The Grace in Living: Recognize It, Trust It, Abide in It

by Kathleen Dowling Singh

Overview

Bestselling author Kathleen Dowling Singh (The Grace in Dying) presents an opportunity to view and reflect upon our lives in a new way—as an already unfolding awakening.

Kathleen Dowling Singh invites us to enter into an awakened relationship with our lives by exploring our own spiritual biography. Her thoughtful reflections and exercises guide us through the process, step-by-step, of recognizing the ever-presence of grace in our lives and learning to trust it and live from it.

This book also offers accounts from renowned teachers, including Rodney Smith, Cynthia Bourgeault, and Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee, as well as other long-time practitioners. These intimate first-person accounts offer rare glimpses into early spiritual yearnings, struggles, and realizations—and serve as encouragement and inspiration for us to rediscover our own.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781614292852
Publisher:	Wisdom Publications MA
Publication date:	11/01/2016
Pages:	296
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Kathleen Dowling Singh is a Dharma practitioner and in-demand speaker and teacher. She is the author of The Grace in Dying: How We Are Transformed Spiritually As We Die and The Grace in Aging: Awaken as You Grow Older. Kathleen lives in Sarasota, FL.

Table of Contents

An Invitation 1

Part 1 Life As Pilgrimage

The Burden of Mistaken Beliefs 11

Spiritual Biography 25

The Simplicity of Being 37

Looking with a Different Eye 53

The Journey 59

Part 2 Stories of Awakening

The First Quarter: From Tasting to Hunger 87

Introduction 89

Rodney Smith 92

Cynthia Bourgeault 99

Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee 109

Sherry Ruth Anderson 113

Prakash Mackay 119

Ellen Kympton 123

Reflections on the First Quarter 126

The Second Quarter: From Seeking to the End of Seeking 129

Introduction 131

Rodney 135

Cynthia 145

Llewellyn 150

Sherry 156

Prakash 158

Ellen 161

Reflections on the Second Quarter 165

The Third Quarter: Healing into Maturity 169

Introduction 171

Rodney 174

Cynthia 182

Llewellyn 194

Sherry 198

Prakash 203

Ellen 206

Reflections on the Third Quarter 211

The Fourth Quarter: Ripening 215

Introduction 217

Rodney 219

Cynthia 229

Llewellyn 238

Sherry 241

Prakash 243

Ellen 245

Reflections on the Fourth Quarter 251

Part 3 Recognizing Grace In Your Life

The Exercise of Spiritual Biography 257

The First Quarter: From Tasting to Hunger 267

The Second Quarter: From Seeking to the End of Seeking 269

The Third Quarter: Healing into Maturity 273

The Fourth Quarter: Ripening 275

About the Contributors 277

Acknowledgments 281

About the Author 283

Editorial Reviews

Why are some people allowed to see so widely and deeply? Surely to invite the rest of us into the same. Kathleen is one of those big and deep seers. She is kind enough to invite six others to join her here. She knows that wisdom seeing is one—and that ‘one’ also includes YOU!

Fr. Richard Rohr

Kathleen Dowling Singh teaches that throughout living, aging, and dying there is nothing to fear, and nothing to acquire—we need only realize heaven hidden like leaven in the simple suchness of what is.

Martin Laird

In this wise and wonderful book Kathleen Dowling Singh explodes the myth that spiritual awakening is a static state available to only a select few. Instead she affirms that awakening is a process, an on-going discovery, a ripening available to anyone who is willing to be fully present to this very human life. She inspires us through the transformative stories of ordinary people and invites us to deeply engage in our own journey by using her insightful contemplative exercises. This is an invaluable resource given to us by a compassionate and “grace” filled woman.

Frank Ostaseski

The Grace in Living stands out as special in the budding genre of spiritual books because it offers something truly unique. Author Kathleen Dowling Singh invites us to enter into an awakened relationship with our lives by creating our own spiritual biography. Her thoughtful contemplations and exercises carefully guide us through the process, step-by-step. In addition, the book includes essays by teachers and practitioners from all walks of spiritual life whose stories of awakening are both an inspiration and a guide on the journey. This transformative book is not to be missed.

Toni Bernhard

Kathleen Dowling Singh has become one of the premier spiritual teachers of grace.

Spirituality & Practice

Many of us journey through life unaware of the grace, the freely given blessings, that surround us at every moment—the height of cosmic ingratitude. In The Grace in Living, Kathleen Dowling Singh shows us how to break this spell of unawareness. This is an instruction manual on opening our heart to a life that is richer, more meaningful, and joyful. It is difficult to imagine that anyone would not benefit from this luminous book.

Larry Dossey

One of Spirituality and Health’s Best Books of 2016:
“Singh offers an intriguing how-to on a contemplative exercise: spiritual biography. It has its roots in namtars, a practice used centuries ago in Tibet, and writing one offers us a vantage point from the middle of our life’s journey—it’s a way to see and acknowledge the times we have already brushed against grace.

Spirituality and Health