Customer Reviews

The Diamond in Your Pocket: Discovering Your True Radiance

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In the forward of The Diamond In Your Pocket, Eckhart Tolle says that "The words themselves are charged with extraordinary aliveness and transformative power. This is because they have come out of a living realization of the truth, rather than the accumulated knowledge of the mind."

The editors preface goes on to say, "As you read these pages, may you discover the absolute sweetness of your own innate being. May you look to where Gangaji is pointing and see what remains perfectly unchanged throughout every shifting circumstance in your life. This pristine sky of limitless awareness is your true refuge, it is love itself, and it is calling to you right now from the depths of your very own heart."

Gangaji writes, "This is an invitation into the core of your being. It is not about religion or lack of religion. It is not even about enlightenment or ignorance. It is about the truth of who you are, which is closer and deeper than anything that can be named. In any moment, in a split second, there is the possibility of recognizing the boundless, limitless, eternal divine truth of yourself...The recognition of this truth is what this book is about."

The most important part of this book for me was where Gangaji speaks about the heart of self-betrayal. "We have all experienced the grief of losing something, a beloved one, or a precious object. But even deeper than that grief is the grief of recognizing the betrayal of the truth of ourselves. Rather than actually experiencing this self-betrayal, we usually get very busy fabricating proof that we are not betraying ourselves. We busily gather power, pleasure, or knowledge to prove that we are not really betraying ourselves, that we really are okay. But this grief, this divine sadness, is very important. It is a great, painful gift from the emotional body, and we deal with it in at least a couple of ways. One approach to the grief of self-betrayal is to dramatize it, to make it into a dance, a song or a play, glorifying the sadness and the pain. Another common way is to deny the grief, to push it down out of sight, to numb or deaden ourselves. It doesn't matter which we choose because the grief remains. The loss of being true to ourselves is still present...The pain of recognizing that we have turned away from the truth of ourselves leads to a great cry, a wail, a tearing of the heart...It is possible to lay bare your soul's deep grief without dramatizing it or denying it, to recognize that this longing is an echo of what originates purely and absolutely in the core of your being...This ache has a divine purpose. If you will meet it, this divine ache will return your attention to this present moment where perfect alignment with the truth of who you are can always be found." What I loved about Gangaji is how psychologically savvy she is and that she encourages us to dive all the way into whatever obstacle is appearing to discover what is underneath it all.

I listened deeply where Gangaji said, "People have asked me if after spiritual awakening it still matters that there are hatred, genocide, and continuing violence in the world. Yes, it matters. It matters because it is all a reflection of our own minds. There is nothing going on in the world that is not going on in our own minds. In your willingness to see the truth of that, to experience the horror of that, and finally to see what is also forever untouched by that, you are at least one aspect of consciousness that knows itself to be free. In that living knowledge, which ignores nothing, it is possible to make yourself useful to all of life." I loved that she isn't teaching some kind of spiritual bypass or avoidance of the horror of what is happening this very moment on the world stage with its cast of characters.

This book is for you if you have had a glimpse or taste your own divine radiance and want to inquire all the way into the permanence of that.

There is a mysterious power in the transmission to be found in reading Gangaji's words, and I've written this to give you my experience with this mystery, but the best way to know this is to read the book for yourself. Please feel free to ignore all that I say here and just buy the book and read it.

I first met Gangaji in a prison in Colorado in 1994, and fell instantly into love with her. God knows how or why, but in the instant of meeting her eyes, all the years and lifetimes of mental activity stopped dead without warning, revealing nothing but eternal, unmoving, silent love without condition.

I had no spiritual understanding to speak of, and no need for any. I knew nothing of Ramana Maharshi or Papaji, or of the tradition in which they had appeared. I had no reference point from which I could understand what Gangaji was saying, and needed none.

For some months, I wrote to her letter after letter, listened to her satsang tapes whenever I could get some time in the prison chapel where they were kept, and had not the slightest idea or interest in the actual content of her speech.

Then, almost a year after that first meeting, I was sent a copy of her first book You are That!, and I was freshly stunned to discover that her naked words had a power of their own to transmit directly true understanding. Reading her words for the first time I had the direct experience of the power of her teaching, the brilliance and clarity with which she spoke of the reality of realization and of what is asked of us to see it. Her naked words transmit true understanding to all who would receive it.

You Are That! is a compilation of beautifully edited transcripts of Gangaji's teaching in satsang.

The Diamond in Your Pocket is Gangaji speaking directly to you.

This book is not intended for advanced spiritual seekers; nor is it intended for those with little or no spiritual understanding. Spiritual understanding is irrelevant here. This book is not for the religious or the irreligious; for the seekers after wealth or for those who renounce the world; for the healthy or for the sick; for those who are comfortable with their lives or for those who hate their lives. This book is intended for you and for you alone.

