Catherine Ingram - Passionate Presence

[erict]

"The golden thread that runs through Catherine Ingram’s excellent book is the possibility of immediate awakening. Her writing clearly flows out of her own realization, rather than just an intellectual understanding of spiritual truth. If you are willing for suffering to come to an end, the act of reading her words can become an awakening."
—Eckhart Tolle, Author of The Power of Now



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"Wow! Catherine Ingram is a modern day mystical poet. Her insights on divine living are at once scientific and poetic, rooted and lyrical, simple and profound. It is as if all of the burning questions in our collective hearts reached God's ears and Catherine Ingram was the reply. She makes living and aliveness look so easy. Her wisdom and clarity are matched only by her eloquence and dearness. Move over Rumi and Hafiz, there's a new kid in town."
—Moon Unit Zappa, actress, author of America the Beautiful

"Catherine speaks gracefully and insistently of the simple, present, and yet totally surprising and fresh recognition of oneself as that which is. Devoid of "how-to's" her book is a refreshing reminder of just how close real fulfillment is."
—Gangaji, spiritual teacher and author of You are That

"A reminder to the heart of sacred presence. Wise, tender, simple--Passionate Presence reads like a sigh of relaxation."
—Jack Kornfield, author of A Path with Heart

[erict]

"The fact is that all thought fades as soon as it arises. Of the millions of thoughts we have each experienced there is not a single one that lasted."

"There is no need to get rid of thought since there is no possibility of making it stay."

- Page 13

[erict]

"When we experience life directly, we are not chopping it up into distinct pieces or relying on pictures from the past to give it meaning. We are not even particularly interested in giving things meaning. We live in an innocence that accepts life as it comes without trying to appropriate every occurrence for a story or a myth."

"In confusion, we pay attention mostly to the stories. In awakened awareness, we pay attention mostly to the silence."

- Page 14

[erict]

"In awakened awareness we use language to communicate while knowing that another, more powerful communication is taking place in deeper awareness."

- Page 16


"Now, of course, language is a fantastic communication tool, necessary and useful. But it is helpful to know its place in our awareness and the limits of its usefulness."

- Page 17


"Although words are mainly intended to form bridges of communication, they often have the opposite effect."

- Page 18


"Someone once asked the great Indian teacher Nisargadatta Maharaj, (whose dialogues in the classic book 'I Am That' are some of the most powerful words on unbounded presence in print) what he thought might happen if he met Ramana Maharshi, another of the great saints of India. 'Oh, we would probably be very happy,' replied Nisargadatta Maharaj. 'We may even exchange a few words'. "

-Page 19

[erict]

"In silence our creative flickers of genius stand out in clear relief as soon as they arise. In chaotic mind, a mind obsessed with thought and neurosis, flickers of genius often go completely unnoticed."

- Page 20


"The creativity that comes from silence, from a quiet heart, feels different from that of ambition to both the creator and the observer."

- Page 22

[erict]

"There is no lasting peace to be found in the circumstances of the world."

"And yet there is a sanctuary. It is not in the circumstances of the world in the recognition of the silence that contains it."

- Page 32

[kiki]

Thanks for the quotes, erict. She's great.

[erict]

"In awakened awareness we attune to a silence that is beyond this conditioning. We also realize that conditioned thoughts come uninvited and sometimes overtake us. The More we recognize this in our own case, the more we start to realize that it is true of everyone. When people are behaving badly, it is because they have been overtaken by negative thoughts."

— Page 52

[erict]

"In whatever situation we find ourselves, dignity is the one treasure that cannot be taken from us. With it, we may be stripped away of everything, yet feel like a mountain. Without it, we may have everything, yet feel like a pebble."

— Page 79

[heidi]

Thanks so much for posting these, Eric.

[AndyD]

A friend bought this book after hearing Catherine Ingram speak in Ireland (she was there the same time as Eckhart) then gave me it to accompany me backpacking across Australasia. It arrived exactly the right time for me.

Catherine also studied with Papaji, Gangaji's teacher and therefore has the same message written in a different way.

Highly recommended.

[Sighclone]

Just got my copy of "Passionate Presence" and agree with all the recommendations here. This writer is excellent and well-travelled on both outer and inner hikes! She is better than Eckhart at dealing with heart issues, compassion, sensory presence, grieving, etc. Eckhart has given her a strong endorsement also.

Andy

[innerhike]

I was re-reading my copy of this book this morning and I love it.

[Omnium11]

This looks like some quality stuff.

[lakeswimr]

This looks very good! I had not heard of her before. I'm going to put it on my wish list.