a book review by Dana Taylor

Since 2023 Spiritual Awakenings International has brought an array of fascinating people into my life, but Dr. Yvonne Kason definitely sits at the top of my personal Amazing Persons list. Fun facts about Yvonne:

• She’s a retired medical doctor.
• She coined the phrase Spiritually Transformative Experiences (STEs) in 1994 and was a pioneer health care professional recognizing STEs as actual life-changing events and not mental health delusions.
• She’s a five-time Near-Death Experiencer, including a helicopter crash into a freezing lake (!) and years later, a fall on black ice which caused a disabling traumatic brain injury (TBI).
• After twelve years of struggle from her TBI, her brain was miraculously healed at a meditation retreat.
• She’s an author of seven books, and a founder and the current president of Spiritual Awakenings International (SAI).

It’s my honor and privilege to serve as Dr. Kason’s executive administrative assistant at SAI. She blends an astonishing level of visionary mysticism and organized professionalism. Her latest release is an exciting addition to her publications helping readers understand their spiritual development.

Roadmap to the Great Awakening: Purifying the Heart

Dr. Yvonne Kason shares a beautiful roadmap, “Purifying the Heart,” to guide us through the fascinating stages of our spiritual awakening journey: from a Spiritual Seeker to Spiritual Server, Spiritual Warrior, to Devotee, and then to an Adept. Using her own STEs as examples, she shares the key focuses and spiritual learning tasks at each stage, and how to speed up your progress. Based on her own awakening journey and 40 years of STE research, Dr. Kason concludes that the ultimate goal for us all is self-realization—God-Communion—with continuous expanded mystical consciousness.

Roadmap to the Great Awakening brought clarity to my personal spiritual journey. I mentally traced the milestones on the spirit “map” and saw how far I have come and a realization of how far there still is to go. Yvonne weaves her personal experiences into the spiritual levels of growth for a fascinating narrative blended with valuable information. This is a wonderful addition to the spiritually-minded reader’s library.

Listen to the top-notch keynote presentation she delivered at our Spiritual Awakenings International Conference 2026 and then purchase your own copy of Roadmap to the Great Awakening to underline and write personal notes in the margins.