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Radical Optimism: Practical Spirituality in an Uncertain World
The pioneering spiritual scholar discusses how to find genuine optimism in times of crisis by contemplating the ultimate reality of God. Dr. Beatrice Bruteau was an inspiration to some of the most influential spiritual thinkers of our time. With a background in Vedanta, Catholic contemplation, and the natural sciences, she developed a broadly inclusive, interspiritual vision of human reality. In Radical Optimism she shines new light on the deepest truth we can know about each of us is one with God, here and now. In a series of essays exploring the concepts of Leisure, Stillness, and Meditation—as well as examining the distinctions between the Finite and the Infinite and Sin and Salvation—Bruteau offers a path to recognizing our own unity with God. She provides a blueprint for understanding it, knowing the happiness it brings, and cultivating a contemplative consciousness amid the hectic uncertainty of daily life.
154 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 1, 2002
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
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March 26, 2009bea is one of my grandmother's dearest friends, and it's no joke when people say she's a genius. she has such unparalleled intelligence that even in her old age she's hard to keep up with. she just sent me one of her other books, the easter mysteries, in the mail, but after seeing this, i want to get my hands on a copy of this one, too.
November 9, 2022
Beatrice Bruteau was a brilliant scholar who integrated the studies of science, mathematics, philosophy, religion, and spirituality; I read a book of hers every year for a dose of perspective. Radical Optimism satisfied. Bruteau posits that optimism is the “first and ineluctable step” toward demonstrating what is held by the belief within that optimism. “Filling your mind, your imagination, your emotions, with the belief that you can do the good you intend is the most powerful help you can bring to bear on actual accomplishment.”
Reading these words I was blown away by Bruteau’s courage. A territory most academics would shun as wishful thinking she delves into, delineating how, exactly, belief functions in our lives. Even the simplest among us know that people with positive attitudes are more fun to be around, that students rise to high expectations and that negative self-talk can be deadly. Yet we pussy-foot around faith because it’s delusional, a systematized form of wishful thinking.
Bruteau is too astute to equate “wishing” with “willing.”
"Our interior disposition should be a firm will that justice be done and that the situation be changed as soon as possible--and we should take all the actual concrete steps to do this--but at the same time, we need not indulge in wishing that things were, at any given moment, other than as they are. ... Wishing acknowledges the expected continuation of the undesired situation. It admits that we believe we cannot change it. ... Willing, on the other hand, is the first step in actually changing the situation."
To will an unjust situation otherwise, we have to believe it can be otherwise. Bruteau’s optimism is radical; it’s grounded in “the root of our being, securely held in the Absolute Being.” It is pragmatic because the belief then creates our reality.
I need--I believe we all need--this book.
Reading these words I was blown away by Bruteau’s courage. A territory most academics would shun as wishful thinking she delves into, delineating how, exactly, belief functions in our lives. Even the simplest among us know that people with positive attitudes are more fun to be around, that students rise to high expectations and that negative self-talk can be deadly. Yet we pussy-foot around faith because it’s delusional, a systematized form of wishful thinking.
Bruteau is too astute to equate “wishing” with “willing.”
"Our interior disposition should be a firm will that justice be done and that the situation be changed as soon as possible--and we should take all the actual concrete steps to do this--but at the same time, we need not indulge in wishing that things were, at any given moment, other than as they are. ... Wishing acknowledges the expected continuation of the undesired situation. It admits that we believe we cannot change it. ... Willing, on the other hand, is the first step in actually changing the situation."
To will an unjust situation otherwise, we have to believe it can be otherwise. Bruteau’s optimism is radical; it’s grounded in “the root of our being, securely held in the Absolute Being.” It is pragmatic because the belief then creates our reality.
I need--I believe we all need--this book.
January 12, 2018
Beatrice Bruteau's RADICAL OPTIMISM: Practical Spirituality in an Uncertain World is a brilliant synthesis of Eastern and Western traditions brought to bear on large questions of contemporary life. It rewards the attentive reader with a deeper understanding of sin and salvation, the importance of leisure, stillness, meditation, the Communion of the Saints, and many other subjects that stymie the modern mind. I found the book radical in Bruteau's eloquent expression of how those we think of as evildoers suffer from a perceived absence of unconditional love, and optimistic in that we can open our hearts to all, by ourselves receiving and giving unconditional love. I salute Beatrice Bruteau for her fine book with this: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God."
