I’ve read a variety of books on spirituality, Buddhism, self-help and meditation.

With every book, I always feel I gain insight—sometimes a lot and sometimes a little, but insight nonetheless. What set Indie Spiritualist apart from the many other books I have encountered was that I felt like I could be sitting somewhere in a coffee shop with the author chatting about his life and discussing philosophy. Another aspect that sets this book apart is Chris’s history of drug and alcohol abuse.

In my profession, I have had the opportunity to sit in on drug rehabilitation meetings and I have witnessed the stages people tend to go through during this process. Reading Chris’s story, I could visualize exactly where he was and understand a little bit about the place he was coming from when he wrote this book.

It is a metaphorical hell, and if maneuvered successfully, a rebirthing of sorts.

The Indie Spiritualist is not your typical spirituality book. There aren’t really any guidelines for leading a spiritual life—at least not laid out in an obvious fashion. Chris is not a monk or Zen master claiming to have achieved enlightenment. He is a regular guy who at some point in his life spiraled down into some pretty dark corners and hit bottom. Luckily he had some close people in his life guide him back up and point out ways to use spirituality as a tool for recovery.

This book is for the people that would not normally turn to spirituality. It’s for the people that poke fun of the metaphysical and new age people. It’s for the ones that are in search of a path, yet can’t seem to find a place along the ones most traveled.

Chris Grosso uses his darker experiences to convey how one can walk through times of despair and find a way out. He draws the reader in with his accounts of substance abuse and rehabilitation and his stories are punctuated with buddhist and spiritual principles. His episodes of anger and dealing with his own ego finish and align with morals that most of us can relate to.

Every chapter contains a QR code that can be scanned with a smart phone and opens up music, interviews and more that coincide with the stories and themes. He also separates the book into two sections—Side A and Side B. Side A contains mostly stories, anecdotes and morals. Side B  gives the reader a taste of the tools that can be used such as types of meditation, journaling, yoga and prayer.

This book is the type of book you will want to have extra copies of lying around to hand out when the need arises.

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Editor: Rachel Nussbaum

Photo Credit: Author’s website