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New Self, New World: Recovering Our Senses in the Twenty-First Century
In the tradition of Quantum Healing and Guns, Germs and Steel, Philip Shepherd's New Self, New World makes an intellectual inquiry into how we might restore freedom, creativity, and a sense of presence in the moment by rejecting several fundamental myths about being human
New Self, New World challenges the primary story of what it means to be human, the random and materialistic lifestyle that author Philip Shepherd calls our “shattered reality.” This reality encourages us to live in our heads, self-absorbed in our own anxieties. Drawing on diverse sources and inspiration, New Self, New World reveals that our state of head-consciousness falsely teaches us to see the body as something we possess and to try to take care of it without ever really learning how to inhabit it. Shepherd articulates his vision of a world in which each of us enjoys a direct, unmediated experience of being alive. He petitions against the futile pursuit of the “known self” and instead reveals the simple grace of just being present.
In compelling prose, Shepherd asks us to surrender to the reality of “what is” that enables us to reunite with our own being. Each chapter is accompanied by exercises meant to bring Shepherd’s vision into daily life, what the author calls a practice that “facilitates the voluntary sabotage of long-standing patterns.” New Self, New World is at once a philosophical primer, a spiritual handbook, and a roaming inquiry into human history.
New Self, New World challenges the primary story of what it means to be human, the random and materialistic lifestyle that author Philip Shepherd calls our “shattered reality.” This reality encourages us to live in our heads, self-absorbed in our own anxieties. Drawing on diverse sources and inspiration, New Self, New World reveals that our state of head-consciousness falsely teaches us to see the body as something we possess and to try to take care of it without ever really learning how to inhabit it. Shepherd articulates his vision of a world in which each of us enjoys a direct, unmediated experience of being alive. He petitions against the futile pursuit of the “known self” and instead reveals the simple grace of just being present.
In compelling prose, Shepherd asks us to surrender to the reality of “what is” that enables us to reunite with our own being. Each chapter is accompanied by exercises meant to bring Shepherd’s vision into daily life, what the author calls a practice that “facilitates the voluntary sabotage of long-standing patterns.” New Self, New World is at once a philosophical primer, a spiritual handbook, and a roaming inquiry into human history.
512 pages, Paperback
First published August 10, 2010
62 people are currently reading
487 people want to read
About the author
Philip Shepherd
5 books42 followersPhilip Shepherd is recognized as an international authority on embodiment. His unique techniques have been developed to transform our experience of self and world, and are based on the vision articulated in his celebrated book, New Self New World. The approach he takes heals the frantic, restless pace of the intelligence in the head, which tends to run on overdrive, by uniting it with the deep, present and calm intelligence of the body. This is an antidote to the prevailing view of embodiment, which involves sitting in the head and ‘listening to the body’; by contrast, Philip’s approach helps us listen to the world through the body. His personal path to understanding has been shaped by his adventures as a teenager, when he cycled alone through Europe, the Middle East, India and Japan; by his deep commitment to and studies of bodywork; by his experiences as an actor, playing lead roles on stages in London, New York, Chicago and Toronto; and by the burning desire for freedom that has illuminated his entire life. He currently spends his time divided between teaching international workshops, and working on his second book, Radical Wholeness.
His book, New Self New World: Recovering Our Senses in the Twenty-first Century, is available from online bookstores as a real book or an ebook, and we hope it can also be found at your local bookstore. Philip is available for private coaching, group classes and weekend workshops. Please contact him for more information.
Philip currently lives with his wife in a home he designed and built in a little car-free community on an island south of Toronto. He is working on his second book, and continues acting, coaching, lecturing and teaching. And he still travels by bicycle whenever he can.
His book, New Self New World: Recovering Our Senses in the Twenty-first Century, is available from online bookstores as a real book or an ebook, and we hope it can also be found at your local bookstore. Philip is available for private coaching, group classes and weekend workshops. Please contact him for more information.
Philip currently lives with his wife in a home he designed and built in a little car-free community on an island south of Toronto. He is working on his second book, and continues acting, coaching, lecturing and teaching. And he still travels by bicycle whenever he can.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
December 6, 2012
Wow. Just wow. This is one of the most intelligent, on point and relevant books I have read in a very long time. The author puts into words the almost intangible connection between the mind and the body. He shows how our culture has lived from the shoulders up in the male element of thinking and doing, and why it is so important to balance that with the feminine aspect of being. The only way to merge with the present is to be in the body. Phenomenal.
February 13, 2024
I wish I was warned that this book believed absurdities such as ‘the random number generators reacted in unison the day Princess Di died’ or that shaman praying for rain made the forest fires stopped because their inner being connected with the energy of the world. That sounds like magic to me. I don’t even know what that random number generator item means, and it’s the second time I’ve come across that absurdity and the first time was in Richard Tarnas’ book and he was mentioned frequently within this book. They both live in the land-of-woo.
It’s easy to write a book that asserts much but demonstrates nothing of substance that I didn’t already know. Parmenides’ One and Heraclitus’ River mixed with Plotinus, Alan Watts, Richard Tarnas, Thomas Aquinas, Duns Scotus, Lao Tzu, and Carl Jung do not make a compelling book when the conclusion is woo but when an author adds consciousness, thinking and being together with a little quantum physics and the worst parts of Zen, the result is guaranteed substance free nonsense as this book ably delivers.
