Written by Tarthang Tulku, this book grounds itself in humility. The more the reader knows, the more that
knowledge and heart-understanding is needed. This becomes the starting point in a path that can open our minds to the value
of each day. A penetrating and personally challenging exploration of new horizons for insight and action. From the chapter "Breaking Through the Known,": In moments of wonder and great humility, human beings through the ages have
felt a different awareness emerge naturally within the more familiar ways of viewing themselves and the world. Perhaps many
of us have known quiet moments when time seemed to stand still, and for a brief interval ordinary preoccupations faded into
an overpowering appreciation of everything that is… But time and time again the part of ourselves that insists upon
separation has arisen like a reflex, obscuring our immediate awareness of the present moment. As inspiration begins to
falter, we return to the small world of the separate self; then we become self-conscious and doubt the significance of our
own experience. The evidence suggests that we may have powerful untapped resources for understanding ourselves and our
world. Yet we seem very comfortable with our current ways of knowing and interpreting the physical world and our own
experience. Our world is governed by rationality; even our moods and emotions are linked through reasons to our thoughts and
concepts. We build our knowledge carefully, through observation and inference, taking one step at a time. If we do not
understand the reason for something now, we assume we will in the future, when our methods of observation are perfected.
While a few gaps exist here and there, we can fill them with theories or interpretations, connecting one fact or experience
to the next, as if we were stringing a necklace of beads. But what if, in reality, there is no string in the necklace? What
if the string is only a construct devised by the human mind? Have we fully explored the structure that orders all of our
different theories and explanations? Can we feel confident in our knowledge without questioning the self that evaluates and
judges or the conceptual patterns that unify our formulations?… The view of ourselves as separate from the world we know is
now almost universally shared. It has gone largely unchallenged for centuries. What if we could break this pattern and begin
to see ourselves and our world in a new light? Much as we explore the mythologies of cultures past, might we be able to step
outside the assumptions that constrict our understanding and explore the way we interact in the world?…Questionning and
being aware: these are the most precious teachers. They dwell in the heart of every human being who begins to awaken to the
