Customer Reviews

What Really Matters: Searching for Wisdom in America

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"The road to wisdom is often an obstacle course," journalist Tony Schwartz writes (p. 430). "Looking deeply within challenges people to engage their own feelings of emptiness, dissatisfaction and despair. Most people instinctively avoid such pain at any cost, and the culture provides us with endless ways to anesthetize ourselves" (p. 425). Schwartz spent four years travelling the country, "seeking out people who had made the search for meaning primary in their lives" (p. 9), interviewing psychologists, philosophers, physicians, mystics, psychics, teachers, and scientists. He writes, "I spent four years looking for answers to the straightforward, age-old questions Who am I? and Why am I here? The wisest people I met offered very different answers" (p. 14).

In his book, Schwartz introduces us to a few of those people who reveal that a "richer, deeper, more meaningful life is within reach" for each of us (p. 431). For instance, in Chapter One we meet Ram Dass, who tell us "the spiritual journey is a journey of continually falling on your face . . . you take a step, which you think is wise, and you blow it and you fall on your face" (p. 60). In Chapter Two we meet Michael Murphy, the 1962 cofounder of Esalen, in Chapter Four we meet right-brainer Betty Edwards, and in Chapter Eight we meet Buddhist vipassana teachers, Jack Kornfield and Joseph Goldstein. In Chapter Nine, transpersonal psychology's leading theorist (p. 346), Ken Wilber, says: "It's hard work. The truth is that transforming oneself is a long, laborious, painful process" (p. 364); "The point is that each of us has to take the actual journey, in our own way, in our own time, at our own pace" (p. 374). Although this book covers a lot of ground, that ground is always deep and fertile.

In the final pages of his book, Schwartz arrives at a number of personal conclusions, each of which rings with universal truth. "To live a complete life requires drawing deeply on all one's potentials--mind, body, heart, soul, and spirit" (p. 423). "The planet's survival--and evolution--depends on our collective capacity to look within more honestly, and to act more consciously and less defensively in every spere of our lives" (p. 422). Schwartz concludes his spiritual roadtrip with an impressive, nine-page bibliography sure to appeal to the seeker in each of us.

G. Merritt

I found this book two years ago accidentally in a local bookstore that I wouldn't expect to sell something quite like it. And this book is a gate to the whole multitude of new exciting experiences of intellectual as well as spiritual awakening to me, something that I am very much indebted to Tony Schwartz. His journey toward wisdom that precipitated this book has also lead me to the path, revived my own long dormant tradition of meditation, introduced me to the mind land of Ken Wilber and indirectly to a throng of other geniuses in the field, gave me a taste of many different spiritual traditions, awakened me to the things called performance technology, accelerated learning, and Enneagram, ignited my interests in Eastern mysticism -and even Physics and Science- as well as provide me with new insights on the world of right/left brain. This book gave a fresh perspective of meditation, something not so unfamiliar for someone with a Buddhist upbringing like me but unfortunately with little comprehension of its efficacy from a scientific standpoint. Because of this book, I began meditating regularly again and now am even helping others to meditate. This book leads me to a personal quest that consists of an exciting array of other books on the subject of psychology, accelerated learning and philosophy. I now write lots of articles on spirituality that are very well accepted and help people to see the world in a different perspective. And on top of everything else, currently I am doing the final editing of my own first "serious" book on spirituality, something I could never have thought of two years ago.

In short this book is a good start for anyone perturbed with the classic question of what really matters in life because it has in it all traditions, conventional or contemporary/scientific, that one needs to know. And they are all written with a touching dedication and journalistic scepticism. This book changed my life in the most significant way. Thanks, Tony.

This is one of the most honestly written books I have ever read. Anyone interested in personal evolution will get clear, concise information on some of the best of what really works, and a wonderful explanation about why it works. Integrative and realistic, it is written from the perspective of someone willing to expose his own personal challenges and limitations. It is one of the most insightful and comforting pieces of work I have ever read. Having read over 300 works on this subject, it takes a lot to impress me - this work has gone beyond doing so!

I bet that if I met Tony Schwartz I would really like him. He comes across in this deeply personal book, as a decent, heartfelt and loving person. The book is the story of his five-year quest at the start of the 1990s to find wisdom and insight in the "new age" movement in America. Though at times a bit solipsistic, Schwartz generally does an entertaining job of conveying the ups and downs of the various experiences he goes through on this quest.

The first three chapters of the book introduce us to some of the key figures in creating what has become the "new age" movement in America. The first chapter introduces us to Ram Dass, who was part of the original LSD experimentation with Timothy Leary. The next chapter tells the story of Michael Murphy and the founding of Esalen, and the third chapter covers Elmer Green and the biofeedback movement. For me this section was a wonderful introduction to how these institutions and practices got started in America in the Sixties (ignoring, of course, the historical connections back to American transcendentalism and the like).

The middle section of the book covers some of the powerful tools that were developed and refined as part of the "new age" approach. Chapter Four covers Betty Edwards and her tools to improve "seeing" and so drawing; Chapter Five reviews the insights about how the mind effects and interacts with our health; Chapter Six details tools that have been developed to help people achieve peak performance; and Chapter Seven explores the use of "new age" tools in exploring the meaning of our dreams. These chapters capture well the some of the clear gains from the "new age" movement - a set of practical tools that people now use to live healthier and more complete lives.