From the beginning, great beings have appeared among us from time to time, moved by compassion to tell us that reality is not what we think it is; that the world is not what we think it is; that pain and pleasure are not what we think they are; and, most fundamentally, that we are not what we think we are. They have told us that this misunderstanding of our own actual nature is the root of all misery and suffering, all horror and aggression and hatred and violence everywhere. They have told us simply that the truth is within us, and that knowing the truth will set us free.

By and large, we have responded to this simple, straightforward suggestion by constructing elaborate paths and religions, practices and meditations. We have told ourselves endlessly that, if we can only stick to these strategies, someday we will break through to the truth and be free at last.

We have brought into being initiations and transmissions, meditations and mantras that produce states that we imagine to be the states of the enlightened sages. But these states come and go; when they are present, we fear their passing; and when they are gone, we mourn their loss and long for their return.

We have created vast religious edifices of hope and sacrifice to gods and saviors created in our own image. We have done great deeds of compassion and proselytizing; we have shed oceans of blood and burned ourselves alive; we have created wondrous works of religious art, and we have created and destroyed civilizations, all in the hope of personal salvation.

We have spent our precious lives searching, searching, searching ... searching for truth, searching for love, searching for fulfillment, searching for comfort, searching for we know not what. We have searched high and low in thought, in passing states, and in objects of acquisition and loss. And we have failed. Nothing works - nothing spiritual, nothing religious, nothing material, and nothing philosophical.

But all that is finished now, all of that is in the past: Gangaji is here and now. And with her, the opportunity is present, here and now, to be finished with all postponement, all excuses, all futile searching - once and for all.

Gangaji is not an avatar, nor is she a guru in the usual sense of that word; she has no special powers that I've been able to detect. She is physically beautiful. Her voice is soft and inviting, and her speech is eloquent, but she is no orator, no gifted preacher; she makes no sermons that will lift your spirit and make your heart sing. She will not give you ecstatic experiences. She is, as she is fond of saying, "just like you", and if you find anything special in her, it is but your own specialness, your own eternal radiance that you find, masquerading as her. What she is, is absolutely true: true to herself, true to you, and true to what she herself has discovered. And what she has to offer is fresh, and radically simple, and true to all the great masters who have gone before her.

I met Gangaji almost eleven years ago, in a federal prison in Colorado. I cannot claim that I brought any quickness or intelligence to that meeting, but I did want with all my heart to hear what she had to say, to receive what she had to offer, and in the end that was enough.

It is great good luck that has brought this book into your reach, and if you will open your mind to receive what she has to offer, she will lead you into a direct meeting with yourself at the core of the hated ego itself, where is to be found nothing whatsoever but eternal, radiant consciousness - which is all the self there is. If you will open your mind to receive what she has to offer, she will further lead you into a meeting with yourself at the core of every thing whatsoever: every horrible fear, every desperate hope, every transcendent experience - every mundane moment of your life. In all of it what is to be found is the same eternal, radiant consciousness, which is the self of all, which is you, and you alone.

in this love without condition,

John Sherman

I've never been a huge fan of Gangaji, over the years I have listened to her on audiotape and CD a few times but never had a heart felt pull like I do with authors such as Robert Adams or Eckhart Tolle. But this book I found different. It has strong spiritual pointers wrapped up in small easy to read chapters. I still prefer a few other teachers, but have found some real gems in this book that have stayed with me. A softer female nurturing aspect seems to come through, compared to the many male authors who speak on similar topics.

This is one of those book you could read many times and still find new things each time. I feel this embodies the peak of Gangaji's teaching's and wisdom in an easy to read format.

Wonderful gentle guide to your higher self.

I have read a zillion books of the spiritual/mystical variety. Thought I had read it all...thought I had heard it all. Almost didn't buy yet ANOTHER book on the same subject but am so glad I bought this one. Succinct. Resonant. It says it all and does so so beautifully. My spiritual seeking reawakened once I started this book and those I have gifted with the book or recommended the book to have thanked me each and every time we make contact. Each sentence rings with Truth and Clarity. Music for the Soul. For anyone who thinks the search led nowhere, or that the path comes to a dead end...take it from this jaded New Yorker, this magical book will revive, renew and offer insights and awareness like no other. I gave the book to a Jesuit Priest who is a magnificent teacher himself (and has been for over 50 years) and he told me it was powerful and meaningful and he was thrilled to have read it. Give yourself a major gift in this lifetime, read this!

