Powerful ideas from top nonfiction
Try Blinkist to get the key ideas from 5,500+ bestselling nonfiction titles and podcasts. Listen or read in just 15 minutes.
Start your free trial
Blink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
Spirit Hacking summary
Shaman Durek
Shamanic Keys to Reclaim Your Personal Power, Transform Yourself, and Light Up the World
Listen to the first key idea
Key idea 1 of 7
3.9 (114 ratings)
21 mins
7 key ideas
Audio & text
What is Spirit Hacking about?
Spirit Hacking (2019) provides a beginner’s guide to shamanism. These blinks outline the core beliefs of this spiritual practice and describe simple techniques for integrating shamanism into your life.
About the Author
Shaman Durek is a sixth-generation shaman and best-selling author. Durek’s work has been featured in publications including Elle and Marie Claire magazines, and his teachings have influenced leading public figures such as Gwyneth Paltrow and Nina Dobrev.
Table of Contents
Key idea 1 of 7
The matrix funnels you along the pipeline of a mediocre existence.
You might assume you know what a good life looks like. Perhaps you think it involves a prestigious education, a well-paying job, and a mortgage on a family home. But is this conventional lifestyle always the path to happiness? Dig a little deeper, and you may see that you’ve been brainwashed into believing it is.
This may sound disturbing, but Shaman Durek believes it’s the truth. For your entire life, you’ve been tricked into wanting these things by a system Durek calls the matrix. The matrix is a set of rules and regulations that invisibly governs our lives. Despite its influence over us, few of us ever question it.
The key message here is: The matrix funnels you along the pipeline of a mediocre existence.
The matrix keeps us on a straight and narrow path from school, to college, to the office, to the grave. But the matrix doesn’t just keep us moving predictably forward. It keeps us in boxes, too – boxes with labels like race, gender, and religious beliefs.
The matrix tells us we should all stay in our own boxes with people who are just like us. That means never climbing out and exploring the rich variety inherent in humanity and all the different choices that the world has to offer.
Disturbingly, the matrix keeps us on this dull treadmill of existence by drugging us. It drugs us with junk food that makes us sick and pills that make us forget our pain. Deep down, most of us are unsatisfied in the matrix’s daily rat race. We yearn for a satisfaction that we just can’t get from bad food, alcohol, or caffeine.
So why haven’t we destroyed the matrix and started living better, freer lives? Because, unfortunately, the matrix is powerful. It’s an instrument of the darkness.
According to Shaman Durek, the darkness contains everything in the universe that isn’t aligned with love. The darkness surrounds human beings and creates conflict and isolation. It makes us see everything in black and white. We start thinking of things as either good or bad, with nothing in between. We even think of people as being good or bad – and when that happens, war and suffering usually follow. Instead of coming together to dismantle the matrix, we fight each other.
But we can escape the matrix. In the following blinks, we’ll explore shamanism and find out how we can free ourselves.
Want to see all full key ideas from Spirit Hacking?
Key ideas in Spirit Hacking
More knowledge in less time
Read or listen
Get the key ideas from nonfiction bestsellers in minutes, not hours.
Find your next read
Get book lists curated by experts and personalized recommendations.
Shortcasts New
We’ve teamed up with podcast creators to bring you key insights from podcasts.
Who should read Spirit Hacking
- People seeking a new path in life
- New Age enthusiasts looking for a fresh angle
- Anyone feeling burdened by stress
Categories with Spirit Hacking
Books like Spirit Hacking
What our members say
Sven O.
It's highly addictive to get core insights on personally relevant topics without repetition or triviality. Added to that the apps ability to suggest kindred interests opens up a foundation of knowledge.
Thi Viet Quynh N.
Great app. Good selection of book summaries you can read or listen to while commuting. Instead of scrolling through your social media news feed, this is a much better way to spend your spare time in my opinion.
Jonathan A.
Life changing. The concept of being able to grasp a book's main point in such a short time truly opens multiple opportunities to grow every area of your life at a faster rate.
Renee D.
Great app. Addicting. Perfect for wait times, morning coffee, evening before bed. Extremely well written, thorough, easy to use.
Start growing with Blinkist now
25 Million
Downloads on all platforms
4.7 Stars
Average ratings on iOS and Google Play
91%
Of Blinkist members create a better reading habit*
*Based on survey data from Blinkist customers