The 99th Monkey

One man's spiritual quest—and his continuous and utter failure to find the answers.

Eliezer Sobel is an author, musician, and retreat leader. See full bio

June 19, 2009

Who's The Crazy One???

There was an episode of Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm in which Larry felt it necessary to discontinue therapy as a result of running into his therapist on the beach and seeing him wearing a thong bikini. Not quite as dramatic, last weekend my wife and I pulled into the parking lot at our local pool; Shari went in ahead of me and unwittingly set up our spot right next to the new psychiatrist I had just started seeing, primarily for a meds consult. Read More

June 12, 2009

Suffering, Seeking & Sanity

It's 1976, and I'm speaking to Karen, my partner at the time, bemoaning my lack of commitment to anything. All of my close friends over the years, up to and including my wife, Shari, will attest to the fact that I am a habitual bemoaner. (Be·moan: "To express grief or disappointment about something." In Yiddish, it is translated to "kvetch," which adds the elements of whining and complaining. It could be argued that, depending on my audience, I am both a bemoaner and a kvetcher.) Read More

Books by Eliezer Sobel

The 99th Monkey: A Spiritual Journalist's Misadventures with Gurus, Messiahs, Sex, Psychedelics, and Other Consciousness-Raising Experiments

Minyan: Ten Jewish Men In A World That Is Heartbroken

Wild Heart Dancing

Spirituality Basics

Spirituality means something different to everyone. For some, it's a personal lord, for others a feeling in the wind. Research shows that even skeptics can't stifle the sense something greater. Humans can't help but ask big questions, even if there's no one there to answer them.

Go to the Spirituality Basics page for more on Spirituality including:

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