99th Monkey

I'd like to introduce a book that Robert and I enjoyed very much.  It's by Eliezer Sobel, who is in our Facebook group and I need to invite him to this great Gaia group.  The title is The 99th Monkey: A Spiritual Journalist's Misadventures with Gurus, Messiahs, Sex, Psychedelics and Other Consciousness-Raising Adventures.

I think many of you would get a kick out of Eliezer's accounting of his wild journeys.  When we were working out of town this spring, I would read my favorite sections outloud to Robert at night.  There were times we were laughing so hard, I couldn't speak!

His website is www.the99thmonkey.com   He is about to go on a 14 city book tour - the schedule is listed on the site.

Diane

Re: 99th Monkey

That book sounds great, Diane!  Thanks for the recommendation - here is a direct link to the order page for people who like to buy a copy.

Yar, by all means invite him to this Gaia group.  :)

I see by his tour page he's doing a bunch of events in California right now - sadly, Liz and I are effectively carless for a bit, so we'll probably miss that. 

cheers,
Arthur

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My eyes!

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I think it's the yellow background that is a bit much.  the book colors are actually very pretty 'in person'.   I was actually weeping, I was laughing so hard in some parts - maybe reading it out loud made it funnier - while Robert was lying on his back, helplessly laughing…….who knows?  maybe it was stress relief after a holding a very intense workshop, but I'm pretty sure you'll enjoy it too!

Diane

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Hmm…perhaps we should bring it to the practicum.

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Great idea!  We'll need some Rolling on the Floor Laughing during the Practicum, for sure.  But already the book has been built up way too much and is bound to be a let-down.  Therefore, my new assumption is that the book totally sucks, and consequently if it elicits so much as a wry chuckle it will exceed my expectations.

By the way, the author made a silly YouTube video about the book: The 99th Monkey (2:12)

spirals,
Arthur

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The intro on the web site made me laugh, and I'm about to go away for a week, so I have a copy coming to take with me. i was wondering what to take for reading, so thanks:-)

Liz

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Hi everyone!  Diane just let me know this conversation about my book was going on and invited me to join you here.  I'm really appreciative of her generous “plug”–I am currently on a book tour the anticipation of which launched an intense and sustained panic and anxiety attack at first, but now, after 10 of them, I have relaxed (albeit with a little help from xanax) and I am attempting to have my appearances be about something more than me selling a book, wishing to generate a meaningful evening for those who come, independent of whether they buy a book. And it's starting to happen.  Although I lead with humor, both in person and in the book, I'd like to also mention that the feedback I'm getting from people indicates that  there is  a deeper aspect to the book as well.

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I'm psyched that you're here, Eliezer, in spite of you being web-challenged. Look, I teach this stuff, so I'm just a bit more critical than most. But yeah, changing the yellow would be a start. (I might be able to get you a student willing to revamp it if you're interested)

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Hi Eliezer,

Thanks for posting here!

I might actually get a chance to see you next Sunday at the Bodhi Tree in LA.  

Hope it works out!

Gina

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hi .Eliezer!!
.. about the 99th monkey website - well actually I didn't mind it…  but … then again - you should see some of the stuff I wear!! (haha)
I enjoyed the site.  I enjoyed that audio interview link … and will I buy the book?? … well - umm …. errr….  maybe! 
I did subscribe to your blog though! …
Really I do think your work and book is valuable and I wish you every success.
arpita

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That would be great to meet you guys, if it's possible.  I first met Robert at one of his workshops in the early 90s, and then not again until a few years ago when I did a few sessions with him at his home in Vancouver, helping me a through a time of great fear that I knew he would “get.”  I have yet to meet Diane in person, but feel like I know her through her wonderful music and loving support.

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NO. Are you actually trying to induce flashbacks?

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Last time I shopped around for a web designer I was quoted $6000…

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Yeah, I know. That's why I'm thinking one of my students might be the ticket. I also know someone who does some really top-notch work. I can ask around.

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Oh, and there's one thing you can do right away. Put a button on every page to buy the book. Don't make anyone look for it. It should be on the very first page, without scrolling down. It doesn't have to be garish, but hey, it's ok to sell your book! That's what people want to find.

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P.S. Can I offer you something in turquoise?

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Hey Eliezer,

Watch this for ideas on promoting your book… :P

spiral out,
Arthur

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Eliezer, I just wrote something promoting your book and posted it here, here, and here.

It seems unlikely that Liz and I will be able to make any of the dates left on your book tour - unfortunately we found out about it just after you did several dates that were close to where we live (Sacramento) and easy to get to. 

