I Hope You Die Soon: Words on Non-Duality

by Richard Sylvester

This is an uncompromising and provocative book about non-duality. In liberation it is seen that all phenomena simply arise in awareness with no person mediating them. Purpose, religion and paths of spiritual development all lose their meaning when it is seen that there is no one who exercises choice. “The most common misconception about liberation is that it is something an individual can gain. But liberation is a loss—the loss of the sense that there ever was a separate individual who could choose to do something to bring about liberation. When it is seen that there is no separation, the sense of vulnerability and fear that attaches to the individual falls away ... then life is simply lived and relaxation takes place. There is a sense of ease with whatever is the case and an end to grasping for what might be." —From I Hope You Die Soon

Genres: Spirituality, Nonfiction, Philosophy

120 pages, Paperback

First published March 20, 2006

Reviews

[Frank Procopio]

Amazing

Right now this is the best book on non duality I have ever read. I am quite old and I've read a lot of books, this one was excellent.
It's such a hard topic to read about, everything is all one and then using dualistic words to explain it. This book did a good job of it.

[Yaakov Litman]

Wonderfully Empty

One of the clearest explanations of nonduality I've ever read. Really have never seen it explained in such succinct terms. Highly recommend.

[Connor+Lindy]

Non-duality in a nutshell. No fluff. No coddling.

[Vinayagamoorthy Kuppusamy]

So many books talked about the self not being there. There is no person inside. There are no people in this world. All individual entities in the world are seen only by the mind. Somehow, this sank in only when I read this book.

Dispelled the need for techniques. At least not for everyone. Dispelled the need for gurus. At least not for everyone.

Awesome book. Very short. Might be a big milestone for the phantom person inside me.

[Shreeram Bhattarai]

Until a person inside of us doesn't die, we will never feel liberated. We should know that there is no one is doing anything. Everything is spontaneous and happens in its own way.

Awesome book. Well written and I love it. I highly recommend it for those who want to liberate themselves from all of their bondage.

[Sarika Jaswani]

Impersonal!

After striving hard in reading scriptures when you come to this book there is an unshakable relief of resonance. It almost feels like your emotions are being spelt out. The narrative of Richard though impersonal, digs deep and settles in the unknown personal spaces. The book is a bedside keep as a reminder until you don't need reminding.

[Michael D.]

Why did the book have to end?

Tremendous message that focuses on seeing through the illusion that I am a person. The reality is I am (we all are) impartial awareness masquerading as a person. When this happens everything is seen for what it is.

[Tom Allsop]

Great book. Well written, the author tries really hard to explain this most paradoxical of subjects in layman’s terms. Throughout the book there are plenty of ‘pointers’ to the truth. The last part of the book is question answer format. Very much worth a read

[Jordan B]

The “book” half of the book was well-written, but I didn’t really get it until the interviews in the back half, then it clicked. Felt this way most of my life, but could never explain it. Now I understand why. Great book.

[Sam Klemens]

OK, good mixed with the unclear.

[Ozgur Beyazit]

A humorous and well written book on advaita philosophy. Very much suggested.

[Marissa Zechinato]

What a treat

Richard Sylvester’s writing is just a treat. Lots of good laughs and apt descriptions of what apparently happens. I love this book.

[Jenn]

Love liberation…a great non-duality book

[Law]

Just so damned satisfying

Like taking a warm bath that I never want to get out of. I hope you die soon too x

[Gemma]

On liberation and non-duality and the knowing that there is no choice, no person, no separation, that stuff just happens and everything is perfection. For no one and nothing matters.

[Allan]

This is the first book review I have ever written. What pushed me to take, (what for me is such a large step), was this extraordinary gem of a book with the unlikely title of, "I Hope You Die Soon". I'm sure that on first encounter most people would find the title more than a bit unsettling, since it seems to be expressing a thought that few of us would be happy to hear another person greet us with.

Nevertheless, I bought the book, and, perhaps unsurprisingly, found that its contents had even more power to stop me in my usual complacent tracks than the title did. For more than a year now, each time I finished it I would lay it down on the pile beside my favourite reading chair,....then irresistibly, a week or two later, I would find myself drawn back to it. I would pick it up,... and once again I was off. Slipping gratefully back into that strangely compelling dream.

Seeing the world through the lens of Richard's experiences truly stretches all my accepted ideas of what I used to so confidently call 'reality'.

If you have any attraction to, or curiosity about, Non-Duality teachings, I highly recommend that you try for yourself, via his book, this extraordinary transposition into the world Richard Sylvester is describing. For true bibliophiles, this book and its companion edition, (comprising transcripts of talks he has given), in my opinion, are undeniably the clearest 'descriptions of the indescribable' that one is ever likely to find by any contemporary writer in modern English.

[Payman Abravan]

No doubt, the BEST for ever. There is noting to compare in this 13.7 Bilion years from Big Bang. It finished everything.

[Brio Jaxen]

A good way of looking from another point of view