Customer Reviews

A Surprise Life: The Spiritual Journey of A Girl From Brooklyn

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Susan Clare tells the people's history of the Rajneeshee movement. Her tale is that of thousands who went to Poona, India, and The Ranch in Oregon, USA, in the seventies and eighties, to try something different. Those who believed there might be a better way to be in the world by opting out fill these pages. These are the ones who climbed to the mountain top in community and went down with the ship. For orange folk it is their unwritten memoir, a chance to relive those crazy times, to connect the flashbacks. For their friends and relatives, Clare gives the prompts, the jumping off points: Tell me about.... For those who missed this attempt at creating heaven on earth, here is your chance to go beyond the headlines to see what all the fuss was about.

Beautifully written, this book is an insiders story about Susan's life in the Indian Ashram, and the US Commune with Bhagwan and his disciples. It's a well balanced account of her experiences; honest, vulnerable, and a joy to read. Well worth your time!

Clare's story is indeed a surprise read because right from the beginning of her story she captures you, the reader and pulls you along, as if you're inside her psyche, on her incredible journey from a sheltered beginning in Brooklyn to a wild ride through India and the US with an Indian Master. I was captivated from the start and didn't want it to end. I look forward to the sequel with great anticipation.

Clare's story of her spiritual journey is filled with specific details and is an honest portrayal of her life as a disciple. She has found a way to balance the personal and the objective so that the reader can share the experience in an almost visceral way. The puzzling aspects of the experience are not unraveled, but that only reveals underlines the truth of the book. I found it to be a unique window into one woman's life that made me want to know her better. HIghly recommended.

I found the history of the eventful ten years described quite fascinating, especially the transitions and the different ways of thinking the author experienced. The soul searching through paradise found and paradise lost was tender and revealing of the person the author desired to be and who she ultimately became. The Oregon experience captured my attention quite dramatically and I found her journey fascinating as nirvana became human, convoluted with all the frailties of our race.

This book is different from any other I've read by or about Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. Susan writes from inside her own heart and mind, about the commune (India and Oregon), her life there, her difficulties and joys, the people she knew and worked with, and most of all, her very own thoughts and feelings through it all. The book is a joy to read, exactly like letters from an old friend.

I've read many books about Bhagwan, including "The Awakened One", "Bhagwan: The Most Godless..", "Forever Is Not Long Enough", "My Dance With A Madman", "My Life In Orange", and "The Luminous Rebel". Susan's book gives the clearest view of Bhagwan's ashram and the people who surrounded their beloved Bhagwan. The last chapters, detailing Sheela's psychosis and the death of the Oregon ashram, were heartbreaking to say the least. When I finished this finely detailed book, I felt I had experienced it all myself.

In fact, this book was so personal to me that I attempted to locate Susan M. Clare online, just as I would attempt to locate an old friend. I wanted to write her, thank her, and ask just one question: What Happened To Sheela - Where Is Sheela?

I was around the Rajneesh scene in the early 80's after the commune moved to Oregon. A Surprise Life is a wonderfully entertaining story about that time and the preceding years in India, told by Susan Clare who was personally involved and there till the very end. This book is honest, informative, shocking, touching, a great history of those days and a great read. I truly did not want it to end.