Setting Your Heart on Fire: Seven Invitations to Liberate Your Life

This is a simply wonderful book. If you are reading this, you have probably been "searching" awhile and have read more than your share of "self-help" books. This is NOT another self-help book. Also.... if you are reading this... you have probably heard of or read books by people like Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj or Sri Ramana Maharshi (along with more contemporary teachers of what could be considered "non-duality", or Advaita Vedanta) or possibly something like A Course In Miracles. While people like Ramana and Nisargadatta were truly "Awake" beings (in my opinion), and works like A Course In Miracles point to that same Ultimate Truth, these books and teachers are often very difficult to understand, much less apply to your everyday life. (much of the writing is "dense" and overly poetic or steeped in Eastern verbiage and tradition) Well, Raphael's book, Setting Your Heart On Fire, is not like that, although it certainly points to that same Truth, which is what makes it so valuable. Most of us know that "self-improvement" in the way we've always thought of it, just doesn't work. At the same time, we sense, deep down, that the possibility of "Awakening" or "Enlightenment" (call it what you will) is no longer just for people like Jesus, Buddha, Ramana (not that it ever was just for certain people). It's what we all ARE, and it's time for us to become aware of the fact that WE are what we've been searching for. So, that leaves a world filled with people who are tired of "self improvement" and at the same time sense that there's something MORE....something REAL, but who don't have any idea how to embody and live that State. Well.... this book is a great place to start. That is why I'm describing it as a "bridge". This book, along with Raphael's first one, Unconditional Bliss, are fantastic "bridges" for people who can "see" the possibilty of discovering Who and What they really are, but who don't know how to get there. (not that there's anywhere to "get to"... one of the great paradoxes) Raphael is a wonderful writer and does a fabulous job of expressing these ideas... making them ACCESSIBLE, which is a rare thing in the world of "spiritual" books. He brings these Truths right down into the middle of your everyday life... the "messiness" that we all live with. The days of people feeling they need to run off to an ashram or monastery are over. If we are going to become a more spiritual, loving and compassionate people, we are going to have to do it in our daily lives, with kids, jobs, a mortgage, etc. When reading this book, I constantly found myself saying, "That is so true, that's exactly how I feel." Rarely does that happen when reading Nisargadatta! (laugh) Although both Raphael and the non-dual writers are pointing to the same Truth, Raphael makes it seem much more attainable and less "mystical". I think it's a great blessing to us all to have teachers like Raphael and books like this which point the way. So, get this book and let Raphael lead you acr

"Setting Your Heart on Fire" is the "silver bullet" I was searching for to help me finally dig out of a major depression that has raged through my life for over 3 years, threatening my relationships with coworkers, family and friends. Despite two therapists and anti-depressants, I couldn't seem to through an unknown "block" within my center that was keeping me from experiencing my true self and the natural flow of love and enthusiasm I hadn't experienced in so long. Through "Setting Your Heart on Fire," I've finally experienced a release of the "lock" around my heart and am feeling more like my true self again-happy and whole. What an incredible relief to no longer feel like a stranger in my own skin anymore.Amongst other things, Raphael's work lovingly empowers us to change our lives by changing the self-limiting thinking and behavior we learned from our parents, who learned them from their parents, etc. The cycles of self-destructiveness stop at the cover of the book and the path to thinking that works FOR us is laid out inside. I've discovered that life really doesn't have to be the struggle I'd experienced it to be for the last 3 years.A definite must-read for anyone who wishes to change their life. It has certainly played a vital role in mine.

If you'd like to lead a more expansive life, this book can help. Raphael Cushnir is a compassionate, caring person whose goal for you is nothing short of libertion. So put down the Maalox, and pick up this book. It's about heart, not heartburn.

This book is notable for two reasons. First, in his respectful, amusing, precise and intelligent way, Raphael captures and describes the flaming heart of transformation for our everyday understanding and practice. Second, Raphael assembles in one place seven invitations that each individually represent wisdom and heartfulness; presented together, they unite in a path of supreme sense and inspiration. I have sought and found insight from many sources over the years; Raphael's book recalls and elaborates the most stirring, the most memorable, the most profound. With his practical encouragement to feel, to dream, to question, to dance, to love, Raphael conveys what it is like to live a real life completely transformed. To read this book is to begin to taste the excitement of a state of being where love, passion and continuous adventure reign.

This is a wonderful sweet and insightful book that might just set your heart on fire. Raphael truly brings his own passion, joy and wisdom into his writing. This is not just another self-help book. I love the way he frames the "seven invitations." I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to deeply know themselves.