The Unbelievable Happiness Of What Is

Jon Bernie is a contemporary spiritual teacher whose teaching focuses on returning attention to the already enlightened state that lies at the core of our human experience. He is the author of The Unbelievable Happiness of What Is and Ordinary Freedom. Adyashanti is an American-born spiritual teacher devoted to serving the awakening of all beings. His teachings are an open invitation to stop, inquire, and recognize what is true and liberating at the core of all existence.

“This is a marvelous book—simple, clear, direct, full of light. What I love about Jon is that he doesn’t give us philosophy, metaphysics, or non-dual dogmatism. Instead, he points in plain language to the non-conceptual, embodied experiencing of this moment. He invites us to drop out of our busy minds and beliefs into the openness and immediacy of awareness and presence, not with the idea of attaining some result or crossing a finish line, but in a spirit of never-ending discovery, and always with complete acceptance of what is, just as it is. I love the spaciousness and the simplicity I feel in his words, and his gentle and loving approach to our human struggles. If I could recommend only one book on the subject of being awake here and now, this might well be it.” — Joan Tollifson, teacher and author of Nothing to Grasp, Awake in the Heartland, Painting the Sidewalk with Water, and Bare-Bones Meditation

“In this wise collection of short teachings, Jon Bernie delivers the only news that’s fit to print—that happiness is not something you acquire or create, but what you are fundamentally, your birthright, your natural state. Just let go of your attachment to having life be a certain way and open to the ineffable perfection of what is!” — Stephan Bodian, author of Wake Up Now and Beyond Mindfulness

“There is a plethora of spiritual teachers these days. Very few actually have the gift of transmission and deep freedom. Jon has both. In person, Jon is a force of presence. I was happy to experience that coming through in this book. His words could be spoken by anyone, but they have a power in them because of where they are spoken from.” — Megan Cowan, cofounder of Mindful Schools

“The mark of Jon Bernie’s teaching is intimacy — with his students as human beings in all their complexity, and with the Truth itself. Behind the hundreds of books and YouTube lectures on non-duality, what most of us long for is to make contact with a teacher that can directly point out the Truth as well as the very specific ways our conditioned patterns are keeping us from embodying it. Jon is such a teacher, and in The Unbelievable Happiness of What Is, the flavor of his work comes through crystal clear.” — Chris McKenna, guiding teacher of Mindful Schools

“A must-read for those on the spiritual path! I’ve been a devoted student of Jon Bernie’s for thirty years now, and continue to attend his workshops to gain insight into the depths of the spiritual teachings he represents. I’ve also witnessed Jon’s intense focus on studying various traditions with the greatest spiritual leaders of our time, and have seen how he has come to his own essential understandings that are so well represented in this book.” — Daniel Kalish, DC, founder of the Kalish Institute of Functional Medicine

“I highly recommend this book to others. It is a stimulating read that simplifies the life process. Bernie argues successfully that one key to Unbelievable Happiness is awakening to the moment by continually dismantling one’s beliefs, routines, and any fundamental resistance to what actually is. This seemingly simple key is one of many treasures I found in Jon’s book.” — Fritz Frederick Smith, MD, author of Inner Bridges and The Alchemy of Touch, and founder of the body-mind therapy, Zero Balancing

“Jon Bernie’s The Unbelievable Happiness of What Is reminds me of Ram Dass and Be Here Now, the epochal, consciousness-shifting book of 1971. Like that earlier opus, Jon’s work is both a restatement of ancient spiritual wisdom and a delightfully frank and open guide to modern meditative truth. Part of Jon’s focus is on the core inner-growth issues of identity, identification, interpretation, integration, and belief. In Hinduism, they note that ‘the first teaching is also the last teaching.’ These teachings may be simple, complex, or contradictory, but they must work. And in order for them to work, they must be understandable. Jon has the gift, as teacher and as writer, of getting to the root of things in a lucid, direct way. Yet he is also able to discuss the fluid trickery of monkey mind in such a way that the monkey becomes lovable and understandable. And when we thoroughly understand something, fear and inner conflict leave, and the deeper spiritual journey can begin.” — Hugh Milne, author of The Heart of Listening

“Another book on how to find happiness? How do you choose among thousands of similar ones jostling for attention? My personal trick: a few paragraphs suffice to get a feel for the author. Can I trust that person as teacher and guide? I suggest you test this method on The Unbelievable Happiness of What Is. I’ve known Jon Bernie for a long time; I love and deeply respect him. But even if I didn’t know who the author was, a page or two would suffice to make me trust someone who manages so skillfully to disappear in the process of helping me find happiness in my own way.” — Brother David Steindl-Rast, Benedictine monk, author, and lecturer

“In our culture that teaches us to look outside of ourselves to consumption and materialism, in the form of buying, eating, and drugging, Jon provides us with practical guidance on ways of looking inside for the real answers that reside within us all. In our culture inundated with interruptions, Jon teaches us how to listen. In our culture that teaches us to follow others, Jon teaches us how to lead ourselves. In our culture, which is divided, Jon teaches connection through love. In the twentieth century, Ram Dass brought us Be Here Now. For the twenty-first century, Jon Bernie has brought us The Unbelievable Happiness of What Is. Read it and transform your life.” — Richard Louis Miller, MA, PhD, owner of Wilbur Hot Springs

“Jon’s latest book is a great reminder for the weathered seeker, as well as an incredible directive for beginners. His message and wisdom, offered in such a kind and loving way, opens the heart.” —Cherie McCoy, spiritual counselor and author of Becoming Alive and Real