The Shadow That Seeks the Sun

It is widely thought that finding peace, happiness and freedom requires tremendous effort – that in order to achieve a state of contentment and harmony in life, a journey must be taken, or someone or something must be awakened or overcome.

After a chance encounter with an extraordinary Anglo-Indian man on the ghats of the sacred River Ganges, Ray Brooks discovers through the course of nine conversations that his quest for wholeness has been futile: no such journey was necessary, and, just like a shadow that seeks the sun, he had been searching for a self that had never been lost in the first place.

“No new knowledge is required or acquired, Ray. No transcendental experience or higher consciousness needs to be achieved. When the recognition of what you are is seen – nothing at all happens. Why would it? You simply find yourself as you already are.”

This book offers no systems of belief or promises. Instead, it clearly points to something that is ever-present yet usually completely overlooked: the ordinariness and beauty of our true nature. After acknowledging that simple yet profound truth, the search for wholeness will be complete.

About the Author

Ray Brooks is a British author and public speaker on the subject of non-duality. He gives private and group talks throughout the United States, Europe, Japan, India and Canada, sharing his direct experience of the "natural state" through simple self-inquiry. Ray is also the author of Blowing Zen: Finding an Authentic Life, (Ich Ging den weg der Zen Flote, German edition), a musician and recording artist who is internationally respected in the world of shakuhachi music.

He has studied with many great shakuhachi masters and performed throughout Japan and overseas. Sharing a passion for travel and adventure with his wife Dianne, they have explored the world together and spend most of their winters living in the foothills of the Indian Himalayas.