Doing Nothing [Hardcover]

Steven Harrison (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 12, 1998

Doing Nothing is for those who have found themselves religiously following practices that have not fundamentally changed their lives: new therapies, ancient meditations, exotic religions, or old-time religion. It encourages them to find the truths of life through the simple act of stopping the search. What do you do after you've tried everything to find enlightenment or happiness? "As it turns out," writes Steve Harrison, "nothing is a surprisingly active place, but it is here that we discover who and what we are."

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A persuasive argument for stopping the perenial search for enlightenment." -- New Age Journal

"A serious philosophical treatise, the book examines the meaning of life...forget meditation, forget psychiatry, forget spiritual gurus and all the processes that have been billed as paths to inner peace." -- Rocky Mountain News

"Discard your ideologies and dogmas, your gurus and ritual, argues Harrison in this caustic exploration of our psycho spiritual obsessions. The solution lies in not seeking a solution." -- Utne Reader

"Go beyond therapists, gurus, gods, and techniques, he tells us, to investigate our true nature in silence. Harrison's uncompromising voice is a welcome companion on our journey toward being fully human." -- Yoga Journal

Book Description

Offers a refreshing new voice for listeners who have struggled for years with meditation, psychotherapy, & the religous life - only to find themselves no happier than when they began --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 132 pages
• Publisher: Tarcher (October 12, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0874779413
• ISBN-13: 978-0874779417
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,021,030 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars on the pointlessness of ego-based spiritual search., July 13, 2000

By 

Ruth Henriquez Lyon (Duluth, Minnesota USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Doing Nothing (Hardcover)

In this book author Steven Harrison focuses on an aspect of the "journey" that is hardly ever mentioned in this age of feel-good spirituality--that is, the action of most seekers is one of grasping. He suggests that instead of chasing after this or that "experience," we work at removing the ego from center-stage. Once we do that, the spiritual journey is done, because we find ourselves already in a highly spiritual state.

I can't disagree with his ideas here, however, he doesn't really explain well enough (for my purposes) HOW one does the work of getting the ego to budge from center stage (the book Shadow Dance by David Richo does deal thoroughly with this topic). His musings on the relationship of ego to consciousness and our daily lives are written in a way which is highly abstract and cerebral. For instance, "Integration can communicate with, interact with the projected thought-reality. It inherently commnicates because integration includes the space within which this thought-reality arises." OK, the whole book is not written that densely, but much of it is. This sort of prose is hard to sink your teeth into and digest in a way that changes your actions in the world. I now see why Jesus spoke in parables and metaphors--he employed simple, concrete terms, and it was the very simplicity of the images which allowed them to act as psychic catalysts ("the Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed"). Harrison does include some little teaching stories in his book, and I savored them much as I once did an iced cola after driving across the Mohave desert with no air-conditioning. Regardless of the language, however, I think there are some important ideas in this book which make it worth reading, and I also believe the author has paid the personal dues necessary to be a teacher.

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Only for the spiritually advanced, April 11, 2005

By 

Jack (Washington, DC USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Doing Nothing: Coming to the End of the Spiritual Search (reprint) (Paperback)

Many reviewers sound frustrated by Harrison's book. Most of the bad reviews complain that he didn't explain clearly enough HOW to do nothing. Harrison's point is that you can never figure out how, and yet the goal is certainly accessible. Those who attempt to approach it through a strategy or through understanding will fail because strategy and understanding are techniques only used by the mind. The mind is a tool that can copy and mimic, but is incapable of transcendent experience, after all what do you think is being transcended?

The mind can not get you where you want to go. The desire can not get you there either. As Harrison points out there is no getting there at all, but the transcendent experience of being is real. It sounds like an impossible conundrum, but it is not. The key is in Harrison's writing about thought. It seems obvious to say it, but to transcend the mind all thoughts must cease. Thoughts only originate in the mind. The thought of getting away from where you are or getting to another place must be given up, or you will find yourself going in circles of the mind.

Not very many people know how to stop their mind. It is our primary survival tool. Every thought you have is an illusion, including the thought of your personal identity. I should say especially your thought of your personal identity, since that is the root of all other thoughts. You think you are a person, you think you are your name and that your name identifies who you are. These are all just illusionary thoughts.

So what is the experience of having no thoughts? It can not be understood with thoughts of course, but what Harrison is doing is describing what the world of thought looks like from the world of no-thought. It is like trying to understand the majesty of the Grand Canyon with Braille.

For those who have had a glimmer of no-thoughtness through the study of Eckhart Tolle, or Eli Jaxon Bear, this book is useful as an anchor in that reality. Of course, that reality is the truth of our being, but day-to-day life often seems to reattach us to this world of thought identity. Reading Harrison is a very welcome daily meditation as a reminder of our true selves.

Harrison wisely recommends only reading his book once so as not to try to capture his meaning with the mind. Our true reality does not need to capture anything since we already exist in pure reality. Our thoughts in fact, are the very thing which separate us from it. I read only one page a day and in so doing find that throughout the day I am more and more aware of myself as a vast field of energy unbound by any limitations, content and connected to all life. If you don't get it, you don't get it. But just relax, stop trying, you will!

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good book for Buddhists to read., January 17, 1999

By 

DR ROY MAYHUGH "DrRoy" (SACRAMENTO, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Doing Nothing (Hardcover)

Steven Harrisons book is important for anyone on a a religious quest. It is especially important for those who are studying Buddhism. The book fits very well with "Buddhism Plain and Simple" by Steve Hagen and with "The Meaning of Mind" by Thomas Szasz. (Though I suspect Dr Szasz might object to having his work placed in the Eastern Religions category it is helpful to those who are wrestling with the issue "what is mind".) Mr Harrisons book also fits well with Batchelors "Buddhism Without Beliefs". This book must be read carefully. It's central message (on my interpretation) is the central message of Buddhism; once you abandon the "self" the quest is over. This doesn't mean one can quit the deep spiritual life; it simply means, as Gautama the Buddha is reputed to have said, once you reach the other shore of "enlightenment" you no longer need the raft that took you there. This is a wonderful book. Seekers of all kinds will like it. Buddhists would do well to read it more than once.