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Awake Joy: The Essence of Enlightenment

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In 1986, the author, Katie Davis, owned an aerobics business named Body by Katie. One day of that year, while Katie was teaching a superfit class, she simply disappeared from all earthly experience into the divine mystery beyond all awareness of form. Clearly a challenge to put into words, Katie calls this divinity within us, Awake Joy, the essence of living. Though her attention returned to the aerobic floor, its space and time, after being in attention only to its essence, it took her twelve years to fully re-integrate with the body and mind in this dimension. During that period, Katie was faced with the daunting challenge of integrating every human sense and impression that arose into the divine within her knowing. For that entire period, she existed in a state of consciousness that burned away every trace of illusion as it arose. In fact, her aerobics business literally burned down two years after her awakening. Many symbolic burnings followed. By 1998, the divine essence was fully embodied and the inspiration for this book was born into this life.

Awake Joy is Katie's gift of sharing the Truth with all of us. The fullness of Love and Joy is all that truly is. She states that this is who you are and what is always here and now. The "I" that you think you are and the body that you perceive are wondorous symbols that point to your timeless essence and formless beauty. The frequency of the divine Spirit within form is vibrantly alive and awake in this writing. My favorite passages are found where Katie shares her impressions of the natural world perceived from within the intelligence of the awakened Heart. Here we are lifted into the awe and wonder that she knows as the reality of our nature. Katie is simply a living angel, who's intimately aware of our life's goodness, beauty, love, peace and co-passion for all Being. How do I know this? I am her Beloved husband in this life. That admitted, this is a great book that will profoundly touch your soul if you are willing to give your mind to your Beloved, this Being, this life, this moment, just as it really is.

One proviso: Awake Joy is not for the timid or those of us who are still great believers in the personal self and what it might achieve. No, Awake Joy calls for your surrender of all that holds you to this surface dream. You see, causeless Joy depends on nothing you dream about, it depends only on You, or rather...it is You.

Injoy, Sundance Burke, Author, Free Spirit: A Guide to Enlightened Being

"Awake Joy" is written by a western author that is awake, not awakening. Previously, my favorite book was Be as You Are: The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi (Arkana) by Ramana Maharshi. The difference is that "Awake Joy" does not use eastern terms that keep sending the reader to a glossary to determine the sanskrit meanings.

For pleasure reading, I have also enjoyed A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose (Oprah's Book Club, Selection 61) and The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment by Eckhart Tolle. I loved these books, but they didn't seem to take me deeper than I am. Similarly, Awake Joy encourages conscious awakening, but also completes the journey to enlightenment and Self-realization.

Most useful, Katie encourages us to note "where we are looking from." She offers universal reference points all of which encourage deeper seeing. This noticing allowed a significant shift deeper during my first reading. Since I became aware of the reference point, I realized that I was actually beyond it, as Katie clearly points in the book.

For those who are sensitive to the awakened frequency, this book, Awake Joy: The Essence of Enlightenment, consumes "you."

"Katie Davis has written a Spiritual Encyclopedia! Everyone interested in enlightenment, spirituality or inner contentment will greatly benefit from this book. Covering every topic from the inner workings of the mind, Advaita, meditation and awakening, Katie leaves no stone unturned, no experience uncovered. A great celebration and teaching from one who is obviously Awake & Living Joy."



Kip Mazuy, Bliss Music

Katie Davis in Awake Joy writes clearly about the Now with which she is intimately familiar. In these pages, it is obvious that she has fully explored consciousness and its many levels, as she gently guides the reader to the depths of the Self. She also beautifully describes Awakeness like only someone who knows it can. These pages contain much beauty, compassion, insight, and wisdom to drink in and enjoy. --Gina Lake, author of Radical Happiness: A Guide to Awakening

I recently met Katie Davis and her husband, Sundance Burke, author of Free Spirit: A Guide to Enlightened Being at intensives that they were offering in Toronto. Before even entering the hall where they were already silently sitting, I sensed a strong, silent depth within. I have been to intensives and retreats with most of the better known teachers and I must say that the Toronto intensives were the most profound that I have encountered. Furthermore, I seem to be mostly stabilized in this resonance now.

I first read "Awake Joy" cover to cover and now whenever I briefly get lost in time, I return to "Awake Joy." Somehow, this book seems to carry that silent frequency.

In the first Appendix, Katie offers an exercise for meditative reading and I find it helpful to settle into the vibrant stillness. She recommends the exercise before reading so that you aren't reading from the mind rather than resting in the Heart. I have now reread Ramana Maharshi's "Be As You Are" and Jean Klein's "I Am" after practicing Katie's meditative reading exercise and I seem to have so much more clarity and better absorb the teaching. Or try it before listening to any video by any other teacher and you might discover a stabilizing silence within.

