Enlightenment is Not An Ego Project

Author Tom Galten, in his work as a psychotherapist and substance abuse counselor, finds that many of his clients suffer from "an acute thirst for spiritual experience." Galten says "this thirst is what some have called a search for God and others have called the Self’s search for itself." In the Advaita (non-dual) tradition of such spiritual teachers as Eckhart Tolle, Rupert Spira, Alan Watts, Mooji and many others, Enlightenment is Not an Ego Project is a powerful little book aimed at supporting restive seekers and inspiring us to persevere on the journey. The book has a scholarly quality to it that reinforces and supports its basic premises and purpose. Galten’s own words say it best: "I am convinced that only a personal realization, and not ideas, will fully satisfy the spiritual seeker. In short, you want to actually feel connection, peace and deep fulfillment. You are searching … for an experience. So if we can agree from the start that only something "beyond words and ideas" (or, if you prefer, "prior" to words and ideas) can ever fully relieve your discontent and settle your restlessness, we can move on to a discussion which will, in its synergistic relationship with the spiritual energy that you as the reader bring to it, provide illumination and boost your ongoing transformation. … So look within, not to me or to anyone else. You are in the midst of a genuine transformational process which, now that it has begun, will not stop."