I get irritated when an author connects the world as incoherently as this author did. I bought this book because I know there is a paradox of existence between ourselves and the world and I’ve already read extensively on this topic. I don’t need the supernatural through magic to make me feel better about the human predicament as this book attempts to do and even fails at that while judging the book using its own paradigms.
According to the author the male part of doing subjugates the female part of being and the universal myths of Joseph Campell need the hero overcoming the tyrant and Carl Jung grasps the necessity of releasing that energy.
This book says, the grace of the universe needs us to take our female being part and we should ‘Lie’ to ourselves while willfully using ‘Ignorance” and “Balance’ our being with the hidden truths of our being at whole within the universe since we are the universe through participation. To me, the author was unintentionally being misogynistic since his male/female usage was more than just a metaphor.
The author tends to use God instead of universe and would say that our only prayer should be ‘thanks,’ thus forcing us into insignificance in comparison. Thus, by implication we are not worthy of the unearned favors (Grace) that God (the universe) grants us. Should one really say thanks when they were born a slave?
There’s a lot of name-dropping within this book. Woo is not the way to get at the paradox. Thomas Aquinas did a better job at identifying the problem in his third volume of his Summa Theologia when he elaborates on the meaning of Martha and Mary attending to Jesus, Dante also elaborates further in his Comedy. The concepts the author wrestle with are old concepts, and his solutions are myopic at best.
The author wraps his feelings around incoherent worldviews that at best give the illusion that we need to be present in the world to release our hidden powers. The author says ‘when you see the pattern, kill the pattern, before it kills you.’ With that advice I would say don’t even start this book since it is void of substance and the book is cliché-ridden and trite with platitudes about the serious problem of the paradox of existence while there are better ways at resolving the paradox.
I finished the book and therefore won’t get my credit back, but I wish I had never started the book in the first place, and regretfully for me I finish almost all books that I start.
It’s easy to write a book that asserts much but demonstrates nothing of substance that I didn’t already know. Parmenides’ One and Heraclitus’ River mixed with Plotinus, Alan Watts, Richard Tarnas, Thomas Aquinas, Duns Scotus, Lao Tzu, and Carl Jung do not make a compelling book when the conclusion is woo but when an author adds consciousness, thinking and being together with a little quantum physics and the worst parts of Zen, the result is guaranteed substance free nonsense as this book ably delivers.
I get irritated when an author connects the world as incoherently as this author did. I bought this book because I know there is a paradox of existence between ourselves and the world and I’ve already read extensively on this topic. I don’t need the supernatural through magic to make me feel better about the human predicament as this book attempts to do and even fails at that while judging the book using its own paradigms.
According to the author the male part of doing subjugates the female part of being and the universal myths of Joseph Campell need the hero overcoming the tyrant and Carl Jung grasps the necessity of releasing that energy.
This book says, the grace of the universe needs us to take our female being part and we should ‘Lie’ to ourselves while willfully using ‘Ignorance” and “Balance’ our being with the hidden truths of our being at whole within the universe since we are the universe through participation. To me, the author was unintentionally being misogynistic since his male/female usage was more than just a metaphor.
The author tends to use God instead of universe and would say that our only prayer should be ‘thanks,’ thus forcing us into insignificance in comparison. Thus, by implication we are not worthy of the unearned favors (Grace) that God (the universe) grants us. Should one really say thanks when they were born a slave?
There’s a lot of name-dropping within this book. Woo is not the way to get at the paradox. Thomas Aquinas did a better job at identifying the problem in his third volume of his Summa Theologia when he elaborates on the meaning of Martha and Mary attending to Jesus, Dante also elaborates further in his Comedy. The concepts the author wrestle with are old concepts, and his solutions are myopic at best.
The author wraps his feelings around incoherent worldviews that at best give the illusion that we need to be present in the world to release our hidden powers. The author says ‘when you see the pattern, kill the pattern, before it kills you.’ With that advice I would say don’t even start this book since it is void of substance and the book is cliché-ridden and trite with platitudes about the serious problem of the paradox of existence while there are better ways at resolving the paradox.
I finished the book and therefore won’t get my credit back, but I wish I had never started the book in the first place, and regretfully for me I finish almost all books that I start.
July 30, 2016
This was a paradigm shifting book for me. The integration of many cogent ideas has taken me to new explorations and integrations. I don't agree completely with anyone, but this books hits the mark often. I am looking forward to his next book, I appreciate his perspective.
March 14, 2011
Be present, step through the door to an anxiety free lifestyle.
Anxiety runs like an undercurrent through our daily lives. We often feel distracted and out of touch with our deeper purpose. These common feelings are the by-products of an exceedingly cerebral Western culture. In New Self, New World, Renaissance man Philip Shepherd explores the root causes of these feelings and presents practical solutions in terms so fresh that they open your eyes and your heart to a compelling reality.
In our culture we find it normal to live in our heads, in a fragmented world, absorbed in our own anxieties-the only imaginable state for people who mistakenly believe the body is a machine. But at our core, we know better. New Self, New World challenges this primary story of what it means-and feels like-to be human.
