"Our daily life is our spiritual practice," Dan recently told me, "or at least it should be. It isn't a separate entity. They are one and the same. We have but to realize that there are gates through which we must pass, or trials of the spirit, to reach the next level. That is why I divide the book into Twelve Gateways, each of which are equally important, and need to be successfully passed for people to reach enlightenment."

The Twelve Gateways are: Discover Your Worth, Recalim Your Will, Energize Your Body, Manage Your Money, Tame Your Mind, Trust Your Intuition, Accept Your Emotions, Face Your Fears, Illuminate Your Shadow, Embrace Your Sexuality, Awaken Your Heart, Serve Your World.

"Until we discover our own innate worth and open ourselves to this, we can't really begin to journey through the other gateways. This is where it all begins. Enlightenment isn't elsewhere. It is now. It is here. It is in the realization and true belief that each of us will change how we interact with the world and how we create our realities. We tend to sabotage ourselves due to how much we believe we are worth in the scheme of things. Changing this thought process is the first gateway to be tackled."

When asked about his thoughts behind the specific importance of money and exercise, Dan shared this with me. "In Eastern thought, we tend to think of spirit as being away from money, away from the body, even away from everyday life. If we are always concerned and obsessed with money and with where and when it will come to us, then we can't focus our lives on the spiritual. Likewise, if we do not take care of our bodies, the home of our spirit, then again our focus is taken away from the spiritual. Neither money nor exercise has to be a struggle. Hey, this can be fun! When life is taken care of on the mundane level, when our bills are taken care of and our financial life is in order, then this frees us to be more spiritual, to refocus ourselves. Likewise, when our body is working with optimal energy, when it is vibrant and good health is present, then the spirit is freed. We have got to get away from seeing exercise as a chore. Once you get started, you learn that your body loves to move! Our bodies thrive and excel when we treat them right. This needs to be seen as a spiritual practice, not something that we punish ourselves by doing."

For me personally, one of the most profound gateways in the book is about accepting one's emotions. Dan's approach is one that is very different. "Accepting our emotions is more than knowing what we feel. Realizing that we don't have control over them, or that they don't need to be fixed, are more important issues. We have to learn that emotions pass like weather, they come and go, rise and fall. They are natural. More strife is made over trying to change how we feel than if we just accepted feelings completely. We need to not place judgments on whether or not our thoughts are bad or good. Although we do not have control over what we think or feel, we do have control over how we behave due to these thoughts and feelings. We are not at their mercy.

"We must begin to move beyond fear. You have to learn when fear is your guide and needs to be listened to. I tell people that when fear is physically based, where there is a risk involved, listen to it. Be prepared, be aware, and avoid that which it heeds you to. However, when fear is subjective or emotionally based, such as a fear of being rejected, or embarrassed, then you must cut through it. That is the challenge. Fear can mask itself; it can be very tricky. Once you transform it, and transform your doubt, then you free your body and mind of fear."