The Mandala of Being: Discovering the Power of Awareness [Paperback]

Richard Moss (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 18, 2007

Many people obstruct their innate potential through repeated patterns of emotional struggle and suffering. This practical, hands-on guide explains why and how people habitually fall into this trap and provides a program, easily incorporated into everyday life, that frees them from this destructive behavior. Using a simple mandala, the book illustrates the four places humans go when they feel threatened, uncomfortable, or aren’t fully centered or grounded in the present moment. Like a trail of pebbles left behind on a hike, it helps trace the path back to the authentic self. Drawing on his three decades of teaching consciousness, Richard Moss plays the role of wise shepherd, accompanying and encouraging the reader on a journey toward the genius within and away from fear and other limitations. Most importantly, he offers an always-available compass that directs readers back to the true self, and into the magic of the present moment.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. For more than 100 years, Eastern insights about the quest for peace possible in the present moment have filtered into the West. Just so, Moss chooses the perfect visual map for this important book about self-awareness: a mandala. A mandala is a geometric, usually circular figure in Hindu and Buddhist thought that represents the universe. In the psychoanalytic realm, this figure represents the quest for self-unity and completeness. Using the mandala, Moss elegantly and with great elucidation and precision offers a place for modern seekers to stand centered in the now amid the four directions of past and future, you and me. His volume presents much clear thought about a potentially complicated topic. Readers who enjoyed Eckhart Tolle's The Power of Now and are ready to take the next step should gravitate easily to Moss's probing marriage of psychology, the transcendent nature of self, fear, faith and love. The fruits of Moss's many workshop experiences and exercises are cited throughout so as to make this potentially dense subject surprisingly accessible. A charity of spirit and extension to all religious traditions percolates through this volume. Concluding thoughts on the present climate of politically and culturally generated terror make this an especially potent offering. (Mar.)
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Review

“Richard Moss is one of the most important teachers of transformational knowledge.” — Marianne Williamson, author of A Return to Love and The Gift of Change “In this very elegant book, Dr. Richard Moss offers practical suggestions and techniques to find that presence within you that allows you to know yourself as a limitless awareness. I have admired Dr. Moss’s work for many years and highly recommend The Mandala of Being.” — Deepak Chopra, author of Life After Death --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: New World Library (January 18, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1577315723
• ISBN-13: 978-1577315728
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #155,155 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

84 of 94 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Many Will Find This a Very Valuable Book, March 4, 2007

By 

Dr. Jonathan Dolhenty (Port Orford, OR United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Mandala of Being: Discovering the Power of Awareness (Paperback)

Richard Moss's new book, "The Mandala of Being," is another contribution to that increasingly popular literary genre describing methodologies for personal improvement or personal growth. This genre is sometimes simply referred to as "self-help," but I think that term is too broad for books of this type and so I prefer the more limiting classification. What Moss is attempting to do in this work of personal improvement is provide a framework for conceptualizing the Self in ordinary life (the "mandala") and then using that to suggest certain practices through which one may use it to improve personal growth. In this particular conception, the "Now" becomes essential. As he writes, "The power to return our minds to the Now allows us to communicate more of our inborn authentic and spontaneous natures. The present moment becomes our ground of being, because that's where we'll find the juice of life and the truth of who we are and why we are here."

According to Moss's schema, there are only four places our minds go when they leave the Now: the past, the future, judgments of ourselves, and judgments of others. These places, plus the Now, become the primary ingredients of the "mandala of being" and are illustrated in the relevant diagram as Past, Future, Subject (me), Object (you), and the Now, the "beginning of ourselves." The mandala is then further retuned, and called the mandala of lower-self functioning, so that Past includes guilt or nostalgia or regret, Future includes inherent uncertainty or fear or infinitive possibility or hope, Me (the subject) includes grandiosity or depressiveness, and You (the object) includes anger or jealousy or envy or hurt. The Now remains in the center of the diagram. A still further retunement, called the mandala of higher-self functioning, is offered wherein Past includes forgiveness, Future includes trust and nonattachment, Me includes self-inquiry (who am I?) and doubting the truth of stories, and You includes compassion and empathy. The Now remains in the center but is itself encircled by joy, love, stillness, gratitude, and presence.

The specifics of these three diagrams are discussed in detail by Moss. Part One of the book provides the background for understanding the mandala or, as he puts it, the "fundamental principles of awareness: the journey from self to Self." Here he raises the question, "Who are we really?" and explains the power of awareness. He includes a provocative discussion of "who we aren't really" and notes the "tamed" and "untamed" emotions. The last chapter in Part One is entitled "The Beginning of Ourselves" and leads directly into Part Two of the book, "utilizing the power of awareness: welcoming ourselves home." Here he raises the interesting question: "where do we go when we are not at the beginning of ourselves?" Then Moss continues on to a detailed description of the mandala, using the mandala of being as a map, and some exercises for experiencing the mandala of being.

There is, of course, much more that could be said about Moss's book. It cannot be summed up in just a few words. There is much about human behavior in the work and, more importantly perhaps, much said about human nature. There are descriptions and suggestions as well as analyses and admonitions. And then there is the finale: "We have a choice about what we let determine our states of being, always. As we live closer to our beginning, we gradually drink more deeply from the fullness of our souls, and the world and everyone in it changes before our eyes. Then we notice that we have less fear, less anxiety, and less urgency; life is good right now."