Shepherd demonstrates how we come into our true humanity only when we unite with our core-the deep, innate intelligence of the body. Our consciousness is not centered in the head any more than the universe is centered around the earth. To shift our paradigm, though, we need a revolution in our understanding of ourselves as decisive as the one begun by Copernicus. At once a spiritual handbook, a philosophical primer and a roaming inquiry into human history, New Self, New World cracks open the possibilities of human experience and, with clarity, inspiration and compassion, lays the groundwork for personal renewal.
It took Shepherd over 9 years to write this book and I can see why. This is not a subject one can take lightly if you do believe our culture is on the wrong path due to our obsessions with material things. We have become a society that cannot just sit still for any amount of time. We feel the need to be doing something every second of every waking moment. Stop and think about it. Can you turn yourself off right now if you wanted? Or does your brain continue to think and worry about what you need to, or want to do next. Shepherd explains in detail how, when and why this poisonous chatter started within our heads. Why we need to go back to thinking with our gut and gives us some exercises in the book to help guide you to at least begin to feel being in the present again. We have lost this sense of being in the present which is so scary when you truly think about it. I have felt this anxiety of constant motion for years now and hate how it makes me feel. Everyone thinks they need the newest, fastest or latest item in their life to make them a better person. How sad that we cannot turn off the lights for just a moment and become one with nature again. Their are many people who want this for themselves and work on finding themselves in the present everyday. Something that is not easy since we have been basically taught from the time we are born to turn away from our feelings of the present.
One thing I have learned from New Self, New World is that meditation is a start to being focused on the present. I used to look at meditation as something evil. Raised a Catholic you get drilled about not worshiping other Gods besides our God. But meditation is not about worship. It is about finding a balance and calm within yourself that you can feel and sustain on a daily basis. I would like to use an example; imagine you are in a large group of people outside. You are walking through an area, past many people, some are on their phones other are texting others thinking about what is next in their lives. You pass them by like they are zombies. They make no eye contact, with you, they are wrapped in their own world of the future or maybe they are thinking about the past. Then suddenly you hear gunshots nearby. This immediately causes the group of people to scatter and panic, some sceaming and maybe even getting themselves killed due to not thinking clearly because they have now been shot into the present, like coming out of a cannon. However, you instead, do take cover but do not feel any of this panic, instead you are able to keep a clear head and think about what you should do next to save your life. You are in the present and have been.
However I just want to make a point here that at this moment these other people are now also in the present due to this trauma. Because in our current society it is only during a moment of danger that most people come out of this sleep. But they come out of it in a panic instead of calm nature. However because you have been practicing on being in the present you can be calm. This is what being in the present is like everyday not just during an extremely bad situation. I know I have been in this state when I was younger many times throughout my life. I have felt it many times the last time the full sensation was being in a park that I love to take walks in. The trees swaying in the breeze the chirping of the birds and chipmunks loud and clear, your mind is blank and their is nothing but feeling and sensation. If you long for this feeling you need to educate yourself on how you can. Not an easy task in this world of noise and distraction, however, it can be done. Shepherd gives many examples in his book. But these only touch the surface since most of his book is reference. If you want some insight on this subject take a look at his book. However, I must warn you it is over 400 pages and not a book you can read quickly. This is a book which as you read you stop to reflect on what he is talking about. Some of it can be confusing at times. To this I say keep an open mind.
I have not been compensated in any way or form for this review. I have only been provided a complimentary copy of New Self, New World for review. Any opinions expressed above are solely my own.
Anxiety runs like an undercurrent through our daily lives. We often feel distracted and out of touch with our deeper purpose. These common feelings are the by-products of an exceedingly cerebral Western culture. In New Self, New World, Renaissance man Philip Shepherd explores the root causes of these feelings and presents practical solutions in terms so fresh that they open your eyes and your heart to a compelling reality.
In our culture we find it normal to live in our heads, in a fragmented world, absorbed in our own anxieties-the only imaginable state for people who mistakenly believe the body is a machine. But at our core, we know better. New Self, New World challenges this primary story of what it means-and feels like-to be human.
Shepherd demonstrates how we come into our true humanity only when we unite with our core-the deep, innate intelligence of the body. Our consciousness is not centered in the head any more than the universe is centered around the earth. To shift our paradigm, though, we need a revolution in our understanding of ourselves as decisive as the one begun by Copernicus. At once a spiritual handbook, a philosophical primer and a roaming inquiry into human history, New Self, New World cracks open the possibilities of human experience and, with clarity, inspiration and compassion, lays the groundwork for personal renewal.
It took Shepherd over 9 years to write this book and I can see why. This is not a subject one can take lightly if you do believe our culture is on the wrong path due to our obsessions with material things. We have become a society that cannot just sit still for any amount of time. We feel the need to be doing something every second of every waking moment. Stop and think about it. Can you turn yourself off right now if you wanted? Or does your brain continue to think and worry about what you need to, or want to do next. Shepherd explains in detail how, when and why this poisonous chatter started within our heads. Why we need to go back to thinking with our gut and gives us some exercises in the book to help guide you to at least begin to feel being in the present again. We have lost this sense of being in the present which is so scary when you truly think about it. I have felt this anxiety of constant motion for years now and hate how it makes me feel. Everyone thinks they need the newest, fastest or latest item in their life to make them a better person. How sad that we cannot turn off the lights for just a moment and become one with nature again. Their are many people who want this for themselves and work on finding themselves in the present everyday. Something that is not easy since we have been basically taught from the time we are born to turn away from our feelings of the present.