The final section discusses several thinkers who have tried to develop more integrative views of human nature. Schwartz reviews the thinking of Jack Kronfield, Joseph Goldstein, Ken Wilber, Helen Palmer and Hameed Ali. Schwartz finds much to appreciate in each of these thinkers, but at this point, for this reader, it becomes clear that Schwartz has started to partake in much "covering over" of the negatives associated with the "new age" approaches.

For one thing Schwartz has decided to only write about his experiences with those who he felt were truly enlightened and decent people. As for the many potentially detrimental components of this movement, Schwartz spends only one sentence: "I have spent much of my time detouring around New Age popularizers, self-promoting hucksters, and charismatic demagogues posing as enlightened teachers." While I respect Schwartz desire to focus on the positive, the result is clearly not an objective review of the movement. Another question that runs through the book is whether psychotherapy may not be a more powerful and reliable tool for addressing individual needs. Only at the end, does Schwartz reveal that this was a critical tool in his growth.

To highlight only the best of the "new age" experiences and to minimize the potential benefits of psychotherapy, as Schwartz has done, is to create a Pollyanna view of the "new age" world that ignores much of the damage and difficulty that should be part of the full picture.

Ever wanted a guide to transformative practice in the US? What's available to the committed seeker? Look no further- Tony Schwartz has written a valuable guide to what New Age practices really deliver- and what they don't.

In "What Really Matters", Tony presents different movements and thinkers, chapter by chapter, in an eminently readable and easily digestible format. Covering meditation, dreamwork, creativity exercises, personality and emotional studies, athletics, Michael Murphy's Esalen work, Hameed Ali, and Ken Wilber's integral philosophy, Tony's journalistic journey is recommended to anyone who seeks a distinctly American approach to spirituality.

Well, in response to Frank Wassermann (below), I must say that he seems to have a case of reading only what he wants to read out of the text of "What Really Matters". He even misquotes Tony Schwartz in his review: Tony did not say (on page 4) that he has not considered "the possibilities that there might be a God..." The exact quote is "We <his parents> never discussed the possibility that there might be a God...", a considerably different matter. To suggest that Tony Schwartz had never considered such concepts is laughable (at least I got a good laugh out of it).

This book is simply one man's compendium of ideas and discoveries that he justifiably feels deserve a wider dissemination in the interest of building increased spiritual awareness in all people. Underlying the varied subject matter is a unifying wisdom tradition that is only now beginning to transplant our antiquated religious beliefs.

I'm not generally 'hooked' by books about inner searches. Tony Schwartz has done a wonderful job of telling the story of his own search by telling the stories of others and their searches for wisdom. His style is engaging, more like having a conversation, less like reading. I found myself unable to read anything else (I WAS reading two other books, as well, but found myself drawn to his, exclusivly). A wonderful journey.

Exciting and useful personal survey of the strength and shortcomings in the various methods for wisdom in the US. I like Schwartz*s journalistic instinct in seeking an inclusive, multi-faceted approach. It will save other seekers a lot of heartache and time. Nevertheless, I wish Schwart put a bit more emphasis in how to persist in the quest for truth. The constant search for yet another technique in meditation, psychoanalysis, dream work, or Enneagram, means that one may devote less energy in a slow but working approach.

It is odd -- Tony Schwartz loves to think and talk about what he thinks; he's singled out what he thinks are important disciplines on the American spiritual landscape and, oddly, skips several influential traditions of the last few years: Tibetan Buddhism, Kabbalah, Tai Chi and related moving meditations; why? I'm not sure; he attempts a review of Vipassana Buddhism, or Insight Meditation -- he speaks to Jack Kornfeld (a leading teacher of Buddhist meditation and headquartered in California) but makes a final assessment based almost exclusively on Jack's opinions as to why traditional Buddhism just doesn't work in this country; sadly, Tony confines himself to meditating roughly 30 minutes a day and never signs on for a retreat at East Coast Insight Meditation mecca, Barre, Mass. (or anywhere else); he researches little in the tradition and appears to be in too much of a hurry to throw himself at and into Ken Wilber and the hot new discipline of Transpersonal Psychology; while Ken's practice includes considerable meditation, it is primarily one of Jnana, or thinking on things spiritual, emotional, psychological -- and how Tony grooves on that; Tony likes talking up the spiritual life and sampling the initial highs; he is not in it for the long haul; his transformational path is apparently one of words -- and he is unusually articulate (as is Ken Wilber); while I am gratified for much that Tony has given -- and his gifts are concise and appetizing (I am pushed to look deeper into the Enneagram, for instance, and it was wonderful to remeet Baba Ram Dass), I am left feeling as if once he cornered his subject -- What Really Matters -- he found he had a taste for little more than what he'd begun with -- a high, high-minded gift for gab and unwillingness to commit. Try again, Tony.

Good guy reporter takes a trip into spiritual America and writes about the landscape. Well written, intriguing, hits many of the "players".

Well intentioned and important. Another 50 books or more like this where a mainstream writer wanders around in spiritual America might have us looking ahead and not in the rear view mirror.

Schwartz comments on his experiences but not to the degree I was looking for. I was fascinated by his angst, midlife goo, wanderlust, spiritual void or boredom. What did that edge yield? I never got a clear sense of his editorial eye but maybe that wasn't what this was about. His journalistic pen was right on. A definite buy for many years.