Book Review - The Surrender Experiment
Author: Michael A. Singer
Category: Personal Development, Meditation
Quiver Score: 4.75/5
With the book The Surrender Experiment, author Michael (Mickey) Singer, gives us a gift. In this eloquently penned biography of his “journey into life’s perfection”, he demonstrates the beauty that life can provide for us when we are not solely guided by our logical, reactionary minds.
In this fascinating read, Mickey takes us on the extraordinary journey of his life from his formative years in his early twenties as a hippy who sought isolation and meditation in the forest through to his sixties as a mega-millionaire hippy who sought isolation and meditation in the same forest that had become his renowned spiritual sanctuary.
During his doctorate studies in economics in the early ‘70s, Mickey strongly noticed the synchronicity in life, especially when he was able to open up to the flow of the universe and not resist change. Behind the catastrophes he found silver linings; in the happiness he found a greater power guiding him along the way, across life’s steppingstones. Already deeply committed to meditation, he wondered: “What would happen to me if I just inwardly surrendered my resistance and let the flow of life be in charge?” He decided to start letting life happen for him rather than to him, and the journey that unfolded is almost too incredible to believe.
He found the practice of surrender was done in two distinct steps: first, letting go of personal reactions of like and dislike that form inside the mind and heart; and second, looking “to see what is being asked of you by the situation unfolding in front of you.” In this manner he was not guided by his cursory reactions but instead by a deeper force…from life itself.
For example, when a neighbour had to leave town for a bit and asked Mickey to visit a prisoner in maximum-security prison, Mickey surrendered and went, despite the voice in his head that said No. This one visit thrust Mickey into forming a Buddhist group – as rules permitted meetings for only religious services – and for more than three decades he led meditation groups in prisons.
Similarly, decades later when the FBI and Department of Justice threatened to destroy his life and everything he had built, Mickey saw no choice but to surrender to the unfolding of legal and criminal events that dictated most of his life for many years and trust that there was a beneficial reason for all he had to endure. Along the way, he opened his mind and heart to receive as much education and life experience from the tribulation as possible.
Regardless of the situation, seemingly good or bad, Mickey opened himself to the opportunities that were being presented and typically found spiritual, emotional, social, and financial prosperity ensued. Meditation showed Mickey two distinct aspects to what is called the mind: the logical, thought-driven mind and the intuitive, inspiration-driven mind. From his spiritual work, he found that while his logical mind became quieter, his intuitive mind grew stronger, and solutions became self-evident. Solutions always came when he needed them and surrendered to the circumstances.
Superficially, The Surrender Experiment is not a deep read, but great depth can be gleaned from it. I did not want to put it down and consumed its 252-pages over a few days. It left me feeling more committed and open to meditation and the struggles I often face in maintaining a daily, fruitful practice. And it reinforced in me a mantra that is a consistent guide: the universe provides exactly what is needed, when it is needed.
