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heathervickery's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
I enjoyed it as a memoir and reflective study.
joyxia's review
Ok. I buy the idea of going with the flow and doing more meditation. But this book drastically overlooks the work and dedication people need to achieve their goals. Success is portrayed as something you can wish for or will just magically happen. I consider myself spiritual, but this book does not serve what I need to know at this stage of life.
kimball_hansen's review against another edition
4.0
I read [b:The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself|1963638|The Untethered Soul The Journey Beyond Yourself|Michael A. Singer|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1354898395s/1963638.jpg|1966734] twice a few years ago and thoroughly enjoyed that. It was the book that made me recognize and understand The Inner Voice that we all have. Michael takes us back in time to tell how he discovered that inner voice and his struggle to free himself from its incessant yakking. If you're familiar with [b:The Secret|52529|The Secret (The Secret, #1)|Rhonda Byrne|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1482865039s/52529.jpg|2001660] this is another take one it. It's neat how many people rip on that book yet the principles it teaches are in so many other "tolerable" books.
Alright. Where to start.
The first 40% or so of the book I was loving it. Then the weekend came and I started to listen to [b:Catch Me If You Can: The True Story of a Real Fake|138269|Catch Me If You Can The True Story of a Real Fake|Frank W. Abagnale|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1358730242s/138269.jpg|985716] (which I will do a review of in a few days) and got a little distracted from this book. Plus the story changed from his young personal life to his business endeavors and all the financial trouble he got in while he was with WebMD. I'm lost on that part; did he invent WebMD or what exactly happened? Why did the government get so involved with all the dumb court cases? I must have tuned out a critical chapter and didn't pick it up. He glossed over the part where he became this terrific programmer and I'm amazed that he was as successful as he was considering that in his early 20's he was just a hermit living in his hippy VW van down in Mexico and in the woods of the Deep South. I'd like to hear how mediation has helped him learn to program. The focus must be key cuz I can't focus at all when I sit down and try to do it.
Thoughts on the book:
He describes a force field that comes from his meditative experience. It reminded me of the force field that Bella has in [b:Breaking Dawn|1162543|Breaking Dawn (Twilight, #4)|Stephenie Meyer|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1361039438s/1162543.jpg|2960529].
That out of body experience he had reminded me of Nephi's experience in [b:The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ|323355|The Book of Mormon Another Testament of Jesus Christ|Anonymous|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327389004s/323355.jpg|2139868]. I don't know how one doesn't get lost when they are having an experience like that. What pulls them back to reality? Hunger, thirst, a leg that fell asleep?
Michael talked a lot about being alone and mediating for hours. I understand that about Meditation and focusing on solitude by being alone and finding yourself. But what about sharing those experiences with others? I get the impression that he thinks it is better to be alone than to taint yourself with other people and their thoughts. Is it not possible to have an enlightened mind unless you escape into solitude? What do extroverts do about that? It'd be nice to be able to go off and do these experiences but someday you run out of money and will have to come back to the real world. I wanted to know how much money he had saved up and how he paid for gas or food or car repairs. I have mixed feelings about this part.
I was surprised that he got remarried. I thought he'd be the type of guy that'd think marriage wasn't for him after the first one ended badly (and he was pretty tore up about it). I appreciated that he wasn't a die-hard atheist/agnostic that rips on traditional religion. That gets old after a while. Yes, I'm looking at you stupid [a:Bill Nye The Science Guy|2598510|Bill Nye The Science Guy|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]
Yoga is the science of channeling all energies upward, until they merge together at the highest point.
I liked the part where he said he reached such a mental state that he didn't even want to smoke pot. I often hear people saying that one of the "joys" of smoking pot is to reach a different state of mind. But this clearly shows how cheap and unnecessary smoking pot really is. The mind is capable of doing things on its own without external stimuli. For example, if you want to stay awake don't drink a energy drink, tell your mind that you don't need one and to stay awake on its own. I did that when I was police officer and haven't looked back to energy drinks since. Of course, it's not easy doing it on our own and requires a lot more time than quick fixes but since when do worthwhile things come easy?
This book made me think a lot about life's purpose and why we're on earth; the purpose of a body. I got the impression that Michael thinks our body is limiting. In a way he's right. The way he wrote his research paper for graduate school in basically one week was because he had a clear, truly unpressured mind. Think of all the necessary and unnecessary pressures we put on ourselves and then imagine what we can accomplish if they weren't there and we could focus on the Greater Good and Self Improvement.
A good quote from the book: "The scared person inside of me was holding back from where I so desperately wanted to go. I needed to be free of him." Boy, does that ever describe me perfectly.
Here's another goodie: "To be there when a person is soaring high is an easy relationship; to be there during hard times requires deep friendship." Someday I'll expand my thoughts on the critical need of true, deep friendship because it is so non-existent today.
So does his Surrender Experiment mean that basically he's a "Yes, Man" now? Michael talks a lot about letting life just run its course and surrendering to it (as if it wasn't obvious by the title). But when does life cease being life, what are the parameters that make life, life? If I let life do whatever it wants, does that mean I become a Yes, Man? Do I let people walk all over me? I needed this to be explained in greater detail since he is the expert on it and teaching college courses and all.
