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The Surrender Experiment (Lead Title): My Journey into Life's Perfection

The Surrender Experiment (Lead Title): My Journey into Life's Perfection

byMichael A. Singer
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Top positive review

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Tabitha
5.0 out of 5 starsRead it!!! Its enlightening, captivating and a life altering book!!!
Reviewed in India 🇮🇳 on 2 December 2020
There is so much evidence that life does quite well on its own.
The planets stay in orbit, tiny seeds grow into giant trees, weather patterns have kept forests across the globe watered for millions of years, we are not doing any of these things as conscious acts of will; they are being done by the perfection of life itself.

All these amazing events, and countless more, are being carried out by forces of life that have been around for billions of years. This was so evident, especially during these Pandemic times, when the Nature has put the whole world on stand still.

So, can we trust our life to this same natural flow of events and let yourself be carried by life? These are some of the questions that this book compels us to ponder. Michael is of the opinion that nature knows best, and it functions well without much of interference from us. He wanted to apply the same logic and hence started his biggest Experiment of life, The Principle of Surrender.

Surrender - the word itself has negative connotation to many and it literally strikes terror in people’s heart when they hear this word. People translate it to mean as ‘loosing/giving up control of their lives’. And that is a terrifying feeling for many, as we are taught at an early age to be prepared for life - make your weekly goals, monthly goals and yearly goals. Can you imagine what it will do to Self Help Industry claiming to change your life in a day’s workshop, seminars and books based on 5/10 steps to change your life?? Yes...it would put an end to that thriving billion-dollar Self-help industry for sure.
So, should we then give up on life and ‘just settle’ for whatever life throws at us?? Hell no!!!

What if is there is another way? A way that feels right in your mind and soul. It is to the exploration of this intriguing question that this book is devoted.

Michael A Singer called this, The Surrender Experiment. This experiment would not be about dropping out of life; it would be about leaping into life to live in a place where we are no longer controlled by our personal fears and desires.

At the core of this book is the Principle of Surrender and what happens if you don’t let your preferences get in the way and Surrender to Life...What would that life like look like?

Ever since he awakened at 22, witnessed his thoughts and being the awareness behind this constant chatter, he wanted to rid himself of this incessant chatter that goes in our mind and took to meditation in Florida.

When he started this inward quest to rid himself of this negative voice, life changed dramatically for him. They say, “When the student is ready, the master appears” and he came across two books that played the role of a spiritual guru in his life. First book was, Three Pillars of Zen, by Philip Kapleau and second book that altered his life was, Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahamsa Yogananda (eternal fav of every spiritual seeker during that era n even now).

These books satiated his thirst for learning in depth about meditation and all the real questions he had for quieting that incessant chattering voice and freeing himself from the hold of the mind.

One day, he went camping with his wife along with a few of his friends to Ocala National Forest for the weekend. But this trip wouldn’t turn out to be just another trip – this trip was destined to have a profound impact on Michael’s life. When he saw that place, he was overwhelmed by the beauty of that place and picked up a nice spot and just like Buddha, decided to meditate and not get up until he has reached enlightenment. He was just 22, when he had this life transforming experience.

He began sitting in a lotus position, concentrating on his breath and chanting on the sound of Mu.(Something he learnt from a book)

“I lost myself in the warm flowing force that tied my
exhalations to the warmth in my abdomen. The force
became much stronger as I concentrated more deeply.
Eventually, all consciousness of my body and my
surroundings was gone. I was only aware of the
effortless flow of warm energy that was building and
expanding at the core of my belly. I was not there;
only the flow was there”

After this intoxicating experience, Michael was left with stillness, awareness and at peace with himself and most importantly - there was no voice. He truly experienced the sound of silence in that moment. He was in this state for weeks and a moat of thick peace allowed nothing to reach the citadel of his elevated state.

Although he returned home after the trip, he couldn’t relate to the life he was coming back to. Remember, he was in a doctoral program, on full fellowship. Yet his heart was yearning to go back beyond and experience that stillness and elevated state he felt during that camping trip.

He wasn’t able to stay detached for long as his outer existence did catch up with him. After 2-3 weeks, the unassailable inner peace began to develop cracks and leak back into his sanctuary of silence, that he held so dearly.

