Books: The Story of a Sudden Awakening

In August 2003, virtually overnight, Jan Frazier experienced "a dramatic falling away of fear"--not just the immediate fear of her annual medical test but, as she learned as time went on, her fear of everything.

When Fear Falls Away: The Story of a Sudden Awakening (Weiser Books, May 2007) is a firsthand account of the spiritual liberation of a contemporary American woman. A widely-published writer, Jan Frazier experienced a radical transformation of consciousness at the age of 50 that resulted in a life free of fear. With a poet's eye for telling detail, the author portrays how she changed, virtually overnight, from being at the mercy of fear, to living in a state of causeless joy at the mercy of nothing. In language both lyrical and precise, the day-by-day record shows her awakening as it unfolds over the course of eighteen months, enabling the reader to witness the flowering of freedom as it is under way. Frazier describes with startling clarity what she came to understand about suffering: that it originates not in events and circumstances, but in our response to them. As the narrative progresses, she arrives at a seasoned understanding of the nature of suffering that proves highly instructive to the reader.

This extraordinary story of an ordinary woman confirms the claim of Eckhart Tolle, the Dalai Lama - indeed, of spiritual teachers of every age and tradition: that beneath all torment and restlessness lies a pool of joyful well-being that is not subject to harm, that waits patiently to be stirred to life. The commonplace belief that enlightenment is for saints comes apart at the seams. When Fear Falls Away shows that the answers to the big questions - Why was I born? Who am I? - are to be found not in achievements, relationships, or belief systems, but within the quiet of human consciousness.

Frazier's message is simple and profound: this state of constant peace and joy is possible for any of us to achieve. This rare and beautiful account puts Jan Frazier solidly in the tradition of enlightened teachers from J. Krishnamurti to Byron Katie.

Jan Frazier is a creative-writing teacher and mother of two adolescents. Her poetry and nonfiction have appeared in the Christian Science Monitor, Yankee, Cimarron Review, and the Minnesota Review, and her poetry collection was published in 2003 by Pudding House. She is a Pushcart Prize nominee and she resides in rural western Massachusetts.

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