🕯️ Occult Philosophy

The Dharma of Direct Experience: Non-Dual Principles of Living

✍️ Weiss, Paul
Reader Score
4.6
(1 review)
$22.99
Temporarily out of stock

Currently unavailable

This book is sold out right now. Leave your email — we'll let you know if it comes back, and you'll get 10% off any book today.

In stock now — readers of this book also loved:

Runas Para La Bruja Verde: Un Grimorio de Hierbas Miele, Nicolette -36%
★★★★★
★★★★★
4.6
1
Miele, Nicolette
Runas Para La Bruja Verde: Un Grimorio de Hierbas Miele, Nicolette
$22.99 $36.00
86
Phantom Armies of the Night: The Wild Hunt and the Ghostly Processions of the Undead (Original) -14%
★★★★★
★★★★★
4.6
1
Lecouteux, Claude
Phantom Armies of the Night: The Wild Hunt and the Ghostly Processions of the Undead (Original)
$22.99 $27.00
86
Advanced Hatha Yoga: Classic Methods of Physical Education and Concentration
★★★★★
★★★★★
4.6
1
Goswami, Shyam Sundar
Advanced Hatha Yoga: Classic Methods of Physical Education and Concentration
$24.95
86
The Complete Life of Krishna: Based on the Earliest Oral Traditions and the Sacred Scriptures -24%
★★★★★
★★★★★
4.6
1
Vanamali
The Complete Life of Krishna: Based on the Earliest Oral Traditions and the Sacred Scriptures
$24.95 $33.00
86
Ensouling Language: On the Art of Nonfiction and the Writer's Life (Original) -26%
★★★★★
★★★★★
4.6
1
Buhner, Stephen Harrod
Ensouling Language: On the Art of Nonfiction and the Writer's Life (Original)
$24.95 $34.00
86
Legacies of the Occult: Psychoanalysis, Religion, and Unconscious Communication
★★★★★
★★★★★
4.6
1
Hewitt, Marsha Aileen
Legacies of the Occult: Psychoanalysis, Religion, and Unconscious Communication
$100.00
86
📚 WHAT THE BOOK IS ABOUT

Paul Weiss invites readers to journey beyond conventional perception into the unmediated truth of non-dual reality. This profound work delves into how direct experience of the boundless can illuminate everyday life, fostering genuine compassion and continuous personal evolution. Weiss candidly shares pivotal awakening moments, examining their deep psycho-emotional and spiritual roots. He offers insightful guidance, demonstrating that tapping into this inherent human capacity for unconditioned awareness is crucial for navigating existence with openness and profound spiritual maturity, moving beyond mere intellectual understanding to embodied wisdom.

🕯️
Occult Philosophy

Praise for this book

“In The Dharma of Direct Experience, teacher, poet, and therapist Paul Weiss shares with us the profound wisdom he has discovered. The real gift of this book is not just his wisdom but that he shows us how to search for our own.”
— WES
🏛 Inner Traditions International 📅 2022 📖 288 pages 📔 Paperback ISBN: 9781644115336
Fun Fact
Paul Weiss masterfully articulates the often-elusive concept of non-dual reality through a deeply personal, universally resonant exploration. It excels at bridging profound spiritual philosophy with practical, compassionate living, illuminated by the author’s candid awakening experiences. While it might disappoint those seeking solely intellectual discourse, it stands as a vital contribution, guiding seekers toward an embodied, unconditioned understanding of existence.

