Compelling, inspiring

I read and reread The Untethered Soul and was left wondering who Michael Singer was. What life experiences led to the wisdom expressed in that earlier work? Well, The Surrender Experiment answers the question with an amazing story. I rarely read a book more than once but I will likely read BOTH of these again. They contain truth and wisdom, eloquently and accessibly expressed. I am fortunate to have discovered them.

37 people found this helpful

Amazing

When it comes to spiritual literature, I like stories the best. For example, by sheer statistics, since ive listened to Way of the Peaceful Warrioer probably 50 times by now, it must be my favorite. Others include Dying to be Me and Proof of Heaven.

Ayway, this book is a praticularly fascinating story. What I love about it is that Mr. Singer isn't sick, or dealing with any great adversity. He simply notices the little voice incessantly commenting on every little thing in his life. And so he decides to not let his life be controlled by it.

This means that he will follow impulses, say yes to assignments, jobs and projects he
1) doesn't want to do
2) doesn't feel qualified to do
3) feels would be risky or foolish, including physically dangerous

The journey this sets off was stunning to me. Incredible moving. It leads to fulfilling careers, a family, and a fantastic spiritual life.

As I've thought more about the story, what stands out is the benevolence of the "universe's" assignments. When I speak about "relaxing" and "not judging" to my friends, they'll sometimes say things like "well, if I were to answer every call and silly idea presented to me, I'd have nothing else to do shortly". But as Mickey's story shows, when you really trust your life to go the way it's "supposed" to go, i.e. let life guide you, rather than trying to control your life....when you do that, you're presented with wonderful, amazing, and delicious and thrilling experiences.

My own life is the best proof I can give of this approach's worth: I found my best job while minding my own business, driving a cab. I met my current wife and mother of my three children, while minding my own business at a lunch buffet at a conference.

I am done running my life. I am convinced Life does a much better job and so I leave it to Her.

This book is a great way to remember why.

Namaste.

32 people found this helpful

Riveting! Superb!

If you could sum up The Surrender Experiment in three words, what would they be?

Riveting, transparent, intriguing, mind-blowing stories!

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Surrender Experiment?

This made VERY aware of just how many thoughts of RESISTANCE crossed my mind. Michael's other book, Untethered Soul, made me aware of the constant chatter, but Surrender Experiment made me acutely aware of thoughts of RESISTANCE which was truly transformative. Through the stories of his own thoughts of resistance I became aware of my own... painfully aware of my own (in a good way).

What does Michael A. Singer bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I actually had the paperback WHILE I was listening to the audio and loved that duo. Having the author himself read the book made it even more credible as he WAS the person in the book. His voice added even more enjoyment to the reading of the book.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

MANY!! Many times, Michael surrendered to a life situation that seemed utterly ridiculous to surrender to and the voice in my head said "You have GOT to be kidding me!!! Why would you just give in to that?!" Someone builds a house on YOUR land without asking you.... an irate customer demands you pull your workmen off one job and come do hers immediately. Just say yes to both??!! Huh??!! Are you kidding me right now??!!

Then the rest of the story unfolds and life not only fully supports him but over delivers leaving me shaking my head with a smile realizing the gem this book really is. I know it sounds ridiculous but ya gotta read the book to really get this folks... ya just gotta read the book. I can't even explain it here. Truly....

By chapter 34 my resistance to this level of surrender was overtaken by fascination with what may actually be possible that I have not yet tapped into. (yes it took me THIRTY-FOUR chapters to start feeling full acceptance to what he was saying). :) Suddenly I'm realizing that my own mental/internal resistance to change (and to what life put in front of me) probably had me turn down more opportunities in my life than I could ever count because the voice in my head resisted it in some way. My personal preferences won most of the time disallowing the natural flow of life. Oh man, I see this SO clearly now! Unreal.

Any additional comments?

First I should say I'm a lover of Michael's first book "The Untethered Soul" which radically transformed my life, so I pre-ordered this one and anxiously awaited. Before I got the book, I wasn't sure if I'd totally buy into the premise of "complete surrender" because I'm more in the arena of "you create your own reality" not to mention believing in parallel universes etc. etc.Michael's book is a totally different angle - life just happens, don't try to figure out why and how it's happening, you're not doing any of it, just follow life, and it'll be just fine.

So with great intrigue I was looking forward to reading it. Even though I knew his perspective on life was different than mine, I do believe in surrender - meaning it's fine to envision something but then completely let go and allow the Universe to do its thing. So even if I used Michael's viewpoint in that way, I was open to hearing what he had to share on the topic of surrendering.

