Surviving the Divine

A Memoir of Rude Awakening

By: Raphael Cushnir

Narrated by: Raphael Cushnir

Length: 7 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

When Raphael Cushnir's marriage fell apart, he decided to stop running away from the pain and embrace it. This led to an unintended explosion of “Kundalini” energy as well as a spiritual awakening. Yet, his awakening was anything but typical.

At first it was chaotic, terrifying, and even sometimes demonic. With his life in danger, struggling to distinguish between madness and legitimate energetic attack, Cushnir chanced upon a seasoned guide who helped him restore his spiritual and literal safety. But even afterward, he still found himself sharing the space of his body and consciousness with a force that wasn't part of his previous identity and which had an overpowering will of its own.

Over the ensuing five years, mostly on his own, Cushnir had to navigate this confounding terrain along with the ordinary challenges of daily life. Through vivid journal entries from that time as well as commentary afforded by three decades of subsequent reflection, he offers a searingly intimate portrait of experiences usually relegated to secrecy. He's sharing this story now to support the growing numbers of those who struggle with unconventional openings and also to shed new light on the more perilous parts of the perennial mystic path.

Writing about ineffable experiences inevitably falls short. It's an attempt to describe the indescribable. With that in mind, Cushnir employs poetry as well a recurring chorus of dissenting selves in order to best capture the nature of his awakening. All the while, his storytelling remains grounded in earthy details, such as an ever-shifting array of physical symptoms, the need to hold down a job while in between worlds, and the nature of intimacy and sexuality once new channels of perception have been activated.

Cushnir's awakening merits particular interest because of what followed - his new life as a spiritual teacher, an emotional intelligence facilitator, and the author of seven books about how to thrive amid great adversity.

©2021 Raphael Cushnir (P)2021 Raphael Cushnir

impeccable honest and encouraging

The impeccability of the experiencing and telling of this story gave me courage to look at dark and light both in life and within meditation. And it was fun to see the side by side of the living in the world of jobs and romance -the living of a life

A fascinating and ineffable story

Surviving the Divine is a memoir on a topic that is impossible to tell and yet the author tells it in an authentic, complex, and nuanced voice(s) - shared with honesty, transparency, and vulnerability. He does not shy away from embarrassment and shares the full-blown human experience from angst to awe. I found myself listening whenever I had a free moment, intrigued by his journey, and left to ponder the interface between human and Divine in all our lives.

The story is a wild encounter in every sense of the word, and Cushnirs' telling gives voice to many parts of the experience in a human and personal way. He shares the experience as an explorer, investigator, and I was able to relax my skepticism and listen to a trustworthy teller attempting to convey an ineffable life-changing experience.

Cusnirs' tone was not overinflated - he is transparent - and at least to this listener, he tells his story with a genuine desire to share the experience for whomever this might most benefit. As a reader I followed along from gobsmacked, shocked, wow'ed, curious, and intrigued. It's absolutely worth reading/listening for those who want to explore the human experience of love and divine encounters.

And as a regular audible listener, his memoir is perhaps the best author read book I have listened to.

Excellent telling of the Divine Download

vulnerable disclosure of the process totally relatable if you are or gave been there

What a ride!

This is an incredible story! I found myself saying "oh my God!" and "whaaattt?!?" throughout. It would be hard to take-in if it had not been told with such honesty, transparency and humor. The author lays his cards on the table. He's self-reflective and thoughtful, making this bizarre tale, very human. I'm pretty sure, you've never heard a true story like this one before!

Honest, raw, and inspiring

So often when reading a spiritual teacher’s work, that teach holds a place of ‘other’ in my mind. THEY certainly no longer live mundane struggles, because they are a TEACHER, right?!?!

This audiobook pulled me in, and I recognized parallels between the authors life and my own. My heart went out to him and wanted to support him through his experiences. I wanted to know how his story would turn out, because maybe, just maybe, it would cut a path through the forest that I could follow. His humility, transparency, and ability to live with the strangeness is inspiring.