Living the Dream : It's Time!: A Chronicle of the Gathering of Equals [Hardcover]

Keith Varnum (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1998

In a twelve month adventure that started with Mark's first exposure to a spiritual workshop in Seattle in 1996, this book takes the reader on a spiritual journey from city to city. From Seattle to Costa Rica, San Francisco to Tallahassee, Phoenix to Philadelphia and lots of cities in between, people have gathered to learn from others as they rediscover the divinity within themselves. This book is a chronicle of the event called the "Gathering," and yet much more. It explores how Keith Varnum and others consciously awakened after decades of searching for spiritual answers and how hundreds of logically minded, corporate bound people like Mark Conrad, have spontaneously begun to access and speak their own truth.

There is no book quite like Living The Dream - It's Time! As compared with many other methods, the approach is not the typical systematic "peeling the onion" of doubt and misunderstanding to get to the truth. Instead, people go directly to the qualities and vibrations they prefer. The process is simplified, starting at the essence, or inner knowing, and veils are cast aside from that space. Paradoxically, many of these techniques have been advocated by great spiritual leaders and been available to us for centuries. A gateway to inner knowing, which has always been open, is now coming into focus. It is a bridge between the present reality and the approaching time when we will get together intuitively, at the right time, without the restrictions of a rigid belief system, dogmatic philosophy, or judgmental religious or spiritual order.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"I am an avid ...book reader and have experienced wonderful insights, moments of "aha," and validation of my belief systems....My reading of this book represents the easiest piece of consciousness raising I have yet done and by no means, the least dynamic....I found the magic working on me as I flew through the pages." -- Ariele Huff in Seattle's New Times

From the Publisher

"Living the Dream: It's Time! fully stands up to the Pura Vida, or "pure life" spirit, which is what we're all about. Our goal is to assist in creating personal and universal abundance by bringing words from the heart to the world. This dynamic book by Mark Conrad and Keith Varnum dares to confront the "veils" or rigidly held belief systems against group workshops. In a skillfully designed format, Mark and Keith take us there. We experience amazing true stories of magic and transformation from ordinary people. The reader is left with a sense that we are all linked together and if we can live more from the heart, there is a bright hope for self induced understanding and bliss on earth. We're looking forward to another book from Mark this year.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 248 pages
• Publisher: Pura Vida Pub Co; First Edition/First Printing edition (May 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1891569198
• ISBN-13: 978-1891569197
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,463,061 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book captures the spirit of the Gatherings impeccably!, December 28, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Living the Dream : It's Time!: A Chronicle of the Gathering of Equals (Hardcover)

I am a dedicated participant in the Gatherings of which this book is about, and I have been truly amazed and pleased at the way the spirit of the Gatherings is captured within these pages.

The Gatherings allow each participant to get in touch with their own heart energy, their own intuition, their own soul truth and to live their lives from that space. People find their lives unfolding to be the manifestation of their dearest and deepest dreams. Every Gathering is new and different from the one before, because each one is made of new participants who share consciousness in new and creative ways. Each Gathering brings about personal transformation for the participants, and brings us another step closer to global transformation.

Just reading the book will begin the process of transformation in the reader's life, and will add to the transformation of the planet, as together, we create heaven on earth.

5.0 out of 5 stars How Spiritual Awakening Really Happens, September 30, 2003

By 

sulana@redvetteranch (Scottsdale, AZ United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Living the Dream : It's Time!: A Chronicle of the Gathering of Equals (Hardcover)

Enlightening. True. Heart-warming. Living the Dream-It's Time takes us inside a spiritual workshop where we experience our awareness unfolding alongside the workshop participants. If you've ever searched for answers to life's most poignant questions, like "Who am I?" "What's the purpose of life?" and "How do I find love, money or health?" this book offers valuable insights. Scattered throughout the book are the exercises that the co-author and facilitator, Keith Varnum, uses to assist people to discover their own answers. The book is a play-by-play account of the wisdom that was elicited during the workshops, The Dream-A Gathering of Equals, throughout its yearlong travels.

Unique about this book is that one of the workshop participants, Mark Conrad, is the co-author. Conrad reveals what lead him to the workshops: "I was on the treadmill called a "normal" life with more "success" than many because of my tenacity and ambitious drive. Way deep inside, I knew there was more, but it was way down there." Along with the rest of the workshop folks, Conrad experiences profound transformation.

The book touches readers where they live-right smack in the middle of life-looking for a deeper, more satisfying road to happiness. We experience the joys and the tears, the humor and the fears. The participants eventually discover an inner wisdom about life, love, themselves and spirit that they weren't even aware they knew. In The Gatherings, people feel safe enough to face issues and realizations that previously they hadn't been willing to face. The effect was to provide personal evidence for members of the group that they did have great reservoirs of wisdom, strength, clarity, intuition, love and spiritual depth. Playfully, people were tricked into discovering their own magnificence and equality! Group members came to the common understanding that all participants, including the facilitator, were equal in knowing, personal power, depth of compassion, and spiritual awareness.

Direct quotes from the participants showed many diverse points of view and profound insights. Varnum triggered this gold mine of sharing through presenting own stories of magic, wonder and miracles.