Tom Quinn's Reviews > The Divine Within: Selected Writings on Enlightenment

28 essays by an intellectual giant of an author, which I read one a day as a sort of daily meditation practice to try and open myself up spiritually and lessen my cynicism.

I knew of Huxley's mystic bent from The Doors of Perception, a book I once used gleefully to justify my own young adult dabbling in psychedelics and heavy pot use. So I expected a lot more wild stuff in this collection, and was surprised to find instead largely traditional, even orthodox beliefs expressed here. Several essays were straight Christian theology complete with quotes from the Bible and various saints. Now that took me aback. I guess when they said Huxley was open to enlightenment from any source they meant it. Here's a guy who went from stringent atheist to Eastern Shamanism and didn't outright reject anything in between or along the way. Some of the parallels he draws between Zen and Catholicism are very thought-provoking, but in the end I didn't get the flash of illumination I had hoped for by considering Huxley's writing here. Some insightful observations, some prudent advice, some grand and uplifting comments about mankind and meaning, yes—and all in Huxley's highbrow writing style. But no dazzling mystic revelation when all is said and done.

3 stars out of 5. Classy and impressive writing, but much preachier than I'd anticipated.