📝 Description: The Dharma of Direct Experience: Non-Dual Principles of Living

A deep exploration of the direct experience of non-dual reality and its lessons for spiritual growth and development - Examines the direct perception of non-dual reality and shows its implications for navigating ordinary reality in an open, compassionate, and ever-maturing way - Shares the author's most significant awakening experiences and explores their psycho-emotional and psychospiritual foundations - Offers practical teachings for spiritual understanding, emotional development, and the cultivation of compassion Exploring the direct perception of non-dual, "non-ordinary" reality, Paul Weiss shares guidance for navigating ordinary reality in an open, compassionate, and ever-maturing way. He affirms our shared human potential for the "direct experience" of reality--unmediated by our more relativistic mental faculties--and reveals this experience as an essential dimension of our conscious capacity for growth. He shares his most significant awakening experiences and the circumstances leading up to them, exploring the personal and transpersonal dimensions of the experiences and their psycho-emotional and psycho- spiritual foundations. He points to such experiences as part of our ongoing integration as human beings and the essential path of practice that supports our availability to them. Interweaving perspectives from psychology and neuroscience with important lessons from spiritual traditions around the world, Weiss explores how to live a life of integrity, reciprocity, and openness to reality, offering practical teachings for spiritual understanding, emotional development, and the cultivation of compassion, viewed by ancient Buddhist sages as the true meaning of existence. He addresses such human qualities as vulnerability, empathy, reciprocity, openness, and intimacy and shows how they express and participate in deeper conscious truths. The author also examines practical wisdom teachings within both Buddhist and Christian paths to realization. Combining engaged mysticism with transcendent humanism, along with thought- provoking poetry, Weiss offers a living vision of a non-dual way of experiencing the world, a path that supports our functional, emotional, and spiritual maturity.

📑 What's inside

  1. PRELUDE
  2. All Reality Begins with this Moment of Experience
  3. INTRODUCTION
  4. When Nothing Experiences Itself as Everything
  5. PART ONE
  6. Tripping over the Light
  7. someone does
  8. Early Foundations
  9. jacob boehme
  10. Inexhaustible Non-exclusiveness
  11. it's that simple
  12. The District of Lu
  13. 0
  14. The Pterodactyl
  15. good news
  16. A Feather on the Breath of God
  17. the ecstasy of table manners On the Subway
  18. unwrinkled
  19. Dancing at a Festival
  20. spring morning
  21. Neither Life nor Death
  22. sign on the door
  23. In the Arc of the Fountain
  24. imagine beloved
  25. I and My Father Are One
  26. drink and you will see
  27. PART TWO
  28. When Our Life Becomes the Path
  29. fairy tale
  30. Memos to Myself
  31. in me the universe Vulnerability
  32. Nurture and Nature
  33. Reciprocity
  34. genesis
  35. Keep the Energy Circulating
  36. whirling
  37. Stories and States
  38. the comedian
  39. Identification and Intimacy
  40. the blaze
  41. Intimacy and Healing
  42. go to her now
  43. Intention and
  44. Openness
  45. buddha field
  46. Transparency and Coherence
  47. clearing
  48. The Path of Practice
  49. The Path within the Buddha Dharma
  50. for our time
  51. The Path within the Jesus Dharma
  52. why didn't anybody tell us?
  53. The Reconciliation of Reality
  54. Compassion, Integration, and Healing
  55. Tonglen
  56. The Twin Principle
  57. The Activity of Love
  58. Being at Home
  59. at the edge of the great marsh
  60. Embodying

Showing the first 60 entries.

💎 Expert review

“
💎
Esoterica Books editorial team
Occult literature desk
Weiss delivers a potent invitation into non-dual reality, yet this book is not for those content with superficial spirituality or rigid dogma. Readers preferring structured religious frameworks may find its emphasis on direct, unconditioned awareness unsettling. It demands a willingness to confront psycho-emotional roots of awakening without the comfort of external validation. While insightful for those ready for deep introspection, it lacks practical rituals for beginners. The text is best suited for experienced practitioners who value raw truth and personal evolution over conventional spiritual milestones or academic detachment.
✓ EDITOR'S REVIEW

📖 Why choose it

📖

Why this book is worth reading

Readers seeking to transcend intellectual abstraction and embody spiritual truth will find this guide invaluable. Paul Weiss offers a candid exploration of awakening, making complex non-dual principles accessible through personal narrative. Those yearning for genuine compassion and continuous evolution in their daily lives will appreciate the focus on unmediated experience. It is ideal for seekers ready to move beyond mere theory toward embodied wisdom, providing the tools to navigate existence with openness and profound spiritual maturity.

⭐ Reader reviews

The starting rating comes from the team Esoterica Books —
⭐ Esoterica editorial review Editorial rating 4.6/5
★★★★★
For sincere seekers ready to transcend conceptual understanding and embrace unmediated reality, this book is essential. It offers profound insights and practical wisdom for integrating non-dual awareness into daily life, fostering genuine spiritual maturity and open-hearted living.

