How to Be a Spiritual Rebel: A Dogma-Free Guide to Breaking All the Rules and Finding Fearless Freedom

Some books require a lengthy review to give potential readers insight into what they're getting. Others need the author's history explained just to provide context before even discussing the book itself.  Then you get How to Be a Spiritual Rebel which has in its marketing materials the idea that "[mindfulness] is all wonderful - until the fears and doubts sneak back in." Sure enough, delving into the text of Jac O'Keeffe's book reveals her feeling that mindfulness just isn't the answer and that she's cracked the code through her own spiritual journey. This reader's first thought is "she needs to meditate better." Which is a ridiculous thing to say, of course!, but then so is O'Keeffe's glib dismissal of such a foundational spiritual practice in the service of her new and improved methods for relieving anxiety, fear, depression and the like.

The best use-case for How to Be a Spiritual Rebel is for the reader to be someone who has tried various mindfulness techniques and found them all to be a bit too ambiguous or far-fetched to be grasped. If that's you, you have a sister in Jac O'Keeffe and her fresh take on ways to set yourself free from what ails you could be exactly what you need. Otherwise, I can't say that this book needs your attention.

~ review by Patricia Mullen

Author:  Jac O'Keeffe
Non-Duality Press, 2019
pp. 160, $13.99