The Surrender Experiment

[Stranger]

Hello friends,

I have just finished a book that prompted me to post about it - The Surrender Experiment by Michael Singer.  This is the only book I've read by him, and it blew me away.  In a nutshell, this man in his early 20's decided to drop out of his doctoral program to dedicate his life to meditation and yoga in the solitude of the forest.  Instead, he "accidentally" became the CEO of a billion dollar public company, a multiple #1 New York Times bestselling author, and so much more.

This book is not about how to obtain "success" - that was apparently never his goal.  Rather, it documents what happens when one consistently engages in two practices: 1) a mindfulness practice of standing back and watching one's inner dialogue and emotions (the personality), as they arise, rather than treating those as being "self", and 2) essentially ignoring the likes, dislikes, fears, cravings, etc. of that personality -- instead, being open to the synchronicities presented by the Universe - saying "yes" even when the personality wants to say "no", and trusting that the Universe knows what it's doing.  

A truly remarkable book and practice.  A lot of pieces fell into place for me as I read and practiced it.  Just realizing that I am not the mental or emotional chatter within has allowed me to learn to step back from it into a place of unchanging peace, where although I am observing emotions, it is like watching other people.  My heart remains open and I am able to be much more of the person I want to be, to act from the heart.  Surprisingly, when I remain the observer, I also get much more clear guidance without interference.

Has anyone else read it?

[AnthroHeart]

I'm surrendering to the flow of the Universe, because I want to know myself better and to experience infinity.

Also because of this quote:

[Night Owl]

I have not read it but I can confirm that it works. It seems like a description of this buddhist saying: ''be still and know''. Usually when we think we know, we don't actually know, we're just thinking about it. When we observe, we ARE knowing. The knowing isn't inside the individual mind but instead experienced. I'm not consistent on putting all these steps into practice, especially having preferences, but when I do succeed even at just one of them, I can definitely tell it's working.