Rajiv Juneja - You Are More Than That: A Guide to Embracing the Spiritual Being Within and Becoming Fully Human

Hay House Titles of Related Interest

YOU CAN HEAL YOUR LIFE, the movie, starring Louise L. Hay & Friends (available as a 1-DVD program and an expanded 2-DVD set) Watch the trailer at: www.LouiseHayMovie.com

THE SHIFT, the movie, starring Dr. Wayne W. Dyer (available as a 1-DVD program and an expanded 2-DVD set) Watch the trailer at: www.DyerMovie.com

BREAKING THE HABIT OF BEING YOURSELF: How to Lose Your Mind and Create a New One, by Dr. Joe Dispenza

DEFENDERS OF THE HEART: Managing the Habits and Attitudes That Block You from a Richer, More Satisfying Life, by Marilyn Kagan, LCSW, and Neil Einbund, Ph.D.

FULL CUP, THIRSTY SPIRIT: Nourishing the Soul When Lifes Just Too Much, by Karen Horneffer-Ginter, Ph.D.

IS: Your Authentic Spirituality Unleashed, by Faith Freed

THE MINDFUL MANIFESTO: How Doing Less and Noticing More Can Help Us Thrive in a Stressed-out World, by Dr. Jonty Heaversedge & Ed Halliwell

All of the above are available at your local bookstore, or may be ordered by visiting:

Hay House USA: www.hayhouse.com
Hay House Australia: www.hayhouse.com.au
Hay House UK: www.hayhouse.co.uk
Hay House South Africa: www.hayhouse.co.za
Hay House India: www.hayhouse.co.in

Copyright 2013 by Rajiv Juneja

Published and distributed in the United States by: Hay House, Inc.: www.hayhouse.com Published and distributed in Australia by: Hay House Australia Pty. Ltd.: www.hayhouse.com.au Published and distributed in the United Kingdom by: Hay House UK, Ltd.: www.hayhouse.co.uk Published and distributed in the Republic of South Africa by: Hay House SA (Pty), Ltd.: www.hayhouse.co.za Distributed in Canada by: Raincoast: www.raincoast.com Published in India by: Hay House Publishers India: www.hayhouse.co.in

Cover design: Jon Friedman Interior design: Riann Bender

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any mechanical, photographic, or electronic process, or in the form of a phonographic recording; nor may it be stored in a retrieval system, transmitted, or otherwise be copied for public or private useother than for fair use as brief quotations embodied in articles and reviewswithout prior written permission of the publisher.

The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, which is your constitutional right, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Juneja, Raj
You are more than that : a guide to embracing the spiritual being within and becoming fully human / Raj Juneja, M.D.
pages cm
ISBN 978-1-4019-4006-5 (tradepaper : alk. paper) -- ISBN (invalid) 978-1-4019-4007-2 (digital) 1. Self-consciousness (Sensitivity) 2. Self-actualization (Psychology) I. Title.
BF575.S4.J86 2013
158.1--dc23

2012044535

Tradepaper ISBN: 978-1-4019-4006-5
Digital ISBN: 978-1-4019-4007-2

16 15 14 13 4 3 2 1
1st edition, April 2013

Printed in the United States of America

This book is dedicated to my parents, Narindera Nath Juneja and Krishna Devi Juneja.

Without their courageous move to the United States in hopes of a better life for their family, this book would not have been possible.

The Story of My Life:
Building a Framework for Self-Awareness

On a bright summer Sunday in June 2001, I stood in the plaza at Lincoln Center wearing my cap and gownI still remember the velvet green and purple designating my universitywaiting to enter New York Citys Avery Fisher Hall to receive my degree as a medical doctor. My family was gathered to celebrate my achievement. For my parents, it symbolized the almost unimaginable distance the family had traveled.

My father had grown up in what is now Pakistan. His family was so poor that when my grandfather fell ill, he had to quit school and go to work in order to put food on the table. At 11 or 12, he would milk the family cow in the mornings and help his mother with the household chores; in the afternoon, he would sell bicycle seat covers on the sidewalks in the blistering sun. He tells me that he would look for shade at times, but none could be found.

Like my fathers family, my mothers kin migrated to New Delhi, India, where the two met. My sisters and I, born in New Delhi, were my mothers top priority. Her family hadnt been able to afford education for their children, and she wanted more for usthe best. Eventually, that meant immigrating to the United States. This would be a difficult transition. To add to the trauma of separation, her father was accidentally hit by a public bus while attempting to board (people frequently would get on moving buses in India) and died shortly before our departure.

My mother and I and my two sisters left first. I remember feeling almost gagged on the British Airways flight because I was unable to speak a word of English. I was also aware that my mother was frightened and sad, although I didnt understand the reasons at the time. Besides her fathers death, she was moving thousands of miles away from India and most of her family, a double cause for mourning. Her brother, who had taken a sea voyage to the United States some years earlier in search of his dreams, met us at Chicagos OHare International Airport. I was five years old. Two feet of snow lay on the groundsnow! None of us had ever seen it before. This white-coated land seemed surely foreign. A few months later, my father joined us when his immigration paperwork at last came through. He had $13 in his pocket when he landed.

The road ahead was hard, but my parents had committed themselves to providing a better life for their family. Minimum wage in 1976 was $2.25 an hour, and they each worked two full-time jobs. My father was a cook at a Holiday Inn and would pick up as many shifts as possible. My mother worked in a nursing home as an aide and would make salads at a local restaurant in Rockford, Illinois.

Given where my parents started and how eager they were for their children to succeed, my graduation from medical school gave them plenty of cause to be proud, and I was happy that I could bring this joy to them.

I had personal cause for pride, as well. I had never been a straight-A student in grade school and high school, always working on fitting in at the same time I was trying to learn what was taught. At first, the culture and the language were the most difficult challenges, but later, I found myself struggling to feel any kind of self-worth. I drifted through the first years of college, distracted by girls and partying. Finally, at the age of 19, I performed so poorly as a sophomore that I was confronted with a simple but profound choice: I could resign and accept that I was not good enough for college, or I could step up and keep working until I had achieved my goals. I woke up to the senselessness of my previous life and committed to the second alternative.