kellyxmen's review against another edition
4.0
So rarely do I actually give books 5 stars...
Sadhguru's explanation of spirituality seems to be extremely logical and also practical. The main purpose of his teaching seems to be about achieving ultimate bliss without being easily swayed by the external. Using stories, analogies and reason, Sadhguru explains the nature of our existence in a way which appeals to my thinking process. The ideas that he puts forth are in sync with other spiritual teachings, but he explains them in such a way that I can understand.
Take the concept of "you are pure consciousness" for example, Sadhguru explains that whilst your body is just an accumulation of food, and your thoughts/emotions an accumulation of experiences, what remains when you remove those accumulated components of the human being is pure consciousness. (Ok, so he explains it way better than I do! Ergo, read the book!)
Sadhguru also explains that it is wise not to be so fixated on our thoughts, seeing as our thoughts are just recycled information that we've already received...
(The idea of separating from our thoughts via meditation is something that I have heard of before, but I couldn't understand until now why we should want to separate ourselves from our thoughts!)
There are practical, step-by-step instructions in the book that can be used to experience the philosophical teachings. I feel as though I haven't fully absorbed nor understood every aspect of the book yet and I will perhaps give it a second read at a later point to see if I can benefit further from this book. Some of the concepts seem a bit far-fetched to the logical mind, so I want to apply what I've learned and then try the other concepts later.
Anyway, I definitely recommend this book to anyone who is interested in spirituality and in experiencing joy in their lives, and who tends to have a more logically oriented thinking process.
Sadhguru's explanation of spirituality seems to be extremely logical and also practical. The main purpose of his teaching seems to be about achieving ultimate bliss without being easily swayed by the external. Using stories, analogies and reason, Sadhguru explains the nature of our existence in a way which appeals to my thinking process. The ideas that he puts forth are in sync with other spiritual teachings, but he explains them in such a way that I can understand.
Take the concept of "you are pure consciousness" for example, Sadhguru explains that whilst your body is just an accumulation of food, and your thoughts/emotions an accumulation of experiences, what remains when you remove those accumulated components of the human being is pure consciousness. (Ok, so he explains it way better than I do! Ergo, read the book!)
Sadhguru also explains that it is wise not to be so fixated on our thoughts, seeing as our thoughts are just recycled information that we've already received...
(The idea of separating from our thoughts via meditation is something that I have heard of before, but I couldn't understand until now why we should want to separate ourselves from our thoughts!)
There are practical, step-by-step instructions in the book that can be used to experience the philosophical teachings. I feel as though I haven't fully absorbed nor understood every aspect of the book yet and I will perhaps give it a second read at a later point to see if I can benefit further from this book. Some of the concepts seem a bit far-fetched to the logical mind, so I want to apply what I've learned and then try the other concepts later.
Anyway, I definitely recommend this book to anyone who is interested in spirituality and in experiencing joy in their lives, and who tends to have a more logically oriented thinking process.
skconway1991's review
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
3.75
Really profound way of perceiving and experiencing the world around you. Gives you total agency over your own happiness. The school of thought felt a bit heteronormative and binary, but I think the overall intention is to bring the reader agency over their own experiences.
leeza_robertson_writes's review against another edition
5.0
Wow...this is not light reading. Deep deep stuff here.
ajith_wordshaker's review against another edition
5.0
One of the best spiritual books I have read in my life. The ultimate goal of life is joy, staying happy everytime is a hard task, learning how to live a joyful life by finding happiness within us should be the aim of every human beings in this world. We live in a generation where everything is accessible for us except happiness. Sadhguru says, no need to search here and there for happiness, just search it inward.
“Your joy, your misery, your love, your agony, your bliss, lies in your hands
“Your joy, your misery, your love, your agony, your bliss, lies in your hands
uilyamme's review against another edition
4.0
Part I was great, would give 5 stars. Part II gradually lost me as it got deeper into the more spiritual stuff and terminology. One to reread.
- "When I look back now, I realize that I never thought about what I wanted to become in life. I only thought about how I wanted to live my life. And I knew that the 'how' could only be determined within me and by me."
- "You come into this world with nothing and you go empty-handed. The wealth of life lies only in how you have allowed its experiences to enrich you."
- "The most beautiful moments in your life—what you might consider moments of bliss, joy, ecstasy, or utter peace—were moments when you were not thinking about anything at all. You were just being."
- "The ability to simply look without motive is missing in the world today. Everybody is a psychological creature, wanting to assign meaning to everything."
- "I realized very early that I knew nothing about anything. That meant I ended up paying enormous attention to everything around me."
- "When I look back now, I realize that I never thought about what I wanted to become in life. I only thought about how I wanted to live my life. And I knew that the 'how' could only be determined within me and by me."
- "You come into this world with nothing and you go empty-handed. The wealth of life lies only in how you have allowed its experiences to enrich you."
- "The most beautiful moments in your life—what you might consider moments of bliss, joy, ecstasy, or utter peace—were moments when you were not thinking about anything at all. You were just being."
- "The ability to simply look without motive is missing in the world today. Everybody is a psychological creature, wanting to assign meaning to everything."
- "I realized very early that I knew nothing about anything. That meant I ended up paying enormous attention to everything around me."
abbyvalinski's review
3.0
Really wanted to love this book but only kinda liked it. Some parts were interesting, some parts made me laugh out loud, but a lot of it was very vague. I felt in over my head and had a hard time concentrating for much of it. 3.5 stars.