Travels with the Evil Inclination: A Rabble-Rousing Renegade Rabbi’s Story by Gershon Winkler
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Gershon Winkler is the spiritual leader that we all need even if is funny and sometimes irreverent manner are shocking to the more sober minded. Travels with the Evil Inclination is a book about Winkler’s journey from an ultra Orthodox upbringing in the Bronx to an Ultra Flexidox life in the middle of New Mexico. The book is bold and beautiful as Winkler is honest about his desires, his shortcomings, and his missteps.
What I found the most interesting about this book is that even tough Winkler is Jewish and I practice an eclectic form of spirituality, many of our lessons and experiences are the same. I firmly believe that if you put your intentions out there, the goddess will deliver, but that you will be tested as few things are easy in this life. Winkler exemplifies this lesson as he put out his intention to live a more flexible life and while he was continually tested on his path by the Evil Inclination, he ultimately persevered. Some of the tests he encountered included having all of his belongings wash away and being robbed by hitchhikers.
This book reinforced my growing realization that there are many similarities between different religious paths and that there is no right or wrong path only a right or wrong path for an individual.
Cairn by Cairn 