The Diamond in Your Pocket: Discovering Your True Radiance

I have read a zillion books of the spiritual/mystical variety. Thought I had read it all...thought I had heard it all. Almost didn't buy yet ANOTHER book on the same subject but am so glad I bought this one. Succinct. Resonant. It says it all and does so so beautifully. My spiritual seeking reawakened once I started this book and those I have gifted with the book or recommended the book to have thanked me each and every time we make contact. Each sentence rings with Truth and Clarity. Music for the Soul. For anyone who thinks the search led nowhere, or that the path comes to a dead end...take it from this jaded New Yorker, this magical book will revive, renew and offer insights and awareness like no other. I gave the book to a Jesuit Priest who is a magnificent teacher himself (and has been for over 50 years) and he told me it was powerful and meaningful and he was thrilled to have read it. Give yourself a major gift in this lifetime, read this!

I've never been a huge fan of Gangaji, over the years I have listened to her on audiotape and CD a few times but never had a heart felt pull like I do with authors such as Robert Adams or Eckhart Tolle. But this book I found different. It has strong spiritual pointers wrapped up in small easy to read chapters. I still prefer a few other teachers, but have found some real gems in this book that have stayed with me. A softer female nurturing aspect seems to come through, compared to the many male authors who speak on similar topics. This is one of those book you could read many times and still find new things each time. I feel this embodies the peak of Gangaji's teaching's and wisdom in an easy to read format. Wonderful gentle guide to your higher self.

There is a mysterious power in the transmission to be found in reading Gangaji's words, and I've written this to give you my experience with this mystery, but the best way to know this is to read the book for yourself. Please feel free to ignore all that I say here and just buy the book and read it. I first met Gangaji in a prison in Colorado in 1994, and fell instantly into love with her. God knows how or why, but in the instant of meeting her eyes, all the years and lifetimes of mental activity stopped dead without warning, revealing nothing but eternal, unmoving, silent love without condition. I had no spiritual understanding to speak of, and no need for any. I knew nothing of Ramana Maharshi or Papaji, or of the tradition in which they had appeared. I had no reference point from which I could understand what Gangaji was saying, and needed none. For some months, I wrote to her letter after letter, listened to her satsang tapes whenever I could get some time in the prison chapel where they were kept, and had not the slightest idea or interest in the actual content of her speech. Then, almost a year after that first meeting, I was sent a copy of her first book You are That!, and I was freshly stunned to discover that her naked words had a power of their own to transmit directly true understanding. Reading her words for the first time I had the direct experience of the power of her teaching, the brilliance and clarity with which she spoke of the reality of realization and of what is asked of us to see it. Her naked words transmit true understanding to all who would receive it. You Are That! is a compilation of beautifully edited transcripts of Gangaji's teaching in satsang. The Diamond in Your Pocket is Gangaji speaking directly to you. This book is not intended for advanced spiritual seekers; nor is it intended for those with little or no spiritual understanding. Spiritual understanding is irrelevant here. This book is not for the religious or the irreligious; for the seekers after wealth or for those who renounce the world; for the healthy or for the sick; for those who are comfortable with their lives or for those who hate their lives. This book is intended for you and for you alone. From the beginning, great beings have appeared among us from time to time, moved by compassion to tell us that reality is not what we think it is; that the world is not what we think it is; that pain and pleasure are not what we think they are; and, most fundamentally, that we are not what we think we are. They have told us that this misunderstanding of our own actual nature is the root of all misery and suffering, all horror and aggression and hatred and violence everywhere. They have told us simply that the truth is within us, and that knowing the truth will set us free. By and large, we have responded to this simple, straightforward suggestion by constructing elaborate paths and religions, practices and meditations. We have told ourselves endlessly tha

The earth-shaking message, as initiated by Sri Ramana Maharshi, mirrored by H W L Poonja, and now delivered by this gentle soul and her beloved spouse, is so simple and direct that we can easily miss the point. Thanks to skillful editing by Shanti Einolander, that message comes through clearly in this book. How rare it is that a teacher tells us to STOP, and be still. She never tells us to "do" anything. How refreshing ! In "Diamond" this wonderful lady presents example after example of the message; it is only by Direct Experience that one can appreciate the elegant simplicity. That said, there is no need to repeat the outstanding and lengthy review already included in your website. The praise on the dust jacket is right-on; Eckhart Tolle, Coleman Barks, Lama Surya Das, James Twyman, Jack Kornfield, Russell Targ, and Massuru Emoto provide powerful and accurate praise. That Tami Simon of Sounds True has chosen to publish this marvelous book is the ultimate praise. This book is a "must read" on many summer reading lists. My copy, given to me as a gift, is well-worn already.

In the forward of The Diamond In Your Pocket, Eckhart Tolle says that "The words themselves are charged with extraordinary aliveness and transformative power. This is because they have come out of a living realization of the truth, rather than the accumulated knowledge of the mind." The editors preface goes on to say, "As you read these pages, may you discover the absolute sweetness of your own innate being. May you look to where Gangaji is pointing and see what remains perfectly unchanged throughout every shifting circumstance in your life. This pristine sky of limitless awareness is your true refuge, it is love itself, and it is calling to you right now from the depths of your very own heart." Gangaji writes, "This is an invitation into the core of your being. It is not about religion or lack of religion. It is not even about enlightenment or ignorance. It is about the truth of who you are, which is closer and deeper than anything that can be named. In any moment, in a split second, there is the possibility of recognizing the boundless, limitless, eternal divine truth of yourself...The recognition of this truth is what this book is about." The most important part of this book for me was where Gangaji speaks about the heart of self-betrayal. "We have all experienced the grief of losing something, a beloved one, or a precious object. But even deeper than that grief is the grief of recognizing the betrayal of the truth of ourselves. Rather than actually experiencing this self-betrayal, we usually get very busy fabricating proof that we are not betraying ourselves. We busily gather power, pleasure, or knowledge to prove that we are not really betraying ourselves, that we really are okay. But this grief, this divine sadness, is very important. It is a great, painful gift from the emotional body, and we deal with it in at least a couple of ways. One approach to the grief of self-betrayal is to dramatize it, to make it into a dance, a song or a play, glorifying the sadness and the pain. Another common way is to deny the grief, to push it down out of sight, to numb or deaden ourselves. It doesn't matter which we choose because the grief remains. The loss of being true to ourselves is still present...The pain of recognizing that we have turned away from the truth of ourselves leads to a great cry, a wail, a tearing of the heart...It is possible to lay bare your soul's deep grief without dramatizing it or denying it, to recognize that this longing is an echo of what originates purely and absolutely in the core of your being...This ache has a divine purpose. If you will meet it, this divine ache will return your attention to this present moment where perfect alignment with the truth of who you are can always be found." What I loved about Gangaji is how psychologically savvy she is and that she encourages us to dive all the way into whatever obstacle is appearing to discover what is underneath it all. I listened deeply wher