Just when he was experiencing this internal struggles, his outer life mirrored the same changes. One day, Shelly (his wife) told him that it was time to move on. Although married for a year, the foundation of his personal life was built around this relationship. He was shattered to say the least. In one swell swoop, his “normal” way of being was gone. From Absolute peace he was pushed to absolute turmoil. From a married man with a definite career path, he started to envision himself as a meditator who was seeking deeper truth.

During this stage, his life was pretty simple - doing meditation, some yoga, and periodically going to class. He kept throwing himself into meditation more and more. It was not just a way of escaping the pain; meditation gave meaning to his life.

He was so intrigued by meditation, that he finally decided to drop out of his Doctorate studies and concentrated on meditation daily.

As he studied both his master’s degree and doctorate work under full scholarship, he had saved 15,000$ left by his father for his education. After his divorce, he was looking for a place to buy so he can concentrate on his meditation. A series of events led him to purchased a piece of land (a lot of 10 acres) in April Gift Estates with that same amount. He literally retreated into the woods, away from civilisation so he can start his inward quest by leading a monastic life.

He, along with his close friends built a small cottage on this land, so he can meditate. He also constructed a small Temple, by keeping all the deities, so people can come and meditate. Word spread around and people started coming to The Temple of the Universe to meditate and its still running to this date.

After seeing his well constructed humble cottage, made entirely of wood, he started getting more offers from his neighbourhood to build a similar house and that’s how he started his first business venture, Built from Heart. Michael had only 1 principle, say Yes to whatever life has thrown open to him and take up that task with reverence and give his all. As this venture started to thrive, his life changed for the better. Even though he didn't have any experience about construction, he started learning on the job and kept saying YES to life.

When you find your calling...you heart and soul just know it. There is this magnetic pull towards that activity/ product. You feel lit up inside and there is this child like curiosity to learn as much as you can about your calling, you become like a kid in a candy store. You also loose sense of time and that activity fills your soul in a beautiful way. It is this all consuming passion, that Michael felt when he first saw a Personal Computer in a store, nearby his home in 1970’s.

And it was love at first sight for him. He got one of those PCs and taught himself coding. And then he stared coding for small companies. During this time, he sold off his first venture to a friend and got into coding full time. Life didn’t stop there for Michael as better was in store for him.

"I simply sat at the computer and wrote down the
spontaneous stream of inspired thoughts in the
form of code. I wrote and wrote this in a fervor
and passion that was almost frightening.
Everything i did, i did to the absolute best of
my ability. I was probably writing the best program
i could as my gift to the universe. The flow of inspiration
was such that i was not allowed to cut a single corner."

Word spread around quickly and he started writing personalised coding for Fortune 500 companies too. From a one-man army, he now had a total of 1500 employees working for him. Whenever he needed a new employee, somehow the right kind of a person either came in contact with him or he was led towards them through his friends and colleagues...Serendipity is the word here.

Although Michael and his team had no formal training or experience in medical software design, they went on to create one of the best written programs.

"If you asked me how, i would tell you that my
experience with meditation had shown me that
there were 2 very distinct aspects of what we
call mind. There was the logical, thought-driven mind
that comes up with logical solutions. Then there was
the intuitive, inspiration-driven mind that can look
at a problem and instantly see a creative solution.
As it turned out, the years of spiritual work i had
done to quiet that voice in my head that opened
the door for almost constant inspiration. It seemed
the quieter the mind, the more that solutions
became self-evident."

Apart from writing coding, he was also actively hosting Spiritual Retreats at his temple regularly and was religious with his daily meditations as well.

Michael created the Medical Manager, one of the first programs that helped medical practitioners to digitise their medical records. I guess Medical Manager was bound to become a massive success.

The fact that one of the most-respected New Age Spiritual teachers in the world, Ram Dass carried this software in Michael’s car, before this software was to be presented at Computer Dealers Exhibition in 1982, LA...kind of gave early signs of its success...like it was destined for greatness right from the start. In all honesty Ram Dass even asked Michael, “Is it any good?”

And far from being good...this software took the Tech world by storm. It was acquired by WebMD, a billion-dollar public company which focused on medical data management. Medical Manager is a recognised achievement archived in Smithsonian Institution, NYC.

When he started resisting less to life and surrendering more to life, things had a way of working out, whether it was getting near by patches of land or the right employee...things just worked out seamlessly.