"Awake Joy" is divided into four progressive parts. The first part, "The Dream," offers an overview of enlightenment and encourages us to notice that when we are identified with the mind made self, what she calls "dreaming I," we are dreaming. Part Two, "The Eyewitness," leads us through self-observation and is a study of thought, emotion and form. Part Three, "The Pure Being," leads us into the heart of enlightenment and the study of sacred formlessness. Finally, Part Four, "The Heart" guides us to Self-realization with great clarity and an underlying palpable stillness. The book then points to integration and awake living. What I loved about this section is the manner in which she writes, I truly can sense what "living the Heart's way" might be like.

I am grateful for the second Appendix that offers meditations to reveal common remaining delusions. We are using these experiments in a Krishnamurti group that I attend and find them helpful.

This book is a treasure. Similar to Nisargadatta's "I Am That", but with a feminine voice and the delicacy of the Heart, Awake Joy will be with me for a very long time. The underlying message of the book is to "Be Awake ... since we are Awake."

I have not yet read Sundance's "Free Spirit" but I plan on buying it today after writing this. I find it unique and fascinating that they live the Awake Life as the Beloved. At satsang, he spoke with great clarity.

Borrowing from Japanese cookery, I call the writing style of Katie Davis tempura. It is tender and crisp.

The purpose of this book is to be a pointing toward the recognition of Heart, Truth, Reality, or Awake Joy.

The chapter entitled Innocence may be the best one, for how it compares egotistic illusion to awake joy. "If you wish is to be free of suffering, you must stop terrorizing yourself and others. When you stay sharply present and free of time, the `I' thought does not arise, since it requires time. Being present defies the false image of ego and therefore defies mental separation. If you slip into time and the image of `I' does not arise, do not touch it."

Katie gets you actively involved in this book, requiring you to look at your emotions, thoughts, problems, and feelings. She says, "Always inquire into negative emotion, `Is there anything deeper?' and keep following it to its deepest root." Then you are guided to a place beyond time, which is known as Essence or Awake Joy.

Katie notes that one comes upon new perceptual reference points as the journey to Self-discovery deepens. She reminds you not to get mentally involved in any of them. "Instead, we release the perception to open to the essential Essence to which they point."

I enjoyed the descriptions of the beach and ocean in Maui and the Oregon coast. They are a small but significant part of this book as they bring you to surrender to the pages you are reading. And surrender is the overall tone of this book.

It is remarkable that Katie and her husband Sundance Burke wrote their books at desks next to each other, and they published them at the same time and in the same format. Sundance's book is Free Spirit. I'll be reviewing that one next.

Jerry Katz

This book is astounding and simply brilliant, written from Pure Heart and deep Love that illuminates each and every page and transmits its timeless wisdom directly to the reader with its potent pointers, beautiful poetry, honest sharing.

I am deeply touched and refer to "Awake Joy" again and again and treasure also the extremely beautiful cover-the author's incredible sense of Beauty, being Beauty herself, leaves one with a sense of wonder and deep gratitude for sharing herself in absolute humbleness, always pointing to the Truth that the Reader IS that very same Self.

No separation at all is experienced in this rare volume!

Equally profound and valuable are the many beautiful resources on the web that dear Katie shares with us, her site [...]

that feels like a slice of Heaven, and leads to her inspiring blog, videos, Facebook site and more...

One is privy to receiving jewels of eternal wisdom like this one in one's inbox that dear Katie answered after someone's loving comment:

"In 'relationship' to the universe, I am pure beingness. In 'relationship' to consciousness, I am pure awareness.

However this is not a land of relationships. Pure 'I" (Heart) stands alone and is that which makes nothing and everything possible.
Without contradiction, Heart is all that is.

Thank you for pointing out that the life situation is always in variation and impermanent. Which is why when we seek happiness objectively in the life situation, we suffer.

Impermanence cannot contain that which is permanent. Whereas, permanence contains all that is impermanent.

I am here only to point to the fact that if we are willing to rest as "I am" and inquire into the true nature of "I," we realize a changeless joy that is absolutely indestructible, depends on nothing and is caused by nothing.

Furthermore, it is already complete within you right now. We have only to realize it ... rather realize who you ultimately are.

This joy of being is available to every human being.

That is the miracle!!!

~ Love ~" Katie Davis"

or this one:


Katie Davis: "Beloved ~ I am not an object. I am you; radiant being and the mystery that is. Deeply contemplate the "I Am" ... or rather ... effortless being ... just as a sugar cube dissolves in a hot cup of tea, one realizes that sweetness remains. When the subject dissolves (no matter how gross or formlessly subtle), ...there is no "other" to witness."



