Overview

""Mind-blowingly insightful."" -Richard B. Norgaard, University of California, Berkeley, and author of Development Betrayed An ancient myth's hidden meaning launches a mind-bending inquiry into the madness of modern civilization. A celebrated saga from ancient India tells of a young king who mysteriously shifts character and gambles away his kingdom. By unraveling this legend's secret meaning, Escaping Maya's Palace launches a sleuthing expedition into a distortion in psychological and spiritual growth that lies buried deep at the root of modern civilization. Today this undetected malady contributes to woes ranging from opioid addiction to social alienation, the rise of authoritarian populism, and environmental catastrophe. Informed by long-lost wisdom from the Mahabharata, one of the great epics of world literature, award-winning author Richard Sclove explains how our civilization descended into this blighted condition. Integrating a missing psychological dimension into social theory and world history, this intellectually daring and engrossing work clears a path for remaking modern politics and economics, social movements, and daily life. This book's profound insights offer renewed hope to a world in crisis.

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9781735453309

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Reviews

This is a stunning and audacious work of grand social theory. It is utterly fascinating, vigorously argued, and as evidence based as one could ever imagine. Sclove exposes modernity as a covert struggle, stretching out over four centuries, between economic growth and psychospiritual self-realization. . . . An intellectual tour de force with momentous implications. -Penny Gill, professor emeritus of politics, Mount Holyoke College, and author of What in the World Is Going On? Mind-blowingly insightful . . . Sclove's book unmasks fatal defects in economic thought together with surprising opportunities for social and environmental salvation. -Richard B. Norgaard, professor emeritus of ecological economics, University of California, Berkeley, and author of Development Betrayed Escaping Maya's Palace is profound, powerfully original, and politically and spiritually sophisticated at a level that is very rare. It could be life changing for many people and a catalyst for integrating deeper psychospiritual awareness into social-change movements! -Sally Kempton, author of Meditation for the Love of It By unearthing buried insight within one of the world's oldest and most revered works of philosophical and spiritual wisdom, Sclove illuminates a toxic flaw at the core of modernity. His suggested remedies are generous, far-reaching, and distinctly practical. -Langdon Winner, professor emeritus of political science and humanities, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and author of The Whale and the Reactor An amazing and soul-nourishing book that courageously defies the taboo against integrating spiritual wisdom into modern scholarship. Sclove's revelation of the deep structure of the Mahabharata is a major contribution to the scholarship on this foundational Indian epic. His ensuing critique of modern society is profound and pointed. -Frederique Apffel-Marglin, professor emerita of anthropology, Smith College, and author of Subversive Spiritualities Richard Sclove is a Renaissance man for our times, weaving insights from a dozen disciplines into a dazzling string of revelations. His book presents a compelling new rationale for creating more self-reliant and culturally progressive local economies. -Michael H. Shuman, economist, attorney, and author of The Local Economy Solution This profound book presents a paradigm for others to follow in reconstructing a holistic study of society. It should be read by all historians and by everyone interested in understanding how we reached this point of impending social and environmental catastrophe. It's a masterpiece. -Gerald Friedman, professor of economics, University of Massachusetts Amherst, and author of Reigniting the Labor Movement Escaping Maya's Palace is a remarkable book. . . . If you are open to considering fundamentally different ways of thinking about the largest human challenges, Sclove's book will give you a truly thoughtful and deeply informed point of entry. -Joshua Cohen, Marta Sutton Weeks Professor of Ethics in Society and professor of philosophy and law, emeritus, Stanford University, and coeditor, Boston Review

This is a stunning and audacious work of grand social theory. It is utterly fascinating, vigorously argued, and as evidence based as one could ever imagine. . . . An intellectual tour de force with momentous implications. -Penny Gill, professor emeritus of politics, Mount Holyoke College, and author of What in the World Is Going On? Mind-blowingly insightful . . . Sclove's book unmasks fatal defects in economic thought together with surprising opportunities for social and environmental salvation. -Richard B. Norgaard, professor emeritus of ecological economics, University of California, Berkeley, and author of Development Betrayed Escaping Maya's Palace is profound, powerfully original, and politically and spiritually sophisticated at a level that is very rare. -Sally Kempton, author of Meditation for the Love of It By unearthing buried insight within one of the world's oldest and most revered works of philosophical and spiritual wisdom, Sclove illuminates a toxic flaw at the core of modernity. His suggested remedies are generous, far-reaching, and distinctly practical. -Langdon Winner, professor emeritus of political science and humanities, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and author of The Whale and the Reactor An amazing and soul-nourishing book that courageously defies the taboo against integrating spiritual wisdom into modern scholarship. . . . profound and pointed. -Frederique Apffel-Marglin, professor emerita of anthropology, Smith College, and author of Subversive Spiritualities Richard Sclove is a Renaissance man for our times, weaving insights from a dozen disciplines into a dazzling string of revelations. His book presents a compelling new rationale for creating more self-reliant and culturally progressive local economies. -Michael H. Shuman, economist, attorney, and author of The Local Economy Solution This profound book . . . should be read by all historians and by everyone interested in understanding how we reached this point of impending social and environmental catastrophe. It's a masterpiece. -Gerald Friedman, professor of economics, University of Massachusetts Amherst, and author of Reigniting the Labor Movement If you are open to considering fundamentally different ways of thinking about the largest human challenges, Sclove's book will give you a truly thoughtful and deeply informed point of entry. -Joshua Cohen, Marta Sutton Weeks Professor of Ethics in Society and professor of philosophy and law, emeritus, Stanford University, and coeditor, Boston Review

Author Information

Richard Sclove has served as the director of strategic development at the Mind and Life Institute, cofounded by the Dalai Lama. He earned his PhD in political theory at MIT and held an endowed postdoctoral fellowship in economics at the University of California-Berkeley. His essays have appeared in many venues, including the ""Washington Post"" and ""Christian Science Monitor."" The American Political Science Association honored his book ""Democracy and Technology"" as the best in its field, and he is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

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