The earth-shaking message, as initiated by Sri Ramana Maharshi, mirrored by H W L Poonja, and now delivered by this gentle soul and her beloved spouse, is so simple and direct that we can easily miss the point. Thanks to skillful editing by Shanti Einolander, that message comes through clearly in this book. How rare it is that a teacher tells us to STOP, and be still. She never tells us to "do" anything. How refreshing ! In "Diamond" this wonderful lady presents example after example of the message; it is only by Direct Experience that one can appreciate the elegant simplicity. That said, there is no need to repeat the outstanding and lengthy review already included in your website. The praise on the dust jacket is right-on; Eckhart Tolle, Coleman Barks, Lama Surya Das, James Twyman, Jack Kornfield, Russell Targ, and Massuru Emoto provide powerful and accurate praise. That Tami Simon of Sounds True has chosen to publish this marvelous book is the ultimate praise. This book is a "must read" on many summer reading lists. My copy, given to me as a gift, is well-worn already.

I couldn't let this book sit on amazon "reviewless". It is such a fantastic book I think it's fair to let others know just how great.
As Eckhart Tolle states in the forword "The words themselves are charged with extraordinary aliveness and transformative power. This is because they have come out of a living realization of truth, rather than the accumulated knowledge of the mind".

You can indeed feel that power as you read. If you wanted and if you were ready this book could wake you up!

Gangaji is a wonderful teacher and expresses truth beautifully. This is my first encounter with her and I am thuroughly impressed to say the least.

If you want to awaken or even taste what it's like to awaken then pick yourself up a copy of this book!

This is not a feel good book. It's a book for those who relentlessly desire the truth. And as the book so simply and eloquently states, that truth is not contained in thoughts, ideas and beliefs. It's contained in the knowingness that you are, prior to any story about who you are or ideas about who you are. It's in the simple beingness of being.

"Telling the personal story is the primary religion of most people on the planet. The personal story gets located in a body, a tribe, a nation, a religion, an "us." This is why the planet is constantly at war, and why you may be constantly at war with yourself. If you can recognize what your story is, then the story is conscious rather than unconsious. You can see what the story is, and you can choose to stop following it as if it were reality." page 57

This "stopping" of the story is at the core of Gangaji's message. In the absence of the story, the mind is stilled and the natural radiant beingness that is our true nature becomes apparent. The mind/ego doesn't like the idea of stopping this story and this resistance to letting it go is the root of most of our suffering.

"All effort, all difficulty, and all continued suffering are in the resistance to stopping. That resistance is fed by the hope that the story will give you what you are yearning for, the hope that if you can just fix the story, make the necessary changes, you will get what you want." pg. 56

Gangaji goes on to tell us that "The truth of who you are is not a story." To discover who we truly are, she encourages us to use "self inquiry" to trace thoughts, ideas and emotions back to their source. Upon examination, most of these ideas, thoughts and imaginations will just vaporize and lose their power. They are revealed to be just thoughts and not reality. In the end you find "You are not just a character in a story. You are the totality of being."

I highly recommend this book, not only for the gifts it will bring you, but in turn the gifts it will bring to all of us.

This is a book to be read and absorbed slowly. Gangaji's teachings won't show you the "seven easy steps enlightenment" that so many spiritual books try to teach today. Yet what she teaches is so simple it's difficult to grasp-- and maybe that's because we're not meant to hold it or cling to it, but just let it seep in.

This book appears to be a compilation of Gangaji's previous works, mass-produced for a wider audience. For those unfamiliar with Gangaji or what she teaches, this book is by far the best introduction and the most comprehensive. Each chapter draws on material from her satsangs and spiritual retreats. I would heartily recommend it to those who want to end their spiritual journey. Unlike other "spiritual" books, there are no techniques to practice or any new philosophies to learn. What it does provide is confirmation of, and endless support for one's discovery of Self. This book is truly a radiant gift to the universe.

When you have a rare book in your hands you know it. This book is alive with the Living Presence. I have listened to Gangaji in person and on video and thought I had pretty much heard her message clearly over a period of eight years now. But in picking up this book I was re-introduced to myself at a level deeper than I knew existed. The words were not new. I'm sure I must have heard these same words many times before. But somehow in this written form, I heard them with more clarity and intimacy than I have ever heard them before. In this form, she was talking directly to me.

I read the book slowly, reading one short chapter at a time. In this way it became a satisfying experience that I could spread out over a long period of time. Absolutely nothing has changed in my life. I live in the same place with the same people, doing the same things. But nothing is the same. Intelligence is alive and awake. I am not simply free, I AM FREEDOM itself.

The book will not tell you anything about yourself that you do not already know deep inside. That's what makes it so amazing--it is simply a confirmation of that intelligent being that is alive and present always everywhere in each of us.

I am thankful, thankful, thankful that the truth of our own freedom is being offered in this book. I love its clarity and directness. There is nothing superfluous "dressing" it up. It's not giving the reader anything but the invitation to stop--stop ignoring, stop denying, stop covering up who we really are.

Well, that's the best I can do for a review. It feels woefully inadequate. But if one person decides to pick up the book and investigate for themselves--then Wow! What an honor to have served in this way.
In Peace