Letters to My Friends: A No Guarantees Guide to Awakening

By John C. Conley

If you are looking for secrets, do not read this book, for I do not know a single secret. On the other hand, if you would like to enter deeper into Stillness, perhaps this book is for you. As I read... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0972753141
• ISBN13: 9780972753142
• Release Date: April 2007
• Publisher: Live Wire Press
• Length: 214 Pages

Customer Reviews

Letters to My Friends

This is a remarkable book-- It poses a difficulty in reviewing because it is written on so many levels. John writes these letters to "friends" not "disciples", that is, to equals with whom he wants to share his bewildering and joyous uncoverings. On October 2, when at Still Meadows along the Clackamas River he experiences that he is not only his thoughts but also the Stillness within, eternal and unchanging, and what is more, that both aspects of himself can exist simultaneously. That means you, I, and the multitudes sharing this experience called human life, with all its frustrations, inadequacies, imperfections of all sorts, are not separate from an underlying Stillness that holds us in ineffable acceptance and love. In compassionate radical acceptance of our human/divine wholeness we can feel sacred connection with all; including the orphan, disabled veteran , derelict, grieving friend, dancing beloved; both within and without. And after each epistle, we party with Baba Ram Jahn, and his beloved daughter/questioner. No punnery nor punditry is excluded from the playfulness. If an invitation to a tea party with Alice and the White Rabbit; the Little Prince and the Dali Lama --with readings from Tao Te Ching and the Sunday Comics--intrigues you, don't miss this book. Your host, the clown prince of unenlightenment, John Conley. This book is a comfort on a cold night and lends itself to being read aloud with a soul friend. It is a treasure and deserves to be lifted from hiddenness to find its place in the sun with those who recognize its true value. L. Berry Vancouver, WA

Gentle, Human, Inspiring and Amusing

What a lovely, approachable and amusing addition to the spiritual practices of mindfulness, stillness, gentleness, etc. This book presents a selection of letters to John's friends. Each letter talks to the issues of the week in a personal, human, mindful, and often very moving way. John approaches such issues as embracing being wrong, worrying about tomorrow, greeting suffering with an open heart, and most important finding that stillness, that peace that is often so illusive but always available. At the end of each letter is a dialogue with Baba Ram Jahn -- often profound, sometimes absurd; but always clever, engaging and amusing. . . . You will be moved and inspired by this book; and there will be times when you will laugh out loud. There is real substance here, and kindness, and laughter as John shares his insights on the struggles we all face in finding our center, our peace, our stillness in the midst of an uncentered world. This book is very personal and utterly charming. I highly recommend it!!!!

Letters to My Friends

John writes from his heart to the hearts of his readers. He opens his life to show us how to laugh at ourselves and move from endlessly thinking to simply letting go through the practice of Stillness. In his candid and self depreciating style, he teaches by example. In many of the letters I can see my own life and his through skillful word smithing I can laugh at myself and find inspiration to be better than my smallest self. This book is a quiet treasure.

A Sense Of Bliss

I was touched and inspired by the very real love that came through the letters in this book. I relate to what John shares in them. It is so precious, yet rarely spoken of by other authors. He made me curious about this Stillness he experiences. And he explained in a gentle and humorous way that it's also possible for me. Reading "Letters to My Friends" has given me a desire to meditate in order to go into that space of Stillness. I used to think that serenity was an experience that would come unbidden, no matter how much I wanted to go there. It is difficult to choose to lose yourself. Yet after reading this book and practicing a few of the simple meditations, I feel as though I am being led to a sense of this deep all encompassing state of bliss myself. J Puckey Auckland, New Zealand

Sitting in Stillness

No other spiritual teacher shares himself the way John does. His heartfelt letters come from the most human part of him - the part we can all relate to. You can't help but see yourself in John's writing. You'll cry, laugh, feel and always be moved in some new way. His true gift is in how he translates human experience - pain, joy, struggle, love, inadequacy - into spiritual advantage. He'll stop you in your tracks when you find yourself sitting with him in that place of Stillness he knows so well.