Colin Drake

After 20 years of arduous spiritual search and practice in 1996 I encountered a disciple of Sri Ramana Maharshi, Gangaji, who said ‘Stop! Be still, you are already That’. The message being that the effort and search were masking that which is always present; all that was required was to ‘stop’ and see what is always here. After many years of struggle and effort this news came like a breath of fresh air and I glimpsed the essence, that undeniable ever-present reality. This was followed by a seven day silent retreat which resulted in my first ‘Awakening’, and also in an ecstasy that slowly faded over the following year.

My first book Beyond the Separate Self, The End of Anxiety and Mental Suffering (published in 2009) came about from the realization that occurred then and has matured over the following years. Since then I have written many articles, for an e-mail news group, based on my meditations/contemplations and answers to questions, on which all of my 30 books on Awakening are based.

They are all stand-alone guides to Awakening using the same framework to investigate each moment of experience, which gives cogent pointers to our true essential identity upon which our world-view and life experiences depend. So there is no need to have read any of the others when purchasing one. They each elucidate different ‘facets’ of the Absolute Reality that have been revealed to the author upon further investigation and contemplation. These facets have been discovered by the author during his continuing spiritual practices and answering questions set by his readers. These books are available as paperbacks and ebooks at (the websites of) Lulu and in Kindle format at Amazon.

A short spiritual biography:

I was born into a strict, but joyful, Methodist family. From the ages of 11-17 I was sent to a Methodist boarding school, which I left with the conviction that organized Christianity was not for me. I could see that what Christ said about living was wonderful, but that the church did not really promote his teachings rather concentrating on him as our ‘saviour’ and on the purportedly ‘miraculous’ facets of his life. It was also very apparent that many so called Christians were not interested in practicing what he taught. This was now 1965 and living in central London during the years of flower-power I experimented with various hallucinogens, finding them very beneficial for opening my subconscious which allowed years of conditioning to pour out. This left me feeling totally ‘cleansed’ and unburdened, ready to start life anew in a spirit of investigation as to the nature of reality. The psychedelic states also presaged, gave a glimpse of, mystical states which I suspected were attainable through spiritual practices. I then embarked on a study of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky which I found absolutely fascinating and was convinced that self-realization was the purpose of life. However, they made the process sound so onerous that (being young, foot-loose and fancy-free) I decided to shelve the whole project temporarily.

It was not until eight years later that I resumed the spiritual search when Janet (my partner) introduced me to my first yoga-teacher, Matthew O’Malveny, who inspired us by quoting passages from the Upanishads, Dhammapada, and other scriptures during the class. He also emphasized the importance of relaxation and meditation. There followed a few years of investigating various spiritual paths including a prolonged dalliance with the Brahma Kumaris (Raja Yoga) whose meditations were wonderful, but whose dogma was very hard to take. We then moved into the country to start a pottery and immersed ourselves in Satyananda Yoga, an organization which had no dogma but taught a wide range of yogic practices. We were both initiated into karma sannyas by Swami Satyananda and adopted a yogic lifestyle consisting of asanas, pranayama, yoga nidra, meditation, kirtan and vegetarianism.

Then in 1996 I encountered a disciple of Sri Ramana Maharshi, Gangaji, who said ‘Stop! Be still, you are already That’ (see above).

Here is a complete list of my books:

Beyond The Separate Self - The End of Anxiety and Mental Suffering 2009

A Light Unto Your Self - Self Discovery Through Investigation of Experience 2011

Awakening and Beyond - Self Recognition and its Consequences 2012

Awareness of Awareness - The Open Way 2013

The Happiness That Needs Nothing - Pointers to That Which is Always Here 2014

Freedom From Anxiety and Needless Suffering - Pointers and Practices to Aid Awakening 2015

The Simplicity of Awakening - Pointers to The Ease of Being 2015

Ripples in The Lake of Eternity - Pointers to Realizing and Loving The Source of Being 2016

Enlightenment Is For All - Pointers To Awakening 2016

Fundamental Questions - Pointers to the Nature Of Reality 2017

Sensual Awakening - A Tantric Approach - Enhancing Awakening By Use Of The Senses 2017

The Golden Dawn Of Awakening - Pointers to Self Realization By Investigation of This Moment 2018

The Ocean of Consciousness 2019

Hidden In Plain Sight - The Obvious Truth of Self-Identity 2020

Absolute Reflections 2021

Direct Investigation Reveals Reality 2022

The first fourteen have also been published in poems and are titled ‘Poetry From ... The Book Title (on which they are based)’

I have also published a book comparing the world’s major religions and how they define Humanity’s essence and ‘place’ in the universe:

Humanity - Our Place in the Universe - The Central Belief’s of the World’s Religions 2010.

For more information Google Colin Drake Author which will also give my interviews if you go to videos.