Robert K. c. Forman - Enlightenment Aint What Its Cracked Up To Be

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT

ENLIGHTENMENT AINT WHAT ITS CRACKED UP TO BE

Enlightenment Aint what its cracked up to be is a bone-deep description of the decades-long spiritual journey of Robert K. C. Forman, one of Americas most respected spiritual teachers. If ever a book was written from the heart, this is it. It is both a summation and an update of a work in progress. Enlightenment Aint What Its Cracked Up to Be describes the dazzling heights of spiritual awareness, but it also lays bare the twists, turns, and surprises of spiritual maturation, warts and all. Beware: If you need your spiritual guide to be serious, elevated, reserved, and pious, go elsewhere. But if you want eye-ball to eye-ball honesty, integrity, and humor super-charged with compassion, love, vulnerability, and deep wisdom, this is your book.

Larry Dossey, MD. Author: Healing Words and The Power of Premonitions

This book is more than a memoir of a profoundly revealing spiritual journey. It is a deep invitation to be your authentic self--to fully own, embody and express every aspect of yourself. The honesty, openness and transparency of Roberts spiritual journey instantly captivated me. I read the book in one long, joyous sitting. I literally could not put the book down. It is illuminating, entertaining and impactful. If your looking for guidance as to what is truly spiritual and enlightening, then read this book.

It is definitely chicken soup for the spiritual seeker's soul!

Jack Canfield, Co-creator of the New York Times #1 bestselling Chicken Soup for the Soul series

Bob Formans Enlightenment Aint What Its Cracked Up to Be is especially recommended for its honesty, openness, insight, wisdom, and significance. Points he brings upin a thoroughly enjoyable memoir-type formatare absolutely central to the furtherance of this dialogue. Pick it up, give it a read, and ponder deeply its pointsyou wont regret it!

I loved it.

Ken Wilber, Author of Integral SpiritualityKen Wilber, Author of Integral Spirituality

What Robert Forman has learned about and accomplished in spiritual growth is inspiring. But even more than a touching personal memoir, Forman opens our thinking to new ideas of what enlightenment or spiritual growth could actually be in the modern world. This is a vitally important issue: we have more to do in saving our world and our selves than learn to sit around in a cave feeling good and looking holy like the ancients did. Enlightenment Aint What Its Cracked Up to Be is a great book.

Dr. Charles T. Tart, Author States of Consciousness, and The End of Materialism: How Evidence of the Paranormal is Bringing Science and Spirit Together.

Robert K.C. Forman offers a touching, humorous, and honest account of ordinary and extraordinary spiritual events. Relevant to anyone interested in the scientific exploration of what still remains mysterious.

Angeles Arrien, Ph.D, Cultural Anthropologist, Author of The Second Half of Life: Opening the Eight Gates of Wisdom

Some spiritual memoirs are so authentic, honest and well-told that they stir the soul. Others offer trenchant observations and wise commentary about the modern spiritual scene. This is one of the rare books that do both. Compelling, intriguing and thought-provoking, it is a graceful exposition of one mans journey, but it illuminates the path that millions are embarked upon.

Philip Goldberg, Author of American Veda: From Emerson to the Beatles, How Indian Spirituality Changed the West

Enlightenment Aint What Its Cracked Up To Be is a powerful breath of spiritual fresh air! It is one of the most refreshingly authentic accounts of the spiritual life Ive ever read. In its clarity, honesty and depth, this book is the real deal. From the first page you are in conversation, encouraged to encounter and re-examine your own journey into how to integrate your spirituality with the rest of your life. Formans extraordinary blend of personal courage, psychological awareness, formal cross-cultural philosophical training and direct spiritual experience is as unusual in the spiritual marketplace as it is helpful.

Melissa Gayle West, M.S., LMHC, Author: of: Exploring the Labyrinth: A Guide for Healing and Spiritual Growth

Robert K.C. Forman does a beautiful job of linking spiritual autobiography with discussion of what it means to be on a spiritual path and engaged in personal development. Self-revealing and extremely well-written, it takes on the hard issues of the spiritual path and treats them with wisdom. This is definitely a book that Id buy, for it makes the case that our conventional spiritual understanding is too simple for the complex lives we now lead. Enlightenment Aint What Its Cracked Up to Be stands head and shoulders above most other spiritual writings.

Paul Ray, Ph.D. Author, The Cultural Creatives

A Journey of Discovery, Snow
and Jazz in the Soul

First published by O-Books, 2011

O-Books is an imprint of John Hunt Publishing Ltd., Laurel House, Station Approach,

Alresford, Hants, SO24 9JH, UK

office1@o-books.net

office1@o-books.net

For distributor details and how to order please visit the Ordering section on our website.

Text copyright: Robert K. C. Forman 2010

ISBN: 978 1 84694 674 5

All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical articles or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publishers.

The rights of Robert K. C. Forman as author have been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Design: Stuart Davies

Printed in the UK by CPI Antony Rowe

Printed in the USA by Offset Paperback Mfrs, Inc

We operate a distinctive and ethical publishing philosophy in all areas of our business, from our global network of authors to production and worldwide distribution.

In the end what matters most is

How well did you live?

How deeply did you love?

How much did you give?

And how well did you learn to let go?

To Avram Michael Kraus Forman

son of

Robert Kraus-Conrad Forman

son of

Leonard Forman

son of

Morris Robert Forman

son of

Isaac Forman

son of

May you be the first in your lineage to live jazz in the soul on the
settled ground of spiritual spaciousness

Its hard to know who to thank for the life lessons represented in this book. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi stands out for the gift of silence he gave so many of us. So does Meister Eckhart, who from 700 years ago helped me connect the dots between the inner life and our outer eigenschafts, attachments. So does my twenty year rent-a-mom Ken Ruge and Ram Dass for being in the right place at the right time. I will be eternally grateful to my challenging mentor Wayne Proudfoot, whose tough love never allowed me to rest until the very end, and to the beloved Dr. Raffle, who nurtured my first curiosity as a farmer does a seed. I thank all my intrepid students at Vassar and Hunter College, who wondered with my wondering.

I am grateful to Doug Kruschke for teaching me how to find silence with another human being consistently. To Michael Schwartz and Mary Ellen Trahan, for being wise and thoughtful and sincere in a world that doesnt have nearly enough authenticity like theirs. I thank Michal Stryker for helping me discover a possibility I hadnt known existed. To my Swedish friends, especially Ted Harris, Inger Gustaffson Agneta Larson, and Marianne Blom,