This book is a pretty brochure for spiritual tourism. It's the worst kind of ad for that most insidious brand of new-Western-colonialism - the "g...moreThis book is a pretty brochure for spiritual tourism. It's the worst kind of ad for that most insidious brand of new-Western-colonialism - the "go where there are people simpler than me and figure out my life" brand that has a whole industry of retreats, spas, and "life changing" built around it. It's the worst kind of fantasy - a real story that demands you believe the hero(ine) can only solve her problems by travelling halfway around the world, and never addressing the core darkness of ego, yet being touched by outrageous manifestations of god that any beyond-beginning meditator would recognize as the very ego itself trying to re-assert itself. Bad news man, this book is bad news.
So many women I know have read this book- and it's so popular - that I figured I should check it out. Didn't get it at all - and before you say "your a dude and it's a woman thing" I'll say this - there is something so fantastically self-indulgent about this journey, and the implied message of the kind of time, money, journey, and lifestyle it would take to heal from a bad marriage and low self-esteem, that I fear it would have been better as a work of fiction than a work of transformative non-fiction by a woman who has had the luxury of time, money, and "spiritual journey" handed to her.
On the other hand, maybe the over the top "have to go halfway around the world and spend 10 hours a day meditating to heal and then magically fall into carnal pleasure" message is seen by all as just a clever container for the truly resonant core message: wherever you go, there YOU are, and you're gonna have to deal with your own mess one way or the other. Two stars for getting millions of Americans who don't read to read a fairly well written novel. Instead of a romance fantasy novel, this is a spiritual fantasy novel. a little better than the godawful male "equivalent" cormac mcCarthy's empty shell of a novel "the road", so props for that, but still superifical BS that doesn't admit to most of what's bubbling beneath the surface.
In the end it's just the pre-paid self-indulgent ramblings of a woman who had the luxury to spend twelve months gazing at her own navel to get over the kind of pain and heartbreak most women (and men) have to get over while also working ten hours a day, changing diapers, making ends meet, and living in exactly the same space where things went awry. And can you imagine a male character trying to elicit sympathy from even a male audience for screwing around with a woman 15 (?) years younger and wondering why that bothered his soon to be ex-wife? But that's exactly what Gilbert does with the younger male lover she takes while her soon to be ex-husband is writhing in emotional pain. And she never really addresses THIS on her "journey through conmpassion" (!!) - yikes.(less)
Super fast read, and really useful reminder of how even in business - especially in business - the more you give from the heart, the more you receive ...moreSuper fast read, and really useful reminder of how even in business - especially in business - the more you give from the heart, the more you receive in return. Kind of all about not worrying about "win/win, winning, or strategy" and being a generous, kind, compassionate human being. I've heard about this book and am encourage that it is so poopular with corporate business-folk!(less)
Rebel Buddha is a fun, thought provoking look at how to be a mindful "rebel buddha" in 21st century "connected society". Really fa...moreRebel Buddha is a fun, thought provoking look at how to be a mindful "rebel buddha" in 21st century "connected society". Really fast, fun read.(less)
Quite simply the most profound book about business, creativity, and the future of work that I've ever read. Though I've been a fan of Seth Godin's fo...moreQuite simply the most profound book about business, creativity, and the future of work that I've ever read. Though I've been a fan of Seth Godin's for a while, this book makes me realize that everything else he's ever written was preparation for this masterpiece. It's like he's channeling wisdom about how to contribute, connect, and create with compassion and excitement from some other plane. Really, it's that good.
Though the title may make it sound like the book is about how to make yourself indispensable, the truth of Seth's premise is more subtle and intriguing. It's that we each already are indispensable and have to rid ourselves of that which makes us mundane. He goes into both the philosophy of becoming an "artist" (I love that he applies this to creativity AND to work, because really they both must become the same thing) as well as the execution of how to make it happen.
His section on the reptile brain and WHY you resist change, creativity, and being ridiculously outstanding is alone worth the price of the book, it's the clearest description I've ever read of the challenges of standing apart from the herd in order to make the herd better.
This is one of the few books I've read in my life that I want to share with EVERYONE I know, especially people I work and create with. It's quite simply brilliant. (less)
oy. this is a book designed to make lazy people think they are accomplishing big things for the universe by thinking about how much they deserve a dia...moreoy. this is a book designed to make lazy people think they are accomplishing big things for the universe by thinking about how much they deserve a diamond necklace. there is nothing compassionate, inter-dependent minded, real, or useful about this book. If anything, it represents everything wrong with America today and nothing of the real spirit of cooperation, community, or hard work that makes us true contributors. The Secret is this: don't waste your money(less)
Loading...