March 23, 2025
My personal opinion is this: ANY great book should be a pleasing, straightforward read, and easy to understand (Leo Tolstoy, where are you?? Please teach us all how to do it! :))
The Radical Optimism is anything but. Intricate, convoluted writing, yet with many unnecessary repeats,"very diluted" sort of text, and confusing/contradictory statements a plenty.
I've persevered with it though, and read it at least twice (some places, three times), as I was keen to learn what this celebrated author is trying to convey to us.
There are a few thoughts I really liked, such as " the origin of all sin is the lack of love".
Her notes on metaphysics were great:
"Metaphysics is not an item in a New Age agenda but a branch of philosophy that studies what all beings have in common. It is the most general science. This is why the contemplative... focuses on the most far-reaching questions: the relation of the finite to the infinite, of the contingent to the necessary, of the temporal to the eternal. And, of these pairs themselves, we ask whether they are ineluctably polarized with respect to one another or whether they can be united in some way."
And no one would NOT agree with the following wise words:
"We need, urgently, to consider all over again, what is our life about, what values are important, which items serve others. Are human beings to serve economic growth, to the disruption of their livelihoods, their families, their right to know what they are eating and what events, significant to their lives, are taking place and who is making the decisions affecting them; or is the economy in service to human life, its well-being and happiness?"
Beatrice also gives simple and logical description to the freedoms within our behaviour:
"Choice freedom : the stimulus of it originates in the environment that gives your choices; the stimulus and your own feelings, the inner urgency to make a choice, combine.
Creative freedom, or creative love, like Gods love, is self initiated and expansive. You don’t react to a stimulus within the environment- you start the action by yourself.
Evil acts are choice freedom, not creative freedom. There is no way that anyone can do evil for its own sake".
Her advice on fostering stable ecosystems is concise and clear:
"Ecological virtue: Instead of trying to exploit the rest of the world, we can cooperate with all the live beings so that everyone benefits".
I am always wary of opinions that seem to contradict nature, and encourage us act in some ways that are not seen anywhere in the natural world. For instance, the author states that " all lovers should love one another" in this way: " This kind of loving is not admiring or desiring or enjoying".
Or, Beatrice intimates "people should have no competition with each other", and yet every form of life on the planet, for the millennia, are doing exactly that.
I feel it helps to know a little about author's personal life, especially if she writes a nonfiction, for her life's stance is bound to be reflected in there.
Beatrice chose life of celibacy, and she did not have children. This (in my opinion) suffuses all she says; therefore her recommendations are most suited to people whose adopted life path is the same as hers.
Most of us select to have a spouse/romantic partner, and children. I fear a lot of her comments are simply not applicable to lives like that.
However, as a starting point to your own seeking and deliberations, this is certainly a valuable book.
The Radical Optimism is anything but. Intricate, convoluted writing, yet with many unnecessary repeats,"very diluted" sort of text, and confusing/contradictory statements a plenty.
I've persevered with it though, and read it at least twice (some places, three times), as I was keen to learn what this celebrated author is trying to convey to us.
There are a few thoughts I really liked, such as " the origin of all sin is the lack of love".
Her notes on metaphysics were great:
"Metaphysics is not an item in a New Age agenda but a branch of philosophy that studies what all beings have in common. It is the most general science. This is why the contemplative... focuses on the most far-reaching questions: the relation of the finite to the infinite, of the contingent to the necessary, of the temporal to the eternal. And, of these pairs themselves, we ask whether they are ineluctably polarized with respect to one another or whether they can be united in some way."
And no one would NOT agree with the following wise words:
"We need, urgently, to consider all over again, what is our life about, what values are important, which items serve others. Are human beings to serve economic growth, to the disruption of their livelihoods, their families, their right to know what they are eating and what events, significant to their lives, are taking place and who is making the decisions affecting them; or is the economy in service to human life, its well-being and happiness?"
Beatrice also gives simple and logical description to the freedoms within our behaviour:
"Choice freedom : the stimulus of it originates in the environment that gives your choices; the stimulus and your own feelings, the inner urgency to make a choice, combine.
