Tony D’Souza has spent a lifetime practicing and teaching a deep, practical spirituality.  One of D’Souza’s earliest mentors was Tony DeMello whose books on Awareness are treasured by millions throughout the world. Following his Ph. D. work in Clinical Psychology in the USA, D’Souza extended DeMello’s work culminating in Awareness Retreats given to thousands in India and internationally.  The retreats have been especially valuable for those in the helping professions: doctors, nurses, teachers, counselors  and clergy who often find themselves spiritually exhausted after years of selfless giving.  The heart of the awareness retreat is an simple psychospiritual framework and exercises that invite us to come home, to the hidden ground of love within each of us. People of many faiths, or no faith, have found awareness a valuable skill for deepening their own unique spirituality.

Bud Wonsiewicz has spent a lifetime as a scientist, engineer and business leader.  He regards the human spirit as our greatest resource and sought to create work environments and tools that nurture creativity, freedom and strength.  His life long-search for cleaner, clearer and more compassionate ways to live and work eventually led him to Tony DeMello’s books on awareness.  When he learned that DeMello’s student, Tony D’Souza, would be in Colorado talking and giving retreats, he dropped everything and attended.  D’Souza’s message was so practical and hard hitting that Bud has devoted a good part of the last six years working to get it on paper and into digital media so that others have the opportunity to taste the sweetness of awareness.

We’ve had lots of fun working together.  The book was written, edited and published through email, phone calls and meetings.  Mumbai and Boulder are about a half a day apart, so when Tony finished typing and emailed a draft to Bud it arrived as Bud awoke and Tony retired.  Twelve hours later the revised draft appeared as Tony awoke.  It was a blast! 

Much effort was taken to present these ideas so they could be a resource for anyone seeking to deepen their spiritual practice no matter what faith they hold or don’t hold.  We advocate staying with the tradition that has nurtured you and using awareness to deepen your practice and to see its depth and beauty with fresh eyes.  As DeMello said, “Wake Up and Live!”

Here is an excerpt from the DeMello.org website.

Most people, he maintained, are asleep. They need to wake up,
open up their eyes, see what is real, both inside and outside of themselves.
The greatest human gift is to be aware, to be in touch with oneself,
one's body, mind, feelings, thoughts, sensations.

Here are some of his typical challenges: "Come home yourself!
Come back to your senses! Do you hear that bird sing?
How can you hear the song and not hear the singer?
How can you see the wave and not see the ocean?
How can you see the dance and not see the dancer?"