Roadsigns: Navigating Your Path to Spiritual Happiness

Philip Goldberg writes with the depth of a spiritual sojourner who has wrestled with the tough issues, and wants to share his wealth of knowledge. His metaphor of the road trip, with its twists and turns, confusions and changes is perfect for the spiritual path. He not only includes his own stories and those of others, making it a touching and personal sharing, but also deals directly with the difficulties of being a spiritual seeker. His ability to draw from many different traditions to punctuate and expand on his ideas creates an eclectic yet coherent, joyful and fulfilling guide book. At the same time, his humor, humility and encouragement will make anyone on the quest, whether a newbie or oldtimer, want to go further and deeper. I highly recommend it!

Philip Goldberg is an underappreciated writer in the field of spirituality and self-help. The classic path to success in this department seems to be to produce one hit book by make flashy claims (e.g., "Perfect Health," "How to Know God") or coining a super-catchy title ("Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus," "Chicken Soup for the Soul"), and then write essentially the same book over and over as long as the public will buy it. Goldberg doesn't do that. Over the years, whether solo or in collaboration with others, he's produced a long string of books like "The Intuitive Edge" and "Getting Out of Your Own Way" which actually offer useful information and do-able exercises, and which all bear the stamp of his common sense and warm sense of humor. "Roadsigns" is, in my opinion, his best yet. This is really a travel guide in the fullest sense, like a guidebook to Italy written by an old hand who's been going to Venice and Florence for years and can tell you which hotels are a bargain, which attractions are tourist traps, and how to keep from having your wallet stolen. If I were going to re-title it, I would call it "Everything I Wish I Had Known About Traveling the Spiritual Path 30 Years Ago." If I'd had any sense then of the way things REALLY work with regard to any number of subtopics (finding the balance between overachieving and laziness, avoiding spiritual envy and spiritual narcissism, the real deal on gurus, the place of sex in spiritual development, etc.), I could have saved myself a lot of wear and tear. Being on the spiritual path means shooting for the infinite - whether you call it God, Buddha-nature, or whatever - and such an enterprise naturally tends to give rise to fanaticism, delusions of grandeur (or worthlessness), and confusion about how to integrate spiritual practice with the demands of daily life. Goldberg is like a wise uncle who's been there and, with a funny story and a couple of potent aphorisms, will help you get it straight.

Who was it who once said that when the student is ready, the book will appear? Possibly no one. As someone who believes that we are all spiritual seekers (practicing or not), I am thrilled to discover a book I know I will reread, refer to, and give to EVERYBODY. "Roadsigns" is a friendly, approachable, and surprisingly funny book that happens to be about our deepest hunger and need: to connect with God (or the Divine, or the Universe, or all of the above), inside and beyond ourselves. With Roadsigns as my guide, I have newfound clarity and direction, and even, thankfully -- peace. I am grateful to Philip Goldberg for his wisdom, experience and HUMOR, and I can't wait to send ROADSIGNS to everyone I love as an early holiday gift! Yippeeee! Ooohhhmmmmmm! -- and Amen!

Roadsigns takes the metaphor of the spiritual journey literally and provides practical directions and advice for finding your own path. The emphasis is on encouraging you to trust your intuition and at the same time use your common sense to make the best decisions for yourself. The book has especially pithy advice about spiritual teachers and their groups and how to discern what's best for you. I've been on a spiritual path myself for over thirty years and found that Roadsigns helped me to see more clearly the issues involved. The chapters go into detail about the four paradoxes that are part of the spiritual journey and include suggestions, called "Travel Tips," which are both humorous and right on. I particularly liked the quotes and teaching stories that illustrate the spiritual themes. I strongly recommend Roadsigns for travelers embarking on a spiritual journey as well as for those who have been journeying for a long time.

Prolific and wise author Phil Goldberg gets to the heart of the matter after a lifetime of meditating and writing: spiritual wisdom lies in paradoxes. Instead of the tired old either/or teachings of traditional religion (either flesh or spirit, earth or heaven, sex or celibacy), he explores the complexity and ambiguity of paradoxes. And he does so with the humor and the depth of a life-long seeker.For example, every practitioner seeks awakening, enlightenment, self-realization. but is that a state that we attain one day, which requires effort and persistence, or is it already there, our innate nature, which requires nothing of us but to be in the moment? Entire traditions have built their foundations on one side of this paradox.But Phil helps us to think paradoxically, to hold both truths, to keep from falling into either/or danger zones. It's clear that, from the compassion and the humor of his voice in Roadsigns, Phil is a guide for pilgrims on the way, a wise companion whose own journey informs this book and whose meditation and writing practices have brought him great gifts.