2019/02/19

The Road Less Traveled: Grace, the miracle of serendipity | Radical Reading's

The Road Less Traveled: Grace, the miracle of serendipity | Radical Reading's

The Road Less Traveled: Grace, the miracle of serendipity
Posted on September 21, 2011 by radicalreadings
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What we are talking of here in regard to paranormal events with beneficial consequences is the phenomenon of serendipity.

Webster’s Dictionary defines serendipity as

“the gift of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for.”

There are several intriguing features to this definition.

One is the terming of serendipity as a gift, thereby implying that some people possess it while others don’t, that some people are lucky and others are not.

It is a major thesis of this section that grace, manifested in part by “valuable or agreeable things not sought for,” is available to everyone, but that while some take advantage of it, others do not.

By letting the beetle in, catching it, and giving it to his patient, Jung was clearly taking advantage of it. Some of the reasons why and ways that people fail to take advantage of grace will be explored later under the subject heading of “resistance to grace.”

But for the moment let me suggest that one of the reasons we fail to take full advantage of grace is that we are not fully aware of its presence – that is, we don’t find valuable things not sought for, because we fail to appreciate the value of the gift when it is given us.

In other words, serendipitous events occur to all of us, but frequently we fail to recognize their serendipitous nature; we consider such events quite unremarkable, and subsequently we fail to take full advantage of them.

Peck, M. Scott. (1978). The Road Less Traveled. p. 257-258

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The Road Less Traveled: Grace, a definition | Radical Reading's

The Road Less Traveled: Grace, a definition

Posted on September 22, 2011 by radical readings

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I have described a whole variety of phenomena that have the following characteristics in common:

(a) They serve to nurture – support, protect, and enhance – human life and spiritual growth.

(b) The mechanism of their action is either incompletely understandable (as in the case of physical resistance and dreams) or totally obscure (as in the case of paranormal phenomena) according to the principles of lateral law as interpreted by current scientific thinking.

(d) Although potentially influenced by human consciousness their origin is outside of the conscious will and beyond the process of conscious decision-making.

Although generally regarded as separate, I have come to believe that their commonality indicates that theses phenomena are part of or manifestations of single phenomenon: a powerful force originating outside of human consciousness which nurtures the spiritual growth of human beings. For hundreds and even thousands of years before the scientific conceptualization of such things as immune globules, dream states, and the unconscious, this force has been consistently recognized by the religious, who have applied to it the name of grace. And have sung its praise. “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound…”

What are we to do – we who are properly skeptical and scientific-minded – with this “powerful force originating outside of human consciousness which nurtures the spiritual growth of human beings?” We cannot touch this force. We have no decent way to measure it. Yet it exists. It is real. Are we to operate with tunnel vision and ignore it because it does not fit in easily with traditional scientific concepts of natural law? To do so seems perilous. I do not think we can hope to approach a full understanding of the cosmos, of the place of (WO)man within the cosmos, and hence the nature of (WO)mankind itself, without incorporating the phenomenon of grace into our conceptual framework.

Yet we cannot even locate this force. We have said only where it is not: residing in human consciousness. Then where does it reside? Some of the phenomena we have discussed, such as dreams, suggest that grace resides in the unconscious mind of the individual. Other phenomena, such as synchronicity and serendipity, indicate this force to exist beyond the boundaries of the single individual. It is not simply because we are scientists that we have difficulty locating grace. The religious, who, of course, ascribe the origins of grace to God, believing it to be literally God’s love, have through the ages had the same difficulty locating God. There are within theology two lengthy and opposing traditions in the regard: one, the doctrine of Emanance, which holds that grace emanates down from an external God to (WO)men; the other, the doctrine of Immanence, which holds that grace immanates out from the God within the center of (WO)man’s being.

Peck, M. Scott. (1978). The Road Less Traveled. p. 260-261

Peck: The Road Less Traveled: Grace: The Definition of Grace: angry_disregard

Peck: The Road Less Traveled: Grace: The Definition of Grace: angry_disregard

Peck: The Road Less Traveled: Grace: The Definition of Grace

The Road Less Traveled: Grace: The Definition of Grace

Thus far I have described a whole variety of phenomena that have the following characteristics in common:

(a) They serve to nurture—support, protect, and enhance—human life and spiritual growth.
(b) The mechanism of their action is either incompletely understandable or totally obscure according to the principles of natural law as interpreted by current scientific thinking
(c) Their occurrence is frequent, routine, commonplace and essentially universal among humanity.
(d) Although potentially influenced by human consciousness, their origin is outside of the conscious will and beyond the process of conscious decision-making.

Although generally regarded as separate, I have come to believe that their commonality indicates that these phenomena are part of or manifestations of a single phenomenon: a powerful force originating outside of human consciousness which nurtures the spiritual growth of human beings…

What are we to do—we who are properly skeptical and scientific-minded—with this “powerful force originating outside of human consciousness which nurtures the spiritual growth of human beings.”? We cannot touch this force. We have no decent way to measure it. Yet it exists. It is real. Are we to operate with tunnel vision and ignore it because it doesn’t fit in easily with traditional scientific concepts of natural law? To do so seems perilous. Id o not think we can hope to approach a full understanding of the cosmos, of the place of man within the cosmos, and hence the nature of mankind itself, without incorporating the phenomenon of grace into our conceptual framework.
Yet we cannot even locate this force. We have said only where it is not: residing in human consciousness. Then, where does it reside/ Some of the phenomena we have discussed, such as dreams, suggest that grace resides in the unconscious mind of the individual. Other phenomena, such as synchronicity and serendipity, indicate this force to exist beyond the boundaries of the single individual. It is not simply because we are scientists that we have difficulty locating grace. The religious, who, of course, ascribe the origins of grace to God, believing it to be literally God’s love, have through the ages had the same difficulty locating God. There are within theology two lengthy and opposing traditions in this regard: one, the doctrine of Emanance, which holds that grace emanates down from an external God to men; the other, the doctrine of Immanence, which holds that grace immanates out from the God within the center of man’s being.
This problem—and for that matter, the whole problem of paradox—results from our desire, in the first place, to locate things. Human beings have a profound tendency to conceptualize in terms of discrete entities. We perceive the world composed of such entities: ships, shoes, and sealing wax, and other categories. And we then tend to understand a phenomenon by placing it in a particular category, saying that it is such and such an entity. It is either this or that, but it cannot be both. I am I and you are you. The I-entity is my identity and the you-entity is your identity, and we tend to be quite discomfited if our identities become mixed up or confused. Hindu and Buddhist thinkers believe our perception of discrete entities to be illusion, or maya, and modern physicists, concerned with relativity, wave-particle phenomena, electromagnetism, etc., are becoming increasingly aware of the limitations of our conceptual approach in terms of entities. But it is hard to escape from. Our tendency to entity-thinking compels us to want to locate things, even such things as God or grace and even when we know our tendency is interfering with our comprehension of those matters.
I attempt not to think of the individual as a true entity at all, and insofar as my intellectual limitations compel me to think in terms of entities, I conceive of the boundaries of the individual as being marked by a most permeable membrane—a fence, if you will, instead of a wall; a fence through which, under which and over which other entities may climb, crawl, or flow. Just as our conscious mind is continually partially permeable to our unconscious, so is our unconscious permeable to the “mind” without, the “mind” that permeates us yet is not us as entities. More elegantly and adequately descriptive of the situation than the 20th century scientific language of permeable membranes is the 14th century language of Dame Julian, an anchoress of Norwich, describing the relationship between grace and the individual entity: “For as the body is clad in the cloth, and the flesh in the skin and the bones in the flesh and the heart in the whole, so are we, soul and body, clad in the goodness of God and enclosed. Yea, and more homely; for all these may wear and waste away, but the Goodness of God is ever whole.”
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** M. Scott Peck - Wikipedia, The Road Less Traveled, People of the Lie 아직도 가야 할 길

M. Scott Peck - Wikipedia

M. Scott Peck
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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M. Scott Peck
Born Morgan Scott Peck
May 22, 1936
New York City , New York
Died September 25 , 2005 (aged 69)
Connecticut
Occupation Psychiatrist , writer
Nationality American
Notable works The Road Less Traveled , People of the Lie

Morgan Scott Peck (May 22, 1936 – September 25, 2005) was an American psychia book The Road Less Traveled , published in 1978.
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Contents

1Early life
2Career
3Personal life
4Death

5The Road Less Traveled

6Theories

6.1Discipline
6.2Neurotic and legitimate suffering
6.3People of the Lie
6.4Evil
6.5Love
6.6The four stages of spiritual development
6.7 커뮤니티 빌딩
6.8 Characteristics of true community

