Joan Tollifson

This book celebrates the great stripping process of aging, dying and spiritual awakening. Beautiful, poignant, at times humorous, transcendent, messy, down to earth, refreshingly honest--the book explores death, and more importantly, being alive, through a rich mix of personal stories and spiritual reflections. Joan writes about her mother's final years and about being with friends and teachers at the end of their lives. She shares her own journey with aging, anal cancer, and other life challenges. She explores what it means to be alive in what may be the collapse of civilization and the possible extinction of life on earth due to climate change. Pointing beyond deficiency stories, future fantasies, and oppressive self-improvement projects, Joan invites an awakening to the immediacy of this moment and the wonder of ordinary life. She demonstrates a pathless path of genuine transformation, seeing all of life as sacred and worthy of devotion, and finding joy in the full range of our human experience.

The End of Self-Improvement

Death

"Nothing to Grasp" invites readers to explore their experience in the here and now, wake up from commonplace misconceptions, and see through the imaginary separate self at the root of human suffering and confusion. This book points relentlessly to what is most obvious and impossible to avoid the ever-present, ever-changing, nonconceptual actuality of the present moment, which is effortlessly presenting itself right now and encourages readers to celebrate life, "exactly" the way it is. "

Nothing to Grasp

These lively talks and dialogues are about seeing through the illusion of separation and waking up to the boundless wholeness that is all there is. Joan's approach is open and explorative, questioning all attempts to conceptually grasp and frame the movement of life. She talks about seeing through the stories and beliefs that create our human suffering and waking up to the simplicity of what is. This book beautifully dissolves the apparent dichotomy between the uncompromising "this is it, just as it is" message of radical non-duality and the emphasis on "being here now" that is found in many meditation teachings. Joan has an affinity with Buddhism, Advaita, and radical non-duality, but she belongs to no tradition. In these talks and dialogues, she takes on such perennial questions as, Is there a way out of personal and global suffering? Can we choose to stop addictive and destructive patterns? Does being awake take effort, vigilance, and practice, or is it effortlessly and unavoidably always already the case? What happens when we die?

Talks and Dialogues About Non-Duality

Painting the Sidewalk with Water

This book points relentlessly to what is most obvious and impossible to avoid: the ever-present, ever-changing, nonconceptual actuality of the present moment that is effortlessly presenting itself right now. This book is an invitation to wake up from commonplace misconceptions and to see through the imaginary separate self at the root of our human suffering and confusion. Nothing to Grasp is a celebration of what is, exactly as it is.

Born with only one hand, Joan Tollifson grows up feeling different, finds identity as a bisexual lesbian and a disability rights activist, but also sinks into drug addiction and alcoholism. She embraces Zen Buddhism and then a very bare-bones spirituality that has no form. Bare-Bones Meditation reveals the inner process of the mind in a new way, and Tollifson's account is beautifully written--intense and from the heart.

Waking Up from the Story of My Life

Bare-Bones Meditation

"Awake in the Heartland" shows how spiritual practice and the pursuit of enlightenment can become an addiction, or yet another goal that can impede us from waking up in the present moment. In her poignant autobiography, author Joan Tollifson encourages readers to look for themselves without clinging to old opinions or relying on outside authorities. Honest, funny, and profound, this is a book that invites readers to discover who or what they really are. "

Joan Tollifson

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