Getting to Where You Are

by Steven Harrison

Book Overview

This book challenges the very basis of contemporary spirituality and the consumer society that created it. It is a far-reaching investigation of our ideas about life and our spirituality, in which... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0874779820
• ISBN13: 9780874779820
• Release Date: September 1999
• Publisher: Tarcher
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 0.88 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.8" x 8.6"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

you are already where you are!

This book does a good job of explaining the unexplainable. This is a very unique and effective contribution to non-dual literature, since he dares to criticise the whole guru business and puts in perspective all misconceptions around in the field of spirituality and enlightenment. I would recommend readers of his book also to take a look at Tony Parson's book, "As It Is". Jan Kersschot, author of "Nobody Home"

This is a very funny book!

The word "scathing" has been used to describe Harrison's writing, and in this book he mercilessly skewers the pretensions of the "spiritual person". I couldn't stop laughing as I read his commentary on "the knowing look of the senior meditation student" (anyone who's spent any time in a spiritual group knows the type), the human condition ("born naked, cold, and hungry--then it gets worse"), and "awareness, that annoying time between naps." But don't be fooled by the humor. What the author has to say about spiritual practice and the human proclivity to complicate the essence of simplicity is far-reaching and profound. There are no sacred cows here. Be ready to examine and discard your fondest notions of what a spiritual life may be.

Giving up the ghost.

I found this book a rather clever critique of the modern day quest for enlightenment and the teachers and teachings that are now a big business. I have a MA in Comparative Religion (Religion and Culture) and while I cringe at many popular writers' terribly superficial analyses of religion and cultural issues, I really enjoyed Harrison's irreverent yet insightful look into why the search for Enlightenment seems so obviously crazy or goofy. In a way, this book provided an explanation to me as to why I hesitate to even think about anything to do with spiritual questing anymore (even the word "spiritual" is a cultural artifact of our day). I found for myself that just taking care of and paying attention to my day to day business and responsibilities was enough for me to satisfy my search for meaningfulness. I let go of looking for the profound and I feel more connected to life itself. Searching for Enlightenment made me more uncomfortable. The dualistic separation of the spiritual from the non-spiritual just seemed idiotic and this book put it into words in a poetic, humorous, yet informative way.

You Are Meditating As You Read This

After years of meditation and studying, the Buddha was asked what he had learned from it all and he replied with one simple word - "awareness." Meditation is thought to be the way to achieve enlightenment or awareness so it seems natural to explore what meditation is and how it is done. Besides different techniques of meditation, there are also different types or goals of meditation. This book explores the differences between concentration, awareness and devotional meditation. Another type of meditation espoused by Steven Harrison is actuality meditation. According to the author, "getting awareness is as simple as getting to where we already are." There are no meditation techniques to practice. Awareness is a fact of life that can't be started or stopped. He tries to tell us "how to be in the moment." This book touches upon some good insights about meditation, even if one does not accept the author's conclusions and the basic thesis of his book.

Incisive overview of the spirituality culture...

If you liked Steven Harrison's book "Doing Nothing" you will no doubt love "Getting to Where You Are". This new book by Harrison, much of it written with unrelenting humor, looks at meditation by stripping away all of the foolishness that has accumulated around the spiritual culture. Harrison finds little difference between the materialism of the general culture and the spiritual narcissism of the meditation culture. This is a radical book requiring a radical reader to match -- if you are one of these I highly recommend this book.