The Gate of Heaven is Everywhere - by William Thiele (Paperback)

About the Book

Through compelling stories and personal narratives, William Thiele thrusts the reader into a world where sacredness can be found anywhere and encounters with the Wild Divinity are available everywhere.

Book Synopsis

"Over these six decades of searching for the Wild Divinity, two contemplative truths have become clear. The home of God is within me, at the center of my being. And as I practice that Presence, I can be gifted with seeing the Gate of Heaven everywhere! This is my contemplative quest."

Through compelling stories and personal narratives, William Thiele thrusts the reader into a world where sacredness can be found anywhere and encounters with the Wild Divinity are available everywhere. The author invites readers to prepare for discovering gates of heaven in everyday experience through a fundamental spiritual attitude of holding space for the sacred to appear within and all around us. Poignant anecdotes become lessons in contemplative leadership and an invitation into a contemplative quest toward personal transformation and spiritual discovery.

William Thiele, PhD, serves as the founding director of the School for Contemplative Living and is a licensed professional counselor, a certified spiritual director, and author of Monks in the World: Seeking God in a Frantic Culture (2014). Thiele is certified by Stanford University and the Compassion Institute to teach Compassion Cultivation Training leading groups in person, with global online communities, and with men reentering society from the Angola State Prison in Louisiana.

Review Quotes

"At a busy corner in downtown Louisville, KY, Thomas Merton famously saw the divine light in everyone. Later, he wrote in his journal, "The gate of heaven is everywhere." That's the theme William Thiele pursues in this quiet but passionate guide to contemplation for those of us who live active lives. No matter who we are, where we are, or what we do, all of us can be contemplatives if we open ourselves-or allow ourselves to be opened-to the depths of human experience. Thiele offers us ways to do just that, illustrated by compelling real-life stories. He writes honestly about the inner and outer obstacles we must overcome on the path to the light we all seek. Here's a book that will encourage us not only to seek but to become light in the darkness of our time."

- Parker J. Palmer, author of Let Your Life Speak, A Hidden Wholeness, and more.

"The Gate of Heaven is Everywhere guides the reader through a powerful spiritual journey of self-discovery, where, through reflections, meditations, and simple awareness of the present moment, one learns to find the space for love and sacredness both within and without. The author has crafted a beautiful tapestry of spiritual vision and practice that help open our heart and mind to the innate goodness that is present in each one of us."

- Thupten Jinpa, PhD. Principal translator to H.H. the Dalai Lama and the author of A Fearless Heart: How the Courage to be Compassionate Can Transform Our Lives

"William Thiele's The Gate of Heaven is Everywhere is a bit of Christian heresy no less revealing than Jesus' Jewish heresy that the Kingdom is within you and around you. The best kept secret of humankind is "You are God;" Tat tvam Asi (You are That) as the Hindu's put it; Ain od milvado (there is nothing but God) as the Jews would have it. The truth is kept secret behind mounds of fear-filled and false debates over who is chosen, who is saved, whose religion is true and whose is false. Thiele does away with all of that to make unavoidable the simple truth of your existence: you and God are one."

- Rabbi Rami Shapiro, author of Perennial Wisdom for the Spiritually Independent