Just when it looked like it can’t get any better than this, life had a wicked way of throwing a curve ball. That’s precisely what happened when FBI landed in their office premises on Sep 3, 2003 with a search warrant owing to some discrepancies in accounting, which is punishable act.

So, when this whole FBI Trial was going on...nearly 1.2 million e-mail messages, 1,500 boxes of files containing more than 3 million pages of documents, and 830,000 computer files were confiscated by FBI .... anyone can loose their mind. But not Michael. 40 years of practicing yoga, had instilled Michael to be in alignment with his mind, body and soul.

It’s very easy to be at peace when you are tucked away in a monastery, practising solitude. The real test is when you are in the midst of an intensely dark period and still retain that oasis of calmness, being centered and not let anything deter you from that peaceful center.

After 7 years of countless investigations and court room dramas, Michael and his team were allowed to walk free by dropping all the charges. Turns out, it was one of his employees, Bobby Davids who tied up with some dealers and presented discrepancies in accounting and falsely made accusations against Michael and Team. And just like that, Michael was free of all charges.

Even during this Trial period, Michael chose this time to become more centered and reconnect with the Divine Source even though his inner voice was wreaking havoc in his mind, he didn’t allow himself to surrender to that negative chatter. The fact that he wrote his 2 NYT Best Sellers, ‘The Untethered Soul’ and ‘The Surrender Experiment’ during this dark phase, speaks volumes about his spiritual strength.

There are times in our lives when a book, an article or a film comes at the right time. Call it a Divine intervention but that was how it was for me and this book.

At a time, when the whole World was under the grip of COVID 19 and so much of doom and gloom was being predicted by media...this book was a nice solace for me.

I came across Michael, some years back on Oprah’s Show. Somewhere at the back of my mind ...this book kept coming back to me ...I took this as a sign from the Universe and got this amazing book and I’m so glad I read this book.

Just like the beautiful cover page that is soothing to the eyes, this book was soothing to my soul as it has re kindled the stillness within me. A wave of contentment and peace washed over my soul while I was reading this book. This book will have a permanent place on my night stand along with my other soulful books.

From living a life of a hermit, surviving on a mere 250$ as guest lecturer to becoming VP of WebMD (renamed after acquisition). Throughout this amazing journey, Michael didn’t let go off his meditation, which he practices daily (to this day!) and held on to that oasis of stillness.

From leading a life in solitude, to leading a life with purpose and service, this is an extra ordinary journey of Michael, who surrendered to the flow of life events. And when you start living life in a new way, in alignment with your spirit and by listening to higher intelligence that’s always guiding you, you can unleash MAGIC in your life.

"Once you are ready to let go of yourself, life
becomes your friend, your teacher, your
secret lover. When life’s way becomes your
way, all the noise stops, and there is great peace" - Michael

Read this life altering book, so you can start surrendering to the flow of life events and participate in life’s dance with a quiet mind and an open heart.

Read it!!! Its enlightening, captivating and a life altering book!!!
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Top critical review

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pankaj geetey
3.0 out of 5 starsA self discovery
Reviewed in India 🇮🇳 on 19 August 2022
The book becomes monotonous with the recurring miracles happening just in time, each time. The entire story tries to convince the reader that the surrender works wonders. But the whys and hows of the way things work out themselves seem to be missing. I am sure that a lot of us face miracles or coincidences but we cant exolain why exactly things worked out the way they did. Author had the opportunity to inveatigate the same. Notwithstanding, a brilliant and honest account of life events by the author.
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From India

rd
2.0 out of 5 stars This is more of an autobiography. The book describes ...
Reviewed in India 🇮🇳 on 21 July 2016
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This is more of an autobiography. The book describes his journey, but if you're looking for details on his philosophy, you wont find it.
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T. Adams
2.0 out of 5 stars Dismal follow-up to a great book. Overall insincere and self-serving.
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 22 August 2015
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Let me first start out by saying that I absolutely loved Singer's first book,  The Untethered Soul . I enjoyed the straight-forward and approachable language and subject matter, which lead to me to buy his second book, The Surrender Experiment.

If it's not completely clear, this book is much more of an autobiography of Singer's life. The meditation/zen/inner voice & dialogue stuff that was explored in-depth in the previous work is only mentioned incidentally in this book and in the context of how it affects Singer's life at those times. If you're expecting any more guidance or exploration of that subject matter, skip this book.

