The Light That I Am: Notes from the Ground of Being

by J.C. Amberchele

J. C. Amberchele is the pseudonym of a man who found freedom--real freedom--during the long prison sentence he is still serving. This freedom is the same liberation or enlightenment that so many of us are seeking, but that we seek within the framework of a life where we can have access to all the paraphernalia of the spiritual search and the apparent comfort money can buy. If you are reading this, you probably have an inkling that the real freedom...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0955829097
• ISBN13: 9780955829093
• Release Date: May 2009
• Publisher: Non-Duality
• Length: 216 Pages
• Weight: 0.76 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Seeing the Light and Being the Light

In this ongoing eternal human quest find oneself, there are many paths one can follow. This journey generally takes years, if not a lifetime. There are the many spiritual books, wisdom traditions, sages and saints from which we try to draw out the Light in enlightenment. Some try to meditate on the abyss, others try incense and chants, while others join cults and religions. We have high moments of clarity and low moments of confusion. The path is a long and winding road, as one saint once said. And then one day, if we are lucky, the Light comes on and stays on forever. One of the most direct and simple ways to turn on this Light is to See what JC Amberchele has Seen. This is where the seeker becomes the Seer, and the veil of darkness is pulled back in one sweep of the arm. It's as easy as pointing your finger, easier and more effortless than flipping a switch. What JC Amberchele saw was the same thing that Douglas Harding saw when he finally turned around to Look at what was staring him right in the face all along. It was a matter of stepping aside and allowing in a new point of view - literally. The book cover and other reviews tell you about the author and the basic premise of the book. I do not want to give away the contents of this book, because it is far more enjoyable to read it and See for yourself. Others have seen It. Buddha saw It under the Bodhi tree. Moses saw It on the mountain. And you too can See once you turn around and Look. But first, get this book!

One of the best nonduality books

This collection of interconnected essays, stories, confessions, and teachings is one of the best nonduality books I've ever read. Why? It's INTERESTING. The nondual teaching here is rooted in a soil that we get to feel between our fingers. Amberchele writes well. Consider the opening lines: "Whatever idea I've had about how things work in this world hasn't gotten me far, considering that I've spent more than twenty years in prison. Most of my beliefs I acquired from my father and from John Wayne, and anything that wasn't ultra tough and ultra cool was to me ultra embarrassing." Few of us have gone that far with our early negative beliefs; however there's an immediate identification or fascination with the author, at least to some degree. The author essentially says he will probably never be let out of prison: "I was, at times, a thug of the worst sort." Amberchele writes with spiritual authority but does not take advantage of the reader through excessive teaching or a parental attitude. Prison is humbling: "So in the end, I'll take this prison I find inside of me over the monastery that I don't because prisons, it seems to me, supply a greater abundance of invitations to return. These taps on the shoulder are not subtle here, and include the entire gamut of negative emotions, fostered by every imaginable desire. Prisons are factories of longing, and I find all of these remarkable reminders - these opportunities - inside of me. And finally, ultimately, I'll take this prison over a monastery because I have." This book is based on the teaching of Douglas Harding and is supported by the teachings of Tony Parsons, Byron Katie, Ramana Maharshi, Wei Wu Wei, and the Diamond Sutra. Many others are quoted or mentioned. Richard Lang writes about visiting Amberchele in prison and it appears that Lang facilitated the publication of his book. Ultimately, this is a book about the Headless Way of Douglas Harding. Specific exercises are described, often involving practice with fellow prisoners. The Appendix features the ten Headless Way experiments. They are tricks for getting you to see what you are, what is you, and what is. They are simple, almost childlike experiments, as though it's show and tell day at school and it's God's turn. Amberchele addresses in depth the possibility that he picked up nonduality and the Headless Way as crutches for avoiding the full weight imposed by the guilt of his criminal acts. The sense is that he may have, but the conclusion is that he doesn't: "I am guilty and I know it. I am responsible for this mess I am in and the messes of God knows how many others." "As a human, my problems are endless. I cannot fix or redeem myself at the human level; only at the level of Who I Really Am are my problems transformed. Nor is seeing and being this Source the easy way out, considering the profound commitment involved. (Seeing Who I Am is the easiest thing in the world; living from Who I Am is another matter.)" Amberchele's ea