Amoda Maa Jeevan - Embodied Enlightenment: Living Your Awakening in Every Moment

Amoda Maa is a fresh, clear voice of the grounded feminine who speaks directly to the heart of anyone hungering for lasting peace in a turbulent and uncertain world. The clarity of her realization shines forth through her words, as she calls for us all to consciously embody the living truth in our ordinary human existence.

ShantiEinolander, founder of ONETheMagazine

EmbodiedEnlightenment eloquently challenges us to honestly and intimately meet our experience just as it is, and to awaken out of the trance of the perpetually seeking separate self. This is a deeply illuminating description of how an awakened life transmutes the ordinary arenas of relationships, work, sex, money, the body, and life purpose. A beautifully written, inspiring, and distinctly feminine call to consciously embody the unfolding edge of evolution. I highly recommend it!

JohnJ.Prendergast, PhD, author of InTouch, adjunct professor of psychology at California Institute of Integral Studies, and psychotherapist

Amoda Maa reminds us that enlightenment is not simply a transcendent spiritual orgasm into knowing ourselves as unchanging awareness; it invites us ever more deeply into our humanity, into the paradoxes of life, with an unconditional embrace. Her voice is a breath of fresh air in its precision and breadth, as well as its depth and down-to-earth parlance. I am sure EmbodiedEnlightenment will become a true companion to those willing to walk an integrated spiritual path.

MirandaMacpherson, author of BoundlessLove

With diamond-like clarity, a cup of compassion, and an almost poetic intensity, Amoda Maa debunks the myth of enlightenment, addressing many commonly held concerns and questions about the process of awakening. No topic is off limits in this conversation as she dismantles the scaffolding of our defenses, our beliefsthe very mechanism of seeking itself. I highly recommend this beautifully written and insightful book to anyone at any stage in their spiritual evolution. You are invited to dive in, face your personal wounds with courage and tender honesty, challenge your assumptions, and root the full flowering of your consciousness in the very belly of your humanity.

Kirtana, singer, songwriter, and recording artist of songs for awakening

Amoda Maa is a gracious and powerful guide who steers a clear and honest path through the mist of confusion and misunderstanding about the awakened state to hold a new, revelatory light to all that was previously unclear or speculated on. Here, the old, outmoded ways of viewing liberation are cast aside for a more informed, enriching vision of enlightenmentone that embraces our twenty-first-century sensibilities and shies away from nothing.

StephenGawtry, managing editor of WatkinsMindBodySpiritMagazine

As the invitation to awaken from the dream of separation is being felt more strongly, both on a collective and individual level, so too arises the need for skillful guides familiar with this paradoxical new landscape. Amoda Maa is one such friend on the path; a gentle but rigorous companion on the journey of unfolding to being both fully awake and fully human. EmbodiedEnlightenment is a beautiful and precious gift to an emerging new humanity.

JulianNoyce, founder of Non-Duality Press

Enlightenment has long been associated with an austere, recluse lifestyle. But today, people fully engaged in worldly responsibilities are waking up. Ancient traditions may not adequately support their awakening in the midst of real-world concerns such as health, finances, relationships, et cetera. Amoda Maa is one of the brightest of a new generation of spiritual teachers who are meeting that need. She has been prepared for this role in a crucible of personal transformation, and is now fulfilling it admirably.

Rick Archer, creator and host of Buddha at the Gas Pump

Publishers Note

This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering psychological, financial, legal, or other professional services. If expert assistance or counseling is needed, the services of a competent professional should be sought.

Distributed in Canada by Raincoast Books

Copyright 2017 by Amoda Maa Jeevan

Reveal Press

An imprint of New Harbinger Publications, Inc.

5674 Shattuck Avenue

Oakland, CA 94609

www.newharbinger.com

Cover design by Amy Shoup

Acquired by Catharine Meyers

Edited by Erin Raber

Cover photos by Rupert Truman

All Rights Reserved

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data on file

19 18 17

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 First Printing

The teachings and practices of waking up from the suffering of the separate self into the freedom and joy of our true, essential nature date back thousands of years in Asian cultures. Since these teachings were often only available to a select few, and were largely practiced in otherworldly settings such as monasteries and forest hermitages, integrating them with everyday life concerns was never a major focus of Asian spirituality.

What is different today is that these teachings and practices have become widely available to anyone, East or West. As they spread through modern culture, they inevitably bump up against personal concerns, such as psychological health, livelihood, and interpersonal relationships. The challenge then becomes one of seeing and working with these concerns as an integral part of the spiritual journey. And the opportunity this provides is to overcome the age-old split between spiritual and worldly through a secular awakeness that is integrated into everyday life.

One of the biggest obstacles to an integrated spirituality is a phenomenon I dubbed spiritualbypassingthe widespread tendency to use spiritual ideas and practices to avoid facing unresolved emotional issues, psychological wounds, and unfinished developmental tasks. This often shows up as a kind of premature transcendence: the attempt to rise above the raw and messy side of our humanness before fully facing and embracing it.

Amoda Maas book can be seen as a guide to secular awakening as well as an antidote for spiritual bypassing. In a clear and incisive way, she carefully explores the different ways in which spiritual practitioners need to work with their fallible humanness as the pathway for embodying transcendent truth. In her words, The willingness to embrace personal truth in the search for absolute truth is a necessary component of the authentic embodiment of awakened consciousness. May you dive deep into this book, which is full of genuine, helpful guidance on the journey of waking up, and insight into how this can illumine all the hidden corners of your life.

John WelwoodAuthor of TowardaPsychologyofAwakening

I am often asked about my life and my own story of awakening. For me, the past is very much like a dream and I dont cling to it. So much has changed and continues to change that I cannot find myself in any of it. The only resting place I can find is in consciousness itself, and this is empty of content. As each moment is born and dies, there is nothing here to identify with. However, people want to know something of the human being and not just the spiritual teacher. I know that it helps to hear one anothers stories, to make sense of the human experience and touch the universality of what it means to be alive. There are many details and subtleties to my story, but enough is offered here for you to get a taste of what has led me to be where I am and to write this book.