Awake in the Heartland

Book excerpt: A new edition with an updated Preface and Afterword for 2022. Awake in the Heartland offers clear non-dual understanding, not in the abstract, but grounded in the actuality of daily life with all its messiness, complexity, uncertainty, paradox, and apparent imperfection. If there seems to be a gap between what the enlightenment books describe and what you find in your own life, if you still think enlightenment is something that will happen to you in the future (or not at all), if you're still chasing experiences or self-improvement, then this book may be just what you need to wake up to the truth that what you are seeking is already here. Awake in the Heartland takes a fresh look at questions of addiction, free will, good and evil, authority, and identity. It encourages the reader to look for themselves without clinging to old opinions or relying on outside authorities. Honest, funny, and profound, this is a book that invites you to discover who or what you really are. About the Author Joan Tollifson writes and talks with people about nonduality and the wonder of what is. Her background includes Buddhism, Advaita, nontraditional meditative inquiry, radical nonduality, martial arts, somatic work, addiction recovery, political activism, visual arts, and a devotion to both boundless presence and the beauty of the ordinary. She belongs to no formal tradition. Her website is joantollifson.com.