Creative freedom, or creative love, like Gods love, is self initiated and expansive. You don’t react to a stimulus within the environment- you start the action by yourself.
Evil acts are choice freedom, not creative freedom. There is no way that anyone can do evil for its own sake".
Her advice on fostering stable ecosystems is concise and clear:
"Ecological virtue: Instead of trying to exploit the rest of the world, we can cooperate with all the live beings so that everyone benefits".
I am always wary of opinions that seem to contradict nature, and encourage us act in some ways that are not seen anywhere in the natural world. For instance, the author states that " all lovers should love one another" in this way: " This kind of loving is not admiring or desiring or enjoying".
Or, Beatrice intimates "people should have no competition with each other", and yet every form of life on the planet, for the millennia, are doing exactly that.
I feel it helps to know a little about author's personal life, especially if she writes a nonfiction, for her life's stance is bound to be reflected in there.
Beatrice chose life of celibacy, and she did not have children. This (in my opinion) suffuses all she says; therefore her recommendations are most suited to people whose adopted life path is the same as hers.
Most of us select to have a spouse/romantic partner, and children. I fear a lot of her comments are simply not applicable to lives like that.
However, as a starting point to your own seeking and deliberations, this is certainly a valuable book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 14, 2016
For a lay person, such as myself, this is a book best read in the company of others. In my case, a group of women who have been meeting for some time with a contemplative spiritual director have been more than helpful with this very chewy content.
If you love words, you will find likely find many here that are new and somewhat delightful. If you like to consider new ideas, there are also many.
I can't say I totally understood all of this book, but I certainly took away some things that I will ponder as well as some that I can actually apply to my spiritual and concrete life.
If you love words, you will find likely find many here that are new and somewhat delightful. If you like to consider new ideas, there are also many.
I can't say I totally understood all of this book, but I certainly took away some things that I will ponder as well as some that I can actually apply to my spiritual and concrete life.
April 14, 2014
Amazing...deep...challenging...smart. This book is dense, intelligent and incredibly insightful about how to nurture authentic Christian spirituality (for lack of a better term). I read it in the context of a small class over 4 weeks where we discussed the ideas together, which made for a more valuable experience than reading the book alone. I plan to reread it in the future because there is so much to mine from the ideas.
November 23, 2019
I have recently discovered in Christian or more precisely Catholic writing, what seems to be esoteric Christianity, definitely more contemplative in its focus and not so differentiated from eastern wisdom. But there is an added bonus of the expression of a greater connection to that which is Devine and is unfolding or evolving of our consciousness. Bruteau is a wonderful and wise writer and for me a valuable resource to return to. It all seems to be much more grounded in human possibility and transcendence of a conditioned existence.
May 25, 2025
A fantastic framework for the contemplative life. One of the most foundational modern texts informing how we should think about God, others, and ourselves. It gets to the heart of so much, especially in our current cultural moment. I’ll continue to return to this book for a long long time.
September 19, 2017
Refreshing
An excellent entery into the mystery of contemplation. Beautiful insight of the Holy Trinity with an invitation to live our lives immersed in the Trinitarian love so readily available, yet so infrequently accessed.
An excellent entery into the mystery of contemplation. Beautiful insight of the Holy Trinity with an invitation to live our lives immersed in the Trinitarian love so readily available, yet so infrequently accessed.
May 23, 2022
Helpful book
This book is helpful and hopeful. The writing is clear and understandable and also challenging to try to put into practice.I look forward to rereading this book and savoy ring the message.
This book is helpful and hopeful. The writing is clear and understandable and also challenging to try to put into practice.I look forward to rereading this book and savoy ring the message.
June 21, 2023
I've done a long, slow read of this book with some lectio divina buddies. I love the invitational quality of her chapters. However, I could not follow some of her mental gymnastics, attempting to explain sin and the Trinity. I will look for more books by her.
June 13, 2019
Excellent and thought-provoking.
January 26, 2021
A beautifully written reflection on the contemplative life.
November 9, 2023
This was a wonderful approach to contemplative spirituality.
July 31, 2022
An excellent book on spirituality and the contemplative life. It is full of insights on love and faith. I left it full of marks and will be returning to it to fully absorb the wisdom.
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