Everything Mind

What I've Learned About Hard Knocks, Spiritual Awakening, and the Mind-Blowing Truth of It All

by Chris Grosso

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Pub Date Oct 01 2015 | Archive Date Aug 20 2015

Sounds True Publicity | Sounds True

Religion & Spirituality

Description

I’m not a yogi from the Himalayas, a preacher from the pulpit, or a guru with dollar signs in my eyes," says Chris Grosso. "The truth is, as a result of years of heavy drug and alcohol addiction, I’ve been to some extremely dark places that resulted in a literal life-or-death search for something more." With Everything Mind, this emerging voice of the spiritual counterculture presents a riveting and insightful book about meditation, the search for deeper meaning, and the life-changing (and life-saving) process of waking up.

"Everything Mind" means it’s all part of the path—dark and light, sacred and profane, serious and goofy, tragic and joyous. Each experience is unique, each has something profound to teach us if we open ourselves and let it in. Sharing hard-won wisdom and the spiritual practices that helped him through his darkest times, Chris invites you to discover:

• Spirituality—how something that doesn’t fix your problems or change who you are can still revolutionize your life
• Why well-worn ideas like "love everyone" and "anything is possible" are much more than just wishful bullshit
• The perils of railing at fundamentalism—how to put down the pitchfork and practice compassionate spiritual discernment
• The mystery of "interbeing"—convincing your head, heart, and gut that you’re actually connected to everything
• Expressing your truth through service, meditation, sports, relationships, punk rock, skateboarding—or just about anything done with love

Finding our own spirituality is both liberating and terrifying. Liberating because we no longer have to be tied down by dogma or march off to war just because a guy in a fancy hat says so. Terrifying because it’s now totally on us to find out what’s true, what’s holy, what really matters to each of us. "Cultivating a spiritual lifestyle may be the most challenging undertaking you’ll ever face," says Chris Grosso. "But if you stick with it, you can learn to meet all of life with an open heart—which, when you get down to it, is pretty fucking amazing.

I’m not a yogi from the Himalayas, a preacher from the pulpit, or a guru with dollar signs in my eyes," says Chris Grosso. "The truth is, as a result of years of heavy drug and alcohol addiction...

Advance Praise

“I dig this book. By sharing his life’s journey, Chris Grosso shines a light on our own. Everything Mind is a spiritual meal cooked for today, for us living now to taste, for our hearts and minds to digest.”

JEFF BRIDGES, Academy Award®-winning actor, musician, and New York Times bestselling coauthor of The Dude and the Zen Master

“Backyard Bodhisattva Chris Grosso offers significant steps to help us recover from the human condition (of dissatisfaction and malaise) while juicing enticing ancient Sutras, the Bible, the Vedas, and Zen koans. He combines this with the contemporary—thrash metal, skateboarding, and the Occupy Movement—and the result is both sublime and delightful.”

LAMA SURYA DAS, author of Awakening the Buddha Within

“Everything Mind is a scalpel of truth, slicing through your self-deceptions, your ego, and everything that separates you from the magnificence of your essence. But fear not! This is a surgery you'll be grateful to undergo because it transports you into the frequency of miracles.”

LISSA RANKIN, MD, New York Times bestselling author of Mind Over Medicine

“Grosso walks his talk with zero pretensions, raging authenticity, belly-shaking humor, breathtaking insight, a helluvalotta honesty—and most inspiring of all, an Everything Heart. Read Grosso’s rare book and experience the inimitable power of Keeping It Real.”

SERA BEAK, author of Red Hot and Holy

“Everything Mind is just that—simultaneously expansive and intimate. Chris includes all aspects of life in his practice and his writing, and the result is a full picture of our shared human potential, for darkness, beauty, and freedom from suffering.”

SHARON SALZBERG, cofounder of The Insight Meditation Society and author of Real Happiness

“If you are drawn to how real humans—with all the messiness of depression and addiction, anger and self-hatred—can walk an authentic spiritual path, please read Everything Mind. Chris Grosso, in telling his story, inspires us to find within our own imperfect selves, the very source of love and freedom.”

TARA BRACH, PHD, author of Radical Acceptance and True Refuge

“Chris Grosso is an honest and engaging young teacher and his work is both clearly expressed and inspiring.”

ANDREW HARVEY, bestselling author of The Hope

“Everything Mind offers us a deep, open-minded and inclusive look at what spiritual awakening is and how to integrate transformative practices into our real lives. Chris Grosso is a spiritual revolutionary. I am happy to have him as comrade in the struggle against greed, hatred, and ignorance. Read this book and join us in the coupe d'etat.”

NOAH LEVINE, bestselling author of Dharma Punx and Refuge Recovery