Marut - Be nobody

Advance Praise for

When we strive to be somebody, we are actually striving to be somebody else. This somebody else is the root of all our problems. The key to awakening is being who you already are. But as Lama Marut dares to tell us in this delightfully written and wise book, this authentic somebody is nobody at all. Reading this book is easy, and understanding it is liberating. I invite you to do both.

Rabbi Rami Shapiro , author of Perennial Wisdom for the Spiritually Independent

In his refreshing and compelling new book, Be Nobody , Lama Marut gives us a road map to living life in the realm of an Everyday Joe in order to accomplish great happiness and connectedness and to begin to offer the very best we can access. He gives us a truly clear and vivid understanding of the present-day dilemma of the drive toward I and the fact that this drive is leading to depression, isolation, and diseased thinking. And then he outlines a way that leads to joy by showing us how to practice a new thought pattern that encourages focus on anything but self. This is an amazingly powerful piece of work from a truly unique and dynamic nobody.

Mary McDonnell , actress

In his trademark emphatic and no-nonsense style, Lama Marut provides a much-needed critique of modernity that cuts to the root of every problem we currently face on the planet. Be Nobody exposes our culture of narcissism that precludes personal happiness, social equality, and ecological balance. Rather than taking us from our deluded state of alienated self-absorption to some exalted state of equally misguided self-annihilation, Marut guides us through an inner transformation and re-emergence as awakened altruists contributing to a sustainable future for all.

Dr. Miles Neale , Buddhist psychotherapist and assistant director of the Nalanda Institute for Contemplative Science

Heres some help in kicking your egos butt so that you can create a genuine spiritual life. Instead of endless self-improvement, youre invited to let go of your self. This really is the only way to be happy. Lama Marut is brilliant, a Chgyam Trungpa for new generations mixed with a little Louis C.K.style humor.

Lisa Selow , life coach and author of A Rebel Chick Mystics Guide

Lama Maruts Be Nobody fiercely examines our preoccupation with the I, revealing how living on the Me Plan can never satisfy the hungry ego. The antidote he offers is truly liberating, not only for oneself but for all sentient beings.

Michael Bernard Beckwith , author of Life Visioning

Writing with great sensitivity to the stress we all feel, Lama Marut helps us see that we strive to be valued by trying endlessly to be more and more special. We aim to be somebody, but only find tension and loneliness as we never reach the bar. What good is getting star billing if you never feel like a star? Laying out a clear spiritual alternative, he dares us to become nobody: a state of complete authenticity, where we are present to our lives and joyfully connected to all. This is no mystical pipe dream; the ideas in this book point to something every one of us can do. All of us want to be happy. We owe it to ourselves to become nobody. Put this transformative book by your bed, and read it again and again.

Lindsay Crouse , Academy Awardnominated actress

Be Nobody is a great spiritual guide for people of all faiths. Lama Maruts description of our bondage to our egos is both entertaining and sobering. After providing an incisive diagnosis of the human condition, he not only offers an understanding of how to leave suffering behind, but also provides practical and achievable steps for doing so. I am recommending this book to all my friends and parishioners.

Rev. Dr. Brian Baker , dean of Trinity Cathedral, Sacramento, CA

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First Atria Paperback/Beyond Words trade paperback edition June 2014

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Smith, Brian K.

Be nobody / by Lama Marut.First Atria Paperback/Beyond Words trade paperback edition.

pagescm

Includes bibliographical references.

1.Self.2.Spiritual lifeReligious aspects.I.Title.

BL65.S38M35 2014

204'.4dc23

2013048132

ISBN 978-1-58270-454-8

ISBN 978-1-4767-3804-8 (ebook)

The corporate mission of Beyond Words Publishing, Inc.: Inspire to Integrity

This book is dedicated to Cindy Lee, true companion, partner, muse, and the best friend I could have ever hoped for.

The moment you want to be somebody, you are no longer free.

Jiddu Krishnamurti

Traditions are group efforts to keep the unexpected from happening.

Barbara Tober

A gospel song I was taught in church as a kid advises us not to be all newfangled when it comes to our spiritual life. Instead of getting caught up in the modern world and its trappings, we should just stick with that old-time religion:

Give me that old-time religion

Give me that old-time religion

Give me that old-time religion

Its good enough for me

Well, it wasnt good enough for me as an adolescent, and its not good enough for me now either. A religion that isnt relevant to the current conditions under which we live is by definition irrelevant , isnt it?

My own spiritual life has been shaped by a variety of influences, and I suspect that this is the case for many of us. I was brought up a Christian (my father and grandfather were ordained Baptist ministers), was baptized and steeped in that tradition through many years of religious instruction (including formal graduate study in a divinity school), and to this day have a deep and abiding connection to the Christian faith.