I tend to take what resonates and discard what does not when it comes to *any* spiritual teacher. Love Michael Singer's work a whole lot, yet I believe we're each here to have our own unique life experiences on this earthly ride. I go within to see what life experiences my inner being wants to usher me into next. For me, unlike Michael who believes life just happens and we are NOT creating it, I'm a believer that we DO create our own reality. (much like the book Three Simple Steps by Trevor Blake and Parallel Realities of Self by Frederick Dodson).

So my own experiment will be a merger of expressing my desires to the Universe AND surrendering a whole lot more to whatever shows up. Different than Michael... and we'll see where that little experiment takes me. Hey, life is a playground and I'm gonna play it any way I like darnit! :)

126 people found this helpful

The Highest Path Of Freedom

Michael Singer recounts vividly his path through life living it as it arrives. Acceptance and surrender trump personal plans and preferences. The author demonstrates, through his own journey that peace and happiness are achieved when we cooperate rather than compete with what it presents us.

Having read 'The Untethered Soul' and put its sacred truths into practice during the most challenging period of my life, I can say without hesitation that Mr Singer's life of surrender is truly liberating, the essence of real freedom and the secret to unsurpassed peace.

63 people found this helpful

stick to untethered soul

I got this because I liked untethered soul so much, mostly because it reads very much like eckhart tolle's power of now. This book is about an hour or two of what you'd expect from reading untethered soul, and then it just goes into hours and hours of what feels like the authors attempt to clear his name of any suspicion regarding the incredibly boring account of the lawsuit he faced. There are about 5 straight hours of anecdotes that could have been reduced to "I did X and everything worked out better than I could have imagined." Cool story, but it could easily have been condensed to 2-3 hours tops.

57 people found this helpful

A REAL Forest Gump on steroids inspiration for me

I'd read (and enjoyed) the author's book "The Untethered Soul". Loved it and was surprised so many people around me not interested in "this sort of thing". Drawn inexplicably towards spiritual reads (and having a completely opened mind) after a diagnosis of breast cancer I admittedly ate up a lot of books on cancer & the spiritual journey began with "Anatomy of the Spirit" by Caroline Myss.
One thing lead me to another...a few months & over 55 books later I was becoming a different person entirely. I share this review with you because it made my heart lift, encouraged me & reminded me that as long as I let go & truly trust in the wisdom of the life that made me I'd be fine. This struggle to get calm enough, centered enough is difficult after so many years of believing the "chatter" that's my mind.
The book is beautifully written, well told by the author (soothing voice), and a page turner. As an autobiography it's (an I rarely use this word) awesome. It's what I imagine surfers feel when riding on one of those massive waves with exhilaration while possessing the calm of stamina and strength. That's the tremendous life I just finished reading about.
Grateful for such a gifted share, well thought out and executed work. Head bow.

41 people found this helpful

best book I've read in a long time

I can really feel what he means to surrender. the most courageous thing we can do is to let go. I'm so grateful for his message.

10 people found this helpful

hard to relate

i found it hard to relate to this story, due an emphasis on financial success.

20 people found this helpful

Fantastic

I loved The Untethered Soul. Every time I bought a copy, I would end up giving it away. I was excited to experience another book by Michael Singer and listening to it gave me the freedom to enjoy it in my car etc. What I found in this book has been immensely powerful and important in my spiritual journey. The concept of surrender has been extremely challenging for me. I was actually recently really feeling like life was against me because of 10 years of health issue after health issue (I'm young), but in listening to this, I experienced a paradigm shift. What if all of this was in response to my prayer to be relieved of the bondage of self? What was good and positive about these experiences? What if I saw life as my best friend, loving me in bringing me experiences I needed? What if I stopped judging things as good or bad and just practiced deep acceptance and letting go? Wow. Thank you, Michael Singer. What were intellectual concepts have shifted to a place of moment to moment practice. I needed this and it arrived at the exact right time. Thank you, life. Help me stay the course.

24 people found this helpful

Not what I expected

I loved The Untethered Soul and was so excited to hear a follow up to that fantastic work. Unfortunately, there were no real spiritual messages in The Surrender Experiment. Rather is was a long memoir of Michael Singer's life. And for some reason, I didn't find it all that compelling. There are some spiritual takeaways, like just surrender to life's flow, but for the most part, it was a long recitation of his life. I found it hard to get through.

I guess if you knew this was a memoir rather than a spiritual self help book it wouldn't be such a let down. Still, I respect Singer for his insights and spirituality.

6 people found this helpful