Dead Set on Living: Making the Difficult but Beautiful Journey from F#*king Up to Waking Up

by Chris Grosso, Alice Peck (Editor)

Overview

Chris Grosso invites us to sit in on conversations with beloved luminaries and bestselling authors such as Ram Dass, Lissa Rankin, Noah Levine, Gabor Mate, and Sharon Salzberg to discover why people return to self-defeating behaviors—drugs, alcohol, unhealthy eating, sex, media—and how they can recover, heal, and thrive.

In his recovery from drugs and alcohol, Chris Grosso has stumbled, staggered, and started all over again. In an effort to understand why he relapses, and why many of us return to the myriad of other self-defeating behaviors despite our better judgment, he went to bestselling authors, spiritual teachers, psychologists, doctors, and more, and asked them why we tend to repeat mistakes in our lives, even when we know these actions will harm us and the ones we love.

In Dead Set on Living, Chris shares these intimate conversations and the practices that have taught him to be more loving, compassionate, and forgiving with himself as well as new meditation and healing techniques he learned through his journey.

Unabashedly honest and inspiring, Dead Set on Living is essential reading for anyone seeking a path towards triumph over adversity, understanding the human condition, and rebuilding relationships after promises have been broken.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781501173974
Publisher:	Gallery Books
Publication date:	03/06/2018
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.30(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Chris Grosso is a writer and public speaker. He is the author of Indie Spiritualist and Everything Mind and writes for ORIGIN Magazine, Huffington Post, and Mantra Yoga + Health Magazine. Chris speaks frequently at conferences and festivals and is passionate about his work with people who are in the process of healing or struggling with addictions of all kinds. He is a member of the advisory board for Drugs over Dinner and hosts The Indie Spiritualist podcast on Ram Dass’s Be Here Now Network.

Drawn to finding the sacred in everyday things, Alice Peck’s books include: Be More Tree; Bread, Body, Spirit; and Next to Godliness. Her writing has appeared in Center for Humans & Nature, Spirituality & Health, Rewire Me, Prime Mind, Daily Good, and Mountain Record. As an editor, she focuses on mind and spirit. She collaborates with Zen teachers, Tibetan Buddhist psychotherapists, and mindfulness instructors, and edits memoir, fiction, and anthologies—recently Dharma of Dogs. Before focusing on publishing, Alice acquired books and developed screenplays for film and TV. She lives in Red Hook, Brooklyn with her family.

Table of Contents

Preface: Sea of Heartbreak xvii

Introduction: Sometimes All I Am is a Dark Emptiness xxiii

1 The Trance of Unworthiness Tara Brach 1

2 The Primary Problem Gabor Maté 13

3 God is Not Your Bitch Lissa Rankin, MD 35

4 Drinking, Drugging, Overspending, and Sexcapades Anne Davin 52

5 I Don't Believe in Anything Ram Doss 67

6 The Place Where the Sweetness Hurts Michael Taft 77

7 The Love That Rolls Up its Sleeves and Gets Muddy Sera Beak 99

8 A Lonely Consciousness in a Bag of Flesh Chelsea Roff 115

9 A Happiness That Isn't Going to Shatter Sharon Salzberg 131

10 Writing and Fighting for Forgiveness J. Ivy 144

11 Rising from the Woundedness JP Sears 156

12 A Tiny Sit More Mona Haydar 169

13 The Inevitable Catastrophe Duncan Trussell 183

14 Those Dark, Horrible Fucking Places Damien Echols 205

15 This Beautiful, Broken Reality of the Human Condition Mirabai Starr 222

16 The Gifts of Crisis Sally Kempton 237

17 Transcend and Include Ken Wilber 251

18 This Shit Actually Works Noah Levine 272

19 We're All We've Got Deron Drumm 285

Afterword: Onward and Inward 293

Acknowledgments 297

Notes 299

Editorial Reviews

Chris Grosso has assembled a team to help aid in solving the addiction crisis in America. It's not a new Drug Czar, and expensive ad campaign aimed at the youth, or resuscitating the half century long War on Drugs. The solution is an integrated treatment plan in which each individual is a participant in their own inner and outer healing. We have suffered too long through the darkness and despair of mental illness, trauma, material craving, and spiritual emptiness. Thankfully a new recovery community has surfaced with a road map to personal and social wholeness.