One thing I have learned from New Self, New World is that meditation is a start to being focused on the present. I used to look at meditation as something evil. Raised a Catholic you get drilled about not worshiping other Gods besides our God. But meditation is not about worship. It is about finding a balance and calm within yourself that you can feel and sustain on a daily basis. I would like to use an example; imagine you are in a large group of people outside. You are walking through an area, past many people, some are on their phones other are texting others thinking about what is next in their lives. You pass them by like they are zombies. They make no eye contact, with you, they are wrapped in their own world of the future or maybe they are thinking about the past. Then suddenly you hear gunshots nearby. This immediately causes the group of people to scatter and panic, some sceaming and maybe even getting themselves killed due to not thinking clearly because they have now been shot into the present, like coming out of a cannon. However, you instead, do take cover but do not feel any of this panic, instead you are able to keep a clear head and think about what you should do next to save your life. You are in the present and have been.
However I just want to make a point here that at this moment these other people are now also in the present due to this trauma. Because in our current society it is only during a moment of danger that most people come out of this sleep. But they come out of it in a panic instead of calm nature. However because you have been practicing on being in the present you can be calm. This is what being in the present is like everyday not just during an extremely bad situation. I know I have been in this state when I was younger many times throughout my life. I have felt it many times the last time the full sensation was being in a park that I love to take walks in. The trees swaying in the breeze the chirping of the birds and chipmunks loud and clear, your mind is blank and their is nothing but feeling and sensation. If you long for this feeling you need to educate yourself on how you can. Not an easy task in this world of noise and distraction, however, it can be done. Shepherd gives many examples in his book. But these only touch the surface since most of his book is reference. If you want some insight on this subject take a look at his book. However, I must warn you it is over 400 pages and not a book you can read quickly. This is a book which as you read you stop to reflect on what he is talking about. Some of it can be confusing at times. To this I say keep an open mind.
I have not been compensated in any way or form for this review. I have only been provided a complimentary copy of New Self, New World for review. Any opinions expressed above are solely my own.
August 30, 2013
I have been recommending this book to everyone. It's a mind blower and is written beautifully. I am not going to say what it's about because I wouldn't know where to start. This is a book I took on my daily walk. I would read a few paragraphs and then just walk and feel the ideas sink in. This is not a book to rush through.
April 17, 2011
When the publicist for Phillip Shepherd’s New Self, New World: Recovering Our Senses in the Twenty-First Century contacted me and asked if I was interested in reviewing a copy of the book, I said “sure, it sounds very interesting” or something along those lines. I wasn’t sure what to expect. The premise certainly did sound interesting (I never accept books that don’t appeal to me on some level), but I was a little worried that I was getting another “do this, do that and life will be great!” self-help book. Those who know me are well aware that I don’t do “self-help.” Actually, I attempted it once, on my other blog as part of a project. I was going to read one self-help book a week and put it into practice. I called it the Pretty Nameles Self Helpless Project or something cutesy like that. I even set up a separate blog for it! It lasted all of a week.
“New Self, New World” is NOT a self-help book, although I’m sure bookstores across the country will categorize it as such. Actually, it is more of an anti-self, or perhaps, whole-self help book. Shepherd challenges everything society tells us we should believe about ourselves, starting with the concept of the mind being the sole control center of the human body. Through 400+ pages (not including the lengthy appendix and index), he uses anthropology, mythology and science to tear apart the foundations of the belief that the mind is the self. He shows us how so many different systems within the body make up who we are, including the heart, the immune system, and of course, our DNA. If all these bits and pieces make up our whole self, then why do we allow the brain to dictate every move we make (both literally and figuratively)? Shepherd explains that the brain is for “doing,” while the whole body is for “being,” and provides the us with numerous ways to shut out the brain’s constant chatter to really get down to who we truly are. Each section ends with a whole-body exercise. 12 in all, to help break free of the mind’s tyrannical hold over the body and help readers learn to live in the present moment. The fact that Shepherd achieves this imparting of radical life-lessons without ever coming across as preachy or as a know-it-all is astonishing in itself. Shepherd doesn’t seek to define you or tell you how to live, he doesn’t say his way is the only way, quite the opposite actually. He encourages you to stop trying to define yourself according to other’s opinions, to stop trying to DEFINE yourself period and rather just BE yourself.
Don’t let the thickness of this tome turn you off, Shepherd writes eloquently, flowing from one idea to the next without losing readers to rambling thought-streams (something I clearly could take lessons in). Shepherd wrote the book over a period of six years, but explains in his introduction that he has been jotting down notes most of his life when inspiration struck. After leaving Canada at age 18, he traveled to Europe, bought a bike, and cycled throughout Europe, India and the Middle East before flying to Japan, where he studied Noh theater. He has led a rich life that allowed him to explore a myriad of cultures and traditions.