I'd like to visit his Temple of the Universe.
All in all, it was a great book for the self-help/enlightenment/meditation genre. It left me with a lot more questions than before, which I think is good when a book does that. One of the reasons why we shouldn't just read non-stop, pointless drivel fiction our whole lives. Nonfiction and fiction should be split 50/50, but I'll save that rant for another day.
Alright. Where to start.
The first 40% or so of the book I was loving it. Then the weekend came and I started to listen to [b:Catch Me If You Can: The True Story of a Real Fake|138269|Catch Me If You Can The True Story of a Real Fake|Frank W. Abagnale|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1358730242s/138269.jpg|985716] (which I will do a review of in a few days) and got a little distracted from this book. Plus the story changed from his young personal life to his business endeavors and all the financial trouble he got in while he was with WebMD. I'm lost on that part; did he invent WebMD or what exactly happened? Why did the government get so involved with all the dumb court cases? I must have tuned out a critical chapter and didn't pick it up. He glossed over the part where he became this terrific programmer and I'm amazed that he was as successful as he was considering that in his early 20's he was just a hermit living in his hippy VW van down in Mexico and in the woods of the Deep South. I'd like to hear how mediation has helped him learn to program. The focus must be key cuz I can't focus at all when I sit down and try to do it.
Thoughts on the book:
He describes a force field that comes from his meditative experience. It reminded me of the force field that Bella has in [b:Breaking Dawn|1162543|Breaking Dawn (Twilight, #4)|Stephenie Meyer|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1361039438s/1162543.jpg|2960529].
That out of body experience he had reminded me of Nephi's experience in [b:The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ|323355|The Book of Mormon Another Testament of Jesus Christ|Anonymous|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327389004s/323355.jpg|2139868]. I don't know how one doesn't get lost when they are having an experience like that. What pulls them back to reality? Hunger, thirst, a leg that fell asleep?
Michael talked a lot about being alone and mediating for hours. I understand that about Meditation and focusing on solitude by being alone and finding yourself. But what about sharing those experiences with others? I get the impression that he thinks it is better to be alone than to taint yourself with other people and their thoughts. Is it not possible to have an enlightened mind unless you escape into solitude? What do extroverts do about that? It'd be nice to be able to go off and do these experiences but someday you run out of money and will have to come back to the real world. I wanted to know how much money he had saved up and how he paid for gas or food or car repairs. I have mixed feelings about this part.
I was surprised that he got remarried. I thought he'd be the type of guy that'd think marriage wasn't for him after the first one ended badly (and he was pretty tore up about it). I appreciated that he wasn't a die-hard atheist/agnostic that rips on traditional religion. That gets old after a while. Yes, I'm looking at you stupid [a:Bill Nye The Science Guy|2598510|Bill Nye The Science Guy|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]
Yoga is the science of channeling all energies upward, until they merge together at the highest point.
I liked the part where he said he reached such a mental state that he didn't even want to smoke pot. I often hear people saying that one of the "joys" of smoking pot is to reach a different state of mind. But this clearly shows how cheap and unnecessary smoking pot really is. The mind is capable of doing things on its own without external stimuli. For example, if you want to stay awake don't drink a energy drink, tell your mind that you don't need one and to stay awake on its own. I did that when I was police officer and haven't looked back to energy drinks since. Of course, it's not easy doing it on our own and requires a lot more time than quick fixes but since when do worthwhile things come easy?
This book made me think a lot about life's purpose and why we're on earth; the purpose of a body. I got the impression that Michael thinks our body is limiting. In a way he's right. The way he wrote his research paper for graduate school in basically one week was because he had a clear, truly unpressured mind. Think of all the necessary and unnecessary pressures we put on ourselves and then imagine what we can accomplish if they weren't there and we could focus on the Greater Good and Self Improvement.
A good quote from the book: "The scared person inside of me was holding back from where I so desperately wanted to go. I needed to be free of him." Boy, does that ever describe me perfectly.
Here's another goodie: "To be there when a person is soaring high is an easy relationship; to be there during hard times requires deep friendship." Someday I'll expand my thoughts on the critical need of true, deep friendship because it is so non-existent today.
So does his Surrender Experiment mean that basically he's a "Yes, Man" now? Michael talks a lot about letting life just run its course and surrendering to it (as if it wasn't obvious by the title). But when does life cease being life, what are the parameters that make life, life? If I let life do whatever it wants, does that mean I become a Yes, Man? Do I let people walk all over me? I needed this to be explained in greater detail since he is the expert on it and teaching college courses and all.
I'd like to visit his Temple of the Universe.
All in all, it was a great book for the self-help/enlightenment/meditation genre. It left me with a lot more questions than before, which I think is good when a book does that. One of the reasons why we shouldn't just read non-stop, pointless drivel fiction our whole lives. Nonfiction and fiction should be split 50/50, but I'll save that rant for another day.
dillyoz's review
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
2.0
I thought it would have more tips on surrendering or being more accepting. I was not expecting an autobiography, it’s a somewhat interesting story but gets boring quick. All presented in a very dull way just listing events that happened to him