The Texture of Being: Understanding Your True Self [Paperback]

I found 'The Texture of Being' a very clearly written book. In simple, plain English, the author puts his points across in a way that is neither pretentious nor pushy. His main point, perhaps, is that we can learn to live from our 'true nature', from 'the feeling', as he puts it, but not from intellectual grasping after answers and solutions. I would say that this book is one of the clearest I have come across in the field of advaita. If you have read books by Eckhart Tolle (The Power of Now) or Tony Parsons (The Open Secret & As It Is) and found them interesting or helpful, then 'The Texture of Being' should compliment these titles well. I also found the layout of the book extremely appealing. There is plenty of space and largish text. You don't have the feeling that it is a book packed full of information, but one that you can enter briefly at any time for a quick injection of inspiration - a bit like picking up a book of poetry. I highly recommend this book.

This is an absolute gem of a book. Written in a smooth and yet elegant style, 'The Texture of Being' is essentially a meditation on the nature of our true selves - the unlimited, timeless consciousness that unites all beings as One. Devoid of the technical language that normally hallmarks many texts on advaita (or nonduality), Roy's book considers the way in which we can balance living in the world with the knowledge that, despite all the stresses and strains of everyday existence, life is essentially a manifestation of something greater, untainted by suffering and change. And access to this underlying ocean of peace, of oneness, is available to all of us, right here, right now. 'The Texture of Being' is a beautiful book and well worth savouring time and again.

Roy Whenary has written a wonderful volume filled with insights into our spiritual reality, which reflect the clarity of his understanding and which are destined to help you clarify your own understanding about your being as a spiritual person in the world. Written in a poised and compassionate voice, Roy allows the full expression of the essential points of his understanding to come out as beautiful reflections that can help your own awakening to wholeness. Each chapter is filled with these short meditations, some only a single paragraph long, but each containing a poignant observation about our true self, and our essential nature. The book is structured in such a way that it can be used as an aid to contemplative practice. Take it with you wherever you go and when you have a moment or two, open the book, read one of these quiet reflections, and pause to recollect that which is true about your self.

Roy points out that this book is the outcome of more than thirty years of spiritual inquiry and the practice of timeless wisdom in his own life. And it shows. He is not trying to preach to anyone, but clearly wants to share the wisdom he has gained along his way, that may be helpful to others. It is a gift that may be accepted without guilt and without having to adopt any particular spiritual path. The words that Roy writes are those that are spoken between two friends while unhurriedly walking together, enjoying each other's presence. They are spoken out of compassionate love.

Roy has structured the book thematically into short chapters and many of those themes touch upon real sources of pain in a normal life, such as the pain of separation, our relations with others, death, and in each of these he gives us the benefit of what he has learned and he suggests new ways to confront such moments in order to make our way out of these thickets into the beautiful sun-drenched field of the blissful fullness of being.

I happily recommend this book to you because I was so moved by the quiet points it makes. Thank you Roy!

James Corrigan
An Introduction to Awareness