7Bibliography
8References
9Further reading
10External links

Early life

Peck was born in New York City , the son of Zabeth (née Saville) and David Warner Peck, an attorney and judge. [1] His parents were Quakers . [2] [3] Peck was raised a Protestant (his paternal grandmother was from a Jewish family, but Peck's father identified himself as a WASP [4] and not as Jewish). [5] [6] [7]

His parents sent him to the prestigious boarding school Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshir e , when he was 13. [8] In his book, The Road Less Traveled , [9] he confides the story of his brief stay at Exeter, and admits that it was a most miserable time. Finally, at age 15, during the spring holiday of his third year, he came home and refused to return to the school, whereupon his parents sought psychiatric help for him and he was (much to his amusement in later life) diagnosed with depression and recommended for a month's psychiatric hospital (unless he chose to return to school). He then transferred to Friends Seminary (a private K-12 school) in late 1952, and graduated in 1954, after which he received a BA from Harvard in 1958, and an MD from Case Western Reserve University in 1963. [8]

Career

Peck served in administrative posts in the government during his career as a psychiatrist. He also served in the US Army and rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel .

His Army assignments included stints as chief of psychology at the Army Medical Center in Okinawa , Japan , and assistant chief of psychiatry and neurology in the office of the surgeon general in Washington, DC [8] He was the Medical Director of the New Milford Hospital Mental Health Clinic and a psychiatrist in private practice in New Milford, Connecticut . [8]

His first and best-known book, The Road Less Travele d, sold more than ten million copies.

Peck's works combined his experiences from his private psychiatric practice with a distinctly religious point of view.

In his second book, People of the Lie , he wrote, "After many years of vague identification with Buddhist and Islamic mysticism, I ultimately made a firm Christian commitment – signified by my non-denominational baptism on the ninth of March 1980.[age 44].. (Peck, 1983/1988, [10] p11).

One of his views was that people who are evil attack others rather than face their own failures. [9]

In December 1984, Peck co-founded the Foundation for Community Encouragement (FCE), a tax-exempt, nonprofit, whose stated mission is " to teach the principles of community to individuals and organizations." FCE ceased day-to-day operations from 2002 to 2009. In late 2009, almost 25 years after FCE was first founded, the organization offering community building and training events in 2010. [8]

Personal life

Peck married Lily Ho in 1959, and they had three children. In 1994, they jointly received the Community of Christ International Peace Award . In 2004, they were separated and later divorced . Peck then married Kathleen Kline Yates.

Peck's writings emphasized the virtues of a disciplined life and delayed gratification , his personal life was far more turbulent. [8] For example, in his book In Search of Stones , [11] Peck acknowledged having extramarital affairs children.

===

===
Death

Peck died at his home in Connecticut on September 25, 2005, after suffering from Parkinson's disease and pancreatic [8] and liver duct cancer . Fuller Theological Seminary houses the archives of his publications, awards, and correspondence

======

The Road Less Traveled

The Road Less Traveled, [9] published in 1978, is Peck's best-known work, and the one that made his reputation.

It is, in short, a description of the attributes that make for a fulfilled human being , based largely on his experiences as a psychiatrist and a person.

The book consists of four parts.

India: The Next Green Growth Champion? | The Diplomat

India: The Next Green Growth Champion?

India could establish itself as a global leader in clean energy – if its government dares to think big.

By Tim Steinecke

February 16, 2019

India, the third largest energy consumer in the world, has often been flying in the slipstream of the United States and China when it came to the global energy debate. This is set to change soon, however. Looking ahead at the next two decades, the International Energy Agency (IEA) projects that India will almost add 30 percent to global energy demand growth, consuming 11 percent of global energy by 2040 (up from around 6 percent in 2018). India’s energy production and consumption will not only impact global markets but will also be an important factor in global efforts to address climate change. The expected decline in Indian coal consumption is already good news for the global climate (albeit not without domestic political and financial risks). Coal as a share of India’s electricity production capacity is expected to fall from currently 57 percent to 38 percent by 2026, while the share of renewables will rise from 29 percent to 50 percent in the same time.

The private sector plays an important role in this development, as initiatives such as Shell’s waste-to-energy technology highlight, seeking to address India’s waste and energy issues at the same time. However, “over 70 percent of global energy investments will be government-driven, and as such the message is clear – the world’s energy destiny lies with decisions and policies made by governments,” as Fatih Birol, executive director of IEA, pointed out during the launch of the World Energy Outlook 2018.

