Review by Manaluu -- The Unbound Soul by Richard L. Haight

[Manaluu]

[Following is a volunteer review of "The Unbound Soul" by Richard L. Haight.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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The Unbound Soul by Richard L Haight left me pleasantly surprised. Split into four parts, he takes us on a journey through his own path of spiritual “unfoldment” – that is, the peeling back of all the layers of mundanity that keep us humans shackled to misery and confusion. This book is about letting it all go, of not hindering ourselves with unnecessary dogma and using “belief” as a tool to serve a temporary purpose rather than using it to spawn spiritual, physical and mental disharmony.


From eight years old, after a profound spiritual experience in his childhood home on a humble horse ranch in California, Haight decides to dedicate his life to finding enlightenment. The “unfoldment” process starts with the journey of recognising “Isness” – a term he created to quantify what is essentially God but without all the good / bad societal attachments. “Isness” is beyond definition, and once one has broken through the confines of mundane attachments, then that is when the “Isness inspirience” can be better understood. “Inspirience” – a combination of inspire and experience, is a term coined by Haight to describe the experience of total unity with “Isness” – the heart of Haight’s goal of unbinding the soul.


I had some reservations when starting this book, which were crushed by the time I got to the last chapter. I’ll admit, whenever I come across a new-age looking book cover claiming it’ll change my life in some way, I steer clear of it. Not because I prefer to stay in a position of sceptical ignorance, but because there seems to be an overwhelming plethora of spiritual books in this current witch-crazed, radical self-love era that seem to be just regurgitations of the last several hundred spiritual books that have been published. And with the intro by Ziad Masri, another spiritual author, stating that “what you hold in your hands, is a gem of inestimable value” I had to roll my eyes. But I decided to give this book a shot. I did my best to stay unbiased and open-minded and honestly, Ziad Masri was right: it is a gem.
Not to mention, I didn't spot a single typo.

I give this book 4/4 stars. I don’t think my lacklustre summary does this book any justice. As a practicing Hindu myself, I was awaiting the usual superficial, watered down version of the popular eastern philosophies that have made their rounds in the west since the sixties; anticipating the moment he’d start pushing a plant-based diet and taking herb infused baths. To my huge relief he didn’t, in fact, he provided such a refreshing stance on the diet aspect of spirituality that related so much to my own personal experiences, that it was what pushed me to give this book 4 stars not 3.


What I love most about this book is his emphasis on seeking rather than believing, a point which he is consistent with from beginning to end. I love that he does not equate his experiences to any belief system and actually encourages the reader to try releasing their own current belief systems so that it doesn’t cloud their perspective of life as it is, not as we wish it to be.


The one arguable flaw in this book is the constant notion of simply “tuning into consciousness” where most beginners wouldn’t have a clue where to start. This book doesn’t tell you how to instantly achieve consciousness, which can be quite frustrating to those looking for a step-by-step formula – like a meditation or some breathing exercises. I consider myself fairly adept with meditation and breathing techniques so I’m quite lucky in regard to knowing how to access “consciousness”. But I still have much to learn (hence why I picked up this book) and figured this might be annoying for some people, so I thought I’d bring it up. Otherwise, this book is a gem that I definitely see myself coming back to again and again. I recommend this book to anyone spiritually inclined looking for something fresh in this current craze of new-age books saturating the spiritual / religious market.

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The Unbound Soul
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[Tochukwu Nwaji]

Haight’s journey in The Unbound Soul is both captivating and informative. His reflections on religion and spirituality offer fresh insights. The audiobook's clear narration and practical meditation techniques make it a valuable resource for anyone on a spiritual path.

[Grace Jane]

The author's holistic approach to well-being is comprehensive and thoughtful.