Good Spiritual advice with an aroma of the '70s ( )

Good fodder for a fire ( )

Fantastic book on facing life and its challenges. ( )

The author put a lot of thought into this book. He wrote about the ideal human being, a disciplined man or woman willing to extend oneself for the benefit of others. He went to great lengths to explain what is involved in such discipline, and why love should be defined as extension of oneself for the benefit of others (and not a warm fuzzy feeling, or erotic feelings, or anything else.) Then he wrote about the existence of what he calls "grace" (a.k.a. serendipity), along with many other phenomenon that can't be explained or even properly examined without acknowledging the existence of God. Then he argued human beings can experience God's grace by probing into our unconscious and understanding what our unconscious is trying to tell us, which ultimately helps us get a grip on what's wrong with us and thus develop the discipline and love that is necessary to become the ideal human being. He tried to incorporate Bible verses, Buddhism stories, science essays and psychologist quotes into the support of these arguments. I'm not an expert on the other sources, but when he used the Bible verses, he interpreted them very differently from what I understand the verses to mean.

I agree with him there are many things in our lives that can only be explained by acknowledging the existence of God. I agree with him that humanity is by nature undeserving of God's grace and don't particularly desire it, and why some people received this grace is a mystery. The people who did receive the grace certainly didn't think they deserved it. And I agree with him that this grace is actually available to all. I largely agree with his view on what love is. I disagree with him that God resides in our unconscious. I disagree with him that the love and discipline he talks about is attainable by probing and drawing from the power of one's unconscious. ( )

Didn't like this as much as People of the Lie. This felt very dated. ( )

I read this book slowly and enjoyed immensely, as it contained so many nuggets of wisdom and food for thought.

Dr. Peck was not stingy with references and further reading tips. There is a lot to think about if you read the material with an open mind.

I like his interpretation of the original sin in the chapter on faith. But I also like his section on love, and how he defines it as the will to extend one's self for the spiritual evolution of oneself or another person. The ideas of this book will remain with me for a long time and guide me further in my reading on spiritual evolution. ( )

Starts off well, has some really interesting/useful stuff to say but wanders off into nonsense in the second half. Five stars for the first half and no stars for the second half. I was quite disappointed with it given how interestingly it began. Read the first two sections then ignore the rest I think. ( )

I started reading this on the recommendation of my wife. I struggled through a few chapters and then put it to one side, intending to come back to it. I never did. This is written by a man who knows what he thinks, is not shy in sharing it - and is sure everyone else will think the same, once he's told them. I don't know whether I agree with him, but I do know that I have no desire to read anything written in this style. May 2020. ( )

Psychotherapist Dr. M. Scott Peck guides readers to see purpose in life is to nurture one's own or another's spiritual growth. In fact this is how he defines love. I found this book full of down to earth, common sense, uplifting insights. He starts out saying that life is difficult because we find the process of confronting an solving problems to be painful. The tendency to avoid problems and the emotional suffering inherent in them is the primary basis of all human mental illness. Since most of us have this tendency to a greater or lesser degree, most of us are mentally ill to a greater or lesser degree. In the book he discusses discipline, love, growth & religion, and grace.

excellent . ( )

A normal spiritual self-help book which talks about responsibility, integrity, being grateful, asking for forgiveness from God.

The catchy title propels this book to be one of the best selling books but it's over-rated. ( )

A normal spiritual self-help book which talks about responsibility, integrity, being grateful, asking for forgiveness from God.

The catchy title propels this book to be one of the best selling books but it's over-rated. ( )

This book was just what I needed when it was given to me long ago. I'm not really a self-help sort of guy since most guys wont even ask for directions when they're lost. But reading this book felt like the author knew me personally which was both comforting and kinda creepy. If you live life like a jazz musician...that is, you're playing it by ear...this might be the charts you need to get through that difficult bridge section. ( )

First of all, this book wasn't what I expected at all. From the title, I thought it was going to be very religion-oriented. I would say that only about 5 percent of the book addresses religion, other than the fact that he says early on that he uses the terms "mind" and "spirit" interchangeably. He's also extremely critical of organized religion and the negative effects it can have on people. It's mostly a description about how and why people go through psychoanalytic therapy and what it is, exactly.