Maybe we can meet you in person some other time - where (approximately or exact GPS coordinates if you prefer) do you live?

cheers,
Arthur

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In a parallel thread (in a parallel universe) Gina added a link to an article detailing the untruth of the 100th monkey theory (which Sobel himself acknowledges in his prologue).  I was aware of the untruthiness of the 100th monkey theory, but not in such detail…thanks, Gina!  :)

(And of course, being literally untrue does not affect the zany metaphorical value of the 100th monkey theory…)

cheers,
Arthur

99th Monkey

Thanks Arthur–that was incredibly generous of you–I'm very grateful for your kindness and support–love, Eliezer

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Eliezer: Thanks Arthur–that was incredibly generous of you–I'm very grateful for your kindness and support–love, Eliezer

~

You're welcome – and thank you for writing a great book (I can tell just from the prologue that I'm going to enjoy it).

BTW, Virginia?  Sheesh.  Like that's going to happen…let us know if you are visiting the West Coast again in the future, or maybe our paths will cross elsewhere and elsewhen - e.g. Liz and I (and our fabulous co-moderator Juliee as well) are going to be visiting Boulder a couple of times next year while we're doing the Masters Integral Psychotherapy Practicum. 

Hmm.  Have you spoken with the Boulder Center for Integral Living people?  It would be great to see an event happen with you at BCIL during one of our visits.  (Note to kosmos: I'm sending this intention off in a pink bubble.  Activate Law of Attraction.)

spiral out,
Arthur

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Lyall Watson himself, the scientist who first brought forth the 100th Monkey idea, and who died last spring, was challenged at one point about its truthfulness and he replied, “Well, even if I DID make it up, it's still a great idea!”

99th Monkey

  I live in Richmond, Virginia….

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Hi Eliezer

Good to see you here.

Just a point of protocol - please don't change the thread title as it gets confusing trying to keep track of conversations.

Julie
(with mod hat on)

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Looks like I just ordered the last Amazon copy!

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I tried to order that copy, but they were going to charge $21.50 just to mail it here….. dangit….maybe I'll come down to SoCal and read it at your place Mary!

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Jane,

Come on down and we'll read it at the beach!   :)  :)  :)

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maryw: Looks like I just ordered the last Amazon copy!

~

No way - I just went to Amazon and they still have copies…we orderered our book days ago anyway, so we're covered.  :)

BTW, Mary, Eliezer is doing a book tour stop in San Diego on the 29th…

cheers,
Arthur

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sorry I didn't know about the book tour sooner - I let Arthur know the day I happened to spot it on Facebook, but unfortunately it was already underway.  I'm glad people are getting turned on to the book, though.  Thanks, Arthur, for being so thorough with connecting people to it!

Diane

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Arthur: No way - I just went to Amazon and they still have copies

 ————-

Oh good – glad to hear that I didn't take the last piece of the pie ….
(but when I purchased the book at 3:30 or so this morning Amazon said there was only 1 left in stock ….. either they replace stock quickly or they know that “get 'em while they're here” is a good sales technique …)

Kirk and I will be going on vacation in mid- November and it sounds like a great book to read while traveling.

Maybe I'll catch that book tour stop!

:-)

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Well, Amazon UK had it in stock, my copy arrived this morning. I'm about to go away for a week, so it's coming with me. Oh dear, strangers always give me funny looks when I laugh out loud at books, this might get me in trouble:-)

Liz

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The 99th Monkey is not just for humans anymore!  As you can see, lately it has been making inroads among other primates:




(I originally found this image here, and asked my lovely and talented wife Liz to change the book from “Human Behavior” to the much more entertaining ”The 99th Monkey.”)

spiral out,
Arthur

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I'm really digging Eliezer's account of the long, strange spiritual journey he's been on, very entertaining stuff.  One thing that is missing from this book, though, is a good back-of-book index.  Actually, make that any index whatsoever, a bizarre oversight in my opinion – but then, I'm probably biased, since I write back-of-book indexes – e.g. a couple of R.A.M.'s books plus the recently-published Integral Life Practice. 

A poorly-written index (or, much worse, the complete absence of an index) is a pet-peeve of mine; if a non-fiction book is worth reading at all then it needs to have a good index so that the reader can find any topic in the text easily.  I often base a decision on whether to buy a book on what's covered in the index and I know I'm not the only one.  A good index tells you what the author covers and in how much depth. (“Adi Da” gets four pages, but “jello, novel uses for” is only covered on one page?  WTF!) (By the way, that's a purely hypothetical example.  I am less than 1/3 of the way through the book, so for all I know jello may become a major topic - it's not like I can look it up in the index.)

Geez, this is turning into a bit of a rant, eh?  I only meant to make an aside…(Did I mention that I enjoying this book and highly recommend it?)

