The Freedom of Being: At Ease with What Is Book

Invitation to the Reader ix

Introduction xi

Open the Door xix

Part 1 The Lay of the Land

1 The Human Condition 3

2 How We Tick 7

3 Potential and Fulfillment 25

4 A New Orientation to Life 33

5 "What Is It to Become Free? 41

6 Getting Real 57

Part 2 Choice Hiding in Plain Sight

7 Cultivating Self-Awareness 73

8 Choice 33

9 How Life Affects You 93

10 Acceptance: Unplugging the Suffering Machine 117

11 Living in Feeling: The Encounter with Reality 141

12 Fear 151

13 The Creation and Care of the Familiar Self 167

Part 3 The Solitary Traveler, with No Place to Go

14 What Do You Want? 195

15 Spiritual Practice as Distraction 205

16 A Jewel in Your Pocket 209

17 The End of the Journey 213

18 Preparing the Ground 225

19 Loving Your Ego 229

20 Who Are You? 241

21 The Final Chapter 245

Epilogue 249

Afterword: A Postscript to When Fear Falls Away 253

Acknowledgments 261

References 263