I really loved this book, except for a couple of annoyances that prevented me from giving it 5 stars. There was one sentence in the book that displays the fact that it was written 30 years ago. He offhandedly mentions that a man in therapy with "homosexual tendencies" was able to "get the courage to ask a girl out." Everyone should know by now that homosexuality can't be and shouldn't be "cured." In his final section about religion, he also clumsily attempts to discuss science, miracles, and other things that appear to be way out of his depth as a psychoanalyst, although I did mostly agree with him about the importance of grace.

All in all, though, I really enjoyed reading it, and it made me think a great deal about the mental lengths everyone goes to in order to deceive themselves and others, mostly to avoid the short term pain and suffering of inconvenient truths. ( )

I read this many years ago for a Sunday school class. I remember that it really changed my views on some things, and was like a stepping stone on a path of enlightenment in my spiritual life. ( )

This had been on my to-read list for years - no, for decades. It was as good as I had expected. I wish I had read it sooner. ( )

Interesting book about spiritual growth. Written from the point of view of a psychotherapist it primarily looks at what we mean by love in its broadest sense. There's an overview of various psychological conditions, and a look at how some people manage to overcome them, with or without the help of a therapist.

Fascinating insights, often thought-provoking in the earlier chapters. Towards the end the author looks at the subject of 'grace' from a pseudo-Christian perspective. He gives rational and logical reasons for the existence of God, but then suggests (in somewhat New Age style) that God is the sum total of our unconscious minds, and that our most important aim in life is not so much to become like God, but to become part of him.

Worth reading despite now being twenty-five years out of date; could make interesting discussion material. ( )

Interesting but...I don't know, it seemed kind of much. Glad I finally read it but don't think I'll sift thru it again to mine its teachings. Feel like it could have been presented in a little easier way at times. ( )

rating 3.25 in this book Peck discusses why we are who we are. he discusses how our childhood with have a huge hand in shaping us into who we are as growups. He points out sometimes its not a good shaping and we need to be reshaped by digging through some of the junk we acquired. ( )

rating 3.25 in this book Peck discusses why we are who we are. he discusses how our childhood with have a huge hand in shaping us into who we are as growups. He points out sometimes its not a good shaping and we need to be reshaped by digging through some of the junk we acquired. ( )

I had deliberately ignored this book since it was published to great acclaim many years ago, as I don't read self-help books, but it was there on the shelf in the beach house and I got curious. Two thirds of it was, I thought, a very thoughtful description of the manner in which psychotherapy can help a patient, although some of the casual assumptions of gender roles were howlers from 35 years ago, and Peck is writing from a perspective before the great advances in brain imaging and understanding of the physical and chemical processes of the brain.

That said, I still detected a bit of preening from time to time, a self-commendation for his great skill.

The last third was a bit more trying for me, as it deals with the relationship of spiritual growth (which he equates with mental growth) to a relationship with God. He tries hard to allow all versions of this relationship with God - as a world view it is very useful. But he is clearly a believer (and I am not) and his later text has that proselytizing feel underneath.

When I brought it up to Jim, he was of the opinion that Peck said nothing new, but I thought he said it gracefully, with only the appropriate number of examples, unlike most of the self-help books these days, which are flooded with them. So it was an ok read for me, and I'm glad I know what the fuss has been about. ( )

A new psychology of love, traditional values and spiritual growth.

Reading again... ( )

Lent: self-improvement through discipline, love, growth, and finally grace; really bogs down in the grace section: God as coincidence, God as dream-giver, etc

This book is defined for me by his terms "Character-disorder" and "Neurotic". They explained my marriage, it's failure and my role. Timeless book. ( )