I often get asked the question, “What inspired you to write a book on enlightenment?”
I can’t believe myself that I wrote a book, especially as I had no intention to do so. I’ve had the experience of writing many songs, but I’d never even thought about writing a book.
My best songs are those that were totally unplanned and just suddenly, spontaneously bubbled up inside of me—the melody and the words seemed to write themselves.
I had the same experience of writing my book The Transcendental Meditation Technique and the Journey of Enlightenment as I’ve often had with the experience of writing songs.
The whole thing started out so innocently. I had wanted to write a little short story for my sister as a gift. After I’d written the first chapter, I felt that if I’m going to spend a lot of time on this, it should be more meaningful. As I was peacefully drifting off to sleep that night, a whole stream of ideas flooded in. I sat up, got a pen and paper, and started writing the ideas down for fear I wouldn’t remember them the next morning.
This flood of ideas continued almost every night for a month, at which time I had written almost the whole manuscript for a book. A few friends of mine read it and really liked it.
[Video] A Special Thank You From The Author, Ann Purcell
Although the initial writing part was easy, the rewriting and editing of it was a challenge. I couldn’t have finished the book without a few excellent editor friends who kindly took the time to review the book several times over.
Every time I felt I hit a roadblock in the rewriting and refining process, whereby I could’t think of a transition paragraph or an introduction to a chapter, I would just completely put the book down. Usually at some point within 24 hours the idea that was needed would spontaneously come. Knowing that the idea would come was an extremely joyous process for me. I quickly gained the confidence that whatever I needed would come effortlessly as long as I was easy about it.
To see the book The Transcendental Meditation Technique and the Journey of Enlightenment in print was an extremely fulfilling accomplishment. It’s especially thrilling when I hear people say that they love the poems, find it an easy read, and relate to the concepts. My ultimate fulfillment was when my mother said she stayed up all night reading the book!
I’d like to thank you all for your support and encouragement. I want to wish that every step of your journey of enlightenment brings you all the inner and outer blessings and beauty of life.
Additional Resources:
