Customer Reviews

The 99th Monkey: A Spiritual Journalist's Misadventures with Gurus, Messiahs, Sex, Psychedelics, and Other Consciousness-Raising Experiments

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1 star:		(1)

 

 

"I am the 99th Monkey. If you don't get me, you don't get your critical mass, and it screws up the whole works. I seem to be single-handedly holding back the Great Paradigm Shift of the Golden Age simply through my continuing to be a resistant little putz."

Most people of the hippie/new age/spiritual enlightenment seeking ilk have heard the infamous legend of the 100th monkey. Scientists who were studying monkeys on Koshima Island in Japan in 1952 introduced the sweet potato as a new snack, which the monkeys loved even though it was always covered in sand. One day Imo the monkey got the brilliant idea of taking her sweet potato to the water and washing off the sand, making the snack even yummier. She taught this trick to her family members and soon it spread. In 1958 the number of potato washing monkeys reached a critical mass (99, they say) and suddenly every monkey of Koshima and the neighboring islands began spontaneously washing their potatoes. So if humans work this way, an idea spread to that 99th human monkey would quickly and spontaneously spread to the population at large.

Now, you would think that with all the great spiritual movements and teachers out there over the past several decades that the world's population would have gotten past materialism and greed and onto a more enlightened plane of peaceful loving existence. Well, the reason this has not happened is Eliezer (Elliot) Sobel, the 99th Monkey.

Not that Sobel hasn't tried, mind you. The 99th Monkey is a frank and funny collection of Sobel's encounters with just about every major consciousness raising movement, written as editor of The New Sun magazine in the 1960s, the Wild Heart Journal, and as a freelance journalist. But what is great and refreshingly different about this book is that Sobel ends these encounters basically unchanged and unfazed.

What encounters he has! Through Sobel we get to meet Ram Dass, Hilda Charlton, Gabrielle Roth, Rabbi David Cooper, Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, Muktananda, Asha Greer, and the Dalai Lama. We get to travel to India, Israel, Auschwitz, Big Sur, Nepal, and Brazil. We experiment with LSD, Ecstasy, Daime, mushrooms, marijuana, and every anti-depressant on the market. We laugh, we scream, we trip, we cry, we vomit, and we refuse to drink the water used to cleanse the guru's sandals. And we go through primal scream therapy, EST, Landmark Forum, Moonie initiation, Daime rituals, yogic meditation of varying forms, sexual therapies of many kinds, and good old western psychotherapy.

Oh, Sobel does learn one great lesson in the end. After hearing the refrain of kindness from one spiritual teacher after the other he goes to a lousy therapy session with his wife.

"He wanted to see us regularly, at $150 a pop. We left his office and in an epiphany, we both realized that we could save $600 a month if we just tried to be nicer to one another. It definitely works."

I'm the father of this genius, and so I am absolutely without prejudice! How could you not love such a person who had the good sense not to tell us about many of these escapades while he was living through them. I have enough grey/white hair as it is! I think that living Eliezer's life vicariously (+ a little help from up above) has allowed me to almost reach 85 - and getting ready to reread his book for the 3rd time. It gets better all the time and who knows, maybe I missed something during the first two readings. Seriously, I loved the 99th Monkey and can't wait until I get a chance to read the sequel. Keep up the great work El.

I was calmly reading this book trying to figure out if I liked it or not when I came across these words: "My time at The New Sun seemed to have prepared me to be a bridge between two very distinct worlds: the lunatic fringe and the mainstream normal."

Right away, I felt this book was worth reading. In my world, I have one particular friend who loves the "airy-fairy" stuff, that is to say, whatever is the newest in the New Age or the spiritual realms. My other friends all seem kind of Old World, meaning that they are of the more traditional spiritual world of religion with its own wide range of beliefs and fervors (or lack thereof). I identified exactly with what the author was trying to express.

Although the author began participating in New Age experiences in the 1960's , it was in the late 1970's that he became editor-in-chief of a New Age magazine called The New Sun. That gave him the perfect opportunity to have an "in" with the New Age crowd and become as absorbed in their philosophies as he allowed them to. Reading through Sobel's experiences reminded me so much of the various phases that my special friend would go through as one or another New Age philosophy became the rage and she quickly dove in. I always loved to hear about her experiences, but never wanted to spend my money to partake of them as I felt I didn't need to pay anyone to engage my own spirituality.

This book has proven to be a wonderful way to visit the experiences I missed, for better or for worse, and occasionally to chuckle at some of insights of a fellow Jew. Although not a practicing Jew, Eliezer Sobel's ethnic heritage comes out distinctly and in a very humorous manner throughout the book. Some lines had me laughing out loud.

I really liked the fact that Sobel was not enamored of all of his experiences nor did he pooh-pooh them all either. He looked into each with an open mind, but not a naïve one. I found it a refreshing concept. Basically, it was his honesty in relating his story that I appreciated most.

Sobel's book does what few spiritual books I've read (and I've read my share)have done -- made me laugh at my own shortcomings and embrace my humanity. The true genius of the work lies beyond the abundant humor; Sobel's text has a strong message (in an odd no-message-here kind of way) that the essence of life is wrapped in a package both haunting and uplifting; hilarious and brutal.

Having met Eliezer Sobel at a few Jewish meditation retreats, I was very curious about his book. I read it in two sittings, interrupted only by sleep and breakfast. While my own spiritual explorations have been rather staid compared to his, I could relate to his quest and the inner workings of his heart and mind, which he courageously shares. This book got me to recognize and laugh at myself, no mean feat!

Well, I fit the profile of an Ivy League Hippie who, as Eliezer's college roommate, watched him emerge from the musical genius he was freshman year to the Enlightened and Funny Being he is now. I bought this book to support the cause of his small "e" ego and his checking account and found, not entirely to my surprise, that I really enjoyed the book and actually found it Very Helpful. I like seeing all those "isms and ologies" in lite form encapsulated in a stand-up routine. The wisdoms are still wise when they come easy to eat, and the insights feel even more insightful when you read them laughing. May this monkey stay eternally at the gate shouting for entrance and may the movie be not far behind. Doug Day

A wonderful ride of a read full of laughs, permission to be, reminders to remember, and the authentic poignancy of truthfulness. Sobel's honesty is a healing in itself that few manage to communicate so seemingly effortlessly in the midst of a tale of so much trying out. Whether you are filling in gaps in your journey or find yourself reminiscing over your own hilarious and horrible times had, this book is a wonderful travel guide for a deep, light and loving trip.

This is the story of a self-described scared little wimpy neurotic depressed Jewish kid who spends his whole life searching for enlightenment. It is funny but true in a self-deprecating, Woody Allen on drugs, drama queen sort of way. In the end, he is a scared little wimpy neurotic depressed Jewish adult who seems to have figured it out...but then again, maybe not. But then again, it's the journey that counts. Now I'm confused.

It is good, witty, and brutally frank. Don't miss out on this one.

In "The 99th Monkey" Eliezer Sobel has undeniably gone all out in his quest for G-d or enlightenment and yet of his own admission is more or less "the same old schmuck at the end as he was at the beginning." What attracted me to the book was that I have done a similar search myself though not nearly as extensive.

The keystone of the book is that Mr. Sobel claims to be the 99th Monkey. He says, "I seem to be single-handedly holding back the Great Paradigm Shift of the Golden Age simply through my continuing to be a resistant little putz." I don't know how strongly Eliezer believes this. If he believes it 100% (and is not just joking) then he could be delusional and has, in his own words, "wandered off the main road in his quest for deeper meaning."

If he believes that he is the 99th Monkey, even just a little, then this could explain why nothing seems to work for him. According to Maxwell Maltz our self-image influences everything in our life. So Mr. Sobel, it could be time for a self-image upgrade. What made the book interesting though was that I could vicariously share in Eliezer's experiences. In that sense he saved me a lot of time and money. I didn't need to go to Brazil or take Ecstacy.

One major premise of the book is that most workshops are similar to a drug experience in that they provide a temporary high and people go back to being the way they always were the next day or the next week. I totally DISagree with this assessment. Look at all the changes that have taken place in each of our lives. None of us stays the same, or we'd all still be infants, unable to walk or talk. So change happens.

In the words of our mutual hero Ram Dass, "After one arrives at the summit one returns to the valley below, to the everyday world. Who it is that returns is not who began the climb in the first place." That has been my experience. A glimpse of the Promised Land may not be a permanent residence but a peek is definitely worth something.

I don't mean to harp on it but IMO it is Mr. Sobel's negative self-image that is keeping him stuck. Obviously this rigidly held and disempowering belief will absolutely guarantee his continued suffering. In the words of our other mutual friend Werner Erhard, "If you're not alright the way you are it takes a lot of effort to get better. So realise you're alright the way you are, and you'll get better naturally." So my advice is, "Mr. Sobel, keep the Monkey but change the number--change it to anything but 99."

That being said the book contains great humour and insight. For example:
- What one is craving to change is actually to be free of the craving for change.
- You can't drug your way to a happy relationship.
- You can't get to Baltimore from Baltimore.
- Too many people believe that the purpose of religion is to be more religious.

I like to think of myself as the 187th Monkey--maybe not be the brightest on the island but I'm probably a lot happier. But then again, perhaps I wouldn't have such an interesting story. May all beings be free of suffering, especially Eliezer Sobel. Why just four stars--there were parts of the book that I thought were a bit too cynical.

P.S. I just re-read the book and liked it even more the second time. Ya gotta love a guy who does a 20-Day Vipassana course in India and then goes to the local town square with his guitar and sings "Can't Buy Me Love."

Eliezer qualifies as a mensch; perhaps too attached to being the 99th monkey, but offering a self deprecating,inspired,desperate roller coaster ride in pursuit of the UNKNOWN. I was right alongside of him with my past history. He chronicles it well: just the right blend of gossip, earnestness, adventure, insight and exhaustion.