aspect of non-dualism, gently exposing both the obvious & less obvious misunderstandings along the way. The book is written more as a beautiful sharing than from any position of authority... as Leo writes, "These words are nothing but a gentle reminder from yourself to yourself that you are the awakened one".
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