Returning to Radiance

The content of this workbook flows from the practical wisdom of Zen Buddhism, Psychology, Philosophy, and Christian Spirituality. The most effective form of psychotherapy is cognitive-behavioral therapy – a combination of cognitive therapy and behavioral modification. This manual will help you to change some of your attitudes and help you to make beneficial behavioral changes. The effectiveness of this workbook will be measured by how you share with others what you learn from it. In living life, it is not how fast you run or how you climb, but how you love and help others. Use this manual well and your beneficial influence on others will brighten their lives.

Return to Radiance. A spark of the Divine resides in everyone at the still point in the center of one’s spirit. But this divine spark has been enshelled with layers of residue from mistakes, wounds, scars, harmful goals, and faulty methods. This book can help you to remove these layers, so that your inner radiance will brighten your life and the life of others by helping you to:

•Heal •Deal with challenges •Preserve inner peace and •Improve relationship

You can then more readily access the inner radiance of this divine spark within you.

Return to your Radiance. Become God’s Blessing to everyone: family members, friends, acquaintances, fellow workers, everyone you meet. You can be a source of God’s acceptance, affirmation, comfort, compassion, forgiveness, love, and peace to everyone. As God’s Blessing, you empower, energize, enrich the heart and spirit of others.

As a dedicated student of Father Chun, it was with gratitude and acceptance of God’s love and mercy first to myself by using the tools of this book. Now in one place I had all the lessons I had scribbled on pages and pages of notes taken during his retreats and homilies. But now it made sense as each lesson was tied into Sacred Scripture and allowed me to zero in to the areas of my own brokenness that had built up residue over time. Fr Chun’s book Returning to Radiance was like “Holy Windex” that in 6 short months cleaned the inner walls of my soul. Certainly confession over the years would absolve me of my “sins” in the way I reacted and mishandled situations in relationships. However, I didn’t have the practical help and discernment ability from God because of what I call spiritual residue. All the self-help books on relationships never helped me.

With my new improved attitude of love and forgiveness of myself first, I have been able to see through God’s eyes and show and share with others the compassion and inner peace I have found starting with my own family, and then allowing God to use me in humility, simplicity and charity to serve others. (From the foreword).

As I started to read through the book I realized the important fact that I was not alone. The Holy Spirit was there all along, and somewhere inside my self-pity and hurt I heard the words Father Chun so carefully crafted. It was like he had written the words directly for me. As I read each chapter, I became more and more aware that it was not my wife or anyone else that was holding me back or creating the messed up life I found myself in - it was due to myself. I was in control of my own radiance and all I needed was a path to understanding it. His prayers, quizzes, examples and breathing exercises in this book were like land marks along the path that I needed to take to return to my radiance, and eventually to the radiance that my wife and I once had in our relationship.

Relationships with others have never been stronger. It’s amazing when you have the Holy Spirit inside all your intentions and how it affects the people in your life in the most positive way. The experience is unlike any other. (From the Preface)

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"This book is a must have! When I was suffering from betrayal from a friend, and couldn't sleep one night, I picked up Returning to Radiance and began to read, it brought me peace and comfort. The book provides knowledge when you need to navigate through a storm in life and you want to find peace and comfort. In addition, I give it as a gift to my loved ones when they come to me and share a storm in their life. This way, I not only listen to them when they are hurting, I give them navigation to wisdom, peace and comfort, that they too can go back to time and time again." - Suzi Santilli

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It's not a book you have to read linearly. You can pick it up and turn to inspiration throughout the whole book. The book helps you take a breath and see your struggle from a different perspective - one that you might not have thought of before. One of my favorite quotes in the book is "One who half-breathes half-lives". The book helped me slow down and see the absolute beauty in others and in myself. I recommend it to everyone.

Easy to read, easy to understand, easy to put into practice.
- Tony Tarr

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"Buy it, read it, and keep it at the top of the stack. Returning to Radiance is for every hurting soul walking the planet, not just Catholics.
This book will teach you how to heal and how to free yourself from those old, tired stories which drain your energy and prevent you from ever reaching your full spiritual, emotional, and physical potential.

Returning to Radiance is a wonderful gift; use it, share it, and change your relationship with God, your loved ones, and yourself. Nothing but goodness will result from your time and investment.

Thank you Fr. Chun!" - Maggie Main

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"As we travel on Life's Journey, sometimes we need a Road Map. No matter your religious affiliation, Returning to Radiance is a Road Map for everyone's Life Journey. This book depicts a multitude of successful routes when we are beset with roadblocks that impact our relationships with others, and the ongoing internal doubts and anxieties that sabotage our ability to love, grow and succeed. This book is like a Road Atlas. The comprehensive index provides the specific life situation that needs a course of direction. One area that I found very helpful was "Forgiveness" on page 183... " Forgiveness does not come from my feelings. Forgiveness does not come from my mind. Forgiveness comes from my will..." There is more insightful information on Forgiveness that follows, but how incredibly liberating to understand that Forgiveness comes from our will, and not how we feel, or what we think. This book is structured to allow easy access to life situations that require a constructive pathway to resolution. Everyone needs a Life Road Map and Returning to Radiance is an excellent navigational tool for our earthly journey." - Brenda Schwartz

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"This book is a must have! When I was suffering from betrayal from a friend, and couldn't sleep one night, I picked up Returning to Radiance and began to read, it brought me peace and comfort. The book provides knowledge when you need to navigate through a storm in life and you want to find peace and comfort. In addition, I give it as a gift to my loved ones when they come to me and share a storm in their life. This way, I not only listen to them when they are hurting, I give them navigation to wisdom, peace and comfort, that they too can go back to time and time again." - Suzi Santilli

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