Reader rating

4.6
Based on 1 reviews
5
0
4
1
3
0
2
0
1
0
E
Esoterica Books editorial team

Weiss delivers a potent invitation into non-dual reality, yet this book is not for those content with superficial spirituality or rigid dogma. Readers preferring structured religious frameworks may find its emphasis on direct, unconditioned awareness unsettling. It demands a willingness to confront psycho-emotional roots of awakening without the comfort of external validation. While insightful for those ready for deep introspection, it lacks practical rituals for beginners. The text is best suited for experienced practitioners who value raw truth and personal evolution over conventional spiritual milestones or academic detachment.

❓ Frequently asked questions

While offering practical guidance for personal growth, Weiss delves far beyond superficial remedies. This work addresses the fundamental nature of reality and consciousness, aiming for profound spiritual transformation rather than temporary fixes, grounding practical advice in deep philosophical insight.
Although "Christianity" is listed as a subject, the core principles of non-duality explored here transcend specific religious dogma. Weiss presents universal insights into consciousness and reality, making it accessible to seekers from all spiritual backgrounds.

📖 Who should read this

For sincere seekers ready to transcend conceptual understanding and embrace unmediated reality, this book is essential. It offers profound insights and practical wisdom for integrating non-dual awareness into daily life, fostering genuine spiritual maturity and open-hearted living.

🎯 Key themes and symbolism

Unmediated Reality Experience

Weiss explores the profound human capacity to perceive reality directly, uncolored by our usual mental filters. This isn't just an intellectual concept but a lived, unconditioned awareness that serves as the bedrock for true spiritual insight and personal transformation, moving beyond conventional thought.

Applied Non-Dual Wisdom

The book provides practical avenues for integrating non-dual understanding into daily existence. It shows how this deep perception can cultivate an open, compassionate, and continually evolving approach to life's challenges, transcending theoretical knowledge to become lived, embodied wisdom.

Personal Spiritual Evolution

Through sharing his own significant awakening experiences, Weiss illuminates the journey of spiritual development. He unpacks the psycho-emotional and psychospiritual underpinnings of these transformative moments, guiding readers toward a deeper understanding of their own potential for profound inner realization and maturation.

📜 Historical context

Weiss's exploration of direct experience aligns with ancient non-dual traditions spanning Eastern philosophies like Zen and various mystical paths. This work stands as a contemporary bridge, articulating timeless truths in a relatable voice, echoing perennial wisdom while making it accessible and applicable to the modern spiritual journey, emphasizing personal realization over dogma.

📚 Glossary

Non-Dual Reality
Direct Experience
Awakening Experiences

📔 Questions to reflect on

  1. Can you recall a moment when your perception of reality felt utterly unmediated, free from judgment or conceptual overlay? What was that experience like?
  2. How might embracing the idea of non-duality alter your approach to a current challenge or interpersonal conflict in your life?
  3. What do you perceive as the "psycho-emotional and psychospiritual foundations" of your own most significant moments of insight or growth?

✍️ More books by this author Weiss, Paul

All books by this author →
Moonlight Leaning Against an Old Rail Fence: Approaching the Dharma as Poetry -42%
★★★★★
★★★★★
4.6
Weiss, Paul
Moonlight Leaning Against an Old Rail Fence: Approaching the Dharma as Poetry
$18.95 $33.00
86

