Toward a Secret Sky
Creating Your Own Modern Pilgrimage
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- $17.99
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- $17.99
Publisher Description
"A kind and accessible book that supports the human longing for a meaningful life." — Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel, author of The Logic of Faith
Toward a Secret Sky is a guidebook for modern pilgrims who are searching for encouragement in following their commitment to a spiritual path. Kim Roberts acts as a friendly guide, helping people navigate the strange and exhilarating journey of a spiritual seeker. She shares stories from her own years of pilgrimage in places like India, Thailand, and Bhutan, and prompts readers to jump-start their unique path of discovery with meditation and writing exercises.
"With simple and profound practices, Kim Roberts guides us to explore our inner landscape in the context of the external world and Toward a Secret Sky magnificently illuminates the path of the most sacred journey we will ever take. This beautiful book is a compass that I will return to again and again." — Nancy Levin, author of Jump . . . and Your Life Will Appear
"Wisdom and kindness shine through every page, and practical advice leaves you well equipped to set out on your own path of discovery. These are footsteps worth following." — Andrew Holecek, author of Dream Yoga
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This muddled memoir from yoga instructor Roberts (Ashtanga Yoga for Beginner's Mind) reconceptualizes the idea of pilgrimage as not primarily a trek to a far-flung "power place," but as a "self-secret affair." She recommends that readers set off on a spiritual journey of "retreating from busyness" in order to more deeply wrestle with one's inner thoughts. Roberts grounds her practice in ashtanga vinyasa yoga and Buddhist mindfulness meditation, and preaches committing to yoga and meditation as a way of discovering spiritual transcendence, while warning against practicing as goal-oriented, consumerist life improvement. She shares stories of her travels in India, Thailand, and Bhutan, and spends large parts of the book railing against the rules put in place by yoga teaching organizations and the ongoing sexual misconduct and gender bias in traditional teaching contexts, divulging, in a section titled "Groping Gurus, her own experience of sexual harassment. Those feeling the call to take a break from the workaday world will find Roberts's words more encouraging than guiding, as the book is structured haphazardly and often hard to follow, with sections detailing her travels placed awkwardly between other ruminations. Add in frustratingly freewheeling but often fiery prose, and it's hard to imagine this appealing to a wide base of yoga practitioners.
