The Surrender Experiment

Singer reflects on his struggle to achieve inner peace through meditation. Although he finds moments of serenity during meditation, his personal mind always reemerges when he becomes active, leading him to a realization: instead of trying to silence his mind, he should focus on why it’s so active. In doing so, he’s able to tie his mental chatter to personal preferences—likes and dislikes. He resolves to stop resisting life’s flow based on these preferences and instead accept events as they happen—a practice that leads to the birth of his “surrender experiment.” Reflecting on his past experiences in Mexico and the unexpected journey of building his house, Singer realizes that by letting go of resistance, life has unfolded in surprising and rewarding ways. He commits to fully embracing this experiment to see where it will take him.

Singer attempts to balance his dedication to inner freedom with his graduate school responsibilities. He teaches one economics class per semester, leading a mostly reclusive life. One day, he shows up to class shirtless after forgetting to dress fully post-yoga, but his students insist he proceed with the lecture. Despite feeling disengaged from academia, Singer receives an offer from Dr. Goffman, the department chair, who tells him the governor’s office has selected a prominent banker, Alan Robertson, to become president of a new community college.