Wisdom

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Title: Wisdom: Apprenticing to the Unknown and Befriending Fate
Published by: Gatekeeper Press
Release Date: June 15, 2021
ISBN13: 978-1662907357

 
Overview

It may be time to let go of the naivete that our technological devices will magically reveal the nature of absolute truth, or that some alluring formula will serve our need for immediate gratification and penetrate life’s mysteries. We seem to have forgotten that it is by the light of wisdom that we begin to understand who we are and make some sense of the journey we call life.

Wisdom – Apprenticing to the Unknown and Befriending Fate tells a story of what it means to apprentice to the unknown. It offers a strong plea - stop trying to get life right and allow life to get you right.

Such an allowance happens over time as the ego comes to know defeat and the illusion of its sovereignty. The wisdom path must be walked with curiosity and honesty, letting ourselves admit that we are employing some form of bypass that can allegedly circumvent life’s unpredictability and insecurity. Apprentices become increasingly informed by letting go of what is out of their control and learning to find the courage to address what is in their control. The reader learns what it means to remain a student of life, less enamored with being impressive, and as the need to perform and achieve atrophy, gains a devout receptivity to all that fate desires to teach. Wisdom is a verb. It is the apprenticing in a constant state of inquiry.

Praise

Wisdom: Apprenticing to the Unknown and Befriending Fate is a self-help guide about approaching the aging process with grace, keen judgement, and a desire to pursue fulfillment. Insightful and inspirational, Wisdom illustrates its philosophical principles with anecdotes, parables, blessings, and more. Wisdom is highly recommended especially for self-help collections related to aging.

Margaret Lane, Reviewer's Bookwatch, Midwest Book Review

 

WISDOM: Apprenticing to the Unknown and Befriending Fate by Paul Dunion, Ed.D. is a non-fiction spiritual self-help and educational resource that flips the idea that we are in control of our lives and instead focuses on the things we actually have control over. Hint: It's not life. By letting ourselves go and opening up to a new way of thinking, a new way of participating in the mystery, we open ourselves up to becoming deeply connected to a meaningful way of living, thinking, mindfulness, and fulfillment, among many other benefits.

The book is broken down into nine chapters, each aptly changing the focus of what we perceive to be obstacles but are, in fact, blessings as we get to know ourselves better. Dunion uses stories, personal experience, and multiple philosophical resources, including the Bible, to harness the truth and begin our own journey.

Paul Dunion EdD is an exceptional motivator and this really does transcend into his writing. Wisdom is a far more comfortable read than I'd set myself up to believe prior, which is wildly ironic given the book's subject matter. Still, it is a great deal of information and a lot to unpack, and I did find myself revisiting some of the text as I mulled it over for a few days. There were two parts that really forced me to step back and take stock of what I was reading. The first is in the section discussing power and our inability to balance what we give and what we take, wherein Dunion outlines how to reclaim but also how to stop grabbing. The second is in a section that details what we know and what we do not. Dunion reveals his own discomfort as he questions the uncertainty of his twenty-five- year marriage. I've now had my own eyes opened to a new way of thinking and am not sure I'll be able to close them again—or if I even want to.

-Jamie Michele for Readers' Favorite

 

Dr. Paul Dunion's Wisdom is a must read for anyone on a path of personal development or spiritual seeking. It is a handbook for a modern seeker who wishes their life to be infused with meaning, joy, closeness and devotion. It's precision, practicality and beauty are the fruits of Paul's lifetime exploring the human psyche, intimacy and attachment, and the embodied path of meeting the Mystery. This is a rare and sweeping look at where modern life places us away from immanent experience and inside a series of costly by-passes in habit, mindset and practices.

At the same time, it is a beautifully articulated call to descend into life, encounter the nature of the forces that move and shape us, and enjoy the fruition of a life elevated by wisdom, compassion and love. I recommend this book for anyone wanting to address an addiction, repair a relationship, or apprentice themselves to a life-long journey of awakening.

-Amy Elizabeth Fox, Transformational Coach and CEO, Mobius Executive Leadership 

 

Fate makes only one promise: endless opportunities to heal and learn. (p.230)

I have used Paul Dunion's books for years in my university teaching and in my consulting practice; and Wisdom proves his finest offering yet.  Through the use of ancient myths, Bible stories, and Jungian psychology, he challenges all of humanity to see and heed an ever-persistent call to grow in Wisdom.  This is not a book about how to live, but a book about living. It is not a book to merely be read, but a call to enter a relationship with yourself and with fate.  With his trademark style of weaving piercingly reflective questions throughout each chapter, Dunion gives us yet another book that is best received in small doses with a pen and journal nearby.  May you experience the blessings of responding to the call.

-Peggy Andrews, PhD, SPHR, Senior Lecturer and Leadership Curriculum Coordinator, Hamline University School of Business

 

When in the presence of the truth, the heart and soul rejoice.  With each page, my breath got deeper and my heart opened.  Dunion is able to, in easy and accessible language, examine the path home to ourselves. He offers us a way of being in and with life that is skillful, dignified and allows us to access the grace that is everywhere. From descent to a humble and meaningful liberation.

-Jen Cohen, Co-Author - The Seven Laws of Enough, Seven Stones Leadership Group, Mobius Executive Leadership