Shapiro - Holy rascals: advice for spiritual revolutionaries

About the Author

I was born of a human mother on April 26, 1951. My mother was born of a mother from the same species some twenty-one years earlier. My mothers mother has a similar origin, and this goes back awhile until we get to my great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great great grandmother, who was an ape. She too came from a mother, and as best I can tell, it is mothers all the way down to the original Virgin Birth: the Big Bang some 13.8 billion years ago.

Im a late bloomer and didnt do much for most of these 13.8 billion years, but in the last four decades I managed to earn rabbinic ordination from Hebrew Union College and a PhD from Union Graduate School, create a synagogue, work as a management consultant for Fortune 500 companies, teach Comparative Religion at Middle Tennessee State University, author the Roadside Assistance for the Spiritual Traveler column for Spirituality & Health magazine, host the magazines weekly podcast, Essential Conversations with Rabbi Rami, found the One River Foundation, get initiated into the Ramakrishna Order of Vedanta Hinduism, and publish some thirty or so books. Today I am a freelance holy rascal making my living writing and talking. I know, I cant believe it either.

Acknowledgments

Like raising a child, it takes a village to write a book. When contemplating the writing of this book I expected to return to the same village I hired to raise my son, a small hamlet in darkest Nova Scotia, but they were busy and said that raising a boy and writing a book are two very different enterprises, and so they passed on my offer. My second choice, and one most amenable to the writing of this book, was the village of Sounds True. Let me tell you why.

First, the dogs. The village of Sounds True is not simply dog friendly, but dog dominated. You cant tell whether the people bring their canine friends to work or it is the canines who bring their human friends to work. In either case, if you ever go to visit, dont wear black.

Second, the people. Maybe its the dogs, maybe its the mountains, maybe its something in the water, but the people at Sounds True are so kind, generous, and loving that after only a short visit I wanted to work there. Well, not work exactly, just sort of hang out like the dogs with my own mat and water bowl.

It was my agent, Scott Edelstein, who convinced Sounds True to take me on. This is Scotts fifth project with me. The first four are in Polish, so you may not have seen them. In any case, thanks, Scott. And thanks as well to Jennifer Brown, who was brave enough to acquire the book for Sounds True.

My son Aaron was my first reader. As a professor of writing and literature, he helped me with the former and continually reminded me that this was not even close to the latter. Thanks, boy.

My book editor at Sounds True was Gretel Hakanson. Im not sure she or the Sounds True family knew what to expect from this book. But she and they were open to almost anything. Gretel did a marvelous job making this book as playful in form as print allows. I am grateful for her creativity, skill, rascality, and willingness to play along.

This book has a companion audio program. Mitchell Clute was the editor of my nine-hour stream-of-consciousness dive into the wilds of religion and holy rascality. He just had me sit in a stuffed chair covered in dog hair (yes, I wore black!), fitted me with headphones and a mic, and told me to start talking. He trusted the universe that something worth listening to would come out of these sessions. I trusted him to help the universe along. This book is not a transcript of the audio series, so feel free to purchase both without fear that you are acting redundantly.

Lastly, a few words about Sounds Trues founder and publisher, Tami Simon. She is a woman of deep wisdom and integrity who has managed to create a company that mirrors her values. I have known Tami for a long time and have yearned to publish with Sounds True even longer. It took me two decades to finally come up with an idea she found compelling. Ive forgotten what it is, but the fact that she agreed to publish this project proves that if you are willing to wave your arms like an inflatable air dancer for decades, you too might at last have a chance to say, I publish with Sounds True. Now if someone would plug me back in, Id like to pitch her on another idea.

Rami Shapiro gets the real secret of religions: at their very heart, the best of them are meant to free us from dogma itself. Here are some great ways of thinking hard, laughing loud, and breaking free that should make any readernave believer or cynical outsiderinto a spiritual revolutionary.

DOUGLAS RUSHKOFF

author of Nothing Sacred: The Truth About Judaism

Why did Bodhidharma come from the West? To borrow my copy of this book.

Kung Pao author of Take No Chances

Wake up! Buckle your seat belt. Be prepared for a raucous ride into the future. With his wit, creative use of language, and a twinkle in his eyes, Rabbi Rami gives name and voice to a movement that has been brewing for a long time. Holy Rascals delights and challenges us to open our thinking while we laugh at our own foolishness and gain wisdom in the process. This reverent/irreverent book is filled with practices and memorable stories that support those of us who know we are subversive holy rascals as well as those who will recognize that they too are a member of this tribe. Highly recommended!

KAY LINDAHL

author of The Sacred Art of Listening

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