Bottom Line- I highly recommend this book to anyone who has ever felt like they don’t belong, to anyone looking to “be” rather than “do,” and to anyone who just needs a little clarity when the world around them seems to be so cluttered with opinions, information and demands. It’s long, and I admit I skimmed a few sections once I got the gist, but I was able to digest it fairly quickly.
Note- This review originally appeared on my blog Pretty Opinionated
“New Self, New World” is NOT a self-help book, although I’m sure bookstores across the country will categorize it as such. Actually, it is more of an anti-self, or perhaps, whole-self help book. Shepherd challenges everything society tells us we should believe about ourselves, starting with the concept of the mind being the sole control center of the human body. Through 400+ pages (not including the lengthy appendix and index), he uses anthropology, mythology and science to tear apart the foundations of the belief that the mind is the self. He shows us how so many different systems within the body make up who we are, including the heart, the immune system, and of course, our DNA. If all these bits and pieces make up our whole self, then why do we allow the brain to dictate every move we make (both literally and figuratively)? Shepherd explains that the brain is for “doing,” while the whole body is for “being,” and provides the us with numerous ways to shut out the brain’s constant chatter to really get down to who we truly are. Each section ends with a whole-body exercise. 12 in all, to help break free of the mind’s tyrannical hold over the body and help readers learn to live in the present moment. The fact that Shepherd achieves this imparting of radical life-lessons without ever coming across as preachy or as a know-it-all is astonishing in itself. Shepherd doesn’t seek to define you or tell you how to live, he doesn’t say his way is the only way, quite the opposite actually. He encourages you to stop trying to define yourself according to other’s opinions, to stop trying to DEFINE yourself period and rather just BE yourself.
Don’t let the thickness of this tome turn you off, Shepherd writes eloquently, flowing from one idea to the next without losing readers to rambling thought-streams (something I clearly could take lessons in). Shepherd wrote the book over a period of six years, but explains in his introduction that he has been jotting down notes most of his life when inspiration struck. After leaving Canada at age 18, he traveled to Europe, bought a bike, and cycled throughout Europe, India and the Middle East before flying to Japan, where he studied Noh theater. He has led a rich life that allowed him to explore a myriad of cultures and traditions.
Bottom Line- I highly recommend this book to anyone who has ever felt like they don’t belong, to anyone looking to “be” rather than “do,” and to anyone who just needs a little clarity when the world around them seems to be so cluttered with opinions, information and demands. It’s long, and I admit I skimmed a few sections once I got the gist, but I was able to digest it fairly quickly.
Note- This review originally appeared on my blog Pretty Opinionated
June 3, 2013
I just wrote a long and detailed review that was lost due to a webpage glitch, so I'll be brief. This is an excellent, mind-blowing book that has the potential to change your life. Shepherd gets it, the reasons for the most fundamental human problems, from those in society (war, environmental degradation, etc.) to those in an individual (alienation, fear, insecurity, etc.). The book is extremely ambitious as he traces the roots of humanity's wrong turn, how we got here, and why the path of humanity is a dead-end. Shepherd looks to science, religion, philosophy and his own keen insights to make his argument that the fundamental problem of humanity is that we are ruled by a tyrant, the voice inside our own heads, and that we have lost touch with a deeper intelligence which resides in our gut.
Some might be bothered by Shepherd's writing style as he freely uses italics, caps and bold lettering to emphasize various ideas. He also spends quite a bit of time explaining the origins of various words, and uses some obscure words such as the "hetabrain" which the reader must get used to. Finally, some might be put off by the somewhat New Age tone in places, like attributing the tyranny of humanity to the male element, and our earthy, body intelligence to the female element.
But it all makes sense in Shepherd's capable hands. He writes, "Evolving beyond the patterns of our upbringing requires intention rather than will; sensation rather than ideation; surrender rather than accomplishment; discovery rather than calculation." Shepherd has allowed me to connect some dots and deepen my understanding of life's most fundamental problems.
Some might be bothered by Shepherd's writing style as he freely uses italics, caps and bold lettering to emphasize various ideas. He also spends quite a bit of time explaining the origins of various words, and uses some obscure words such as the "hetabrain" which the reader must get used to. Finally, some might be put off by the somewhat New Age tone in places, like attributing the tyranny of humanity to the male element, and our earthy, body intelligence to the female element.
But it all makes sense in Shepherd's capable hands. He writes, "Evolving beyond the patterns of our upbringing requires intention rather than will; sensation rather than ideation; surrender rather than accomplishment; discovery rather than calculation." Shepherd has allowed me to connect some dots and deepen my understanding of life's most fundamental problems.
May 18, 2018
Philip Shepherd’s project was the perfect compliment to many of the seemingly divergent interests I like to explore in and through books and also internally. Drawing on the incredible works of inner work giants such as Jung, Marion Woodman, Joseph Campbell, David Bohm, and Andrew Harvey, to name but a few, Shepherd weaves many of these theses together to create a dynamic and immediately accessible guide that enables a reconnection with the essential being which is often disembodied due to the wholesale inheritance of patriarchal falsehoods regarding body, soul, and lived experience. For me, this is a must read book and an invaluable source of wisdom for any book shelf. I will return to this book time and again. I have also explored some of the excellent citations referenced by Shepherd. A book more than worthy of five stars.
