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Broken Open: How Difficult Times Can Help Us Grow | 
 enlarge | Author: Elizabeth Lesser
Publisher: Villard
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
Buy New: $8.44
You Save: $6.51 (44%)
New (32) Used (11) from $7.98
Rating:  18 reviews
Sales Rank: 4982
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 352
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 5.2 x 0.9
ISBN: 0375759913
Dewey Decimal Number: 291
EAN: 9780375759918
ASIN: 0375759913
Publication Date: June 14, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand new item. Over 3.5 million customers served. Order now. Selling online since 1995. Order with confidence. Code: B20081006210455T
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Product Description
“If we can stay awake when our lives are changing, secrets will be revealed to us—secrets about ourselves, about the nature of life, and about the eternal source of happiness and peace that is always available, always renewable, already within us.”
—ELIZABETH LESSER
During times of transition, amid everyday stress, and even when we face seemingly insurmountable adversity, life offers us a choice: to turn away from change or to embrace it; to shut down or to be broken open and transformed. In the more than twenty-five years since she cofounded the Omega Institute—now the world’s largest personal-growth and spiritual retreat center—Elizabeth Lesser has been an intimate witness to the ways in which human beings deal with change, loss, and difficulty. She herself has struggled to submit to what she calls the “Phoenix Process”— allowing herself to be broken open in order to rise like the mythical bird from the ashes of past mistakes and suffering.
In this beautifully written, often funny, and always inspiring book, Lesser has gathered together true stories about ordinary people who by design or disaster decided to step boldly into a fuller life. Here are profoundly moving narratives of fears overcome and risks taken; of hard times and difficult passages; of betrayal, divorce, sickness, and death; and of the day-to-day challenges of raising children, earning a living, and growing older. By sharing her own most human traits, Lesser helps us feel less lonely in our own struggles, and more optimistic about the possibility of transformation. Broken Open also introduces us to some of the world’s greatest spiritual teachers—both ancient and living—and imparts the wisdom of various traditions, from Buddhist meditation to Sufi dance, and from Christian prayer to contemporary psychotherapy. Eminently practical, Lesser provides tools to support us in our quest for a clearer sense of purpose and a new passion for life.
Broken Open is not only a testament to the inner richness and potential of every life but also a deeply trustworthy guide to the dynamics of healing and growth—how we resist and how we surrender, how we stay stuck and how we grow, and how we can turn misfortune into insight, and grief into joy. It helps us to discover within ourselves a fearless heart, a clear mind, and a shining soul.
From the Hardcover edition.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 13 more reviews...
Everyone should read this wonderful book August 19, 2008
How I am enjoying this book! Elizabeth Lesser can communicate, so thoroughly, to the heart and soul of our humanity. I can only hope she will grace us with more of her written word. Thank you, Elizabeth. P.S. I love the Wavy Gravy quote!
Wonderful Read August 18, 2008
This is one of the best books I have read. Highly recommended for those who what to find ways to get through difficult times without wallying in the mud to get there!!!
Opening Yourself to Change May 9, 2008
"Broken Open" is the first book I read after losing my husband. Indeed, I felt broken open, so it seemed an apt buy for me. I really appreciated the honest, open tone of Elizabeth Lesser's style of writing. "A heart made crooked through loss and change is a heart that can love the world and its less than perfect people." So true. After you lose someone, you appreciate so much more what you have. You're less willing to waste time on the petty and look for the more enriching experiences in life. Change, as difficult as it is many times, brings those experiences. Life is so much more if we're open to receiving it. Elaine Williams
excellent April 14, 2008
one of the few books on self improvement and growth that is readable. it is fast, insightful and useful. I read it at a time when things we going great for me and I had no idea how bad they were going to get. Some of the stuff in it came back during hard times and gave me strength and hope. I would definitly give this book a chance. personally i think books such as these, come to you. u shoud read them if u can relate to them, or else u will get bored or feel they r useless.
A really good read for life's rough patches.... November 1, 2007
I'm not at all into self help books....but this is one i'm glad i tried out.
So i do highly recommend this book to others skeptical of the self help genre.
It's one I didn't even feel i needed to hide... :)
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