Shaving the Inside of Your Skull [Paperback]

Mel Ash (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 13, 1997

An instructive, proactive, and highly entertaining work of counterculture philosophy, alternative psychology and in your face spirituality, this book descibes how readers can rid themselves of limiting beliefs so that they may experience the fresh breezes of their uniqueness.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Zen monks traditionally shave their heads as a symbol of their renunciation of the world. But author Mel Ash points out that it's not enough to shave the outside. Why not shave the inside as well? This is one wild and crazy book. Ash gives us "razors" to use that are really creative homework assignments to help us shave all the beliefs, isms, and self-limitations that hold us back. Topics for enlightenment include picking your nose in your car, tracing your tree of belief, and finding your secret name--and that's just on one page!

Product Details

• Paperback: 219 pages
• Publisher: Tarcher (January 13, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0874778417
• ISBN-13: 978-0874778410
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 7.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,015,745 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars spiritual self-help which puts YOU in charge, July 16, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Shaving the Inside of Your Skull (Paperback)

With so many spiritual self-help books out these days whose titles use words like "soul," "angels," "God," and "heaven" it is a welcome relief to come across one with a title like "Shaving the Inside of Your Skull." Mel Ash's Zen approach steadfastly avoids dogma, and even insists that the reader not believe anything in the book. Yes, that's the point!! This book is a call for personal action to help readers find what their own spiritual selves may be. No coffee-sipping, Sunday morning comfort zone of cozy reflection here. Instead, you get "razors," (ouch!) -- suggestions for ACTION to try out on yourself. Caution: some may seem simple and even silly, but until you TRY them, you'll never realize what they might do to transform you. So go ahead,and take a chance on getting up and DOING something after reading Ash's essays. Create an invisible friend who writes you a letter (I did, without much expectation, but got an unsettling yet helpful result). Go to a graveyard, lie down, and imagine yourself decaying as you seek communion with departed souls. Bow to your microwave oven and other inanimate objects to learn an "attitude of gratitude." And... would you... could you... BURN one of your most prized possessions to better understand what you are without it? This book is wonderful because it does not work unless YOU work on it. Ash gives readers ideas to jolt their consciousness, and eggs them on to ACT, ACT, ACT. If you're tired of self-help books which simply prescribe "new" beliefs, or tell you more about the author's own vision of God, then pick up this book with an adventuresome spirit. As one of the many wise quotes which appear in the book's margins asserts, we should be more distrustful of those who say they have found the truth, and instead trust those, like ourselves, who are seeking the truth. And if we ever stop seeking, thinking that we have come to find the end of our spiritual journey, then we have killed our souls. Thanks Mel, for getting me off my duff and taking chances on finding my own path to salvation.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE book on how to enrich your life RIGHT NOW!, June 16, 2001

By 

Bryan Beck (Iowa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shaving the Inside of Your Skull (Paperback)

Just out of high school, I became very interested in Zen teachings. After reading through all sorts of books on meditation and consciousness, I finally found this. This book is AMAZING. It actually gives you all the groundwork for real-life exercises you can do at any time to keep your mind open and clear of all the garbage that has been piling up in your brain your whole life. If you buy only one book the rest of your life, MAKE IT THIS! Words can't describe my appreciation to you, Mr. Ash.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful tools to improve your mind, January 23, 2005

By 

Seth Delackner - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shaving the Inside of Your Skull (Paperback)

First, I despise self help books. This is not such a book. Even though I already felt I had a strong command of my own mind, reading this and doing some of the exercises was both captivating and useful to more deeply examine some of the strong and unhelpful beliefs that I didn't even realize I had.