More about Time for Awakening

A remarkable shift alters the course of a midwestern mother’s life as she heeds an inner call through the wisdom of Buddhist meditation instructions. Woven intricately with insights cultivated during her recovery journey, this empowering and radically honest blend of memoir and guiding narrative charts her spiritual evolution into abiding awakening.

With faith and resilience, Constance learns to shape her own unique meditative expression, finding balance while navigating the complexities of parenting two teenage sons, the intricacies of close relationships, managing financial constraints, and building a home.

Whether cushion-bound or amidst daily chores, Constance’s exploration yields profound openings. Through vivid illustration, we are transported into the heart of her practice, feeling the rhythm of her thoughts, serenity of stillness, and revelations born in silence. Beyond a personal tale, it is a guiding light for those considering extended retreat practice.

Driven by a fire for deeper truths, Constance’s inner call transports her to a strict Southeast Asian monastery. Within the realm of devotion and tranquility, we are thrust into another world of heightened practice, crystallizing insights to carry back home.

Time for Awakening is a story that will inspire spiritual seekers and those simply curious about human meaning and connection, inviting all to embrace their unique path of awakening.

Praise for Time for Awakening

“Constance Casey is a genuine and accomplished spiritual adept who shows us what is possible in opening to freedom. Propelled by remarkable dedication and compelling honesty, this Midwest mother and carpenter takes us on a profound meditative journey into the depths of insight and awakening.”

“Part memoir, part guide to self-knowing, Time for Awakening is a spiritual coming-of-age story that serves to inspire and accompany those drawn to the path of liberation. Through curiosity and vulnerability, Constance shares her transformative experiences and embodied wisdom, inviting us into a deeper understanding of the human journey.”

“Constance Casey offers readers a shimmering gift. This is not a memoir of a spontaneous and disembodied mystical awakening, but of knowledge of Stillness arrived at through an intense and extended quest. Her openness and detail in regard to the material and financial aspects of her homelife in conjunction with her life of meditation, learning, traveling, and healing are refreshing in a spiritual memoir. Ultimately the overall impression of the book is one of fullness, fullness of the vibration of life, and its infinite universality. This book reminds us, with kindness and camaraderie, to be humble and persistent as we seek skillfulness in our inner and outer pilgrimages to practice embodying the gifts of compassion, love, and peace.”

“A captivating and intimate exploration of how authentic awakening unfolds…this book is chock full of spiritual wisdom.”

“Constance Casey’s Time For Awakening is unlike any other memoir I’ve ever read! Steeped in 12-Step programs, Anne Wilson Schaef’s Living in Process, and decades of intensive Buddhist meditation practice, this courageous woman has forged a unique understanding of the strengths and limitations of each approach to spiritual growth. The unusual synthesis of these healing paths opens Casey to deep wisdom and high levels of consciousness. She remains grounded, however, in caring for her family, renovating their Minnesota house from basement to attic, running her tech business, and later serving as a hospital chaplain.

Anyone interested in meditation and how a young mother followed the big questions in life to move beyond thinking, beyond self, beyond suffering, and into enlightenment will love Constance Casey’s extraordinary odyssey.”

“Time for Awakening takes the reader on quite a spiritual journey from Midwest Al-Anon meetings to a strict Buddhist monastery in Malaysia and back home to Minnesota. Constance Casey, a Midwest mother of modest means, is willing to undergo extreme hardship and challenges in pursuit of deep spiritual awakening and, gratefully, finds what she is looking for. The Buddha exhorted his followers: ‘Ehipassiko, come and see for yourself.’ Constance Casey does just that. With sincerity and dedication to discovering liberation for herself, Constance Casey shows us that deep transformation is possible. We not only follow her process but are inspired to undergo our own journey of awakening.”

“In Time for Awakening, the unique, distinct voice of one woman’s realization story weaves seamlessly with the unmistakable voice of Awakened Mind. In the words and between the words, through the story and through the silence under the telling, Constance Casey transmits a knowing that offers encouragement to the reader’s human experience and recognition for what’s always, already awake in us all. This book is a catalyst and companion for anyone on any stage of the awakening journey.”

“Constance Casey provides us with a remarkable spiritual travelog of her travels along the path to deeper and deeper understanding. Her dedication to moving towards awakening shines as an inspiration for all of us in her spiritual memoir.”