Time and the Soul: Where Has All the Meaningful Time Gone -- and Can We Get It Back?

by Jacob Needleman

In Time and the Soul Jacob Needleman uses stories-of a middle-aged psychiatrist going back in time to encounter his younger self; of a mysterious meeting in the Central Asian desert; of the mystic master Hermes Trimegistus; as well as stories from the Bhagavad-Gita, the Bible, and other wisdom traditions-to illuminate the great mystery of time and to help us resolve our increasingly dysfunctional relationship to it.
Nearly everyone feels stress and anxiety over what's become known as time poverty. "Time management" techniques treat these symptoms by making our busyness more efficient, but not the underlying cause. Needleman shows that we can get more out of time by breaking free of our illusions about it. He helps us experience time more purposefully and meaningfully. He provides parables, reflections, and a unique mental exercise to give us a new understanding of time. By transforming the way we understand and experience time, this powerful book gives us the equanimity and perspective we need to make the most of the time we are given. "A tranquil heart," Needleman writes,"is never defeated by time."

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Spirituality, Psychology

192 pages, Paperback

First published December 29, 1997

About the author

Jacob Needleman is Professor of Philosophy at San Francisco State University, former Visiting Professor at Duxx Graduate School of Business Leadership in Monterrey, Mexico, and former Director of the Center for the study of New Religions at The Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. He was educated in philosophy at Harvard, Yale and the University of Freiburg, Germany. He has also served as Research Associate at the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, as a Research Fellow at Union Theological Seminary, as Adjunct Professor of Medical Ethics at the University of California Medical School and as guest Professor of Religious Studies at the Sorbonne, Paris (1992).

Reviews

[Μαρία · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Αυτό που έχουμε ανάγκη είναι η σύνδεση με την εσωτερική μας φύση: μόνο τότε θα μπορέσουμε να καταλάβουμε πώς πρέπει να λειτουργούμε απέναντι στην εξωτερική φύση.
Μαζί με τα προφανή εγκλήματα που ο πολιτισμός μας διαπράττει ενάντια στο φυσικό κόσμο,καλό θα ήταν να θυμηθούμε ότι τα μεγαλύτερα εγκλήματα είναι εκείνα που διαπράττουμε ενάντια στην εσωτερική μας φύση.Από αυτά τα εσωτερικά εγκλήματα πηγάζει όλο το εξωτερικό κακό που απλώνεται στον κόσμο.
...Ο κόσμος μέσα στον οποίο ζούμε δε γνωρίζει τίποτα για τη ζωή μέσα στη ζωή.Όπως ζούμε,είμαστε πεπεισμένοι ότι έχουμε μόνο μια ζωή,εδώ και τώρα.Όμως δεν είναι έτσι.Για να είσαι εδώ και τώρα,για να ζεις ολοκληρωτικά την παρούσα στιγμή,πρέπει να έχεις δύο ζωές συγχρόνως: μια εσωτερική ζωή και μια εξωτερική.
...Η απάντηση στο πρόβλημα και τη θλίψη του χρόνου,είναι μόνο μία: η εμπειρία του νοήματος.Και η εμπειρία αυτή εμφανίζεται μόνο όταν ο Εαυτός αγγίζει τον εαυτό,όταν η ψυχή αγγίζει το εγώ.Όταν οι δύο κόσμοι συναντιούνται.Αυτό που χρειάζεται,είναι η επαφή ανάμεσα στον εαυτό που μιλάει και στον εαυτό που είναι.
...Το σώμα γερνάει,η προσοχή όχι."

[Betsy]

Cited in The Knitting Way

[Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Needleman does use a different approach than most readers will be used to in addressing the issue of time and how it seems to slip faster and faster away from each of us. It's not an easy, light read for the casual reader and life observer. As the intro by John Cleese explains, this is not another typical self-help book and there are no easy tips and tricks to manage time in the book. A spiritual or philosophical interest and pursuit beforehand is helpful to more easily grasp where he's leading on the subject of time and soul. He does go deep as he suggests another way to view time and I appreciated how he wove in some of the world's ancient wisdom and texts to the subject. I think his view is actually pretty fascinating and not altogether improbable. Time will tell if the material impacts my life in an applicable way but I'm certainly glad I read the book slowly and with thought. To me, an open-mind and some pondering is always good. I do believe we have lost much of our meaningful time in society today. Can we get it back? I think he's saying at the heart that it's at least about changing our inner relationship to time (just like successful weight loss is often about changing our relationship to food). As he quotes Aristotle having said, "The wise man is never in a hurry."

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved Needleman's "Money and the Meaning of Life" years ago ... pleased to re-connect with him around deeper conversations about time, life and meaning. This is NOT a book about tips, tools and techniques for managing time ... those practical self-help guides that my Super-Organized Self first chose to move away from "busy". Maybe its age, maybe observing the foolishness of "controlling/managing" time, maybe just a growing desire to wrestle with bigger questions, but Needleman's thoughts really resonated. Time and the Soul's philosophical view of perennial wisdom has earned a place on my limited "keeper" bookshelf.

"This is the real significance of our problem with time. It is a crisis of meaning. What has disappeared is meaningful time. It is not technology or the accelerating influence of money; it is not global capitalism that is responsible for the time famine. The root of our modern problem with time is neither technological, sociological, economic nor psychological. It is metaphysical. It is a question of the meaning of human life itself." (p.20)

[Emily Davis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. After Needleman's amazing Money and the Meaning of Life I had high expectations for this book but none of those were fulfilled, I'm sorry to say. Maybe if I had no expectations I would have been blown away - but I somehow doubt it. This has a few juicy tidbits - but for the most part, Needleman manages to say a whole lot of nothing about something that is a whole lot of something. He tells us about this novel he wants to write and how it will explain everything we need to know about finding meaning and curing "time sickness" but really, I think I'd have rather just read the novel in the end. Or a book that actually has something to say about time. This book wants to be a spirituality lesson instead. But not a terribly comprehensible one to me, I have to confess. It doesn't manage to say much about either time or the soul. But read his other book! He has a LOT to say about Money and the Meaning of Life.

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

The subtitle of this book is "Where has all the meaningful time gone?...and how to get it back." I think the author address the first question, but I felt like I was left hanging on the second. I reached the end of the book and still didn't know how to get my time back.

I appreciated some of the insights the book provided, but I felt that some of it was over my head. Maybe I just haven't read enough philosophy yet. I heard Jacob Needleman on NPR and he sounded very down-to-earth and so I sought out some of his books from the library. This was not the down-to-earth read that I had expected. I will try one of his other books.

[Gina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the book that "started it all" for me in terms of interest in all things spiritual, metaphysical and quantum (before I even knew what quantum meant.) I consider this to be my primer. It might not be that to everyon; perhaps I was ready and this book was exactly what I needed to start me on my path.

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

If I ever reread this book, I may change my rating. My recollection of it was that it was very heady and hard to get through. The idea of the book sounded very appealing to me, but apparently fell short. The book left no permanent mark on me.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

A powerful and worthwhile read that I will continue to go back to. It will challenge and encourage you about the way you relate to time and are either present for the living of your own life or miss out on your life due to your busyness and worry. A must read for sure!

[Naomi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Needleman presents teaching stories and reflections on the meaning of life and what he characterizes as two types of time. Written to be read and mused over, for those groups interested in exploring more about time this is worth reading together.

[Michael Mahoney]

deep read but good

[Tamara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow.

[Kathryn Mattern · Rating 4 out of 5]

Needleman doesn't disappoint. This book is very much worth reading for the subtleties of his understanding of the nature of time, consciousness and personal awareness.