The Impersonal Life
Joseph Benner · 1914
5.0 · 3 ratings
About the book
A short book written entirely in the voice of the divine self, addressing the reader as «you» from the first line to the last. Unsettling if you let it be — and Elvis's favourite book, which he gave away by the boxful.
Try the short course
Part 1 · Who is speaking to you here. The first six slides, free.
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The book does not open with an argument, a story or an author's preface. Its first words are “To you who read, I speak.”
Then comes a run of portraits, each beginning “To you”: the one who has spent long years “running to and fro” through books and teachings, philosophy and religion, looking for “you know not what” - Truth, Happiness, Freedom, God. The one whose Soul is weary and almost out of hope.
Notice the order. The voice describes you first and says nothing about itself. By the time it finally asks “Who am I?”, you have already been recognised - and that is deliberate, because the answer only works on someone who has felt addressed.
Inside the course
12 parts- The voice that speaks: who «I AM» claims to beFree above
- «Think not I am come to destroy» — the opening challenge
- The Word, the Thinker and the Knower
- The «I» of you, and the self you take yourself to be
Questions
Is The Impersonal Life free to read in Astra Trainer?
Yes. The full book opens free in the app’s reader, in English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, and Russian.
What is the short course?
12 short parts that walk through the book’s key ideas in slides, each with a quick quiz. The first six slides are free to try on this page.
Where do I get the app?
Astra Trainer is free on the App Store and Google Play. The Impersonal Life is waiting in the app’s library.
