Living in a Silent Mind - Published March 2024
Living in a Silent Mind is about experiencing the peace of mind and clarity of thought that give rise to harmonious living. Being imprisoned by a persona that identifies as thoughts causes suffering; this psychological and emotional pain is most people’s lived reality. Living in a Silent Mind frees you from such suffering. It’s a way of being that sees through the identity, transcending the negative psychological aspects of the human condition and allowing an infinite potential to express itself through you.
I've written this book for the beginner's mind, describing fundamental truths directly and simply using analogies and visualisations. Accompanying this methodical approach is a poetic style weaving throughout the narrative. This combination of methodology and mystery is the only way I can point to the truth of your being. By stripping away our accumulated knowledge (most of which is unhelpful, misleading, or untrue), we enter the beginner’s mind and start questioning our preconceptions regarding ourselves and the world we experience; cultivating a sense of curiosity and wonder, we become receptive to deeper truths.
Drawing upon experience from my professional and personal life, I will offer insights and fundamental principles concerning the nature of reality, illuminating the timeless and metaphysical truths of the perennial wisdom. This message requires no deep philosophical, psychological, or metaphysical understanding. I hope that free from the limitations of experience, judgements and preconceptions, the novice and well-versed reader alike will benefit from these words and recognise the seeds of truth contained therein.
Kindle or paperback
No Path to Enlightenment - published Feb 2021
"Having spent my whole life struggling with an illusion of self and seeking an illusion of enlightenment this book is an outstanding opportunity and I recommend it to anyone who has concerns about the illusory self" Amazon review
Rarely has a writer produced such a work as this sublime, honest and devastating. By devastating I’m referring to our emptiness that washes away all our stories. The prose is so clear and precise and we are reminded to stop any further buildup of our egos, and instead start to recognize our craziness via our personal stories and selfishness.
We are emptiness and emptiness is form, we are free.
This is the BEST book on non-duality I’ve read!! Too many books go into and stay in rhetoric, which is the opposite of non-duality and locks you into duality. This book clearly acknowledges the fact that, as they say, you should look at the moon and not at the finger pointing towards it, or as they say, the map is not the territory. And the author gives some helpful practices to (not stay in your head but to) go beyond the intellect into the space of nothingness (where freedom resides).
Not just a Game-Changer... a LIFE -Changer!
I’ve read a lot of similar books on spirituality and non-duality. This one is the best by far! There is no close second! Easy to get through and understand; a way of looking at your life in a way others have tried to put into words but have been unable to in such a clear and concise way.
Simply Brilliant - Brilliantly Simple
The Author writes with a clarity that, despite the limitations of language as a tool, manages to speak to both ‘heart’ and ‘mind’ - How ‘we’ then listen and how ‘we’ take the ‘contents’ of the book in is then up to ‘us’. Truly an Excellent Book.
Thank you Thank you Thank you
After being stuck in a depressive state for years, I have realised, through this book, that I have control or more importantly I can observe. I would say that my road to recovery has started but now I realise there is no road. I have read numerous books on enlightenment, awareness etc etc. But I have never read with such clarity, a book that defines why we, as humans, are suffering in so many ways. Thank you Colin, your words of truth are greatly appreciated.
Eye opening to one's true self.
This is a book that's hard to put down once you open it. All I can say is Very revealing
The deepest understanding of reality.
In the most straightforward prose, Colin McMorran puts forward his understanding of our deepest reality. He references the disciplines of psychology, religion and philosophy, but keeps on returning to advaita to help him share his conclusions. Colin McMorran is a profound mystic and I'm very glad I read this book.
Read this book it will change your life
If like me you have been searching for a while then this book is for you. After going from philosophy to theory to practice and then back again not knowing what or where to look then this book on non duality will enlighten you. Colins clear and effective manner in which he sensibly describes through his own experiences hits so many wonderful points that you will have many of those aha moments. A lot of the author's on this subject can be heavy going especially when the vendanta tradition has heavy Eastern slants and were written as were all ancient texts a long time ago. Read this book and then re-read it and when start to dip your toes in. You are already that which is before I Am, you just don't know it yet. This book has many helpful pointers to unravel and delayer the minds many blinds and veils it has built up since about age 3 or 4. Colin explains this in a way that it's heartfelt and isn't just intellectual- a trap in itself. Honestly Read this book it will change your mind!
Thorough, Graceful, Essential
I have read almost all Tolle books and have seen him twice. Tolle may still be the best "pointer" to our no-mind stillness and the power of now (where you are in the moment, with minimum "clouds" of distraction from that separate thing, your mind). But although Tolle was so essential to "understanding the reality" I have never been able to deeply appreciate the fictional essence of the "mind clouds (incessant thoughts)" until reading this book.
McMorran so eloquently and methodically takes the clothes off of the egoic messages that haunt us, and shows us how they have, almost always, not only NO VALUE but powerfully cloud our experiences.
And he clearly and EFFECTIVELY shows the way for us to clear out those clouds and to be the "I before I am."
A book I will always treasure and recommend to everyone. This book finally opened the door for me to KNOW HOW TO CHOOSE EXPERIENCE OVER THOUGHT!!!
Thank you so much Colin!!!!
A stunning treasure.