In the 99th Monkey, Eliezer skips around a lot – the free-flowing structure of the text is part of the book's charm, but it makes finding any particular reference again particularly difficult.  This book is “organized” in the sense that a sawed-off shotgun is “precise” - which is fine, because that's part of the implicit metanarrative of the book, or something.  But there are quotes and anecdotes in this book that I will want to find again, and without an index it's going to be a lot more difficult to do so.  <sigh>

What is it with authors of books on spirituality, anyway? 

grr.

spiral out,
Arthur

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Wow, that picture actually looks very much like Arthur when he's miffed.

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Hey Everyone!

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Eliezer, in addition to the humor in the 99th Monkey, I appreciate the candor of your reportage.  It's certainly not all sweetness and light in these spiritual circles, is it?  (“spiritual circle-jerks” sometimes seems a more appropriate term.)

I was struck by something you said about your friend Michael Wyman who gave so much love and encouragement to others:

Sadly, at our last meeting, in a restaurant, Michael confessed, in a sober moment, that despite all the workshops and seminars that he had taken as a participant and that he had lead himself, and despite all the people whose lives and hearts he had touched with great love and humor, and who treasured him dearly, the real truth of the matter, he said, was that he had never been truly happy his whole life.  Soon after that lunch I learned of his death.  [at the tragically young age of 55]  - Eliezer Sobel, The 99th Monkey

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Don't throw in the towel, Arthur!  One way to think about it is that happiness is on a continuum, rather than an all-or-nothing state.  So maybe he hadn't been truly happy his whole life, but maybe the work he did helped him more happy/less miserable than if he hadn't done it.

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Eliezer,

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Jane: thanks for the really interesting book!  For me it was a lot more serious than you let on…

~

Yar!  I continue to savor this book slowly, like a fine wine (whine?) – I don't want it to end. 

I dig the seriousness also; I've been meaning to quote a section where he talks about encountering some pretty hard-core inner darkness.  I can relate to this.

Take it away, Eliezer!

Back during the Esalen years, I went through my “inner Nazi” period.  To my utter horror, I discovered “the Hitler within,” and scared myself to death.  Usually fueled by drugs, I came directly into contact with my own potential for evil and a sense of terror and dark foreboding that came with it.

I was leading a workshop at Esalen and a German man named Conrad offered some feedback to me as I stood in front of the group: “You have given us such a vunderful experience of love and light, El-yot, but ven I look into your eyes I see there is also a dark side.”

Thank you for sharing, Conrad.

His words cut right through to that shadow place I had been exploring and was so frightened of, so I had us break for lunch and I went off to eat, feeling pretty shaky.

I carried my lunch tray back to the sunny outdoor eating deck and spotted a table that was empty except for one extremely attractive blonde woman I had never seen before.  I approached and asked if I could join her, and I swear, this complete stranger looked up at me and said, “This fear you've been experiencing lately of your shadow has to do with the fact that in your last life you went out on the dark side.”  My mouth dropped open in astonishment.  Her name was Samantha, and she was a psychic.  A very good one, I thought.

So I began to wonder if i had been a Nazi in a past life.  Even though most mainstream American Jews never hear anything about it, there actually is a belief in reincarnation built into traditional Judaism, usually referred to as transmigration.  But unlike the Buddhist doctrine of reincarnation, which implies literally countless rebirths in all different forms, including animals, the Jewish idea, from what I can gather, seems to limit one's chances to a finite number of lives, and all of them as a Jew.  I asked the rabbi I was studying with in Israel if it was at all possible I could have been a Nazi in a previous life.

This is what he said: No, but maybe you were a Sonderkommando.”

Sonderkommandos were those Jews who tried to increase their chances of survival by working for the Nazis, doing odd jobs, like depositing the bodies of their fellow Jews in the crematorium using a pitchfork.  It was a temp job, since they would eventually suffer the same fate.

In hopes of coming to some peace about all this, on my way home from Israel I stopped in Munich, in order to pay a visit to Dachau.  While there, I stood before one of the memorials and put on a yarmulke and recited the Mourner's Kaddish in honor of all who died in the Holocaust.  It felt like a dramatic and courageous act for me to be publicly, visibly Jewish, a Jew at prayer, in Dachau…

In the Dachau museum there is a huge wall-sized photograph of a pile of dead bodies.  As I watched in horror, two young Aryan-looking, rosy-cheeked fellows took turns posing in front of the photograph for shapshots, smiling and flaunting a thumbs-up proudly in the air.

I saw them sign the guestbook as they were leaving the museum, and went over to read what they wrote: “S.O.G.: The Sons of God.”

- Eliezer Sobel, The 99th Monkey, pp 209-210

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I'm in the middle of this book right now – savoring it greatly! Thanks, Eliezer!

To both the darkness and the light,

Mary (who regrets not being able to make it to that San Diego book-tour stop)