Steven Harrison
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Steven Harrison is an author and international speaker best known for his works on spirituality and consciousness. He is best known for his seminal book Doing Nothing: Coming to the End of the Spiritual Search, in which he encourages his readers to live in a “present without practices.”
Contents |
[edit] Doing Nothing
Harrison’s spiritual development was described in an article in the Taos News:
“In pain, disillusioned by the social and political turmoil in America in the 1970s, Harrison dropped out of an Ivy League university and set off to find enlightenment. ‘I sought out every mystic, seer and magician I could find throughout the world. I subjected myself to severe austerities, long periods of isolation and meditation. I studied the world's philosophies and religions. I danced with the Sufis, sat with the Buddhists, chanted with the Hindus.’
“For 25 years he was a student and teacher of all he discovered – ‘and, it was all useless,’ he said.” [1]
As a result of this search, Harrison wrote Doing Nothing in 1997, in which he describes a “post-spiritual” life without religious practices or concepts. In Doing Nothing and in subsequent books, he tells readers to eliminate false dichotomies such as the self/other and to recognize the present as just another concept. This philosophy is best categorized as nondualist.
[edit] International Dialogs
Harrison frequently conducts dialogues throughout the world. These are usually spontaneous and unstructured, but they all share Harrison’s deconstruction of existing belief systems. They have taken place in locations as diverse as India, South Africa, and Amsterdam.
[edit] Educational Causes
Harrison is a founder of All Together Now International, a charitable organization that provides aid to street children in Nepal and Tibet. An advocate of alternative education, he is also a founder of The Living School, a learning community in Boulder, Colorado, where children are encouraged to follow their inner curiosity rather than an established curriculum. The proceeds from his books are donated to these causes.
[edit] Videography
- Just As It Is: Conversations with a Contemporary Mystic ISBN 0-9710786-6-1
- The Human Potential: Living in the Quantum Reality ISBN 1-59181-022-1
[edit] Audio
- Self-Deception and the Fires of Transformation ISBN 1-59181-030-2
- Beyond Consciousness: Ordinary Spirituality ISBN 1-59181-013-2
- The Risk of Creativity: Dialogs in Amsterdam with Steven Harrison ISBN 978-1-59181-067-4
- The Moment of Discovery ISBN 1-59181-004-3
- Are We Aware Yet?
- A Conversation with Steven Harrison: Paradox, Illusion, and the Post-Spiritual Inquiry
[edit] Bibliography
- Doing Nothing: Coming to the End of the Spiritual Search ISBN 978-1-59181-068-1
- Getting to Where You Are: The Life of Meditation ISBN 978-1-59181-006-3
- The Question to Life’s Answers: Spirituality Beyond Belief ISBN 0-9710786-0-2
- Being One: Finding Your Self in Relationship ISBN 0-9710786-5-3
- The Happy Child: Changing the Heart of Education ISBN 978-1-59181-000-1
- What’s Next After Now?: Post-Spirituality and the Creative Life ISBN 978-1-59181-034-6
- The Shimmering World: Living Meditation ISBN 978-1-59181-066-7
[edit] References
- ^ Review of Doing Nothing by Phaedra Greenwood, Taos News, 1998.
