About the Author

Michael Murphy began his quest into the nature of human potential in the late 1950s while a psychology major at Stanford University. After a year of graduate school, he spent 18 months in India, at the ashram of Sri Aurobindo in Pondicherry. Aurobindo started him thinking about the relationship between the evolution of consciousness and the physical body.In 1961, shortly after his return to the United States, Murphy met Richard Price, another Standford Psychology major, and in 1962 they founded the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California. The Esalen Institute, the leading growth center in the world, has hosted thousands of human potential workshops and conferences led by such notables as Abraham Maslow, Joseph Campbell, Rollo May, Fritz Perls, Aldous Huxley, Carl Rogers, Ida Rolf, Joan Halifax, Stanislov Grof, Joan Borysenko, Allen Ginsberg, and Linus Pauling, to name a few.

In 1980, he helped create the Esalen Institute's Soviet American Exchange program which, among other things, initiated the first live television space bridges and hosted Boris Yeltsin during his first visit to the United States.

Michael Murphy is the author of The Future of the Body, Golf in the Kingdom (released by Penguin Books/Arkana), Jacob Atabet, and End to Ordinary History, and co-author of The Psychic Side of Sports. Golf in the Kingdom has been translated into more than two dozen languages and sold well over a million copies. He lives in San Rafael, California.

Reviews

Named one of "The Fifty Best Golf Books Every Golfer Should Read" by Golf Digest

"Mystical" -- The New York Times

"Almost 50 years ago, Michael Murphy penned what many consider to be the definitive book on golf — not that he knew it at the time. But to this day, the magical power and mystical musings of golf in the kingdom inspire" -- Golf

“In the late ’70s, I discovered my caddie Mike [Fluff] Cowan had one book in his possession — a copy of Golf in the Kingdom, which was all torn apart and held together by tape and rubber bands. I said, ‘What is this?’ He growled, ‘Only the best golf book ever written.’ And he was right.” -- Peter Jacobsen

“It gives us the language to talk about the spiritual side of the game, which I have always believed in.” -- Brad Faxon

“a golf classic if any exists in our day.” -- John Updike


"...this book is a slow burn that relies on dialogue to make the reader think and examine why they play golf. As such, the book is best enjoyed by golfers who enjoy the mental aspects of the game and especially those that live for the feeling of peace the sport brings." -- Golflink.com

Named one of "The Fifty Best Golf Books Every Golfer Should Read" by Golf Digest

"Mystical" -- The New York Times

"Almost 50 years ago, Michael Murphy penned what many consider to be the definitive book on golf - not that he knew it at the time. But to this day, the magical power and mystical musings of golf in the kingdom inspire" -- Golf

"In the late '70s, I discovered my caddie Mike [Fluff] Cowan had one book in his possession - a copy of Golf in the Kingdom, which was all torn apart and held together by tape and rubber bands. I said, 'What is this?' He growled, 'Only the best golf book ever written.' And he was right." -- Peter Jacobsen

"It gives us the language to talk about the spiritual side of the game, which I have always believed in." -- Brad Faxon

"a golf classic if any exists in our day." -- John Updike


"...this book is a slow burn that relies on dialogue to make the reader think and examine why they play golf. As such, the book is best enjoyed by golfers who enjoy the mental aspects of the game and especially those that live for the feeling of peace the sport brings." -- Golflink.com