Steve Taylor - The Leap: The Psychology of Spiritual Awakening

Praise for The Leap

Its high time we got clearer on what enlightenment is and isnt. The Leap is readable, important, and long overdue. It offers a thorough portrait of this long-mysterious state with care and love.

Dr. Robert K. C. Forman, author of
Enlightenment Aint What Its Cracked Up to Be
and Mysticism, Mind, Consciousness

In The Leap, Steve Taylor takes a radically new approach to spiritual awakening, suggesting that the experience is more common than one might suspect, is not bound to any religious or spiritual tradition, and may be playing an essential role in human evolution. The Leap is filled with provocative statements, some of which you may agree with and some you may disagree with but you can be sure that this is a book you will never forget. It establishes Steve Taylor as a major spiritual author and teacher, whose lucid and articulate writing will evoke wonder and wisdom among readers.

Stanley Krippner, PhD, Alan Watts Professor of Psychology,
Saybrook University, and coauthor of
Personal Mythology and Haunted by Combat

A wonderfully detailed demystification of awakening within and without traditions that is a pleasure to read and offers hope for our dangerous times.

Claudio Naranjo, author of Healing Civilization and designer of the
SAT Programs for personal and professional development

A wonderful synthesis of modern research and timeless wisdom that makes the mysterious process of spiritual awakening more comprehensible than ever before.

Peter Russell, author of From Science to God

This book is both insightful and inspiring. Building on the foundations of his previous books, Steve Taylors expertise and profound understanding of awakened states shine through and culminate in his proposition of an evolutionary leap that awaits humankind. For anyone who is interested in or has experienced an awakening, this book is not to be missed, as Taylor eloquently conveys an in-depth understanding of this fascinating phenomenon. Its an excellent book that everyone should read.

Dr. Penny Sartori, author of The Wisdom of Near-Death Experiences

Also by Steve Taylor

Out of Time

The Fall

Making Time

Waking from Sleep

Out of the Darkness

Back to Sanity

The Meaning

The Calm Center

Edited by Steve Taylor

Not I, Not Other Than I: The Life and Teachings of Russel Williams

An Eckhart Tolle Edition

www.eckharttolle.com

New World Library

14 Pamaron Way

Novato, California 94949

Copyright 2017 by Steve Taylor

All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, or other without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.

The material in this book is intended for education. It is not meant to take the place of diagnosis and treatment by a qualified medical practitioner or therapist. No expressed or implied guarantee of the effects of the use of the recommendations can be given or liability taken.

In some cases, names and identifying characteristics of the individuals profiled in this book have been changed.

Text design by Tona Pearce Myers

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Taylor, Steve, [date] author.

Title: The leap : the psychology of spiritual awakening / Steve Taylor.

Description: Eckhart Tolle Edition. | Novato, CA : New World Library, 2017. | Includes bibliographical references.

Identifiers: LCCN 2016044908 (print) | LCCN 2016051080 (ebook) | ISBN 9781608684472 (alk. paper) | ISBN 9781608684489 (Ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Psychology, Religious. | SpiritualityPsychology. | Religious awakening.

Classification: LCC BL53 .T39 2017 (print) | LCC BL53 (ebook) | DDC 204/.2dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016044908

First printing, February 2017

ISBN 978-1-60868-447-2

Ebook ISBN 978-1-60868-448-9

Printed in Canada on 100% postconsumer-waste recycled paper

New World Library is proud to be a Gold Certified Environmentally Responsible Publisher. Publisher certification awarded by Green Press Initiative.
www.greenpressinitiative.org

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Contents

Y ou are a human being. These two words not only describe who you are as a member of a particular species but, if examined more deeply, also point to the twofold nature of your identity. Human is who you are on the level of form; that is to say, your body and mind. Those two aspects of your form identity make up your conditioned self. That self is conditioned by genetics and the environment, as well as other factors as yet unknown to science. Being, on the other hand, points to the essence of who you are as timeless, formless, and unconditioned consciousness. Human and being, form and essence, are ultimately not separate, in the same way that a wave or ripple on the surface of the ocean is not separate from the ocean or from any other wave or ripple, although it may appear to be so.

Being, or pure consciousness, emanates from the Universal Source of all life God as light emanates from the sun. Unlike the sun, however, the Source does not exist in space and time. It is unmanifested and therefore inconceivable, so there is nothing you can say about it. However, your consciousness emanates from the Source, so you can never be separate from it, just as a ray of sunlight cannot be separate from the sun but always remains connected with it. The Source emanation pervades the entire cosmos which is to say, our dimension of space and time and it is the intelligence underlying and guiding the evolution of what we perceive as the physical universe. So the universe, including human beings, was not just created in the distant past but is still in the process of being created. Its a work in progress, so to speak. You need to understand this basic premise to be able to appreciate and derive great benefit from reading this book. As Steve Taylor puts it, evolution is not just behind us, but in front of us as well.

Furthermore, and contrary to the creed of our mainstream culture, there is direction and purpose behind the evolutionary process, as he explains in this book. Where it is going, however, is beyond all imagination. What we can say is that the evolutionary impulse behind the process is the growth of consciousness. The universe wants to become more conscious, and the main life purpose for all human beings is to come into alignment with that universal purpose. Seen from a higher perspective, of course, all that exists is already in alignment with it, even if it seems to be opposed to that purpose, but it is aligned only unconsciously. Entering into conscious alignment with universal purpose is an amazing evolutionary leap.