In a world that often feels overwhelmed by chaos, distraction, and societal pressures, Susmita Barua’s book Awakening with Ease offers a gentle but powerful alternative. It’s a roadmap for anyone who feels the call to break free from the conditioned cycles of fear, greed, and ego. Whether you’re a wise woman leader, a mindful entrepreneur, an immigrant, or simply someone seeking a deeper, more meaningful path, this book offers something for you.
A Path to Freedom and Inner Peace
At its core, Barua’s philosophy encourages readers to leave behind the false narratives of power, victimhood, and division—whether based on gender, race, or any other societal construct. She draws on the teachings of Buddha and her own transformative journey to present a vision of awakening that is rooted in love, simplicity, and mindfulness.
Barua’s story is one of deep transformation. She left a high-pressure career as a city planner, a role that once defined her life, to embark on a quest for true happiness and self-discovery. Along the way, she found wisdom in the teachings of the Buddha and integrated it into her daily life. Rather than relying on external validation or success markers, she turned inward—focusing on self-awareness, emotional freedom, and mindful living.
Living with Intention: Awakening for the Happiness of All Beings
In a world that often feels out of balance, Barua’s approach offers a hopeful, more grounded alternative. Her paradigm of awakening isn’t just about personal growth—it’s about collective well-being. She emphasizes the importance of living with the intention to create happiness, peace, and a sense of interconnectedness for everyone. By breaking free from negative patterns and conditioned behaviors, individuals can begin to live with greater ease, balance, and joy.
The book introduces the concept of AWE Circles, local communities of mindful changemakers who come together to support each other in their spiritual journey and bring about a transformative shift in their own lives and in society. These circles, inspired by the teachings of the Buddha, provide a space for personal and collective awakening—a place where wisdom, compassion, and creativity can flourish in service to all beings.
The Power of Self-Awareness and Mindful Meditation
One of the central themes of Awakening with Ease is the power of self-awareness and mindfulness. Barua believes that true knowledge doesn’t come from external sources but from within ourselves. The ancient saying “Know thyself” is not just a philosophical ideal—it’s a practical path to freedom and self-liberation. Through mindful meditation and contemplation, we can begin to understand our own minds and see reality clearly. This is the foundation for lasting inner peace and emotional freedom.
Barua encourages readers to embrace the practice of self-inquiry. By questioning the stories we tell ourselves—about who we are, where we belong, and what we are capable of—we can begin to uncover a deeper, truer understanding of ourselves and the world around us. This process is deeply personal but also universal, offering a way out of the suffering that so many experience in today’s world.
A Vision for a Better World: Love, Wisdom, and Compassion
Ultimately, Awakening with Ease is a call to action. It’s not just a book about personal growth—it’s a manual for creating change. Barua invites readers to become part of a movement toward conscious evolution. Through love, wisdom, and compassion, we can challenge the systems of power, oppression, and division that dominate our society. By practicing mindful leadership and fostering environments of care and respect, we can transform ourselves, our communities, and the world at large.
The book also explores themes of social awareness, activism, and engaged spirituality. In a world where injustice and inequality persist, Barua’s message is clear: be the change you wish to see. By living with purpose and intention, we can create a ripple effect that contributes to the collective well-being of all beings. This path isn’t about escaping the world’s problems—it’s about engaging with them in a mindful, compassionate way that promotes healing and transformation.
A Guide for the Modern Seeker
For those looking for a deeper connection to themselves and the world around them, Awakening with Ease offers an insightful, accessible guide. Barua’s journey from a stressed professional to a mindful, awakened leader serves as a powerful example of what’s possible when we turn inward and embrace the wisdom of the heart. It’s a call to explore life beyond the surface—finding meaning, purpose, and peace amidst the noise of everyday life.
In the end, this book is a reminder that the path to true happiness and liberation isn’t about finding external solutions but about awakening the wisdom that already exists within us. Whether you’re new to mindfulness or have been on the spiritual path for years, Susmita Barua’s Awakening with Ease offers valuable insights and practices to help you live a more meaningful, peaceful life—one step at a time.
We had the privilege of interviewing the author. Here are excerpts from the interview:
Thank you so much for joining us today! Please tell us about your Book.
This book is based on my personal journey from being a dissatisfied professional city planner and mom in an auto-pilot life to the noble search for wise, mindful living, true freedom, and happiness as a non-monastic lay-person in a world mired with deep suffering, disconnection, war, and injustice. If you deeply long for a life of inner peace, freedom, equanimity, meaning, creativity, compassionate service, and fulfillment in a world of chaos, distraction, abuse of power, and misguided attention, then this book of spiritual liberation and reclaiming the power of your own awareness and wise attention is for you. Knowledge does not come from external and secondary sources as we are educated. The primary source is knowledge of self, mind, and reality through mindful meditation. “Know thyself’ that Socrates said, is actually the ancient path of Arya or noble ones.
Please tell us about your journey.
What my 21 years of schooling and two graduate degrees did not teach me is a deep understanding of my own life, human psychology, and the development of the higher human mind through mindful meditation, which Buddha discovered 2600 years ago. Awareness is inherent within each human being, but we are not taught how to cultivate awareness and wise attention moment by moment, so we develop insight into reality, inner resilience, confidence, and agency without external validation or approval.
What are the strategies that helped you become successful in your journey?
Mainly turning the five senses inward so mind can observe the mind and movement of consciousness. Breath is what joins the mind and body. And noticing body sensations and feelings of pleasure, pain, and dullness through sensory contact helps us see how our habitual impulses of body-mind-speech patterns or Sankharas are formed. When we rest at ease in the gap between thoughts and re-actions or in and out-breath, we can take a pause and slowly change unwholesome ignorant actions to wholesome and skillful wise action.
Thank you so much, Susmita, for giving us your precious time! We wish you all the best for your journey ahead!
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