One and All: A Spiritual Perspective on Getting Along

by Ian Cooper

Many of us feel separate from each other and cut off from ourselves. And whether we know it or not, many of us spend our lives trying to fill that void — only to find that none of our efforts ever really succeed.

But there is something that does. You can come to live with a sense of lasting peace and a powerful connection to yourself, other people, and the universe as a whole… if you turn your attention inwards and start saying yes to the deep truth that you already hold inside you.

Reading One and All can help you do that. In roughly 100 pages, you’ll discover simple principles and practices that will nudge you to open up to your own true, universal nature, see yourself in those around you, and come to rest in the sunlight of the spirit.

Inspired by author Ian Cooper’s own ongoing journey of awakening and teachings from both Eastern and Western spiritual traditions, this clear message will help you shake off heavy days and experience something new.

Genres: Spirituality, Nonfiction, Self Help, How To, Inspirational

99 pages, Paperback

Published March 1, 2021

About the author

Ian Cooper lives in Los Angeles, California with his wife, Meg, and their dog, Lemon. His spiritual curiosity was jump-started by an early journey into recovery from addiction and depression and has been nurtured through ongoing practice and self-inquiry. Today, he tries to walk the walk. Sometimes, he succeeds.

Reviews

[Lydia Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great read. A great inspirational book that changed the way I communicate and interact with life and people. Full of wisdom. Ian Cooper you are a great author. Your book gave me comfort. What a extraordinary and original read. A easy read and well rounded spiritual primer toward peace. I really enjoyed this book! It provides a vital reminder that we are all connected in one way or another and contribute to the world in which we live in an important way. I highly recommend.

[Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! And yes, he's my son. But here's the thing: he's a totally original thinker who has woven wisdom from various spiritual traditions into a very simple, clear path forward to loving ourselves and healing our communities. He says, "What we need is to find a way to love each other and to get along. That's a big task, and I won't pretend to have the journey all mapped out. But I know where we can start."

One and All is a deeply encouraging, even comforting read. Because we all have it inside ourselves to "...help us start to see through our sense of separation from one another and open up to the greater whole."

I love this book! I hope you'll read it. I think this is the discussion we need to have right now.

[Trisha · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a quick read about how to coexist with people. I like what the author had to say about community, suffering, and how to not take anything personally, but overall I found this book lacking. I didn’t have a problem with what he was saying, it was how he was saying it and how it could be interpreted and easily misconstrued that I found problematic. The author has an ambitious main idea, but failed at developing it well.

I will disclose that I am Christian, and I have studied theology and religion, so that of course influences how I feel about this book. The author “cherry picks” ideas from Christianity, Buddhism, and Hinduism and tries to unify them, but in doing so they are each diluted. I don’t know the author’s background but I felt his understanding of Christianity to be shallow. He had so much to say about loving/helping others because in doing so we are really loving/helping ourselves, which is true, but overall couldn’t reconcile the many paradoxes that he presents so flippantly. It comes off as flippant because of his writing style, almost like “I just described a paradox, haha, that doesn’t make sense, isn’t that neat? Nothing matters!” Maybe that’s a bit harsh but he won’t take it personally. It is fine to present a paradox, but I felt like he needed to dig in to get at the meaning and create a deeper discussion rather than knowingly contradict himself and then happily move on to the next idea.

Because I am Christian, I did not agree with how he described “the no-self, we are nothing, we are all gods.” I know he means to describe how to surrender and accept the truth (what is the truth?) but he describes this in a way that instead of leading to honest humility could easily lead to self-worship. I don’t think this is his intention, but it seems he hasn’t thought it through enough to realize the implications of how he is portraying these ideas. Again, it reads as flippant.

And finally, I disagree with picking and choosing what to believe and ignoring some ideas because contemplating them is uncomfortable or difficult, which I think this book is encouraging without the author’s intention. In America particularly I think this is a widespread problem. Too many people live in their own echo chambers, consuming only media and ideas that they already agree with, and avoiding anything or anyone that challenges their beliefs. This is dividing people and won’t be solved by simply ignoring what makes us all different, which is one way this book could be interpreted (denying fundamental differences in beliefs/values/ways of life because “we are all one.”) In any philosophy or religion, I think it is the difficult contemplation, the “wrestling” with ideas that challenges our worldview, our self-image, that leads to opening our minds and seeing ourselves and others in a gentler, more truthful way. This struggle must be sought and engaged with rather than avoided. Maybe the author has done this, maybe not, but I think we all have to go through it ourselves, it’s not something you can read in a book, and I feel this book unintentionally encourages taking the path of unicorns and rainbows and toxic positivity rather than the deep, difficult personal contemplation and exploration of ideas that leads to actual spiritual growth.

[Jann Kilgo · Rating 2 out of 5]

I may have set up erroneous expectations when I selected this book, but it is only 100 pages so I read it. There are parts that are very inspiring. To get to those parts, there is an attempt to state that all on our planet are really one. The final conclusion seems to be that, because most people take care of themselves, if you do this appropriately, you will be working alongside the entire population of the world to create an accepting, loving place. The chapters on pain and suffering were very good. It's a different perspective than similar books or articles I have read. I expected more explanation of techniques to accept and love others. This book is heavy into Buddhism which might be appropriate .

[Carol Farrington · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was suggested that this book takes an hour to read but it took me a very long time. At times it felt very heavy and needed a lot of time to think about, while at other times it felt as if it was giving to many examples and just going in circles to make try to make a single point. I often felt lost and confused from the focus on contradictions and how they work together. Although he did talk about real world examples I found it difficult to apply the ideas to my life. I guess that means I got the ideas???

[Jess Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the fact that this book doesn't just talk about one religion, it talks about multiple aspects of multiple religions - an aspect that I, personally, enjoyed because I'm a person that's very open about religion and all that. Somethings in it I personally couldn't get behind, like the 'we're all one person' thing, but that's just my personal preference. All it all it was a good read, fairly fast to read, too.

[Tammy Cook · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the fact that the book was quick and easy to read. Other spiritual self-help books tend to go on and on. There is wisdom from various religious traditions within the pages. My only complaint is the same as that which other books have neglected: the absence of evil in our world. Detestable crimes against humanity cannot be conveniently shelved while we partake in a lovefest of unity.

[Margit · Rating 2 out of 5]

The blurb says "One and All is about learning to love ourselves and heal our communities" but there is precious little in here about communities. It's pretty much generic Buddhist-lite rhetoric about accepting ourselves as we are - and, oh yeah, your neighbor, too - with some Twelve Step tenets sprinkled in.

[Lolo Onda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won this book through a Goodreads Giveaway. I actually really enjoyed it! It was short and to the point. Sometimes books like these really find a way to drag on. I actually don't think I would have liked it as much as I did if it wasn't so short!

Ian Cooper is a talented writer and seems like an even better guy! Worth a read!

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this as an ARC. I covered ground on which I have read before. It is engaging though I’m nit sure it fully engaged me as a reader. Short chapters which build on one another. Worth a look.

[Kathryn Pharis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short but to the point.

I have read so many books like this. Different ways of putting the same idea into perspective. Easy enough to understand for everyone.