'What Is Wrong With Right Now Unless You Think About It?' By 'Sailor' Bob Adamson
'What is wrong with right now' makes for an interesting and deep reading - this is a book that will certainly make you stop and reconsider the way you're going about life.
The book is structured as a series of questions from learners and the answers from the author.
Just an idea
'What is wrong with right now' revolves around the question 'Who am I?'. The main concept of the book is that the 'I' is just an idea:
"[...] ask yourself who is this 'me' that is giving it value? Until it comes up that you see that this 'me' is only an idea. Where is the centre? Where does this so-called me start?"
Furthermore, all of our problems come from believing that the idea of 'I' that each of us have is actually what we are.
We then judge and label everything ('pleasant', 'bad', 'difficult', etc) according to whatever we have decided that this 'I' is, and that's where the problems start:
"That is so because the very idea of 'me' separates 'me' from 'other than me' or 'non-me'. Separation is isolation; it is loneliness; it is fear; it is insecurity; it is vulnerability. This is what we continually do. We separate, and we continually search for wholeness or security or happiness."
Whereas 'What is wrong with right now' states that everything is all right, and the 'I' is just an invention, you may find that other books stress the importance of oneself or propose personal affirmations involving 'I'.
Actually, both points of view are possible at the same time. I have a friend who says that the idea of 'I' is like a drug: we have invented it and we use it because it works.
This book will help you to realize that the 'I' is a construct that you may need to use at times - and you can also transcend it and live life from a different perspective.
Photo: Thanks to Andrea Piacquadio | Pexel.com
Key ideas
Some of the key ideas of 'What is wrong with right now' are challenging and may make you stop and reconsider your beliefs:
What is a thought?
Everything is simply first-hand experience - a registering of what's going on, an awareness, a presence. Thoughts come afterwards.
Our mind is just a tool; it's not who we really are. This idea is very well summarized in the preface of the book, but I think that you may understand it better after having read the whole book.
"The answer is not in the mind". Stop searching!
There is a way to deal with the internal chatter of thoughts: by just observing it without giving it value or putting emotional energy in the thoughts, the chatter will die.
Photo: Thanks Steve Johnson | Pexel.com
In practical terms
So how can we benefit in our daily lives from knowing that the 'I' is just an idea? The author says:
"If there is alertness there, if that awareness is acutely alert, then when the tricks start to come up, you see them."
By being aware of the construct 'I' we can then be less emotionally affected by what we think, and therefore more free.
After reading 'What is wrong with right now' you may realize that suffering is not needed, since suffering comes from the limited view of the world that your invented 'I' has. You don't need to hold on to it.
Follow this link to buy your copy of this book in Amazon.
"Everything is relative to 'me'. It is good, bad, pleasant, painful according to what the 'me' thinks about it or what idea it has about it. See that the thought is not the real. Then, how can you ever believe in it again?" - 'Sailor' Bob Adamson
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Important: the fact that I've partnered with Amazon doesn't affect the review above. This review is simply my views of the book, and I write it in order to help you make a more informed choice.