March 7, 2011
‘The single greatest harm done by the story our culture tells, though, comes from the divisions it enforces within each of us.’
For centuries, people have relied on tradition and religion to provide stability and a sense of contentment to their lives. While there can be comfort in the certainty provided by ritual, there is often a separation between what we feel or know, using our whole body, and what we think, using our brain. There is a tendency in western society to separate mental consciousness from the body, which can lead to disorientation and unhappiness.
In this book, Philip Shepherd talks about the dangers of living entirely within the head (by separating mental consciousness from the body), and offers a new model of consciousness that brings mind and body into balance.
Philip Shepherd started writing this book in 2001, and spent nine years considering the issues surrounding the story of our culture and how it has become increasingly less relevant to our lives. He explains that part of the fiction of our culture is that the head and reason take precedence over the body and feeling. This leads almost inevitably to an emphasis on ‘doing’ rather than ‘being’; of ignoring the body and not paying attention to what it needs.
The discussion in the thirteen chapters that make up the five parts of this book is underpinned by the inclusion of exercises that help to make us more aware of our bodies. The exercises are a useful way to reinforce many of the points Mr Shepherd makes. I have found a couple of them fantastic as a means of relaxation.
It took me a couple of weeks to read this book and to attempt some of the exercises. A lot of what I read made a form of hopeful sense to me, and I intend to revisit the book in order to obtain the most benefit from it. Oh, the irony! On my first read, my inner sceptic and my inner cynic were making so much noise it was difficult for my inner intuitive to concentrate.
I’m not sure that I agree with everything in the book, but there certainly are a number of profound aspects to it. Philip Shepherd believes that in order to heal mankind and the damage it has inflicted on the world, we need to heal ourselves first. If you accept the ‘Why’ of this, the book certainly sets you on the track of the ‘How’.
Note: I was offered, and accepted, a copy of this book for review purposes.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
For centuries, people have relied on tradition and religion to provide stability and a sense of contentment to their lives. While there can be comfort in the certainty provided by ritual, there is often a separation between what we feel or know, using our whole body, and what we think, using our brain. There is a tendency in western society to separate mental consciousness from the body, which can lead to disorientation and unhappiness.
In this book, Philip Shepherd talks about the dangers of living entirely within the head (by separating mental consciousness from the body), and offers a new model of consciousness that brings mind and body into balance.
Philip Shepherd started writing this book in 2001, and spent nine years considering the issues surrounding the story of our culture and how it has become increasingly less relevant to our lives. He explains that part of the fiction of our culture is that the head and reason take precedence over the body and feeling. This leads almost inevitably to an emphasis on ‘doing’ rather than ‘being’; of ignoring the body and not paying attention to what it needs.
The discussion in the thirteen chapters that make up the five parts of this book is underpinned by the inclusion of exercises that help to make us more aware of our bodies. The exercises are a useful way to reinforce many of the points Mr Shepherd makes. I have found a couple of them fantastic as a means of relaxation.
It took me a couple of weeks to read this book and to attempt some of the exercises. A lot of what I read made a form of hopeful sense to me, and I intend to revisit the book in order to obtain the most benefit from it. Oh, the irony! On my first read, my inner sceptic and my inner cynic were making so much noise it was difficult for my inner intuitive to concentrate.
I’m not sure that I agree with everything in the book, but there certainly are a number of profound aspects to it. Philip Shepherd believes that in order to heal mankind and the damage it has inflicted on the world, we need to heal ourselves first. If you accept the ‘Why’ of this, the book certainly sets you on the track of the ‘How’.
Note: I was offered, and accepted, a copy of this book for review purposes.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
November 29, 2014
Definitely a five star book! I always get exuberant when I see a successful book on uniting body-mind, and particularly when the enteric nervous system is acknowledged as having its own intelligence. When Michael Gershon published his book 1998 on his medical research finding the ENS as a "Second Brain" with independent responses from the head brain, he opened the door for people in the field of psychology-philosophy to publish their work on the body-mind connection. Until that time, there just was not the science behind such claims as multiple brain intelligence. Our modern world needed this hard science discovery to look at what hitherto had been only recorded in myth and other narrative forms of spiritual teachings.
I just completed Shepherd's book, and I have added it to books that I recommend people read who are interested in understanding the importance of multiple brains. I love in this book how Shepherd shows that we have a history of living in our heads in this modern world and how this causes inaccuracies in our way of viewing ourselves.
Martha Love,
Author of What's Behind Your Belly Button? A Psychological Perspective of the Intelligence of Human Nature and Gut Instinct
I just completed Shepherd's book, and I have added it to books that I recommend people read who are interested in understanding the importance of multiple brains. I love in this book how Shepherd shows that we have a history of living in our heads in this modern world and how this causes inaccuracies in our way of viewing ourselves.
Martha Love,
Author of What's Behind Your Belly Button? A Psychological Perspective of the Intelligence of Human Nature and Gut Instinct
March 1, 2018
Shepherd, like many authors on "spirituality," argues that development of a new worldview based on a truer understanding of the self can lead to a changed world. The emphasis is on the nature and origin of one's worldview, and how that might change, not on the cultural effects of the change.
