Living the Moment: A Sacred Journey

Graham Jackson is a Jungian psychoanalyst and author of The Secret Lore
of Gardening.

Secretan retired a millionaire from the business world at the age of 40.
Since that time, according to the flyleaf, he has become a philosopher,
consultant, healer, entrepreneur, and “one of Canada’s top-ranked
keynote speakers and seminar leaders.” Presumably, Living the Moment
represents the kind of message Secretan (author of the successful Way of
the Tiger) regularly delivers.

Written in the form of a fairy tale, with Native American trappings
(the author excuses himself of “cultural appropriation” in a
prefatory note), this little book follows the journey of two Native
brothers—the introverted Sees-Like-a-Hawk and the extroverted
Sees-Like-an-Eagle—as they seek to discover the true meaning of life.
After sojourns with the pleasure-loving Rainbow Clan, the acquisitive
Magpie Clan (with its reverence for “chattels”), and the altruistic
and generous Turtle Clan (so devoted to Meaning, the brothers track down
what they have been seeking through the intervention of a helpful
rattlesnake. They conclude: “If we direct our hearts to perfecting
each step of the journey, we shall arrive safely at our destination. The
journey is the Moment.”

Although this is not an entirely original finding, Secretan tells his
story well enough, if a bit obviously, and Megill’s bold illustrations
are quite effective. However, unlike some of those quoted on the dust
jacket (a Dr. and Mrs. W.K. Armstrong of Alliston, Ontario, for
example), I did not find the tale an exhilarating experience, a source
of true peace, or a bolt of enlightenment. A skilful bit of New Age
entrepreneurship, yes, but that’s hardly new these days.