Saved From Enlightenment

A memoir of one woman’s life viewed through the lens of her relationship with her spiritual teacher of over 20 years. Her candid, touching & humorous stories are told in a voice that is authentic, wry & irreverent, yet always colored with the note of longing for God that characterized her quest for something “real” from earliest childhood. As she elaborates on various stepping stones and stumbling blocks encountered on her journey―including the birth of her son, several failed relationships and her wild and highly successful ride as a national sales executive―her stories uniquely parallel the steps of any traditional spiritual path aimed at human transformation. They also help to dispel the myths and expose the assumptions about “enlightenment” ―and other fantasy solutions to the hard work of simply being human―that are so common on “the Path.” She does this by shedding an honest, heartfelt light on the real gifts & graces of her soul’s journey―a teaching of profound wisdom, a community of other dedicated devotees, and a guru who would not let her settle for less than her own intrinsic goodness. The author received this spiritual name from her guru―the American Baul master Lee Lozowick―at her own request. A few years into her 20+-year apprenticeship with him, she was ready to make a serious break with her past and to enter into a relationship of dedicated spiritual practice and service. Her request for a new name (it translates loosely as “Mad Wind Friend”) was symbolic of that transformational leap of faith. In his company, she candidly admits, she found an access point toward fulfillment of her hunger for God. Lee Lozowick (1943-2010) was an iconoclast and founder of the Western Baul path. He was the lyricist and lead singer in a rock band and a blues band, and led his troupe all over the States, Europe & India, sharing his “work-rock” music in street festivals and concert halls for over 20 years. When Tarini stumbled into his company, his effect on her life was both confronting & transformational. In the end, she reports, she was “saved from enlightenment” among other invaluable treasures, by the grace of God and skillful means of a worthy teacher. Other seekers, on any spiritual path, will find here a story that can leave a smile, a question, and a small wound on a tender heart. Her words will rekindle the longing that so many feel for a connection to their own deepest truth.