Words from Silence: An Invitation to Spiritual Awakening

WHat does "spiritual" mean? What is an awakening? Who am I? What is God?A lot of ink has been spilt in trying to address these questions. The mind likes to lose itself in existential dilemmas and it likes elaborate theologies. Sometimes it is not easy to see whether asking these questions or reading "spiritual books" brings one closer to Being or pushes one farther away. This book is a step in the right direction.Jacobson strips the spiritual endeavour to its bones. According to him, what matters is to be present and still and to own every aspect of ourselves, no matter how abhorrent it may appear to the ego (mind). We have to learn to surrender patterns of control in our lives, stop believing in our thoughts and beliefs and release the past. The only way to do this is to learn to honor our feelings and to allow the heart to speak once again and to "make sure that there is nothing in our lives which we love more than God". There is a lot of talk about God in this book. Myself I am not necessarily religious in the old fashioned sense of the word, yet Jacobson's reverence and delicateness impressed me and shifted something. The way Jacobson sees God as related to Presence and Silence and interconnectedness, and yet as unfathomable and mysterious, speaks to me and also reminds me of what I consider to be the best in Buddhist thought. In any case, you can't miss with this book. It will invite you to just BE over and over again and how can one refuse such an invitation?

There's a saying in the East that a book hasn't been read once until it has been read twelve times. So I haven't read "WORDS FROM SILENCE" once yet. I just finished my third read and find, for the third time, that Leonard's sharing reaches deeply to uncover Truth within me. This book is extraordinary - refreshing in its simplicity, brilliant in its clarity - written not from Leonard's mind to my (your) mind, but from his essence to my (your) essence - from heart to heart, knowing to knowing, Self to Self. "WORDS FROM SILENCE" is exceedingly recommendable to anyone who has ever contemplated the questions, "Who am I?", "Where am I?", or "What am I doing here?" It is an invitation to come home, a call to awakening, including keys and guidance to accomplish just that: full awakening out of illusion into the truth and reality of this present moment, right here, right now..."To awaken from mind to Beingis your responsibility.No one can do it for you.It is not difficult.It can be done, provided you know the way.I can show you the way, but I cannot walk the path for you." (p. 70)"The only longing to follow is the longing to know who you are.You can long for a woman, or a man.You can long for material possessions and success.All of these longings will take you further away, but the longing to know who you are will take you home." (p. 218)This book leads to a homecoming not to be missed.

In a fast-paced world, full of cares and stress, Words from Silence came to me as a soothing and refreshing dip into a world of quietness and peace. Some pages have only a couple of lines on them, inviting the reader to rest her mind and enjoy nourishment for the soul. Having been on a spiritual path for many years, most of which is the journey of life itself, I found that Words from Silence was pure and true. Unlike many spiritual books, this book took me to the essence of life, untainted by the author's own particular human experience. It comes from the other side, and then I realized that the other side is this side!This book is the first in a trilogy of books. Treat yourself to this first invitation into presence, awareness and true consciousness, and you may never be the same again. Words from Silence will probably whet your appetite to read the remaining two books in this series. I recommend getting all three at once.Halimah Martin

When, as a Western Catholic, I first started reading this book, I found the lack of "teaching" and "concrete material" a bit dicomforting. It was not long afterwards, though, that the genius of this approach opened in my depths, my soul. This book touched the amorphous, mysterious dimension of every person's being, inaccesible through concepts in which peace, acceptance, love, and spirit lie.I have been profoundly touched and changed by this book and would recommend it to anyone, especially those who, like myself, have wondered why their faith never made much sense nor satisfied our deepest longings. The obsessive pursuit of rational sense and the desire to have longing fulfilled are exposed in this beautifully written masterpiece as whisps, impostors, and not a problem to be solved but an obstacle to be dismissed through pure awarness, groundedness in the present, and leting go of the bitterness of the past and the uncertaintly and anxiety of the future. This is done not though a series of sermonettes, but rather by guiding the reader through a quasi "stream of consciousness" approach which is simultaneously disarming and porfoundly enlightening and expanding. THE BOOK HAS CHANGED ME FOR THE BETTER. I am more patient, more tolerant, more sensible, more peeaceful, and most of all, more loving than I was before I read this inspired work of art. And I more often SEE things now, not just listening, and EXPERIENCE things now, not just having things happen to me.Do yourself a favor. Read this with an open mind and soul and come home, a star-crossed prodigal son or daughter, to your real home which is you.Lest you think that this is some text which will shake your faith to its foundations, fear not. The writer of this review is a member of a Catholic religions community known as the Brothers of the Sacred Heart. Brothers are the male equivalent of famale nuns.

I recently read Words From Silence written by Leonard Jacobson. A friend who had attended a seminar with the author said that her life was transformed by his work. I found this book to be powerful, clear and true. The words spoke directly to my heart. The guidlines provided in the book are wonderful tools to help us stay present and living life at the level of being, rather than living in the illusion created by our minds. I often pick this book up and open to a random page for some insight, the message never fails to deliver me directly into the silence within my being. I recommend this book to anyone who is traveling the path of self discovery, it is an invaluble tool for waking up and living life in Presence.