"Caplan's illuminating book calls into question the motives of the spiritual snake handlers of the modern age and urges seekers to pay the price of traveling the hard road to true enlightenment."
~Publishers Weekly

"This is a valuable, timely book, although readers will need to keep an opening, questioning mind, especially in the sections devoted t the "hot" issues of authenticity, ego inflation and corruption with respect to spiritual teachers."
~Shambhala Sun

"Halfway Up the Mountain is a much-needed study of the pitfalls on the spiritual path. Using contemporary voices from different traditions Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Baul, and Sufi Mariana Caplan shows how easily even the most sincere seeker can be led astray and caught in the dangers of spiritual illusion. Helping us to recognize these distortions, she points us towards the real Truth for which we hunger. I would recommend this book to anyone who is serious about their spiritual practice."
~Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee, Sufi Sheik, author, Bond With the Beloved

"In a world where both the path and the goal of spiritual life are becoming increasingly murky, Halfway Up the Mountain sheds light on what are possibly the most important, yet seldom asked, questions."
~What Is Enlightenment?

"This book is a thoughtful and insightful examination of the modern spiritual scene."
~Parabola

"Fool's gold exists because there is real gold," coined Rumi. Here author and anthropologist Mariana Caplan herself extracts valuable nuggets from the writings of spiritual masters, both ancient and contemporary, as well as personal interviews with more than 30 esteemed masters, spiritual practitioners, and scholars and psychologists such as Andrew Cohen, Claudio Naranjo, and Robert Svoboda. Contending that "the present condition of contemporary spirituality in the West is one of grave distortion, confusion, fraud, and a fundamental lack of education," Caplan sets out to correct this situation by encouraging seekers to carefully examine the ideas--and ideals--of the spiritual teachers with whom they are involved. The introduction by Fleet Maull, a lay monk in the Zen Peacemaker Order and founder of the National Prison Hospice Project, alone makes this worth reading.
~Amazon.com

"To borrow an idea from the title, it is a sign of the maturity of a movement that it understands limit, and Caplan's thoughtful book should come as a ship to the rescue of practitioners of the broad New Age tradition. It shows how to avoid the dangers of ego inflation, transference, abuse of power, addiction to mystical states, and fraud in the long journey toward enlightenment and fulfillment. Caplan's warnings are substantiated by the witness of many seekers, and her counsel is well grounded. Highly recommended for all collections where New Age titles are popular."
-Library Journal

"Halfway Up the Mountain takes a decidedly different approach. Calling herself a "New Age whistleblower," Caplan has penned a cautionary treatise on the pitfalls of the spiritual path. Her concern is not that people are questing but that they are making the wrong choices, duped by an unchecked ego or simply waylaid by unscrupulous teachers. Featuring original contributions from a stellar list of visionary thinkers and spiritual teachers among them Charles Tart, Andrew Cohen, Joan Halifax, Arnaud Desjardins, and Christina Grof she makes the case that while buffet-style spirituality is tempting, orthodox paths (e.g., guru, mentor, tradition) offer more reliable and sustaining alternatives."
~NAPRA Review

"Mariana Caplan has provided an invaluable resource for both the serious spiritual practitioner and the academic researcher by facing, as the back cover says, 'the grave distortions and fraudulent claims to power that characterize the spiritual scene in our times'. This book is a marvelous collection of wisdom about the foibles and folly of traversing the spiritual terrain…. In my view, this is a beneficial publication for both spiritual aspirants and teachers alike."
~The Noumenon Journal

"The reader may not agree with everything presented, yet still benefit greatly by this intelligently pursued and richly researched work."
~Foreword magazine