Customer Reviews

Esalen: America and the Religion of No Religion

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Kripal, Jeffrey J. (2007). Esalen: America and the Religion of No Religion. University of Chicago Press. xiv + 573 pages. Includes bibliography and index. Cloth and paper.

I always like to see a topic that interests me embedded in a larger context. A wider context describes how the topic of my interest (psychedelics in this case) fits into historical events and into a more global collection of ideas (the human potential movement, in Esalen). By following the movement of ideas and people through Esalen Institute, Kripal constructs an intellectual and personal history of the Esalen as one spring whose waters both nourished and reflected the 60's, but more than that, of the 70s, 80s, 90's and 21st Century too.

He readily alerts readers that his story must omit some items that others would deem important, and that his organizing ideas track his attention to selected Esalen events. His four organizing idea-themes are: the religion of no religion (alternately, the religion of all religions), altered states of history, the tantric transmission, and the enlightenment of the body. "Esalen," as he describes it, "has dedicated itself to the fusing or synthesizing of the spiritual and scientific, of wonder and reason, of what an academic might call the humanities and the sciences." (page 13). He recognizes these significant aspects of Esalen, rather than the misleading garden of delights for hippies and upper middle class hangers-on that the popular press dwells on.

By tracking Esalen people as a history, Kripal gives not only a history of the place, but also a history of the human potential movement. Esalen combines both an adventurous think tank and a location for experiments in human interactions, where mind and body were not separated, but used to enhance each other. The leading character of the book is Michael Murphy, one of Esalen's founders and the only person appearing consistently throughout the book. While I expected Kripal's chapter-long discussions of Murphy's books to be dully laudatory, if not outright boring, I found his discussion of them an intriguing way to see Murphy's thinking and Esalen's activities as harmonious.

Readers on this list will be especially interested in two chapters on psychedelics' early days at Esalen and the chapter on Stan and Christina Grof, both for the psychedelic points and for displaying how psychedelics form part of the tantric transmission and enlightenment of the body. In the earlier chapter, Huxley, Watts, Leary, and Native American use of psychedelics appear as parts of a larger textile that wove together threads from Eastern religions, physical development routines, discoveries about the human body and brain, unusual abilities, and innovative forms of psychotherapy and growth techniques.

In the chapter that focuses on the Grofs, we see how their interests grew beyond psychedelics to include Eastern religions and developing ways to help people through spiritual crises. Kripal makes the surprising insight that Freud's idea of the unconscious as a cesspool of fear, lust, and destruction was, in fact, useful to the human potential movement because its main assumption is that we are not aware of much of our minds. But there is more to our unconscious than what Freud saw, so his work is primarily important not for what he specifically found about our minds, but because he set Western psychology looking for more, and some of what we've discovered forms part of the neglected human potential.

Besides psychedelics, other mindbody threads woven into the Esalen tapestry include aspects of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Western religions; meditation, dreamwork, hypnosis, and additional altered-states psychotechnologies; aikido, breathing routines, Rolfing, massage, the martial arts, and other body-based growth; mythology, Jungian, humanistic psychology, transpersonal psychology, psychic phenomena, and additional intellectual approaches; Gestalt, encounter, family therapy, and group processes; influences on education, medicine, and even international relations -- the list goes on. Like a venture capital group that discovers, researches, and develops ideas for companies, Esalen explores and tries out ideas and practices for human growth. All of these --like Murphy's books Jacob Atabet and The Future of the Body--are examined as clues for the possible next stages of human evolution.

While most books to me would be twice as good if they were half as long, I was relieved to find Esalen's 468 pages of primary text a good read. I kept on reading "just one more section". Part of this goes to Kripal's ability to express ideas -- often flavored with his own perspective on his ideas -- entertaining and insightful. The chapter notes and list of resources confirm the depth of his research and are rich leads for others to follow.

After distracting, inaccurate, and exaggerated reports in the popular media during the 60s and subsequently, Kripal's Esalen counteracts press sensationalism. I guess it shouldn't be a surprise: shallow news reporters found shallowness at Esalen; deeper thinkers find deeper ideas and ideals. As a professor of religious studies at Rice University, Kripal sees Esalen as "one of America's most sophisticated mystical expressions." (page 24). That is, Esalen documents the spiritual quest for the fullest human fulfillment, and Kripal points out it is a combined mind-plus-body task.

Psychedelicists, who share a sense of unity and oneness, will see Esalen as fostering these directions, as mentioned above "dedicated itself to the fusing or synthesizing of the spiritual and scientific, of wonder and reason, of what an academic might call the humanities and the sciences." (page 13). Esalen, the book, does good service of setting the record straight about Esalen, the Institute.

