That done, Burkeman introduces the negative path by considering the Stoics and their commitment to rationally endure anything, knowing it could be worse. He relates not only what these past philosphers wrote and lived, but also interviews a modern Stoic in the person of Albert Ellis at age 93, in the final months of his life.
![[book cover]](burkeman.gif)
Next Burkeman examines Buddhism, a psychology that posits attachment as the source of suffering. Positive thinking certainly is a form of attachment and desire. So Buddhism must inherently be non-attached and included on the negative path.
But when Burkeman took on psychology pioneer Shoma Morita and his Buddhist-derived therapy, I saw journalistic superficiality shining through. I know Morita fairly well. His psychology is much more than transcending fickle emotions as in "feel the fear and do it anyway."
And when he goes to that contemporary popularizer of Buddhism (or the dumbed-down version), Eckhardt Tolle, we get little more than hotel journalism: Fly to Vancouver, take an afternoon visit with Mr. Tolle in his apartment, describe the man in person, fold in some key concepts (there is no self), then leave.
Burkeman concludes his odyssey seeking out first-hand experience on the Day of the Dead in Mexico in situ. At first, repulsed as intrusive by participants, his effort was partly successful, as the "negative path" winds up in a graveyard.
Read Charlie Dickinson's
story collection, The Cat
at Light's End, as an ebook in these downloadable
formats:
.mobi
(Kindle)
.epub (most other readers)
.pdf (for PCs)
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