This holds particularly true in India, given the strong state-involvement in the country’s energy sector. The government of India holds a key role in ensuring energy security at home and preventing climate change globally, and the government and its state-owned enterprises are currently the process of defining their vision for 2040. According to India’s Draft National Energy Policy, India’s energy consumption will increase fivefold by 2040, with the NITI Ambition Scenario (NAS) 2040 providing further details on the expected changes and aspirations. At the same time, India’s largest state-owned energy company (known as a public sector undertaking, or PSUs, in India) the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is currently developing its “Strategic Roadmap 2040.”

Enjoying this article? Click here to subscribe for full access. Just $5 a month.

The combination of India’s ambitious targets, its initial success in adapting renewable energy, and the energy sector’s development opportunities offers a chance for India to establish itself as a champion on the international stage, if the government and its PSUs dare to think big and leverage some key factors the right way.

First, the Indian government needs to get ready to transform the country’s energy PSUs. Of India’s eight Maharatna (top state-owned enterprises or SOEs with the highest investment freedom of SOEs) PSUs, five operate in the hydrocarbon space, providing employment to at least half a million people and generating around $85 billion of revenue per year. Knowing that renewable energy will take up a larger share of the energy mix in the mid-term, and assuming that the global energy system will eventually switch to renewable energy entirely, the Indian government should encourage its PSUs to start transforming into more holistic and integrated energy companies. This transformation would ensure continued state-ownership in the energy sector, including the provision of jobs. Norway’s state-owned energy company Equinor is an example of a SOE making this attempt recently, strategically reorienting its business model and corporate culture to operate beyond oil and gas (and changing its name from Statoil in the process).

Second, adapting a pragmatic approach to the energy transition will reap more political and economic benefits than misguided protectionism and contribute more to preventing further climate change. Mid-2018, the Indian government introduced a 25 percent safeguard duty on all solar technology from China and Malaysia, the source of over 85 percent of India’s solar technology. However, as the example of the German solar industry shows, competing with China in the renewable energy space can be difficult. Chinese firms, supported by heavy state subsidies, produce renewable energy technology at scale with prices expected to drop even further over the coming years. India’s renewable energy industry (whether private or state-owned) simply cannot compete sustainably in this space at this time. Christoph Klunker, in a recent publication for the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), asks why the Indian government simply will not let China pay for the Indian energy transition: “instead of a threat to India’s security and economy, China’s subsidized solar sector can be seen as a gift” as it effectively finances India’s energy transition.

Third, the Indian government has the opportunity to encourage innovation in energy and climate finance, and potentially establish itself as a global leader in this field. ORF’s Samir Saran points out that India “will be the first large country that must transition to a middle-income economy in a fossil fuel-constrained world… Given the weak efforts of the developed world to assist the developing countries so far, India has had to chart a path largely through its own economic and financial arrangements.” While the challenges are obvious, the Indian government has an opportunity to pave the way for other developing countries and establish itself as a hub for financing. India is currently on track to overachieve its “2 degrees compatible”-rated Paris Agreement climate action targets, outperforming several other states including China, the combined EU member states, and the United States. Despite infrastructure and financing issues, India targets to increase renewable energy capacity to 175 GW by 2022 (and 275 GW by 2027), putting the sector at the forefront of capacity addition. As Rahul Tongia and Samantha Gross from Brookings point out, this “target implies annual growth of 25 percent — a targeted buildout rate even faster than China’s, which is widely seen as the world’s leader in deploying renewable energy.” With all contradictions and challenges built into this plan (and inherent to India’s state-dominated energy sector), this ambitiousness offers India the chance to differentiate itself globally and establish climate leadership among developing countries.

Fourth, to attract foreign investors and establish itself globally, the Indian government needs to leverage its domestic market to a much greater extent. Providing complete and transparent data on hydrocarbon reserves, infrastructure development opportunities, and financing opportunities would allow foreign investors to engage more easily in the Indian market and Indian firms to leverage their home market in any overseas engagement. (When investing abroad, Chinese energy companies in the past only granted international oil companies access to their home market in return for access to their joint ventures in Africa and other geographies; the Chinese domestic market was too attractive to ignore.)

Fifth, the Indian government and its PSUs have the political and commercial opportunity to benefit from the increasing resistance against China’s influence in Africa and partner with the continent eye-to-eye. India’s ties with Africa are old, multidimensional and the country enjoys significant goodwill across the continent, as Ajay Dubey from Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi points out. The Indian government and its PSUs should leverage this to a much bigger extent, especially in times when China’s engagement across Africa is seen less and less positively (both in China and Africa). Facing similar development issues in the energy space, Indian and African states can learn from one another and cooperate eye-to-eye on how to best leapfrog past hydrocarbons and straight to renewable energy and mini-grids.

The challenges surrounding India’s energy sector are manifold and significant. However, the Indian government has the unique opportunity to establish itself as a leader in the adaptation of renewable energy and a global climate change champion. It can showcase that a leapfrog to renewable energy does not have to come at the expense of slower economic development. The decisions that the Indian government makes today will be the foundation for India’s strategic energy planning in the coming decades and will shape its contribution to the global efforts to counter climate change. India’s success in transforming and developing its energy sector successfully is in the interest not only of its government and people – it is increasingly in the interest of all of us.

-------

Tim Steinecke works at Xynteo, an advisory firm headquartered in Norway. He holds a Ph.D. from St Andrews University for which he specialized on Asian state-owned energy companies. He regularly comments on the global energy industry and Asia-Africa relations. The views expressed here are the author’s own.

The Road Less Traveled: by M. Scott Peck | Reviews Goodreads

The Road Less Traveled: A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values and Spiritual Growth by M. Scott Peck | Goodreads

The Road Less Traveled: A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values and Spiritual Growth
by M. Scott Peck
4.05 · Rating details · 74,657 ratings · 2,000 reviews

316 pp. "Psychotherapy is all things to all people in this mega-selling pop-psychology watershed, which features a new introduction by the author in this 25th anniversary edition. His agenda in this tome, which was first published in 1978 but didn't become a bestseller until 1983, is to reconcile the psychoanalytic tradition with the conflicting cultural currents roiling the 70s.

In the spirit of Me-Decade individualism and libertinism,

he celebrates self-actualization as life's highest purpose and

flirts with the notions of open marriage and therapeutic sex between patient and analyst.

But because he is attuned to the nascent conservative backlash against the therapeutic worldview, Peck also cites Gospel passages, recruits psychotherapy to the cause of traditional religion (he even convinces a patient to sign up for divinity school) and

insists that problems must be overcome through suffering, discipline and hard work (with a therapist.)

Often departing from the cerebral and rationalistic bent of Freudian discourse for a mystical, Jungian tone more compatible with New Age spirituality,

Peck writes of psychotherapy as an exercise in "love" and "spiritual growth," asserts that "our unconscious is God" and

affirms his belief in miracles, reincarnation and telepathy.

Peck's synthesis of such clashing elements (he even throws in a little thermodynamics) is held together by a warm and lucid discussion of psychiatric principles and moving accounts of his own patients' struggles and breakthroughs.

Harmonizing psychoanalysis and spirituality, Christ and Buddha, Calvinist work ethic and interminable talking cures, this book is a touchstone of our contemporary religio-therapeutic culture."

-- Publishers Weekly

Keywords: MIND & BODY PSYCHOLOGY SOCIOLOGY RELIGION (less)

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Paperback, 316 pages
Published December 31st 1978 by Simon & Schuster (first published 1978)

Feb 01, 2011 Chris Wolfe rated it really liked it
It gets four stars for the simple truth of the opening lines:

"Life is difficult. This is a great truth, one of the greatest truths. It is a great truth because once we truly see this truth, we transcend it. Once we truly know that life is difficult--once we truly understand and accept it--then life is no longer difficult. Because once it is accepted, the fact that life is difficult no longer matters."

It amazes me how much damage I have done by expecting life to be something other than difficult and how much easier my life is when I accept that it is difficult and that I will be uncomfortable.
(less)
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Nov 14, 2014 Sanjay Gautam rated it really liked it · review of another edition
The author has delved deep into, with profound insights, on what really causes unhappiness in our life. He asserts that it is precisely in avoiding our problems and hurdles that we suffer in our life; it is the pain and suffering caused by difficulties in life that we have to meet in order to grow mentally and spiritually. We cannot solve life's problems except by solving them.

The following were the key-takeaways:

* LIFE IS DIFFICULT. This is a great truth, one of the greatest truths. It is a great truth because once we truly see this truth, we transcend it. Once we truly know that life is difficult--once we truly understand and accept it--then life is no longer difficult. Because once it is accepted, the fact that life is difficult no longer matters.

* Without discipline we can solve nothing. With only some discipline we can solve only some problems. With total discipline we can solve all problems.

* A person who has the ability to delay gratification has the key to psychological maturity, whereas impulsiveness is a mental habit that, in denying opportunities to experience pain, creates neuroses.