Shepherd takes a more scholarly (rather thorough, and lengthy) approach to a subject visited by many other authors. He clearly explains how culture, through the history of civilization, has influenced our thinking to distort reality, emphasizing "head" over "heart". While he offers some exercises for integrating body and mind, this book is stronger intellectually than experientially--maybe due to my own bias in reading it.
Shepherd takes a more scholarly (rather thorough, and lengthy) approach to a subject visited by many other authors. He clearly explains how culture, through the history of civilization, has influenced our thinking to distort reality, emphasizing "head" over "heart". While he offers some exercises for integrating body and mind, this book is stronger intellectually than experientially--maybe due to my own bias in reading it.
September 29, 2016
A fascinating exploration of how our culture has taught us to disconnect from our own inner knowing- and the intelligence of the living world- by giving primary importance to the head over the heart. I especially appreciated Shepherd's forays into linguistics- the assumptions at the root of many common words is profoundly telling. My only criticism of the book was that it was a couple hundred pages too long. After the first 150 pages or so, the book simply keeps making the same point.
May 16, 2018
This book is a revelation and a convergence of much wisdom perceived through philosophical, social/historical/scientific thorough studies and experiences. Not a self-help book, but a transformative piece that challenge us to feel everything within ourselves and around us in a radical new unifying way. I am changed because of this and will now keep it near me for whenever I need to ground myself within its insights.
March 6, 2011
Philip Shepherd, at the start of his book New Self, New World: Recovering Our Senses in the Twenty-first Century, reveals that the role of a hero is to respond to the call to adventure, which opens him up to an expanded reality. On his return, his task then is “not to threaten his society, nor to take it over tyrannically with his newfound perspective, nor to abandon it; his task is to bring his new perspective back to be integrated in such a way that the society’s self-definition loosens and shifts to accommodate what it has hitherto excluded.” Shepherd’s work, too, has much in it of the same heroic quest that seeks, based on the expanding of his own horizons through cross-cultural experiences that he first encountered in his youth, to inspire those among us who are not mired in the trivialities and mundane nature of our everyday worldly experience to strive for the unification of mind and spirit in our approach to our surroundings and to one another,
Shepherd grounds his work in Deep Ecology thinking, in terms of which he stresses that personal growth entails our broadening of our sensitivities to include all that is in our environs, in such a way that the self comes to so closely associate itself with the whole that our entire cosmos can be re-created. In Shepherd’s emphasis on the urgent need for integrity of self within the broader spectrum of all mankind, he explores an astounding range of subjects which he himself traversed over the space of an entire decade. Such subjects include neuroscience, physics, psychology, history, spirituality and anthropology. And it is not only in the more esoteric or intellectual that Shepherd excels. In keeping with his holistic outlook and inspirational and hard-won insights, he fittingly, throughout his text, incorporates exercises, illustrated with black-and-white photographs, which he intends the reader to use as their point of departure in breaking free from the physical entrapment of the body.
Shepherd’s work is incisive in the overview that it presents of wide-ranging theories and belief systems, to which his extensive notes and comprehensive index bear witness. His passion for adventure and exploration bear out in the broadness and humanity of his vision. Through all, he never loses sight of the end goal: to inspire each one of us to strive for a more just and harmonious world. Never pontifical, always accessible, Shepherd enlightens and uplifts us so that we will all try harder for a nobler and more compassionate awareness of the globe and all that is in it.
Shepherd grounds his work in Deep Ecology thinking, in terms of which he stresses that personal growth entails our broadening of our sensitivities to include all that is in our environs, in such a way that the self comes to so closely associate itself with the whole that our entire cosmos can be re-created. In Shepherd’s emphasis on the urgent need for integrity of self within the broader spectrum of all mankind, he explores an astounding range of subjects which he himself traversed over the space of an entire decade. Such subjects include neuroscience, physics, psychology, history, spirituality and anthropology. And it is not only in the more esoteric or intellectual that Shepherd excels. In keeping with his holistic outlook and inspirational and hard-won insights, he fittingly, throughout his text, incorporates exercises, illustrated with black-and-white photographs, which he intends the reader to use as their point of departure in breaking free from the physical entrapment of the body.
Shepherd’s work is incisive in the overview that it presents of wide-ranging theories and belief systems, to which his extensive notes and comprehensive index bear witness. His passion for adventure and exploration bear out in the broadness and humanity of his vision. Through all, he never loses sight of the end goal: to inspire each one of us to strive for a more just and harmonious world. Never pontifical, always accessible, Shepherd enlightens and uplifts us so that we will all try harder for a nobler and more compassionate awareness of the globe and all that is in it.
February 8, 2015
In the forward to this book, Andrew Harvey argues that you need to read it slowly and that it is not some form of self-help; his opener felt more sales pitch than addition to the content. The content of the book, however, begs the reader to rush through it, using bold and italicized print to "focus" your attention to specific ideas. In reality, these phrases and expressions which occur on nearly every page are, in fact, the only thing worth paying attention to. I'm in agreement with what Shepherd is attempting to say (not that it is a particularly new or novel sentiment) but in stretching his one page thesis to nearly 500 pages the shear audacity of his own ego makes me wish I didn't agree with him. And on some points I don't, and I can't. He expresses his dislike for patriarchy while reinforcing the very systems that lock humanity into these power structures and divisions. If Shepherd ever finds himself truly following the path he points to in this text, he will be too involved in living in the moment and being present to write anything else. I wish him all the best on that journey.
