Dr. Frederick Lenz (1950-1998), known to his students as Rama, taught over a thousand people he accepted as direct students an unusual blend of spiritual practices for 20 years. It was a combination of insights and techniques shared by Zen and Tibetan Buddhism, Hindu Vedanta and Yoga, and Native American mysticism. These were implemented through a unique approach to living in the modern world, and built upon a foundation of meditation and mindfulness. It was all directed towards enlightenment.

Enlightenment means the dissolution of the finite self into the infinite mind, but how is that actually done? It is quite a long and complex process. Rama explained to us, in detail, how the process works, with its many interdependencies and stages.

This book consolidates the material contained in 120 audio tapes he recorded for his students into a single book. In these talks Rama teaches the pathway to enlightenment, carefully breaking down the steps and how to do them in our modern world. While many of the things he taught can be found in spiritual books, many cannot, and none all in the same place.

The book has 189 extended quotes from these tapes of him discussing each part of the enlightenment process in depth. In the audiobook, all of the excerpts are spoken by Rama, spliced in from the original recordings. There are five and a half hours from these recordings in the audiobook. Listen to him teach! As the title of the book says, the idea is to let Rama speak directly to you.

“You need the teacher to show you how to get through the doorway, but once you get through the doorway, you’re on your own. Then you have to grow and experience Enlightenment. Then you come back—if you want to go through a higher doorway—and so on and so on. They show you how to refine yourself until you’re able to enter into nirvana on your own. Then no more teacher. Guess what? Only Enlightenment everywhere.”

Lawrence S. Borok