Second, I didn't really hate this book until I got to about the last 1/4th of it. For most of the book Singer tells his personal story about how he went from being "oblivious" as a college student to suddenly having a realization about his inner voice that leads him to trying a lifetime "experiment" of just going with the flow of life and ignoring his inner dialogue and it's inherent negativity and nagging. Good so far.

Half a book later, Singer has told you the story of much of his life (maybe) and how all these magical things just happened and worked out. Except the whole thing starts to get repetitive. Person X comes into his life and everything changes for the better and he didn't know he'd have a lifelong friendship. Thing Y happens even though his inner voice told him not to and it works out brilliantly. Copy and paste the previous 2 sentences and you've got the bulk of the book, as it happens over the years.

However, several things happen near the end, when Singer has found a huge amount of success that make me start to doubt Singer's sincerity and methods. First, aside from some casual mentions of his divorce from his first wife, there seems to be almost nothing negative in the narrative of his life. Everything is positive! Everything just works out! Second, several major events later when Singer has found financial and spiritual success with the building of his center totally threw me and made me doubt his motives and sincerity about just letting the universe and life happen.

At one point, after many land deals just magically fall into place allowing Singer to secure larger and larger land for his spiritual center, one neighbor decides to clear cut trees. At this point Singer becomes worried about his pristine "Elysian fields" from his youth (which he doesn't actually own) and he calls his neighbor up and asks him to tell him what price it would take to just lease the trees to look at. What happened to the surrending, Mickey? Guess the experiment is fine until those trees might kill your view. Then, another incident happens near his land which would have turned some of it into a landfill and make garbage trucks drive by everyday. Of course, in "surrendering" to the universe, Mickey and his wealthy spiritual enclave decide to respond by sending letters to every resident of his town threatening that if the Zen Buddhists might have to live next to a landfill, THEY MIGHT TOO! I don't really get how Singer justifies his laissez faire attitude of "surrender" to the universe with scaring the crap out of his neighbors to fill a city council meeting until they vote down the landfill that would have primarily affected him really works into his philosophy.

The cherry on the cake comes at the end of the book. One of Singer's former employees has embezzled money and manages to sell the Justice Department on the idea all the executives in Singer's computer software operations are in on the deal. Singer encounters a lot of negativity in the press and elsewhere and years and literally $180 million is spent defending the company. Singer continues during this section to talk glowingly about all the people around him. The problem is, when you realize that Singer has come under this scrutiny, you realize this book is really nothing more than a man pushing 70 realizing his legacy and attempting to shape it. Other issues, like Singer's natural ability for things like economics and computer coding being attributed to his spiritual beliefs of openness to the universe just don't jive with me either.

The saddest thing is that Singer's legacy would have been better shaped by not even writing this book. Instead of a riveting biography of a man who has seen and experienced much, it reads more like a man who is trying to fit the events of his life to a pre-determined narrative already constructed by his previous work, and completely omitting the rest. And because Singer can't be more honest and cherry-picks only the positive, the work as a whole comes across as insincere and self-serving, (and a little suspect to me, since I'm sure once his first work achieved success, his publisher certainly expected a follow-up.)

I'm sure the Mickey Singer story is a great one. Someday I'd like to hear it. But instead all we get is pre-distilled tome of drivel in which Singer can only share any events of his life through the lenses of his pigeon-holed spiritual teaching and need to heap gratitude on others and make sure people don't realize he's like the person they might have heard about once on the news. Overall, I just felt let down and turned off by the whole thing.
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Twanda of the Jungle
2.0 out of 5 stars Meh.....first half is good....
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 22 May 2022
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The first part of this book was very intriguing. I enjoyed hearing about the author's time as a hippie and how the temple unfolded. It really did seem like the universe was bringing things to him without much intention on his part. One thing to remember is that the author is extremely intelligent and had a great education. Not a little factor in his success.

The last part, however, seemed to be just a defense against the federal case against him. Poor Michael, one of his employees was committing grievous acts of fraud and he didn't even know it. He takes not one iota of responsibility for the actions taken under his command. His attitude is shock that someone would do that to him. Hey, Michael, ever heard of an AUDIT? Most company leaders have, but I guess the universe didn't see fit to expose you to that.

Then there's his attitude towards the poor lawyer who contracts dangerous cancer while defending him against the DOJ. His view is only about whom the universe will send him to replace the poor guy. No real compassion is shown for this man.

