Life Beyond Belief, Everyday Living as Spiritual Practice

by Alice Gardner

This is a book about how everyday life can be your most vital spiritual practice, no matter what your religion or tradition. It is a book that crosses the spiritual and religious boundaries through the commonality of our everyday experience as people living our ordinary lives. It's practical offering of life beyond our beliefs puts spirituality back into its rightful place, at the center of what is happening each moment in our day to day life. It is a deeply personal book which gives an honest, sincere and human account of the experience of spiritual awakening and the process of learning to live again from an entirely new experience of Self.

216 pages, Paperback

First published October 15, 2007

About the author

ALICE GARDNER found herself radically transformed after a retreat with spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle in October of 2002. This completed her 30 year spiritual search and was the beginning of a new and vital exploration about fully living the realization while in the very human moments of everyday life. Alice has also been influenced strongly by the teachings of Adyashanti and by having lived at the Findhorn Foundation for seven years.

Alice lives very much in the mainstream of modern life. She holds a Master of Management degree from Cambridge College, Massachusetts, and has worked as an academic administrator at educational institutions in Brattleboro, Vermont and Palo Alto, California. She volunteers with Open Gate Sangha and mentors an international group of people online and by telephone.

Alices journey began early in her adult life when she lived seven years at the Findhorn Foundation in Scotland. In the late 80s, she was particularly influenced by the teachings of Richard Moss, and more recently by both Eckhart Tolle and Adyashanti.

After growing up in Connecticut, Alice raised a family in rural Vermont and is now the proud mother of grown children. She especially enjoys country living, nature photography, reading, writing and the great outdoors. She now lives and works in the San Francisco Bay Area of California.

You are invited to visit Alices website,
www.wideawakeliving.com, and subscribe to the monthly Wide Awake Living Newsletter.

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Reviews

[Alice Gardner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book about how everyday life can be your most vital spiritual practice, no matter what your religion or tradition. It is a book that crosses the spiritual and religious boundaries through the commonality of our everyday experience as people living our ordinary lives. It's practical offering of life beyond our beliefs puts spirituality back into its rightful place, at the center of what is happening each moment in our day to day life. It is a deeply personal book which gives an honest, sincere and human account of the experience of spiritual awakening and the process of learning to live again from an entirely new experience of Self.

... a journey of penetrating significance rooted in profound personal experience. -- Mark Brady, author of The Wisdom of Listening

Alice Gardner is an excellent person to take you into the world of radically honest spirituality. Go with her. -- Jerry Katz of Nonduality.com and editor of One: Essential Writings on Nonduality

Follow this book's thread from separation to oneness. These are words that can open what is closed/free what is imprisoned. -- Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee, Sufi teacher and author of Working with Oneness

Gardner short circuits the mind's proclivity to separate itself from the heartbeat of life. Clear, personal, readable and highly recommended. -- Chuck Hillig, author of Enlightenment for Beginners

I love this book. It is down to earth and essential-where heaven and earth meet! -- Gangaji, spiritual teacher and author of The Diamond in your Pocket, Discovering your True Radiance

Alice Gardner's website is http://www.wideawakeliving.com

[Elizabeth Olson · Rating 2 out of 5]

From the title, you'd think it was a book about "everyday living as spiritual practice" but no, it's a dull rehashing of what the process of becoming spiritually awake is like, and how we tend to fall back asleep. Every chapter is essentially the same, with only minor variations on this theme. None of this is new, and none of this is especially useful, as it all seems to much more about relating the author's personal experiences and challenges, rather than offering direction to anyone else.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a another perspective on awakening that I really enjoyed. I found I could relate to this modern western woman better even than to Eckhart Tolle. This is a good read for anyone who is trying to "wake up."