🏛 Books from this publisher Inner Traditions International

All books from this publisher →
The Secret Society of Moses: The Mosaic Bloodline and a Conspiracy Spanning Three Millennia -18%
★★★★★
★★★★★
4.5
Barbiero, Flavio
The Secret Society of Moses: The Mosaic Bloodline and a Conspiracy Spanning Three Millennia
$26.95 $33.00
81
How the World Is Made: The Story of Creation According to Sacred Geometry
★★★★★
★★★★★
4.6
John Michell, Allan Brown
How the World Is Made: The Story of Creation According to Sacred Geometry
$40.00
86
The Elixir of Immortality: A Modern-Day Alchemist's Discovery of the Philosopher's Stone
★★★★★
★★★★★
4.5
Cox, Robert E
The Elixir of Immortality: A Modern-Day Alchemist's Discovery of the Philosopher's Stone
$16.95
78
The Warrior Is Silent: Martial Arts and the Spiritual Path
★★★★★
★★★★★
4.6
Shaw, Scott
The Warrior Is Silent: Martial Arts and the Spiritual Path
$16.95
86
Becoming Osiris: The Ancient Egyptian Death Experience (Original) -34%
★★★★★
★★★★★
4.6
Rossini, Stéphane
Becoming Osiris: The Ancient Egyptian Death Experience (Original)
$16.95 $26.00
86
Secretos Sexuales: La Alquimia del Extasis = Sexual Secrets Douglas, Nik
★★★★★
★★★★★
4.6
Nik Douglas, Penny Slinger
Secretos Sexuales: La Alquimia del Extasis = Sexual Secrets Douglas, Nik
$26.95
86
Rumi's Four Essential Practices: Ecstatic Body, Awakened Soul
★★★★★
★★★★★
4.6
Johnson, Will
Rumi's Four Essential Practices: Ecstatic Body, Awakened Soul
$14.95
86
Medicina Con Plantas Sagradas: La Sabiduría del Herbalismo de Los Aborígenes Norteamericanos Buhner, Stephen Harrod
★★★★★
★★★★★
4.6
Stephen Harrod Buhner, Brooke Medicine Eagle
Medicina Con Plantas Sagradas: La Sabiduría del Herbalismo de Los Aborígenes Norteamericanos Buhner, Stephen Harrod
$19.99
86

You might also like

See more →
Moonlight Leaning Against an Old Rail Fence: Approaching the Dharma as Poetry -42%
★★★★★
★★★★★
4.6
1
Weiss, Paul
Moonlight Leaning Against an Old Rail Fence: Approaching the Dharma as Poetry
$18.95 $33.00
86
Yoga Spandakarika: The Sacred Texts at the Origins of Tantra -22%
★★★★★
★★★★★
4.8
1
Odier, Daniel
Yoga Spandakarika: The Sacred Texts at the Origins of Tantra
$16.95 $22.00
92
The Yoga-Sutra of Patañjali: A New Translation and Commentary (Original)
★★★★★
★★★★★
4.8
1
Feuerstein, Georg
The Yoga-Sutra of Patañjali: A New Translation and Commentary (Original)
$14.95
92
Peacock Angel: The Esoteric Tradition of the Yezidis -54%
★★★★★
★★★★★
4.6
1
Wilson, Peter Lamborn
Peacock Angel: The Esoteric Tradition of the Yezidis
$22.99 $50.00
86
The Six Bardos of the Tibetan Book of the Dead: Dzogchen Teachings on the Peaceful and Wrathful Deities
★★★★★
★★★★★
4.6
1
Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche, Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal Rinpoche, Paul Levy
The Six Bardos of the Tibetan Book of the Dead: Dzogchen Teachings on the Peaceful and Wrathful Deities
$22.99
86
Runas Para La Bruja Verde: Un Grimorio de Hierbas Miele, Nicolette -36%
★★★★★
★★★★★
4.6
1
Miele, Nicolette
Runas Para La Bruja Verde: Un Grimorio de Hierbas Miele, Nicolette
$22.99 $36.00
86
Sacred Woman, Sacred Dance: Awakening Spirituality Through Movement and Ritual
★★★★★
★★★★★
4.6
1
Stewart, Iris J
Sacred Woman, Sacred Dance: Awakening Spirituality Through Movement and Ritual
$22.99
86
Phantom Armies of the Night: The Wild Hunt and the Ghostly Processions of the Undead (Original) -14%
★★★★★
★★★★★
4.6
1
Lecouteux, Claude
Phantom Armies of the Night: The Wild Hunt and the Ghostly Processions of the Undead (Original)
$22.99 $27.00
86
King Arthur and the Goddess of the Land: The Divine Feminine in the Mabinogion -32%
★★★★★
★★★★★
4.6
1
Matthews, Caitlín
King Arthur and the Goddess of the Land: The Divine Feminine in the Mabinogion
$22.99 $34.00
86
Taliesin: The Last Celtic Shaman -28%
★★★★★
★★★★★
4.6
1
John Matthews, Caitlín Matthews
Taliesin: The Last Celtic Shaman
$22.99 $32.00
86

Have a question about this item?

Ask about the edition, condition, delivery or anything else — we reply by email or phone, usually within a day.

Esoteric Meaning

Concepts in this book

Principles →
Home Genres
Cart
Wishlist