AA.VV
6 months ago I stayed at the community where John David lives and gives wonderful meetings about spirituality. He kindly gave me this book as a gift. It is a beautiful little book, that covers everything from the nature of our true Self, to sex and love affairs! The underlying message is the incredibly simple suggestion to surrender into the moment, into what is. John David gently repeats this again and again, reminding us that if we actually look for an 'I' who is doing something and who can struggle with tough decisions, and dramas, we find that there is nothing there, just memories and old reactions. The book contains a series of 8 talks that were given in Aunachala, a holy mountain in India, where the renowned Sage Ramana Maharshi lived. The talks were spontaneous, so the reader really feels the power in the words, and how they come out of the presence of John David. The talks take the form of dialogues with people attending the retreat, and is really moving to see the progression of the conversations, and how they are guided into the simple message of surrender. In this surrender, John David speaks about 'Authentic Love', a state of being which is prior to our sense of self, in which there is no struggle, and just Being itself, with no separation. The book is also lovely to look at, with paintings and photos by John David appearing throughout the book, marking new chapters. Above all, the wonderful thing about this book is that you need no particular understanding of spritual terms or ideologies, just the openess to meet yourself as you are in the present. In the words of Premananda, when asked how to get to the Source of life and love: 'You are the Source. If you would just stop, and do nothing, you would see it. If you absolutely surrender to this moment you can't avoid realising that you are the Source, right now, here, in this moment. You see the illusion of this movie that plays, and you realise 'that's not me'. I am now living in the community. Enjoy the book! --Atma
