Osho, a contributor to this book, distinguished revolution from rebellion stating, “Rebellion is individual action; it has nothing to do with the crowd. Rebellion has nothing to do with politics, power, violence. Rebellion has something to do with changing your consciousness, your silence, your being. It is a spiritual metamorphosis. And each individual passing through rebellion is not fighting with anybody else, but is fighting only with his or her own darkness. Swords are not needed, bombs are not needed. What is needed is more alertness, more meditativeness, more love, more prayerfulness, more gratitude. Surrounded by all these qualities you are born anew.”
That is the essence of this book, whose contributing authors share their internal struggle to reach the light; to break free of the shackles of convention. You are holding a rarefied compendium of freethinkers. Men and women who leapt into the refiner’s fire knowing they would either be consumed or made whole again; refined on a soul level if they succeeded the transition. It is up to you to decide which resulted in each of them. But know that they risked it all so that they might share from experience not just theory, the wisdom and unvarnished truths originating with each. Each of these authors has gone through their own internal rebellion and most are sharing from the other side. Growth is messy but that mess is an essential part of the process. To whitewash it or negate it as if it never happened is a disservice to those that might be helped by the end result, for it makes it appear that they got there by magic that is impossible to duplicate, and that is not the case. These authors risk sharing their struggle that you may be in on the part of the equation that usually goes under the heading, “Show your work.” These freethinkers all show their work with you and some of the results are startling, groundbreaking, still ahead of their time. Take what you like that will help you, encourage you, uplift you, and give you hope; leave the rest. Enjoy the process. - By Jeff Mandon