Or the two co-defendants in this lengthy and costly trial. No compassion for the millions they must have spent to defend themselves. No concern for how this trial upended their lives and the lives of their families. Michael has millions, do they? What about their reputations?

I'm sorry. After reading this book, I see Michael Singer as just another falling spiritual guru, completely corrupted by money. He should have stayed without possessions. Just because it's in the temple's name, doesn't keep him from the evil directing mass amounts of money can bring.

He may well have a good response to my concerns, but he didn't bother to put it in his book. It must not be very important to him.

Read this book with your critical mind in full gear.
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Djembedrummer
2.0 out of 5 stars Missed his opportunity for a true teaching moment.
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 24 August 2015
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First, like many others here, I really appreciated the wisdom of The Untethered Soul. I haven't found any better source that expresses what spiritual knowingness is about for there it is, in very plain language.

Second, not knowing anything about Michael Singer's life, I was amazed at his life story. It is fascinating, as Singer expresses in his book, how life moves "this way" then "that way" with no idea why it's going that way. It just happens. The book can also be read on different levels, for business types as well. There were gaps in the story which left me baffled, most prominently, what of his relationship to his wife and child? Mentioned in but a few sentences then disappeared.

After I read the last chapter of the book, though, I was disappointed and it took me a couple of days to ruminate over what it was that bothered me. Then it came: his book, and his life story, missed an opportunity to teach and to explore what "surrender" is in its full context. The general context of his surrender stories in his autobiography involve coming up against something which he personally dislikes, but he, in his own way, surrenders to the dislike, and something "positive" opens up on the other side, which naturally enlightens his soul and enriches his life. What concerns me is that the reader could interpret this scenario as the only means and particularly, the correct outcome, of surrender. It is a sort of prosperity gospel that if one surrenders to one's life, good things will happen to you. The teaching moment I feel that is missing in this book is that, "This is how surrender expressed itself in my life, but it may not happen to you the same way." An addendum to that message would be, "Yes, I went from being a hippie living on only $5000/yr. and I became a CEO of a corporation and a millionaire, but guess what, it's nothing special, it's just how life showed up. It's no better, or more important, or more valuable than anyone else's life story. Surrender happens in many ways and in many forms."

Surrender does come in many forms. Sometimes it comes with years of great pain, sorrow, and heartache. Sometimes even death. In fact Christianity centers around an individual who is an extreme example of this. For Jesus, surrender came in the form of ridicule, hatred, and his eventual horrific death in his early 30's.

Furthermore, what does surrender look like to someone who is in an abusive relationship or a parent whose innocent child is killed in a drive-by shooting. Surrender in these situations is much more than simply allowing a dislike.

Or even, can someone be so very ordinary with no outstanding achievements, wealth, or spiritual accolades of any sort be spiritually enlightened having surrendered to his/her life?

So, to me, I think the book can lead others to misunderstand surrender and to interpret Michael's story as the story that "should" happen in their own life. I would given a much higher grade if, after his own story, he would have included a chapter or so discussing what surrender means. Without that chapter, the book diminishes down to a life story of one man.

The Untethered Soul starts with, "To thy own self be true." That is the only place surrender makes sense.
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DRG
2.0 out of 5 stars Overrated
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 13 January 2023
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Interesting to start but it wanes starting in the middle. Basically, the message was to surrender and watch life get better or even magical. I believe in that message but the book wasn’t engaging enough communicating it.
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Robert A Krecak
2.0 out of 5 stars Too many questions, not enough answers
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 2 March 2021
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***Spoiler Alert***

I think that Singer is a good person, works hard, and is clearly talented. While there are a few reasons that I'm glad I read this book, I came away with more questions than answers.

What was Singer running from in his childhood that he felt compelled to live in the woods and basically dedicate his life to meditation and yoga for years? Why doesn't he mention his wife and daughter far more in a book about his life? Why didn't he live with his wife? Why didn't he have much contact with his father, a successful businessman? Why wasn't his mother mentioned hardly at all? Why didn't he surrender to the forest being taken down by his Temple, and instead fought that effort? Why didn't he surrender to his situation and continue to work for the company he created after he successfully avoided the company lawsuit? Why did he work in a massive American corporation when he was so guided and devoted to yoga and meditation? Why don't we learn more about his childhood in the book?

