Murphy's Laws of the Inner Life

Book excerpt: In his 40-year quest for truth and inner peace, Michael Murphy ranges from a Roman Catholic seminary in New York to a Shiva temple in Southern India. He rises to a respected position in an international meditation organization while living a double life in which he explores numerous other teachers and paths. Through it all he struggles with one of the greatest tests (and teachers) on the path of the seeker: living in intimate relationship with another human being. This book is more than a spiritual memoir, however. In writing it Murphy, who has taught writing for a decade, explores a new method for using writing itself as a technique for spiritual unfoldment. He details this technique in his introduction and offers the rest of the book as a model for those who wish to uncover their own deepest truths through the writing process. His own deepest truths-uncovered through this process-punctuate the chapters as "Murphy's Laws."