Not So Big Life
Today I heard Sarah Susanka, of The Not So Big House fame, on the local NPR station's talk show, "The State of Things." I had read her books before, and like many, many people I alternated between marveling at the profound simplicity of her advice ("why build a house with rooms you don't use") and the sheer beauty of her home designs.
While I resonated with her philosophy of making our surroundings conform to our real values, I had no idea she was as spiritually-minded as she had turned out to be. Her latest book, The Not So Big Life, looks like so much of the SKS work: hard-core contemplative philosophy, stripped of its cultural baggage and packaged for a mass audience. As I listened to her on the radio, I thought, "This is classic Vedanta. This is awareness meditation. She might as well be reading Eckhart Tolle on the air." I was surprised she was getting as much traction as she was, with such bona fide spiritual content. There was a small voice inside me griping about how she wasn't citing her sources; it seems untruthful to not acknowledge that these ideas have roots in other places, and didn't just emerge wholly formed from one's own head. But it was a small voice; she would not be the first person to take universal truths and present them as, well, universal.
I called into the show and asked her if she came upon these ideas in the context of a spiritual path. She said that she had, and that she considered herself a "spiritual mutt" because she had explored many spiritual traditions without identifying with any one. (At least, I think that's what she said -- they cut off my phone connnection the moment she started to answer the question, so I missed the first part of her answer.)
Mostly I was just deeply impressed with how well she articulated the ideas, and how she spoke with personal as well as theoretical understanding. I will be very interested to see how well this book does, and how it's received.
While I resonated with her philosophy of making our surroundings conform to our real values, I had no idea she was as spiritually-minded as she had turned out to be. Her latest book, The Not So Big Life, looks like so much of the SKS work: hard-core contemplative philosophy, stripped of its cultural baggage and packaged for a mass audience. As I listened to her on the radio, I thought, "This is classic Vedanta. This is awareness meditation. She might as well be reading Eckhart Tolle on the air." I was surprised she was getting as much traction as she was, with such bona fide spiritual content. There was a small voice inside me griping about how she wasn't citing her sources; it seems untruthful to not acknowledge that these ideas have roots in other places, and didn't just emerge wholly formed from one's own head. But it was a small voice; she would not be the first person to take universal truths and present them as, well, universal.
I called into the show and asked her if she came upon these ideas in the context of a spiritual path. She said that she had, and that she considered herself a "spiritual mutt" because she had explored many spiritual traditions without identifying with any one. (At least, I think that's what she said -- they cut off my phone connnection the moment she started to answer the question, so I missed the first part of her answer.)
Mostly I was just deeply impressed with how well she articulated the ideas, and how she spoke with personal as well as theoretical understanding. I will be very interested to see how well this book does, and how it's received.
Labels: Books, Spirituality
posted by The Thin Man | 11:16 PM
3 Comments:
Dear Thin Man--I am so glad that you called in to the show. I've found that as I begin to air the contents of this book, people are resonating with its message from all kinds of spiritual traditions, as well as just from their own direct experience.
One of the main reasons for not naming the traditions I've learned from is that I have watched as people "tune out" because something said is not of their particular tradition, and so they assume is not for them.
For example, a very dear friend couldn't relate to what I had to say because I used the word "Buddhism". He was a Christian with a strong bias against any of the Eastern traditions. So for him, the door closed on something that I believe could really have helped him at that moment.
Here are the major traditions that have played a part in my development:
Sufism
Zen Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism
Kabbalah (the ancient mystical tradition--not the red string variety)
Christianity (Episcopalian)
Mystical Christianity
Advaita
For what ever reason, I've been taught by teachers who focus first and foremost on what Buddhists would call "No Mind". And in not labeling or attaching to even a tradition, it has freed up these truths derived from all the essential teachings of all ages for a new audience that now recongizes it is time for our own direct experiencing of the truth of who we are.
I hope you'll write on my web site too, (www.notsobiglife.com) and I have a feeling you'll particularly enjoy the last couple of chapters of the book as well.
Thanks so much for your blog, and I hope our paths will cross again some time.
Warmly,
Sarah Susanka
Dear Thin Man--I am so glad that you called in to the show. I've found that as I begin the air the contents of this book, people are resonating with its message from all kinds of spiritual traditions, as well as just from their own direct experience.
One of the main reasons for not naming the traditions I've learned from is that I have watched as people "tune out" because something said is not of their particular tradition. For example, a very dear friend couldn't relate to what I had to say because I used the word "Buddhism". He was a Christian with a strong bias against any of the Eastern traditions. So for him, the door closed on something that I believe could really have helped him at that moment.
Here are the major traditions that have played a part in my development:
Sufism
Zen Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism
Kabbalah (the ancient mystical tradition--not the red string variety)
Christianity (Episcopalian)
Mystical Christianity
Advaita
For what ever reason, I've been taught by teachers who focus first and foremost on what Buddhists would call "No Mind". And in not labeling or attaching to even a tradition, it has freed up these truths from all the essential teachings of all ages for a new audience that now recongizes it is time for our own direct experiencing of the truth of who we are.
I hope you'll write on my web site too, and I have a feeling you'll particularly enjoy the last couple of chapters of Not So Big Life.
Thanks so much for your blog, and I hope our paths will cross again some time.
Warmly,
Sarah Susanka
Sarah,
Thanks for replying to my post! Believe me, I understand the challenge of presenting spiritual ideas in a language that will not cause more confusion. I've spent the last fifteen years working with university students, in an organization called "The Self Knowledge Symposium." Really vanilla name, don't you think? We, too, trafficked in all kinds of mystical traditions, but we tried to keep the religious language to a minimum in order to engage the broadest audience. So I know where your coming from. I'm sure our paths will cross again . . . I have been looking at your site and ordered your book, and will probably have some students read it as well.
Thanks again.
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