There are so many complex volumes written on spirituality; however God is essentially simple, and the experience of the Divine is available to all. We are already enlightened beings, and we are our own masters. It is a matter of rediscovery and remembrance.

This book succinctly summarizes key elements in the process of enlightenment. Read it as an invitation to deepen understanding about the main underlying elements of all religions and paths of light. Everything in our lives is considered "spiritual practice" when we take a different angle of vision. Yet, enlightenment seems elusive to humanity because of the complexities within our own restless minds. Reading the book will awaken a deeper appreciation of what the basic principles are behind the inner life, regardless of what path we are on. The clarity gained from this work in spiritual understanding enables us to go deeper and deeper into our own being until we reach the infinite consciousness or Source, that is beyond as well as within the body and mind. We then move closer and closer to rest in enlightenment, our true nature and essence.

This book directly states that we are all the great "Self" as the ancient and modern masters and mystics have experienced and proclaimed and states that the purpose of life is to rediscover our own enlightenment. It then addresses and discusses issues of Spirit that we may intuitively know but perhaps have not yet clarified or solidified a deeper understanding. It goes on to filter down to the core elements of spiritual practice that lead us to a state of enlightenment. It discusses the nature of the mind and ego and what keeps us from spontaneously experiencing the Inner Light. The book then discusses healing and why we must keep the body and mind as fit instruments to more fully experience balance equanimity and equipoise.

Optimal health is resting in enlightenment through the balance of body and mind as ancient seers discovered eons ago. The book embraces a freeing and refreshing philosophy of life that validates the choice to pursue any path that is suitable to us as we understand the underlying common elements on the road to enlightenment. The shared common goal of all paths in essence, is to rediscover the simplicity of the God Source within us all.

Rama Pemmaraju Rao MD is a board-certified physician who specializes in Internal Medicine and Psychiatric Medicine. He is currently assistant clinical professor at University of Alabama Medical School/Children's Hospital in Psychiatry/Child Psychiatric Medicine. He also deals with primary care Medicine issues as well.

He continues to deepen his process in training and education in Integrative and Complementary Medicine. His lifelong goal is to bring the best of East and West in to the medical setting, to afford optimal healing. His ultimate vision is to create a broad new paradigm in health and medicine through teaching, education, and through the manifestation of new clinic models that blend the Orient and the Occident.

Dr. Pemmaraju Rao is a native Texan born in San Antonio Texas and whose parents and ancestry are from South India. He has blended the best of East and West in his life and has seen first-hand issues in the human condition that warrant a broader outlook and approach to health and healing.

He completed medical training at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX, and continued residency in Medicine's Psychiatry, and Child Psychiatry at Baylor Affiliated Hospitals, Harvard Medical School (Children's Hospital). He completed Internal Medicine at Dallas Presbyterian Hospitals.

Dr. Pemmaraju Rao appears regularly on television and radio for all affiliates in Birmingham, Alabama, on health, healing, and spirituality.

He has had a lifelong background in Yoga and its practices. His deepest dream is to convey the teachings and principles of spirituality and healing inspired by the ideals of a number of meditation masters he has personally followed throughout the world.

His original Guru is Swami Satchidananda who is his most revered personal master and mentor he has known since childhood. Swami Satchidananda is the Guru and founder of Integral Yoga© who came to the United States in the sixties and whose teachings are well known throughout the West.

Dr. Pemmaraju Rao's spiritual journey has further led him to the intimate quest of the heart and the search for the Divine Mother. In this process, he has been extremely fortunate to receive the direct energy, guidance, and grace of a number of different embodiments of the Divine Mother around the world.

These women have included Mother Meera (Dornberg/Thalheim Germany), * Mata Amritananda (MaCenter/San Ramon, CA), Suma Ching Hai, Gurumayi Chidvilasananda^® (Siddha Yoga^® lineage, South Fallsburg, NY), Karunamayi Vijayeshwari (SMVA Trust NY), and Anandi Ma (Dhyan Yoga^®, Antioch, CA).

He is also particularly grateful for the Guidance of Master Subramaniya of the Saiva Siddhanta San Marga Temple in Kaui, Hawaii.

Dr. Pemmaraju Rao's philosophy of life is that we are forever growing and learning on the path to enlightenment. He feels there is nothing that is "not spiritual" if we simply shift our focus, increase our contemplation and introspection, as well as deepen our insight. Real spirituality, he feels is truly being one's Self and accepting everything about others and ourselves in every given moment. We must be who we are and learn and grow from wherever we are. One cannot ignore issues in Psychology 101 and claim to be spiritual. He constantly looks to the enlightened masters as examples of what we must all become. In fact, he feels we are already enlightened. Ultimately everything reveals itself to us in its own time when we approach and return to God or Source directly within our own beings.

It is a matter of uncovering layer by layer "that which we are not in order to experience the enlightened state." Ultimate perfect health is the experience of enlightenment; everything we do represents our quest for health and healing through life's journey of Self-Realization and unfoldment.

To continuously see and experience this grand essence behind everything, one simply needs to be true to oneself and to honor one's being. We learn to love ourselves unconditionally. It is from this loving, then, that everything else automatically follows. It is a paradox because it is so simple, yet complex. Because we have forgotten this, we have wandered for eons through many, many experiences in this world and in other worlds. If we do not know how to love Self and others, or if we have forgotten, then the Universe will create the circumstances and situations that will make us move in that direction. One needs to walk with self-introspection and self-inquiry in whatever form. One’s own journey will ultimately lead to the underlying essence behind everything. This essence is God.

There is no end to the power of Spirit. It is limitless and infinite. It can do anything or nothing. It is the force behind that which we know and do not know. It can remain silent, or it may begin to speak to us and through us. It is always present just within and behind our awareness. It is our role to open and fully connect to this mysterious, inexhaustible source. Just when we think we know all that there is, we realize there is more to tap into and understand. This experience of Source can apply to any feeling, situation, and idea--anything tangible or intangible. This is the remarkable nature of "God, or Spirit." Language itself is limited in describing that which boggles the mind.

We exist on many, many levels of reality simultaneously. Our deepest core reality rests in Source. Source is the primordial cause for all that is seen and unseen. Source is God. God is an interesting word. It is a short word but has infinite meanings for everyone. Source penetrates all levels of existence. Source is the substance of all that has created energy behind, within and beyond creation. It is also creation itself. Source is inexhaustible. It has no beginning or end. There is no origin to Source. It creates itself out of itself.