Some Swamis are Fat

by Ava Greene, W.M. Raebeck

Some Swamis are Fat" is a not-so-serious look at what is sacred. Ava Greene, a yoga instructor, bares her soul in a quest that's both light-hearted and agonizing. "Enlightenment," "truth..".what and where are they? And why always just out of reach? Greene's late-night rants and quirky sidetracking lead us easily along, wanting more of her courage and insight. Yet it's when she admits to getting nowhere that a naked stillness sets in...and her efforts begin to bear fruit. She experiences how surrender (from our own designs) is actually the more direct path; where trying too hard often leads to more of the same. You'll both lose and find yourself in the fresh, energetic writing. Hinting at a wealth of life experience, Greene's gutsy traction keeps bringing us back to the present moment, that elusive experience that matters most. "Some Swamis are Fat" will put you at ease with your own inner voice. - excerpt - "Enlightenment is just a tool. What you do with it, how you use it to make peace, how you serve the universe, that's the next step. Some people don't have to belabor this stuff. Like slugging the ball over the fence, their lives are those kind of homers from the start. Greek fishermen, rice growers in Indonesia, those who never miss a beat, rise with the sun, and do their day's work cyclically as nature. They go innocently around the calendar, decade after decade, marrying, parenting, aging then dying. They hit the ball out of the ballpark first time at bat. They walk the bases. They're neither jaded nor part of the problem. Somewhere they chose or didn't choose not to have too many choices. Others of us play nine long evolutionary innings, and into overtime. Singles, doubles, a lot of fouling out.

148 pages, Paperback

First published August 26, 2012

Reviews

[W. M. Raebeck · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was really fun to read. And easy to pick up and put down because of its short journalistic entries. Each entry is fresh perspective as the author navigates an unstructured quest. There are little vignettes about friends, relatives, and odd events; and there are deep, probing passages about meaning and purpose. The recurring appeal of the book is its honesty—here is someone genuinely poking at the surface of life, and sharing it with authenticity and endearing humor. Ava Greene has more books to come and I'm looking forward to them. (PS. Note there are 2 Ava Greene authors—this isn't the one from Hollywood.)

[Marcie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fabulously inspirational, fresh and delicious journey with a dose of hard reality, a great read for anyone who wants to fashion a more healthy life and knows all too well the ride cannot possibly be all peachy. Ava Greene’s memoir took me on an introspective, challenging, sometimes painful, always fun, trek in search of better habits, better health, better spiritual path, a better self – the “wobbly ladder of self-improvement”. Aside from connecting with her drive to find enlightenment and being present, I found most compelling not just her advances but her slip-ups, the natural Sisyphean rumble we all experience striving for a better life. And, in the end, she reminds us that “the journey isn’t to enlighten. A state of bliss isn’t waiting for us to get there. There’s nowhere to get to on the journey. There’s no there there. Enlightenment is the journey.”

Unlike many books of its ilk, “Some Swamis are Fat” gave me honest hope, not because of any proselytizing about how to live a meaningful, joyful life, but because she tells us when she backslides on the “soppy” path and then keeps going, stumbles again, pulls herself back up and overcomes her fear. It’s instructional, realistic and, well, satisfying to read about the reality of a strong women’s quest, honest about all the backsliding, inspiring us to keep slogging up the hill. I gave this journal to my daughter for Christmas – a little way of saying that the journey is hard, sometimes it takes you back a few steps and then a few more, but it can always be rewarding if we don’t give up.

[Ava Greene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, I wrote the book, so obviously I have attachment to it. It's simply a candid account of a woman inbetween things, trying desperately not to fool herself or take shortcuts out of her pain or her growing consciousness. For spiritual 'seekers,' (I hate that term, but....) this is as raw as it gets. But here's the deal....we actually get somewhere when we're WILLING to bare our souls to ourselves. And that's what happens in this journal.

Honestly, the place I got to, during that particular year and a half of writing this book, endures as a guidepost in my life to this day. And it always will. The message is, "There's no there there." Discover what that really means, and you'll have an easier life.