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Summary: Great Book about an outer/inner journey
Review: I happened upon The Spiritual Tourist at a used bookstore. I was impressed by the writing and the content. I have never met Mick Brown but I like him and I appreciate his objectivity and at the same time his receptivity to the possibility that there is more to life than what we may see or think. I was especially pleased with the chapter on Krishnamurti and the theosophical society. Having read several of Krishnamurti's works, I still find him the "wisest" for lack of a better word spiritual teacher I have ever encountered.
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Summary: Everyones esential spirtual companion
Review: I lucked into a copy of this book and devoured it. I really like Mr.Brown's level-headed approach to this subject and to the many individuals he encountered along the way.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating and level-headed exploration
Review: I lucked into a copy of this book and devoured it. I really like Mr.Brown's level-headed approach to this subject and to the many individuals he encountered along the way.
Rating:
Summary: A Fascinating Tour
Review: In this book, Mick Brown leads the reader on a series of journeys from London to India to Germany and the US in examination of different spiritual teachers and paths. Brown presents all of this in a way that is both entertaining, amusing, and at times touching. He also crams in a huge amount of information which makes some sections a little dense, and some parts of the book tend to jump around in rather unsatisfying transitions back and forth. I have to say that I learned a great deal from this book about a lot of different and interesting beliefs. This left me wanting more and I plan to use the bibliography (alas rather small) to follow up on parts of interest.
What distinguished Brown's book from many other spiritual journey books is his blend of a journalist's skepticism with a real desire for an experience of faith. This mix is one that I personally have experienced often. Is this *the* path? Is this *the* guru or teacher? It is this feeling, coupled with the occasional glimpse of peace and understanding which makes me feel a kinship with Mick Brown when I read this book. I give it five stars for content but minus one star for the awkward style in some places
Rating:
Summary: A colourful intelligent journey led by an enlightened guide.
Review: The Spiritual Tourist's greatest strength is that it is accessible to believer and non-believer alike. Mick Brown is a first-rate story-teller, at times sceptical, but always respectful. A thoroughly enjoyable read which proves difficult to put down. Don't miss it.
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Summary: No Guru. No Method. No Teacher.
Review: THE SPIRITUAL TOURIST: A PERSONAL ODYSSEY THROUGH THE OUTER REACHES OF BELIEF, is a personal chronicle of the author Mick Brown's spiritual peregrinations around the globe searching for...well, just plain searching. The author's search for far-flung spiritual gurus takes him from the peaks of the Himalayas to the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains and all points in between. Though Brown approaches his journey with the skeptical eye of a journalist and is forthright in his opinions, he never writes with condescension towards his subjects and allows the reader to make their own judgment about the spiritual validity of the various gurus encountered in his journey. As the title of the book indicates, Brown journeyed as an observer; I don't think he expected to find THE spiritual truth and I suppose in doing that, he indeed discovered a spiritual truth: truth will find you.
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Summary: Fine description of inner/outer spiritual travels
Review: There is a lot to like about this book, as discussed below. The author is a journalist who decides to seek spiritual awareness by becoming a "spiritual tourist." He travels to a number of countries and tries to get at the truth of many different teachings and teachers, by directly encountering their homebases and their teachings, and even the teachers themselves, when possible. One of the best aspects of the book are not only the descriptions of the outer experiences of the author, who is clearly a fine writer of travelogues, but perhaps more importantly, his inner experiences, which are depicted with great candor and clarity. Finally, in each chapter the reader is given more than adequate background for each spiritual teaching and/or teacher, which often compliment the author's experiences. The book starts with the author's encounters with Benjamin Creme, who for more than 20 years has been telling the world that the Matreiya's appearance is imminent. The author seems to like Creme, but rightfully so comes away very skeptical about the latter's teachings, since clearly the World Teacher has not "appeared" yet. The author's travels in India comprise the vast majority of the book. He visits many ashrams, such as Sri Aurobindo's and Sai Baba's. The narrative of what the author experiences at the latter's ashram are the best in the book, in my opinion. The author very candidly describes the rigidity of the atmosphere inside the ashram, while contrasting that with the circus-like atmosphere of the world outside of the compound, where many vendors hawk goods and lure customers by repeating Sai Baba's name, like a mantra. Mr. Brown comes away from the Sai Baba experience disappointed, not only by its weirdness, but because the Master ignores him when he gets close enough to offer Sai Baba a imploring letter asking for "salvation," whatever it is that the Master can offer! My only real criticism of this fine book is that the author, while to his credit attempting to cram a lot of material about many different spiritual paths and teachers into a limited number of chapters, sometimes puts too much info in one chapter, and in some chapters there is simply too much for the reader. The chapter about the history of the Theosophical Society, which he overdetails in a discussion mainly about Krishnamurti, himself once proclaimed "World Teacher," has way too much information. Even though I am very familiar with this history, I feel that he is trying to cover too much in one chapter. I recommend this book for its honesty, objectivity, and marvelous descriptions of places and experiences. The bibliography is also an excellent reference list for the spiritually curious. Yet I wonder if the author really "got it" as he seems to claim at the end of the book - that it doesn't really matter where you travel on the outside, it's the inner that you need to stay grounded in.
Rating: 
Summary: Sometimes entertaining but spiritually barren
Review: There is perhaps no bigger waste of time than reading about spirituality from a journalist with little serious interest in his subject. I can't blame the author who admits in the title that he is just a "tourist" in the spiritual realm and I am not against some healthy skepticism in approaching this subject, but it seems to do this subject justice you must actually live, not just visit, the spiritual path with some sincerity for some time in order to recommend or criticize. Without a doubt some of the teachers and gurus he visits are easy marks for some cheap shots, but that's what they feel like -- cheap shots done for the sake of entertainment, not insightfulness. The amount of time spent on Theosophy and Mr.Creme is baffling given their relevant lack of importance today.
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Summary: This is high work, that is also a great read.
Review: This is high work, that is also a great read. Mick Brown takes us from suburban London to arcane areas of India, with side-trips to the USA, Germany and Scotland as he attempts to come to terms with his own shifting, gradually growing, spiritual perspectives. What is especially refreshing is Brown's air of uncertainty in a world populated by wide-eyed, gullible cosmic spivs who you would cross the Ganges to avoid. As well as being rather profound, The Spiritual Tourist is a very funny book.
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Summary: A down to earth approach for linking sceptics to mystics.
Review: When a "spiritual tourist" wanders along your path and you are open to spiritual discovery, you wander along with him for a while. Mick Brown takes what is human in all of us, question, and uses it a as tool to understanding. Too many books on the subject of spiritual discovery are 'preachy' and tend to distance the novice spiritualist. Mick's book is descriptive, informative, and laced with sceptical humor. This book is truely a journey, and I doubt that a man with so much background knowledge into so many spiritual leaders, is just a tourist. This book is written by an insightful, spirtual human being.
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