February 10, 2016
This book presents several extremely and well thought out concepts about our selves, our brains, our relationships, spirituality and the history and values of myths. Extremely well written and worth a second read to really take it all in.
November 20, 2015
I'm almost finished with this book... and it is amazing. I've learned so much, had my mind blown a few times. I already want to go back and read parts of it again.
May 13, 2018
Philip Shepherd, at the start of his book New Self, New World: Recovering Our Senses in the Twenty-first Century, reveals that the role of a hero is to respond to the call to adventure, which opens him up to an expanded reality. On his return, his task then is “not to threaten his society, nor to take it over tyrannically with his new found perspective, nor to abandon it; his task is to bring his new perspective back to be integrated in such a way that the society’s self-definition loosens and shifts to accommodate what it has hitherto excluded.” New Self, New World, too, has much in it of the same heroic quest that seeks, based on the expanding of his own horizons through cross-cultural experiences that he first encountered in his youth, to inspire those among us who are not mired in the trivialities and mundane nature of our everyday worldly experience to strive for the unification of mind and spirit in our approach to our surroundings and to one another.
Shepherd grounds New Self, New World in Deep Ecology thinking, in terms of which he stresses that personal growth entails our broadening of our sensitivities to include all that is in our environs, in such a way that the self comes to so closely associate itself with the whole that our entire cosmos can be re-created. In his emphasis on the urgent need for integrity of self within the broader spectrum of all mankind, he explores an astounding range of subjects which he himself traversed over the space of an entire decade. Such subjects include neuroscience, physics, psychology, history, spirituality, and anthropology. And it is not only in the more esoteric or intellectual that Shepherd excels. In keeping with his holistic outlook and inspirational and hard-won insights, he fittingly, throughout his text, incorporates exercises, illustrated with black-and-white photographs, which he intends the reader to use as their point of departure in breaking free from the physical entrapment of the body.
New Self, New World: Recovering Our Senses in the Twenty-first Century is incisive in the overview that it presents of wide-ranging theories and belief systems, to which his extensive notes and comprehensive index bear witness. His passion for adventure and exploration bear out in the broadness and humanity of his vision. Throughout all, he never loses sight of the end goal: to inspire each one of us to strive for a more just and harmonious world. Never pontifical, always accessible, Shepherd enlightens and uplifts us so that we will all try harder for a nobler and more compassionate awareness of the globe and all that is in it.
Shepherd grounds New Self, New World in Deep Ecology thinking, in terms of which he stresses that personal growth entails our broadening of our sensitivities to include all that is in our environs, in such a way that the self comes to so closely associate itself with the whole that our entire cosmos can be re-created. In his emphasis on the urgent need for integrity of self within the broader spectrum of all mankind, he explores an astounding range of subjects which he himself traversed over the space of an entire decade. Such subjects include neuroscience, physics, psychology, history, spirituality, and anthropology. And it is not only in the more esoteric or intellectual that Shepherd excels. In keeping with his holistic outlook and inspirational and hard-won insights, he fittingly, throughout his text, incorporates exercises, illustrated with black-and-white photographs, which he intends the reader to use as their point of departure in breaking free from the physical entrapment of the body.
New Self, New World: Recovering Our Senses in the Twenty-first Century is incisive in the overview that it presents of wide-ranging theories and belief systems, to which his extensive notes and comprehensive index bear witness. His passion for adventure and exploration bear out in the broadness and humanity of his vision. Throughout all, he never loses sight of the end goal: to inspire each one of us to strive for a more just and harmonious world. Never pontifical, always accessible, Shepherd enlightens and uplifts us so that we will all try harder for a nobler and more compassionate awareness of the globe and all that is in it.
March 23, 2024
This is a very deep and very intellectual book. If you are looking for a quick "self-help" book to help you find step by step methods to reconnect with the world around you, this is not the book. Shepard's book is a master class in the history of human development from seeing themselves as part of the world into the capitalist idea of the world being ours to use. The concepts in this book are heavy and extensive. One could easily spend days breaking down each chapter and studying it. There was much in the book I found intriguing, but it is more of an introduction into what would be an entire life change for many of us.
January 23, 2023
Missed out on anatta. Still has identification with something as self at their highest level. Not Buddhism.
Also, their physics experiment description is a bit misleading at the appendix. No one cannot use the quantum entangled eraser experiments to communicate faster than light. The interference pattern only appears after comparing the results from both sides and post select the data.
Also, their physics experiment description is a bit misleading at the appendix. No one cannot use the quantum entangled eraser experiments to communicate faster than light. The interference pattern only appears after comparing the results from both sides and post select the data.
October 25, 2024
Such a fascinating book which makes you think and confront different ways of looking at the world.
July 30, 2025
As a female that I cherish being and as an engineer this book is a lot of nonsense
February 17, 2014
A little cumbersome at times, but wonderful and insightful. I recommend this to anyone interested in spirituality and awareness
April 12, 2018
a life changing book for me
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