STAFFORD WHITEAKER, once a Catholic monk in a monastic community, has for over twenty-five years lived as a hermit following the Rule of Saint Benedict. He writes on spirituality with a knowledge of health grounded in his earlier medical education and an emphasis on the tangible deriving from his many years of meditation, bible study, and spiritual contemplation. His work has received considerable attention in the media and he has appeared in several television programmes in Britain, Italy and Switzerland: he is presently committed to participate in a documentary for Arte France on spiritual life which will be broadcast in Britain and throughout Europe. Author of The Good Retreat Guide, the best-selling book on spiritual retreats, Whiteaker's other critically acclaimed publications include Living the Sacred, The Little Book of Inner Space, and Good Living in Hard Times: the Art of Contentment. His books have been translated into many languages.