Midnights with the Mystic: A Little Guide to Freedom and Bliss

I waited with tremendous anticipation the arrival of this work from Amazon, for 2 auspicious reasons: 1.) I was eager to learn what this newly discovered (newly discovered by me, anyway) master had to say and 2.) this book was endorsed by Neale Donald Walsch, one of my favorite spiritual authors, which for me - speaks volumes. Suffice it to say, I'm more than a little disappointed - not so much with what Sadhguru said, as he did in fact present some familiar themes from a fresh perspective, but with some irregularities that were so glaring as to detract appreciably from the overall impact this work could have had.Although rather petty, I will point out that there were about 4 or 5 sentences throughout the book that were so poorly constructed as to be mis-constructed; meaning they made absolutely no sense. I'm sure this was merely an editing problem, but it was careless none-the-less.More to the point, the inconsistencies I found were substantial. To wit: The author reports that she had been on a spiritual quest for about 30 years including forays into meditation and yoga. Later in the book, in what would be the present day narrative, Ms. Simone indicates that she had no idea what a chakra was/is. Mind you - I have been on a spiritual quest for about 5 years and even I knew what a chakra was many years ago, and this is without benefit of any instruction (formally or otherwise) into any of the yogic or meditative traditions. Curious.....Next; I'm sincerely confused as to the purported state of enlightenment of Sadhguru especially with regard to his last 2 or 3 lifetimes. I understood that this was his first lifetime as a completely liberated being, yet I clearly remember it stated that Sadhguru's last 2 or 3 lifetimes were as an enlightened being. Which is it?Through-out the early portions of this piece, Cheryl indicates her frustration with not having a real, existential hook to hang her spiritual hat on. That is: she laments the problem of lacking a real, mystical/spiritual experience, which I can certainly appreciate as I have yet to have something "concrete" to refer to as well. Yet again, later in the book the reader is regaled with a tale - as a discursive aside while in the middle of a midnight talk with Sadhguru - about an encounter she had at the age of 22 (that is several decades ago in this point of the story) with the "window" known as Ram Dass, wherein she reports sitting with him and watching his entire visage change repeatedly from one form to another and another. She questions Mr. Dass about this and his cavalier response was, "Is it freaking you out?" Well, this may be a very subjective point, but I would certainly include this incident as a bona fide existential kick in the Gluteus Maximus.Finally the woman named "Bengali Ma" is shown a picture of Sadhguru, during a communal trek up a mountain in India, (amongst the trekker's are the author and Sadguru) whereupon she says something to the effect that this person (Sadhguru) is no longer here, that he went home long ago. As Cheryl discusses this particular instance during a midnight conversation in an attempt to discover it's meaning from Sadhguru, he laughs and says to the effect "That's funny, Bengali Ma says I shouldn't be here......) Within the context of the encounter as reported by the author, Bengali Ma never says this, she directly states that this being - Sadhguru - has gone home long ago; not, repeat not, that he "shouldn't be here." This inconsistency I found to be particularly onerous.For me these disparities cast a pall over the entire work. Therefore, I'm going to purchase one of Sadhguru's books in an attempt to get a better understanding of his teachings as I found this piece wanting. A disappointing 2 stars today.

I should first say that I am not a student of Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, the Indian guru (or 'mystic') featured in this book, but I am an avid pupil of all sorts of Eastern teachings, and so the foundation of the material covered here was familiar. I loved this book because Sadhguru teaches in a very class Indian yogic style and context, but is really working to make the material and practices relevant and accessible to a contemporary Western audience, without watering down the material to the point of it having no value. I thought it was a compelling read, and while some of the conversations might have started out as familiar material, many went in a direction I didn't expect.Cheryl Simone, the author, first recounts a bit about her own spiritual background, and the impasse of sorts that she had come to in her own life when she first met Sadhguru. Then most of the book is a recounting of conversations she had with him when he rested at her home on a lake in Tennessee for a few days between cities on a U.S. teaching tour (most occurred at night, hence the 'midnights'.) The topics are wide-ranging and cover most areas of life - relationships, career, money - and spiritual practice - plateaus, the teacher/student relationship, his take on karma, the age we live in, etc. Sadhguru also recounts some of his own past lives and karmas, and of course for people not comfortable with reincarnation, that will be quite a stretch. I noticed some reviewers said they found nothing new here, or felt it was too basic, but I thought some of the sections on energy structures, and how they relate to the modern world, were really very esoteric and unique.In general, an enlightening, fun read for anyone interested in and open to Eastern teachings. And you don't need to be looking for a 'guru' or a student of this one to appreciate it.

This book is a very easy read. Although it is a somewhat amateurish attempt at wrapping the ideas presented in it around something of a story line, there is absolutely no denying the fact that generous gems are packaged inside. There are some startling notions in it that make perfect sense; ideas which one would be ordinarily discouraged from entertaining by either the moralistic or the I'm-ok-you're-ok feel-good social structures (both equally inadequate), and ideas that casually digress from the tenets of organized religion not with fanfare but with refreshing logic.One declaration, on page 193, particularly touched a chord inside me, albeit the hollow note of deep consternation: "... life around you will respond and create itself to match the way you are and not the way you or the people around you think you are. What you think about yourself is existentially irrelevant". It made me ask myself: If I am something different than who I think I am then who am I? And what am I creating around me?The book also discusses in a very straightforward, no-frills fashion phenomena regarding life and death. The low-histrionics manner somehow lends credence to this murky realm and makes me want to investigate more. This is an introduction to yoga that is definitely not what one usually understands by that word. No, the book isn't about yoga (as I perceived it) or about God, nor is it New Age-y; actually I couldn't quite make up my mind as to what it is really about. But if you are looking for some straight talk, beyond what is advocated by conventional wisdom, I would venture to say that this is more than likely to catch your attention, if not challenge any comfortable notions of what is or is not.On a lighter note let me add that it has so many interesting anecdotes in it that, if nothing else, it cannot fail to brighten an afternoon browse!

Absolutely loved this book. Must read to anyone who follows Sadhguru or is on a spiritual path or even just someone wanting to understand more about life.

Cheryl asks the kind of questions that have been on my mind as well for a long time. Excellent book to expand your wisdom, and a pleasurable read.

This book contains some wonderful nuggets of wisdom. I've reread it several times.

L'auteur nous fait partager son expérience inouïe d'avoir rencontré puis reçu chez elle aux Etats-Unis un grand Maître Spirituel Indien et nous fait vivre ces moments et conversations partagés. Ce livre nous permet d'accéder à l'histoire de la vie d'un grand mystique et de rendre très accessibles ses enseignements profonds et pragmatiques. C'est aussi une réflexion sur la quête spirituelle au travers d'expériences de vie et de dialogues vivants. Le lecteur peut aisément s'identifier à l'auteur dans sa quête spirituelle et qui a l'opportunité de poser toutes ces questions à ce grand mystique surprenant, plein de vie et d'enthousiasme, d'humour, à la fois si proche et appartenant à un autre monde. Un vive incitation à découvrir plus sur Sadhguru et une incitation aussi à une introspection et un questionnement profonds.

Wow magnifique livre qui t'emmène en voyage tout du long voyage que tu as encore plus e.vie de poursuivre malgré la fin du livre 🥰❤️