The book has way too many contradictions and holes for it all to make sense to me. After reading it, I had a similar feeling to the one you get when you meet someone and they seem normal, but something seems a bit off about them, and you're not sure what it is.

My key take aways from the book were that it's OK to go with the flow because many positive things can happen from doing that. I also realized how it would be a total nightmare to be involved in a corporate lawsuit. While these are valuable insights, I wish I could have learned them in another way instead of reading this book.
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Andrew
2.0 out of 5 stars A boomer's take on success - irrelevant in the 21st century
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 21 February 2019
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This is just a tale of a boomer's life. Almost every boomer has the same tale. "I just sat there, job came, house came, got promoted, started my own thing, made more money. I didn't even try".

He fails to see that he belongs to the generation that took everything and gave nothing back. All boomers did well without trying, it was all handed to them on a plate! With every page this smug, self satisfied boomer boasts about his life. It's sickening. Now he's a typical semi retired boomer and he wants to enthral you with how great his life is.

Look, I know boomers who did precisely nothing yet ended up with huge houses, nice cars, yachts etc. It was a different time back then. You didn't need a college education, there were opportunities for easy cash around every corner. You could sell paperclips and end up pretty well off. We are now living in a different world. Western countries are on a slide backwards, you're doing well if you land a job at Starbucks for slightly over minimum wage, your college degree gets you nothing, the likelihood of a real opportunity coming your way are a billion to one.

If you heard the advice of this boomer and "just go with it man"! You'll end up homeless and your teeth kicked down the back of your throat, or stabbed etc.
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Adult Reader
2.0 out of 5 stars Interesting story, questionable spirituality
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 8 August 2015
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I love Michael Singer's work. His "The Untethered Soul" is one of my all-time favorite books by a westerner interpreting Eastern spirituality. His audio commentaries on The Untethered Soul are excellent, and Singer is an effective teacher of psycho-spiritual truths.

I was curious about his background and delighted to see an autobiographical work released. Singer has had a rich and fascinating life, and the book is certainly worth reading to hear his story. However, I was disappointed with the spiritual aspects of the book. I was expecting the thunderclaps of insight similar to what I heard in The Untethered Soul - but they never came. Quite the opposite.

The book is uncomfortably materialistic. "The Surrender Experiment" refers to a life-long "experiment" he started as a young man to surrender all decisions about his life to the deep spiritual intelligence of the universe. While Singer certainly did have an enlightened relationship with money and success (at least early on), he came to believe - as many wealthy religious leaders do - that his astonishing material success (billions of dollars, acquisition of desired land around his temple, etc.) was validation and proof of his spirituality. He never questions the premise that success means getting what you want (money, properties, etc.). He just tries to demonstrate that you don't have to strive for such success. You can "surrender" to the universe and it will do the heavy lifting for you; and the more successful you are, the more it shows how aligned you are with the universal spirit.

I'm giving it two stars. If you don't care about the spiritual part then it's four stars as it was quite interesting. Singer reads the Audio version himself and he's a great narrator so I'd recommend that if you get it.
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BU
2.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful book for spiritual quest people
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 10 June 2022
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The print is too smsll to read, but started eading ebook, by surrenderig our mind how Universe cooperates and gives us what we need in our life
How Michael Singer got all important things in his life by surrendering his chattering mind to higher Self. Amazing book, I would revommend every spiritual adpirant to read
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Dawn Leader
2.0 out of 5 stars Here, let me save you from having to read this meh at best book.
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 3 November 2017
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Meh. I've seen Michael Singer on Oprah and read some things on the internet, so I was hoping that this book would offer some kind of glorious spiritual transformation. Instead, it was kind of boring and hard to read. I was expecting a guide to surrendering to the universe and getting great results. Instead, it was a story of how a guy dropped out of college, but still managed to become a college professor then spiritual guru and have millions of dollars of property basically handed to him while he just sat around meditating and being passive. Spoiler alert - at some point, he does start a business that made a lot of money, but he was so busy being passive that people embezzled and blamed him when the IRS showed up. The universe has his back, so he only has to worry a little bit. And in the end he's still a wealthy guru living in a meditation mansion. That's pretty much it. There...I've saved you from having to read it. Despite my disappointment, I'm going to read his The Untethered Soul next. I'll write a review and let you know how that goes.
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