Katie Davis' pure Light shines with such immense compassion and absolute Realization, bound to no-thing, completely free.

There is no leaning on other teachings, rather fresh, new, yet eternal insights that transform and remind the reader daily of one's Real Being.

In these 3d- seeming times of turmoil and upheaval, I cannot think of a better companion to have by one's side, this is one of those rare books that makes you want to take it ( and one other I'll get to in a second) with you should you ever have to leave your human home in a hurry, and even that would be accomplished in an easy manner, with a serene smile, knowing One is ALREADY home always, resting and abiding there.

Dear Reader, you can gladly leave all other books behind, and guess, what, eventually even this one, as after reading this authoritative, loving, amazing work, you are ready to take the leap and just live and BE what these pages point to.

But trust me, you wouldn't want to leave this gorgeous work behind, reading it henceforth as the ONLYNESS that Pure Awareness is, it would just feel like your SELF communing beautifully with your SELF.

I would highly recommend to read this astoundingly pure volume in conjunction with dear Sundance Burke's "Free Spirit", this book is the other one I'd definitely not want to leave behind!

Written side by side by and through Pure Love, these two books seem to work their magic in a beautiful synergy, rounding up all aspects of Spirit's boundless joy and freedom, shining Light from all facets, leaving no question unanswered.

One literally feels the deep Love the authors are and so generously share and what a trip it has been!

Take a journey into paradise, dearest Reader, literally, read these gorgeous, once-in-a-millenium-books and give Thanks to live at this time, being able to have been led to your SELF in such a gentle, joyful manner, stay right where you already always are and never have fallen from effortlessly from within and derive daily joy through dear Katie and Sundance's sites, blogs, videos, and one day, (my dream here:), a retreat on Maui with these two Light Angels!

Thank you from all my heart for your generous sharing, dearest Katie and Sundance!

A friend recommended this wonderful book and I found it very useful to move deeper in awakening. This is a book that I will reread along the way. The author writes with both clarity and eloquence that allows both deeper insights and spiritual awe at the same time. The great silence is apparent on every page.

Upon awakening, the pathway seemed quite confusing and many books that I read furthered that confusion. This is a an accessible guide to keep from being lost in trying to understand concepts. It progressively points deeper and deeper through intelligent inquiry and devotion. It leads us to awakening, deepens to enlightenment, encourages integration and full embodiment of truth. It then points to awake living, but not conceptually, rather directly in a lovely manner, so that we may have a peek at what it might be like to be living the ultimate potential of the real human being, when our multi-dimensionality is finally embraced.

Because of my own awakening, I know that waking up is available to everyone. However, I also had the impression that enlightenment and Self-realization were reserved for monks in robes who sat in caves. Now, I realize that this too is available for anyone who is willing to continue noticing the unfathomable depth of pure awareness. The chart of reference points in this book is helpful for this deeper investigation.

I also recommend this book for the Practices and Meditations in the Appendix. They are effective in helping those who would like to live more consciously in the present moment and then they shift deeper by removing the idea of the pratitioner altogether. In this deeper awakening, evermore subtle layers of the intellect are revealed to finally discover the Essence of pure being; the Truth.

I had my first awakening while sitting with Katie in Silent Joy Satsang. The stillness was deafening. I have been waiting for Awake Joy to publish for sometime and now I am even more grateful. I enjoy the same deep stillness while reading as I did in the Silent Joy evenings.

This book is well organized and progressively goes deeper and deeper with great clarity. She has included quotes at the beginning of each chapter from sages throughout time to offer a taste of the chapter's subject matter.

This book does not get lost in therapy for the psychological drama of the ego, but unceasingly points you back to what Katie says is prior, closer and more intimate to you than the idea of "me." In Awake Joy, "who am I?" remains the most essential question.

The book cover calls this an A-Z guide to awakening and Self-realization and it is definitely a valuable handbook for everyone to reread at different times along the awakening journey. I call it ... simply beautiful.

I am presently reading Katie's awakened husband's book, Free Spirit: A Guide to Enlightened Being by Sundance Burke and find it quite complementary to Awake Joy: The Essence of Enlightenment. Thank you!

Break Out of Your Mind! Live from the endless Source that makes everything possible...

Katie's book is written from the Heart, the essence that we all are. As such it carries a gentle, yet powerful, transmission if you simply relax and allow yourself to feel it.

Resting into Awake Joy is not something that can be achieved through any technique. So Katie artfully points us to this simple feeling of joyful aliveness that exists as our true nature, prior to all thought and experience.

I recommend reading this book slowly. Feel into that within you to which the words point, as opposed to seeing it as a way to accumulate yet more information. This is the blessing of this book.

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