Fred Matser is founder and chairman of the Fred Foundation and a leading Dutch humanitarian who has been active for decades in social and ecological transformation. This inspiring book lays out his philosophy of life in a series of short interrelated essays reflecting on lessons from 75 years of experience. They speak directly on themes such as goals, competition, community, cooperation, knowledge, art, self-expression, growth, money, and dancing polarities. I found many valuable insights within these pages, for instance in reflecting on goals in relation to the process of living, where Fred likens human life to sailing as a process whose ‘meaning is immanent in each and every moment’ rather than in reaching the end – the same applies for me to golf – one plays best when in the flow and fully present. I loved Fred’s definition of consciousness as ‘the universal organising principle that “in-forms” – brings into form, shapes, orchestrates the myriad dynamisms of nature, which manifest themselves as “in-formed” transformation.’ (p. 36) As a corollary he sees our human role as cells of a universal organism in the ‘whole-and-all’. He encourages us to find and express our authentic voice, and to tune into deeper empathic feelings so as to ‘regain access to the streams of transpersonal, transcendent information that surround us at all times’ rather than to give in to an ‘epistemic inversion’. He describes his own experience of receptively ‘being thought’ in an ‘all-encompassing feeling of flow and non-resistance’ where he contrasts this sense of declenched freedom with the ‘highly clenched mode of the finite’ and its corresponding sense of resistance; however, he also recognises the key role of resistance and tension in the dancing polarities of life that must be restored to balance with more emphasis on the feminine. Ultimately, life is about being, attention and care on an inner journey that returns us to the silent ground. This is a fine book of distilled life wisdom. ~ David Lorimer, Paradigm Explorer

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars. The book uses common facets of modern life to illustrate the cultural constructions of our thinking minds and invites us to go beyond, as the title suggests, to imagine a deeper, more meaningful world based on love instead of fear and scarcity.. The text gives the reader the tools to see how much of our world is conceptualized by our intellect and not the whole picture and potential for our lives. The books invites us to consider the stakes for living in a world of competition that sacrifices the wellbeing of the world. I took my time with this book. Though it is short, it is packed full of meaningful content to be contemplated over time. I enjoyed also watching the author's documentary Beyond Me, which came out in 2020 after finishing this book. ~ Kaytlin Sumner (Librarian), NetGalley

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars. This book was very short but very intense and very interesting. At first I did not know what to make of it. I didn't know if it was a collection of essays, self-help book or a literary piece but whatever genre it belongs in, my eyes were left wide open. Fred Master in his essays talks about how there are some elements of life that just go way beyond understanding and comprehension. This book definitely examines further why the saying 'some things are better left unsaid" and trust me, part of me was shocked to learn a lot that part of me wishes I have never read this book but in the best way possible. At first I think our patrons will be scared but towards the end of the book they will have shock and awe like I did. We will consider adding this title to our Self Help collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars. ~ Meghan Soderholm (Librarian) , NetGalley

Dutch humanitarian and philanthropist Matser urges readers in his powerful English-language debut to rethink harmful approaches to life. He argues that humans are out of sync with nature and each other and should strive to return to a more “unconstrained” way of life. One’s education, family, and career progression should offer “impetus and direction,” he suggests, rather than a goal-oriented finality: “Graduation, work, relationships, children, promotion, etc., in and of themselves, are not the meaning of life.” For Matser, the rush toward goals and a zero-sum view of success erodes the power of human cooperation, making everything a competition with far-ranging negative consequences. He launches into theories about how individuality is “a faulty story” and argues that language has diminished the ability to experience reality. Matser questions the idea of growth as something becoming bigger or richer, and pushes instead for a sense of dynamic tension between assertiveness and vulnerability that can bring out the best in humanity. In smooth prose, Matser diagnoses and describes a range of ills, but stops short of detailed solutions in favor of a broader reorientation to life. Matser’s provocative notions will appeal to philosophically-minded readers of self-help. ~ Publishers Weekly Review

Fred's recognition of cosmic consciousness as the driving force behind human life and society allows him to diagnose and offer healing solutions to our many challenges. This is an important book, whose message must be heeded. ~ Deepak Chopra, MD, best-selling author

Fred Matser has led a fascinating life. He talks with passion on many subjects and shares his philosophy for our world and its future. May this book inspire others to follow his path. ~ Jane Goodall, PhD, DBE. Founder, Jane Goodall Institute and UN Messenger of Peace

I've known Fred Matser for many years. We collaborated on a major project to help children with leukemia. When we met recently in Moscow Fred told me about his many ongoing projects. He is a man with a big and open heart, and he is making the world better! ~ Mikhail Gorbachev, former Chairman of the Supreme Soviet and President of the Soviet Union

Fred Matser diagnoses our ills with x-ray vision and laser precision. He is able to extract himself from the cultural echo chamber of values, opinions and beliefs in which most of us find ourselves immersed, and then assess our situation from a neutral perspective. Fred renews and enriches subjects we thought we had already exhausted, by lucidly identifying and uncovering our blind spots. As it happens, these subjects are precisely those that are the closest to us, most integrally a part of our everyday lives. For this reason, the insights in this book have direct and very concrete bearing on how we think, feel and behave every day. ~ Bernardo Kastrup, PhD, philosopher and author.