Eben Sterling

Chris Grosso comes from a place of compassion to bring hope to people who are suffering. He’s been through it all and the result is a quality of empathy that makes Dead Set on Living such a valuable book. We need a fresh view on the way to recover and this remarkable gathering of voices from all sorts of perspectives—traditional to innovative to experimental—opens myriad doors to integrated healing as it guides readers toward their individual path to wholeness. I've personally seen Chris work with many of the young adults at one of my facilities over the last three years and he has a special way of making deep and authentic connections quickly. I believe this book will create a similar experience with its readers.

Jamison Monroe

Chris Grosso seamlessly blends the ideas of individuality and spirituality in a way that is selfless, easy to read, and inspiring. He can help you find a purpose and be proud of yourself.

Tony Hawk

"Chris Grosso's Dead Set on Living is an awesome work, the totally honest account of a man seeking the realities of life and death, compassion and indifference, sorrow and joy—as if they really mattered. He tells his own moving story, holding nothing back, consults with many amazing people who work with depression, addiction, etc., and shares with us his process of integrating their teachings and advice in a vivid and beautiful way. If you and your loved one’s struggle with life in an existential way, you will love this noble book—it will bring you courage and many blessings."

Robert A.F. Thurman

Chris Grosso is a Warrior of the Heart. With humility, honesty and courage AS his weapons, he does battle with the shadows in the dark corners of our hearts.

Krishna Das

Chris Grosso is an honest and engaging young teacher and his work is both clearly expressed and inspiring.

Andrew Harvey

Chris Grosso like myself is a searcher. He is on a quest. He is thirsty. For what you might ask? Wisdom! It is so rare these days to want to know truth, that people who seek it are thought of as odd. Out of the norm, or naive. Hunter once said "when the going gets weird, the weird go pro." We are well beyond weird now. We are in the twilight zone of reality. We need the Chris Grosso's of the world to tell us what they've seen n where we are. Read it!

Bob Forrest

Dead Set on Living offers a deep, intimate look at why we continued disparaging ourselves. This is essential reading for anyone looking to finally break the ruthless cycle.

Richard Rohr

"By sharing his life’s journey, Chris Grosso shines a light on our own."

Jeff Bridges

Chris’s books have been a significant source of inspiration in my own healing journey, and his newest work, Dead Set On Living, is no exception. Anyone looking for something real; something raw, ragged and authentic won’t be disappointed. I believe anyone who reads Chris’s honest and unabashed words will truly benefit. This is very, very real shit.

Bam Margera

Dead Set On Living, gets down to earth in dialogues that bring light to depression, addiction, and journeys through the dark night of the Spirit. Chris Grosso is an authentic voice of a new generation of meditation teachers. If you’re ready for a book that does not shy away from important issues that are not often addressed by spiritual teachers, read this one.

Loch Kelly

What a read! What a ride! Chris Grosso shares his journey and brings in a team of others who tell the truth, give us hope, light and direction. This is spirituality in action. Thank you for this valuable contribution.

Raghunath (aka Ray Cappo) International yoga teacher

"This inspiring compendium of spiritual friends can guide us as we navigate the way through our own hell toward the light of love."

Alex Grey & Allyson Grey

"This book is priceless because of the sheer volume of information and techniques included... This is a primer on how to deal with the stress and discomfort inherent in being human."

The Tattooed Buddha - Dana Gornall

Chris Grosso comes at us with a deeply intense and personal sharing of his life journey reminding us that you don't have to be a goody-two shoes to seek goodness and a spiritual life. It is often working through our darkest depths that we learn to become the light. Laying out some really easy practices we can all apply to our daily lives and advice from notable teachers of all lineages for all levels, this is a must read.

Jessica Pimentel

"You awaken your True spirit by way of the broken heart: ragged, vulnerable, fierce and finally compassionate. Chris trod this rough way and shows honestly how it can be done."

Jack Kornfield