What is one to make of all this? I imagine many readers, most likely those with a more "academic" orientation, will question the veracity or efficacy of Moss's schema and some may simply dismiss his text as so-much "psycho-babble." This, I suggest, would be a serious mistake. There is a long and healthy philosophical tradition, in both the West and the East, of proposing various schemata encompassing not only an understanding of human nature and behavior, but also proposing recommendations for dealing with personal psychological growth and improvement. Many times, I think mostly because of our excessive worship at the altar of modern empirical science and its emphasis on the "reality out there," we forget that there really is a "reality in here," that is, a mental and emotional reality which exists within each of us and is commonly referred to as the "Self" or the "Ego."

Philosophers have grappled with this sense of "Self" since the ancient Greek philosophers moved from their initial concern with understanding the cosmos to trying to understand the human being. Contrary to those who tend to think that "truth" must always be "objective," that a "fact" must always relate to something "out there in the real word," it should be noted that there is a "subjective" truth, a truth that is the result of introspection or human creation, for instance, and that this "truth" is no less important merely because it cannot be directly experienced by an external observer or the creative activity commences in one mind and cannot be directly shared with outsiders. The general definition of truth is the conformity of mind "and" thing. It is "objective" when the mind conforms "with" the thing. It is "subjective" when the thing conforms "with" the mind (think poetry, for example).

Now, with that little diversion over, what can one say about Moss's book? I would suggest that Moss is painting a psychological "picture," if you will, that provides one way of looking at the human condition in such a way that offers guidance toward improving one's state of being in this life. Is his schema "true" in any objective sense? I think that's the wrong question. It doesn't matter. Can his schema be "proved"? Again, that's the wrong question. It doesn't matter. The real question is: Does understanding and adopting his schema lead to improving one's own life? And that question, I would argue, places the whole matter more comfortably within the subjective sphere of intellectual activity. If his program works for you, it is in this sense that his schema is "true." If his program improves your life, it is in this sense that his schema is "proved." So it is in this sense that I recommend his book to readers looking for a program that might help them with their own personal growth. It may just be the very thing you're looking for.

38 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Mandala of Being, March 24, 2007

By 

Craig J. Brown (Fayetteville, Arkansas United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: The Mandala of Being: Discovering the Power of Awareness (Paperback)

This book is the Rosetta Stone for those seeking understand and transform their outer consciousness, to end their suffering, and to live deeply: fully alive and joyful.

Richard Moss's deep understanding of self awareness has brought forth a way of approaching self understanding and self healing that takes the deepest spiritual truths and helps Western Man grasp-( or maybe un-grasp as it turns out to be....) the core issues and obstacles to joy and illumination in our lives.

Unlike many writers and teachers who struggle to communicate the deep truths that set us free, Richard writes straight forwardly, clearly, and practically.

Many of us need answers to the What? and Why? questions as part of our journey home. The spiritual and metaphysical communities have a shortage of teachers who can and will answer a straight question with a straight answer.

Sometimes a wise look and a cryptic koan are just someone faking it. Hand waving and self proclaimed authority are not sufficient bedrock on which to wisely rebuild your whole life.

The Mandala Of Being is the condensation of Richard Moss's life's work and teaching. It gives a good taste of the foundation of his work helping people transform their lives. By itself, it is illuminating and it will help a motivated seeker to begin their own work.

It is a taste of what working with him is like, and for many, it will lead to more direct relationship experience.

I highly recommend this book as a key to understanding our own minds and how our stream of consciousness stories hypnotize us with continuous misery causing distractions which lead us to miss the truth of who and what we really are.

If you are tired of life seeming like a never ending soap opera and feel like saying "Stop the World, I Want to Get Off." then this is the book to show you what to do and how to do it. Day by day you will chip away at the painful stories and delusions that trap you in fear, anger, jealousy, loneliness, and sorrow. In a few weeks you will realize that you have a little more space and breathing room. In a year you will be astounded at how the dramas and misery are dropping away and peace now has space to grow.

For some, just this illumination will be sufficient. If you can see it, but need an energetic boost to bring it into play, I highly recommend direct work with Richard through his Radical Aliveness 10 Day Seminar. That will be life changing.

Craig J Brown MD FACS

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars With gratitude to my teacher!, February 21, 2007

By 

Barbara Elseth (Chanhassen, MN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Mandala of Being: Discovering the Power of Awareness (Paperback)

I confess: Richard Moss is my teacher. Reading his latest book, The Mandala of Being, brings me back to the many hours spent sitting in a circle, learning the concepts he so eloquently describes. The journey to the place where fear of nonbeing exists is an essential part of the process of living consciously. Meeting that place with "nonreactive awareness" is challenging, but not impossible. Richard has given us tools with which to meet our "survival personality." I have felt the enormous change in energy by "simply" stepping into the NOW, as compared to being caught up in stories about me, or others, or the past or the future. The Mandala of Being offers readers the tools to look at our "self" with more awareness. Those tools can take us on an inward journey that all of us are called to take, if only we say "yes" to living life more fully. Richard's heartfelt teachings provide much needed guidance on that journey, and they are a testament to the integrity of this man I call my teacher and my friend.