I’m so grateful to have come across this true gem of a book amongst all the non-dual offerings out there. I have read almost all the contemporary non-dual authors and I have undoubtedly gained valuable pointings from most of them. This book however is in some ways a most unique compilation of pointings. It is both incredibly comprehensive—wonderfully delineating the dilemma and trap of the consensus outward orientation—- and at the same time touches on all the subtleties and paradoxes of the non-dual inner non-path. I thought I had come across it all within the non-duality genre—but here I often sat back stunned at how the author managed to clearly bring out certain subtleties—one’s that I may have already been exposed to—but until reading this book had not been fully able to integrate. It’s the simplicity and clarity that allows for these kind of breakthrough’s.
I can without any hesitation place this true treasure amongst my most endeared contemporary Teachers such as Adyashanti, Peter Russell, Jack Kornfield, Greg Goode, James Swartz, Rupert Spira, Jeff Foster, Tony Parson and others. Yet despite all my broad readings if someone with no prior pointings would ask for my recommendation of a clear introduction to non-duality I unhesitatingly would give them this one.
A Gem of a Book, I consider it already a classic. Here's to maturity and seasoned balance!
I am deeply grateful I have come across this book, and also came into contact with the author of this gem of a book. Arrived at the last 12% of the Kindle version, and I just couldn't wait to write this review any longer. Usually I don't write reviews, although I tend to read them mostly. For this book I readily will make an exception, and even looked forward to it.
I have been blessed and cursed with a great curiosity--so I must admit I've indulged in reading lots of literature, and specifically on spirituality and philosophy in general and on nondual spirituality and philosophy in particular. So, blessing or curse--I can compare and evaluate against that background.
This is a book that I would categorize as a sincere, mature, balanced, beautifully crafted piece of art. At the same time there's not a trace of pretentiousness or egoic ambition to be found. It breeds a spontaneous humility, it doesn't present all the answers, doesn't come from a place of 'know-it-all,' it simply invites you on a marvelous exploration, with a feeling for nuance, considering the grey areas, the pros and contras evenly without fixating on any premature conclusions. It is a free flowing exploration, true to the man of the Dao.
The analytical passages, the deconstruction of subjects like 'what is self,' 'what is consciousness,' is done in such a manner that I instantly felt that here is a man that writes from his own experience. His sheer clarity and brilliance is astonishing--and what I so eagerly hoped for to find in this book, after many a disappointment with the currently available contemporary books on this particular subject.
Also his brilliant exposition of quantum physics, in a manner that is understandable for anyone with an average intelligence is simply astounding. Moreover--he draws you in, and shows its relevance not only to the macroworld ("above" the sub-atomic level), but also invites the reader to transform the paradigm of reality into a completely new one. I think it is one of the best descriptions of the subatomic levels and the quantum field I've read in any book in this genre so far. He is also realistic of where the parallel could stop, something lacking in other works in my view.
I could go on and on about this book. I simply would recommend this book to anyone with a sincere interest in liberation and the whole range of topics surrounding it, be it a beginner or a seasoned seeker or finder--whatever that is! I have contacted Colin and started a dialogue series with him, something that I'd only consider after making sure it will produce some fruitful effects--and trust me, it does.
This book is on my top list without the slightest doubt. It is surrounded by the best of the best in my view, and consider it a blessing to have encountered it, and hope it will rightfully get the attention and devoted readers it deserves. I am certain it will be of invaluable help to any sincere seeker of truth. As Colin himself is a rare, humble and utterly sincere individual himself. Thanks, Colin!
I'd say: find out for yourself, you're in for a ride!
Book interview - parts one & two . .
My hope is to liberate you from the illusionary Self and reveal that you are the stillness beneath - the one ocean that embraces all. If successful, you will no longer be a slave to your thoughts, in fact you will be open to see and hear for the first time; you will be free to experience the world as it is, as opposed to how it has been created through your conditioning and sustained by the illusion of your Self.
This is, in the truest sense of the word, freedom. Freedom from your ingrained thought patterns, freedom from the defensive ego, freedom from the constraint of being what you think you should be, and freedom from anger, guilt, depression and sadness. You are not a separate person experiencing consciousness; you are consciousness experiencing a separate person, consciousness is the underlying reality.
We cannot control or make sense of our life through concepts, ideas or beliefs. Instead, recognise that the desire to do so comes from an illusion, and if you ask what will you do without belief in your Self, how can you survive, what will happen if the illusionary Self falls away and ‘you’ disappear then know it is the egoic mind clinging to these questions like someone drowning clings to a life raft. Whenever there is the faintest possibility of freedom from the Self these fears about a future without a story arise. Freedom is frightening because the Self believes it will lose control and autonomy, when in fact freedom is the realisation that it does not have control or autonomy. The person clinging to their life raft is dreaming – in reality they are actually safe in bed clinging to pillows, upon awakening there will be a huge sense of relief mixed with amusement. Just as in the nightmare, there is often a faint sense that it is unreal, so too in the daily dream of life a deeper truth is often sensed.
Having a sweet taste of Enlightenment is not the same as being Enlightened, just as tasting the sweetness of honey is not the same as being honey – if it’s sweetness you desire, realise that honey cannot taste itself
(C.McMorran).
Available on Amazon - Kindle or paperback