The Discovery of Our True Being From the author of Soul Work: A Daybook of Encouragement and Guidance for the Spiritual Journey comes a book that offers a systematic approach to spirituality based on contemporary understanding of the human condition. It combines eastern spiritual practices and western psychology in a systematic process of uncovering our True Self. We need only look at small children to see that when we come into this world, our birthright is pure Goodness. Toddlers radiate love, joy, curiosity, compassion, will, creativity, and more. But as we grow, we develop an ego that then accumulates layers and layers of rigid conditioning. We become a false self that is inauthentic and often neurotic. We become what society wants us to be, and are not anchored in anything real that provides ultimate meaning. While this ego development is necessary in order to learn how to survive in the world, we pay a heavy price for this-we are cut off from our Divine attributes by these layers of conditioning. The spiritual path outlined in this book is a way to realize our connection to our Divine endowment and live a life of joy, love, compassion, authenticity, clarity, wisdom, and meaning. It entails the use of western psychodynamic knowledge to support eastern meditative practices in a process of working through our layers of contraction to recover our Essential Being-our True Self. The melding of these methods results in a unique approach to spiritual work that has been found to be helpful to many people. It is offered to spiritual seekers as a sound path to learning how to be what we truly are-Divinely endowed.

The Unfolding Discovery of the Truth of Our Being

Self-Help

Vessey, Donald

Spiritual

Plowshare Media

In this rich and nuanced book, the spiritual writer, Dr. Donald Vessey, presents many of his ideas in the form of a fictional character, Daniel Beck. As a member of the U.S. Army Rangers in the Vietnam War, Dan is captured and ends up a POW housed in a small-town jail in North Vietnam. There he meets Bac Thay, a wise and compassionate Buddhist Master who is jailed for protesting the war. During their incarceration and his subsequent stay at Master Thay's monastery, Thay opens Dan to a deep understanding of the divine nature of humanity, and helps him develop his experience of the spiritual dimension. This leads to a new appreciation for his Catholic upbringing. Dan returns home determined to help people find the love, joy, and meaning of authentic living beyond all conditioning and belief. He feels that being a Catholic priest would offer a way to impart this to people. As a result, Dan enters Catholic Seminary at the end of the war and becomes a priest. In his role as Father Dan, he helps a variety of people deal with difficult problems in very wise ways. However, he struggles to reconcile Buddhist teachings and his own personal understanding with the rigid doctrine of an organized religion. In his first full assignment as a parish priest, he encounters a variety of characters, both lovable and difficult. The story of the mysterious departure of his predecessor also unfolds. His attempts to unravel questions surrounding his experiences with an old girlfriend helps him examine his attempt to live a whole life. Full of practical spiritual wisdom, humor and heartwarming situations, as well as unforgettable characters, it is a book that is hard to put down all the way to its dramatic conclusion.

Light from a Rising Soul

Literature & Fiction

Genre Fiction

A Life Transformed: The POW and the Buddhist Abbot

Independently published

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Vessey, Donald. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Vessey, Donald