The Surrender Experiment - Book Summary
“We are not responsible for even the tiniest fraction of what is manifesting around us. Nonetheless, we walk around constantly trying to control and determine what will happen in our lives. No wonder there’s so much tension, anxiety, and fear. Each of us actually believes that things should be the way we want them, instead of being the natural result of all the forces of creation.”
The Surrender Experiment is a book that chronicles Michael A. Singer's life journey and the choices he made. It's a true hero's journey that is deeply rooted in spirituality, with surrendering to what happens and recognizing its impermanence being the core concept behind the author's philosophy. In his twenties, Singer became fascinated by the power of meditation and decided to fully embrace this belief, which had a significant positive impact on his well-being.
In the first part of his book, Michael A. Singer takes us through his journey of self-discovery and realization that true well-being can only be attained from within. During this phase, the author embarks on a quest for solitude by traveling with his van and living in various natural locations. He spends a significant amount of time meditating and focusing on his breath, seeking answers to the questions that plague his mind while attempting to shut the “voice in the head” full of distorted and unenlightened thoughts. The author's desire for introspection and self-discovery is in direct conflict with his previous social identity as a son, graduate student, and friend. He describes the inner struggle he faced between his yearning for enlightenment and the weight of his external identity that he had built in the world until that point.
Michael was feeling tension and an overwhelming urge to seek inner freedom. To achieve this, he decided to conduct an experiment called 'the surrender experiment'. The aim was to learn how to conduct life and make decisions. The rules of the experiment were simple: Michael would accept whatever happened in his life, surrendering to it, and letting go of all the mind chatter that his previous self would mindlessly bring up. This new approach towards the flow of life brought Michael to incredible places, in a remarkable journey with one core thread in common: being of service to others. Initially, Michael would seek solitude and feel deranged and annoyed by interacting with other people who would get in his way of seeking awakening. But surrendering to the flow of life's events filled him with activities in service of others. He started a small temple (which would later become The Temple of the Universe), taught mindfulness concepts to university students, and started a construction company building establishments for the whole county and beyond.
One of the most remarkable events in Michael's professional life was the establishment of one of the world's first software companies. In the early days of the internet, Michael stumbled upon one of the first computers, which sparked his interest in programming. He began building what would eventually become a huge software company, which was later acquired for a large sum of money in the early 2000s. However, allegations of securities fraud were brought against Michael in the 2010s, which created significant problems for him. Nonetheless, he was found innocent of the charges in later years.
The book provides a precise narration of Michael's life story, interwoven with profound spiritual insights and teachings. The reader can learn from the book the power of fully surrendering to life's flow of events, accepting them instead of resisting.
“The more I let go, the freer I became. It was not my responsibility to find what was binding me; that was life’s job. My responsibility was to willingly let go of whatever was brought up within me.”
