Publisher's Synopsis
Author's Note About four years ago, I walked out of my life. Leaving professional middle class behind me, I set out in search of something more than acquiring and performing. I was so tired of being disappointed every time I arrived at a goal and found nothing there. I couldn't name it, but I suspected there was more to understand about this life. Receiving that understanding became my priority. Whether I was hiking or writing, dancing or crying, all I wanted was to know the more. My way of being changed immediately and gradually as I learned to let go of old stories and step into new freedom. I know now that Love, as a principle, is what I and you have been looking for. It is the beauty, freedom, and wellbeing that we imagine "heaven" to be. And the truth is we don't need to wait. We can live in Love and all its Joy right now. We don't have to die to live in heaven. Proof of Heaven by Eben Alexander has been on the New York Times bestseller list for fifty-nine weeks. Browsing in Barnes and Noble days after I finished this manuscript, I picked up Alexander's book. I was interested solely because he is a neurosurgeon, not the kind of guy typically writing about heaven. Skimming, I noticed that his near death experience was strikingly similar to my own nonphysical experiences. So I read the whole the whole book in an afternoon. My first impression was true. Alexander and I have indeed received nearly identical revelations: Love is all there is. Fear isn't real. We can't fuck it up. Separation isn't possible. Every question is the answer. We both feel that we must share these universal principles as best we can to everyone who can hear them. We both learned to move into "heaven" by focusing on the feeling of it. We both know that everyone has the ability to do the same, and we can do it now. What if you are not who you think you are? I also share Alexander's challenge of putting nonphysical experiences into words after they have come through the filter of my physical body. It's like describing Einstein this way: He was a man. Can you imagine how much you would miss if that's all you knew of him? That's how it feels to offer you words about the experience of god. I offer them only because they might interest you enough to have your own experience. Well, that and because I really cannot imagine being able to keep this Joy all to myself. What if you have suffered enough? That is what I have been asking myself for the last few years, and now, I am asking you. Even if we are the worst people on the planet (whatever that means), we have more than paid our debt. We have spent enough days in fear and shame to punish our worst mistakes. If you don't believe that, at least ask yourself how continuing to punish yourself benefits anyone. Withholding joy and peace from your own life perpetuates misery in every life. What if you are so much more? I am writing to you to say that I have spent the last ten years in deliberate pursuit of the answer to this question. What I learned changed everything for me. What Alexander learned changed everything for him. It can change everything for you too. My message is not meant to challenge or replace a life that is working for you. What I am suggesting is a way of living that fulfills and delights moment by moment. If you aren't enjoying your life as much as surviving it, I suggest a change. What do you have to lose? You don't have to spend seven days in a coma to have the experience of Alexander. That is his message, and it is mine. He died. I sat. We learned the same good news: There are no prerequisites. You don't have to be a certain kind of person. No history or flaw can disqualify you. There are no rules, no competition, and nothing to achieve. As I illustrate with my own life experience, there is only Love, and we can choose to enjoy it at anytime.
