Esalen

February 12, 2007
Many readers will probably not have heard of Esalen—but that doesn't mean they won't find its history fascinating. Esalen is a legendary sacred place, but legendary among the privileged few like Aldous Huxley, Henry Miller and Joseph Campbell, for whom Esalen was a spiritual playground. Kripal, a professor of religious studies at Rice University, tells the story of this beautiful retreat in California's Big Sur region—its history at once sexy, salacious, intellectual and political—with reverence and playfulness, alternating between the hushed tones of awe and the glee of partaking in Esalen's infamous sinful delights. The community itself, Kripal explains, is centered around the idea of a "religion of no religion," which provides "a kind of American Mystical Constitution" for its visitors and "a spiritual space where almost any religious form can flourish." Kripal jumps among a wide range of historical moments, from Esalen's alleged relationship to the collapse of the Soviet Union to the idea of the disembodied erotic. Readers shouldn't be scared off by the book's heft. Kripal is an engaging storyteller, Esalen a worthy subject (a kind of Us Weekly
for the discerning intellectual), and it's as easy to jump from the introduction to chapter 14 as it is to continue in order.

March 1, 2007
California's Esalen Institute is a center for alternative and experiential education that teaches that detachment is a universal impossibility. Founded in 1962 as a forum to new ways beyond mainstream academia, it avoids dogmatism of a single idea and instead embraces a wide range of philosophies, religious disciplines, and psychological techniques. In this history of the institute, readers will take a spellbinding journey through art, pop psychology, Tantric sex, Cold War physics, psychedelic drugs, and, of course, religion. Kripal (religious studies, Rice Univ.; "Serpent's Gift") becomes a raconteur of stories involving a cast of charactersfrom folk singer Joan Baez and Gonzo journalist Hunter Thompson to gay bathers, Hell's Angels, and others attracted to the coast of California's Big Sur country. Kripal explains the institute's mixing of popular and political culture with the transformative spiritual practices of humanistic alternative education; its embodiment of East/West philosophies and dedication to the continual exploration of human potential. Upon finishing this book, readers will feel compelled to visit this remarkable place, where all are accepted. Compare with Walter Truett Anderson's "The Upstart Spring: Esalen and the Human Potential Movement"; for religious studies and academic collections.L. Kriz, West Des Moines P.L., IA

Copyright 2007 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.