Ordinary Women, Extraordinary Wisdom: The Feminine Face of Awakening [Paperback]

Rita Marie Robinson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 7, 2007

Ordinary Women, Extraordinary Wisdom is a collection of intimate, heartfelt conversations with women spiritual teachers who live and look like ordinary people. They have kids, husbands, jobs, and bills to pay. What makes them extraordinary is that each woman has awakened to her true nature. And while that sounds like enlightenment, it doesn't look like the old stereotype of transcendence, detachment, and bliss. Quite the contrary. This is the feminine half of the spiritual journey—bringing it down to earth and embracing all of what it means to be human.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Ordinary Women Extraordinary Wisdom will become a milestone in female spirituality. Not only does it recount the fascinating and intimate stories of twelve "ordinary" women in their search for peace and self knowledge, the author engages the reader with her own quest for truth through her integrity, vulnerability and courage. Beautifully written with captivating honesty, this unique book will become an inspiration for both men and women alike, also looking for the essence of who they truly are. -- Paula Marvelly, author of Teachers of One

It is with tremendous enthusiasm that I recommend this book to you. It is an exquisite pointer to the vast field of women who have realized the highest spiritual truths and are speaking out to bring their wisdom to the table so that we may benefit from their labors of love. Rita Marie Robinson is a gifted writer. This is a visionary book to be cherished for the intimate glimpses it provides us into the lives of women who point the way to how we can live a life of enlightened living in the midst of ordinary circumstances. -- Richard C. Miller PhD, author of Yoga Nidra

One of those books to savor, underline like crazy, and then age with gracefully until its dog-eared pages no longer need to remind you that you're already Home. -- Raphael Cushnir, author of How Now: 100 Ways to Celebrate the Present Moment

This is a book that gives us the permission to be ourselves, thesimple wonder of whom we really are. Here are clues to the great human mystery, the secret that is within each of us waiting to be lived. There is nothing to search for, just the challenge to be awake, to be present in each ordinary, extraordinary moment. -- Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee Ph.D., Sufi teacher and author of Awakening the World

About the Author

Like many of her generation, Rita Marie Robinson has been on a lifelong search. Looking for the answer outside herself, she explored many paths--from the occult to shamanism, to Buddhism and New Thought Churches. As an ordinary woman herself, Rita brings the reader along as she meets the remarkable women who change her life. In this book, she shares her struggles and her fears as she slowly realizes what the teachers are urging her to embrace: you are that which you seek. Rita has practiced psychotherapy in Santa Barbara, Santa Fe and Telluride, Colorado where she currently lives on a peaceful mountaintop with her long term partner and dog.

Product Details

• Paperback: 260 pages
• Publisher: Mantra Books (August 7, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1846940680
• ISBN-13: 978-1846940682
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #411,540 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Remembering to Remember, September 2, 2007

By 

B. L. Crane (Telluride, Colorado) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ordinary Women, Extraordinary Wisdom: The Feminine Face of Awakening (Paperback)

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! Reading about these "Ordinary Women, (with) Extraordinary Wisdom," their journeys to, and since "awakening," was inspiring and full of valuable reminders in integrating ageless spiritual wisdom, and living in awareness moment to moment. It is as if each woman's unique and enchanting song summons us to "remember to remember" who we are, and live from there. I particularly loved how the author incorporates her own reflections, insights, and growth process throughout the interviews.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Invitation to Celebrate the Mystery..., August 28, 2007

By 

Lynton Moore (Telluride, Colorado) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ordinary Women, Extraordinary Wisdom: The Feminine Face of Awakening (Paperback)

Ordinary Women, Extraordinary Wisdom celebrates the ancient wisdom inherent in the feminine face of awakening. Each chapter expresses the radiance of it's inhabitant in a personal, sacred and richly divine celebration of the truth in "being infinite love". Any page can be opened at any time and a pouring of ancient wisdom can be lapped up in the remembering that we are all "one" in this possibility of awakening to our extraordinary selves. Beautifully written from the heart of inquiry. A keeper for the bedside table. I am truly grateful for this companion of recognition.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Spiritual Awakening Described in It's Most Welcoming Feminine Way, October 15, 2007

By 

Amy (Telluride, Colombia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ordinary Women, Extraordinary Wisdom: The Feminine Face of Awakening (Paperback)

The author, Rita Marie Robinson, in her quest for understanding, has written, beautifully, about the passage she interprets as the direct path. This is spiritual awakening, described in its most welcoming, feminine way.

Ordinary Women Extraordinary Wisdom is a series of interviews, led by Rita Marie Robinson, with twelve remarkable women who have become spiritual teachers (friends as they prefer to be called) through their own emergence into enlightenment or recognition. An unexpected notion is that these women live in our world and among us. Each one's path is unique. Each moves beyond the personal "story" and explains the sameness within all, that which is truly us and only waits to be revealed. Though each teacher's portal to arrive there is distinctive in style, "there" is the same transcendent place to reach within each of us. This is what the interviews assure. Also, and perhaps most importantly, the book promises that there is no lengthy and arduous technique to master; no circuitous route. This peace, mystery, love, intelligence, consciousness, presence, whatever the reader may choose to call it, is available right here, right now. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Reading Ordinary Women Extraordinary Wisdom is nourishing and satisfying like being in satsang, a practice often mentioned by the women. Satsang, a Sanskrit word, means "being together in truth". An interpretation of this is a meeting of hearts facilitated by the teacher. The authentic, candid interviews that Rita Marie Robinson leads are compelling. The reader muses about Rita's own recognition, as the author's loveliness oozes between the lines. While reading this text, one drifts into one's own inquiry an invitation the reader can't help but accept. This book is a highly recommended read for a truly pleasant, demystifying and enlightening venture into the feminine model of awakening.