I was fortunate enough to have spent this past weekend at Esalen picked up a copy of Jeffrey Kripal's book and I could not put it down! This book is a must read for those wanting to know more about this amazing place and it's impact on American culture and the future of the planet. Esalen: America and The Religion of No Religion chronicles the history of an unique experiment conceived by two visionary men, Michael Murphy and Richard Price. Esalen is one of a kind place that sits at the edge of the American frontier both geographically and intellectually. The land and it's hot springs have a long history as a place of ceremony and healing for the Esselen Indians and other indigenous people who lived there for thousands of years. In 1910, Dr. Henry Murphy, Michael's grandfather, purchased the property to make the curative waters of the hotspring available for his patients. It is on this magical land that the Esalen Institute now resides. The list of people who have visited and taught there over the years is a veritable who's who of some of the greatest minds of the 20th Century. It is a place that has a history of encouraging intellectual and spiritual diversity and different approaches to exploring the full range of human potential. Esalen has been and continues to be one of the most important cultural and spiritual centers of the world that is dedicated to the exploration of human possibilities. We live in world that is in desperate need of a vision of a positive future. Esalen is a place where this vision is likely to emerge.

The author sometimes has trouble with choppy writing, and overly long sentences. However, for the most part his subject matter is interesting enough that the issues of writing can be overlooked, However, what was annoying to me was his impression or conviction that everything and everybody "really" were experiencing Hindu Tantric experiences. This occurs despite the fact that no one he writes about saw themselves that way, used the terms, or followed that path. However, the author has followed that path - and that's all that matters. If he was a Christian no doubt everything would "really" be about Christ's manifestation at Esalen. I have no trouble with the concepts of Tantra - I practice Buddhist Tantra - but we cannot impose our own business or spiritual position on the subject matter when proposing the write a history.

Other than this issue - which was more annoying than anything else - the book is pretty good. Upstart Spring might be better.

Loved this book! For a work of non-fiction, it was a surprising page-turner. I was fascinated to learn that many of our common (and some rather uncommon) conceptions sprung from this mystical think tank on the California coast. This book embodies the spirit of Esalen; and hopefully other readers will find themselves having delightful "textual synchronicities" as I did! This is a "must read" for anyone interested in the human potential movement, mysticism, and modern psychology.

This book is more than simply a history of Esalen--as fascinating as that story is in itself--it is also a history of American culture and modern spirituality told with deep insight, charm and intelligence. A beautiful book--masterfully written, meticulously researched, and beautifully designed.

One of Kripal's ongoing themes has been that of the writing and reading of texts as a mystic practice. Here this is true; reading this book thoughtfully will touch your heart and mind and move them toward the mysterious human potential for conscious evolution that Esalen was all about.

I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in spirituality, mysticism, American culture, psychology, literature, psychedelics, the counterculture, sexuality, modern American history, psychic phenomena--my gosh, for anyone who has any intellectual curiosity about anything of importance in these times.

--Alan F. Zundel, The HeartAwake Center

Mr. Kripal is a fastidious researcher and those of us who spent time at Esalen in the early 70's appreciate the details and background that, looking back, fill in the blank spaces. I first arrived at Esalen with the rising sun and my first vision of paradise was a girl in the vegetable garden wearing only her long blonde hair and her California tan. We had come to teach yoga and one of us had just landed the night before at San Fransisco International for his first visit to the US from a life spent in a traditional Indian Ashram. It took all of our persuasive powers to convince him that this was the Garden of Eden and not Dante's Inferno. By that afternoon he was with us sharing a hot tub and succumbing to the magic that was Esalen. We stayed originally with Richard Price in the Big House and got to do Tai Chi each morning with Al Huang. Life was glorious and I'm grateful to have the memories of those days, still fresh and exciting, to revisit.

Too many people who make Esalen work on a day to day basis were not mentioned. I am not sure why we needed an interpretation of Michael Murphy's books. Otherwise a good time-line presentation.

I fascinating anaylsis of Esalen, the birthplace of the Human Potential Movement. This timely history of Esalen helped me fill in several gaps in my 20+ exploration of the human potential movement.

I especially appreciated Jeff Kripal's open stance about his biases and analysis. I'm not sure that I agree with his all of his minor conclusions -- such as the one about Joseph Campbell being more Freudian than Jungian, but that's a discussion best left for good friends, a fine meal and an excellent wine. ;-)

Wonderfully researched, I'm very jealous of Jeff Kripal's opportunity to explore the history of Esalen and the human potential movement. This is a book that I would have been proud to have written. I can think of no higher praise.

Highly recommended.

Esalen is amazing, and so is its history and its place in our culture, all of which is spoiled by this overlong, incredibly dry, and basically unreadable book.

What a shame that such a worthy topic should receive such poor treatment, preventing a better author from giving us the story that deserves to be told.

I think this book is for the most part well written, but that Kripal too much drank the "Kool-Aid" and was too focused on the leadership struggles and the pioneering. Actually, I believe, Esalen and similar retreats fit in an old romantic and counter-culture movement that over the generations has mostly been run over. I also think that, consequently, the core of the Esalen story is the disconnected, hurting people who go there.

L.D. Gussin
http://www.amazon.com/Seeker-Academy-L-D-Gussin/dp/0978917006/