* Most large problems we have are the result of not facing up to earlier, smaller problems, of failing to be 'dedicated to the truth'. The great mistake most people make is believing that problems will go away of their own accord. (less)
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Aug 08, 2010 Birdie Passaro rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
An extraordinary book about Life and the art of Living. It was the most complete and indepth book about personal development from which one become much more aware of the nature of all kinds of relationships.
This book will help to shape your vision of Life!
Please, just read it. Your perspective about things will never be the same. Notable, indeed!
flag 83 likes · Like · 4 comments · see review

Sep 28, 2007 Laura rated it did not like it
Shelves: non-fiction
"Dr." Peck's first doorstop. Inexplicably, this sorry waste of time and paper remained on the NYT Bestseller list for something like ten years. (I don't know why I'm surprised, actually -- this is the same country that elected George W. Bush twice, not to mention the vulgar talking yam who now sits in the Oval Office.) If you were unfortunate enough to buy this, or have it given to you as a gift, do yourself a favor now: put this one the shelf right beside that other pop-pseudo-psychology piece of shit Michelle Remembers. Leave them both within spitting distance, and leave room next to them for anything written by "Dr." Fool. Do not open any of them, ever. (less)
flag 42 likes · Like · see review

Nov 28, 2009 Juliane Roell rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
Shelves: love, psychology, relationships, spirituality

Probably the most important book on love, psychological and spiritual development that I have ever read.

Clear, straightforward, concise, very accessible.

Don't be put off by the criticism of the numerous references to "God" and "grace" in the later chapters: I found them useful and "open" (in the sense that "God" might be substituted by "universe", "energy", "oneness" or whatever you might want to call it.

There is no need to believe in a deity.) If you do find the reference to concepts of oneness or "God" problematic, just read the first parts and leave the rest for another time. It's well worth it. (less)
flag 33 likes · Like · 5 comments · see review

May 11, 2007 Jonathan Ridenour rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
Recommends it for: anyone
Shelves: psychology, spirituality
This book is by now a classic in the field of psychology. Yet, it's written for a mainstream audience and goes through some of the basic tenets of psychological theory (e.g. attachment, individuation, boundaries, delayed gratification) but does so through the lense of spiritual growth. Peck is an excellent writer and fine therapist who is sensitive to the issues of spirituality. The case examples and stories in the book really bring his concepts and ideas together. This is a book that I would recommend to therapy clients who are wanting to understand how their religious beliefs are inline with the goals of psychotherapy. (less)
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Feb 16, 2008 Cole rated it did not like it
I initially picked up this book because I was told that this author was the inspiration for a women's retreat I went to a couple years ago.

However, I found no connection to the theme of the retreat and this book.

Initially I found Peck's theories on discipline appealing. He promoted fundamental ideas of Buddhism, such as life is suffering and only through acceptance of that suffering can we truly live and be free of it. He believes that the pursuit of the truth regardless of the pain involved is fundamental to mental health, and that only through valuing ourselves can we value life and love those around us.

However, while reading examples of cases that Peck has worked on in psychotherapy I felt that his confidence in his prognosis's and what he thought his clients ought to do was rather pretentious.

Furthermore as I read I got the suspicion that Peck was rather homophobic or at least that he thought homosexuality was a sign of poor mental health.

First of all, in all his discussions on love and relationships not once does he relate his theories in the context of a homosexual relationship.

Second he uses examples of actions that his clients took to move toward better mental health including an example of a young homosexual boy summoning the strength to ask a girl out. I was starting to really dislike this author at this point, but it was the next few pages that killed it for me.

Halfway through the book where Peck is saying that love is discipline, he thought it appropriate to use slavery as a metaphor. He states,

"While one should not be slave to one's feelings, self discipline does not mean the squashing of one's feelings into nonexistence. I frequently tell my patients that their feelings are their slaves and that the art of self discipline is like the art of slaving owning"

I can't believe he refers to slave owning as an "art". He continues,

"First of all, one's feelings are the source of one's energy; they provide the horsepower, or slave power, that makes it possible for us to accomplish the task of living. Since they work for us, we should treat them with respect."

It gets worse,

" One type of slave-owner does not discipline his slaves, gives them no structure, sets them no limits, provides them with no direction and does not make it clear whose the boss. What happens, of course, is that in due time his slaves stop working and begin moving into the mansion, raiding the liquor cabinet and breaking the furniture, and soon the slave owner finds he is the slave of his slaves"

Scott Peck author...phycologist...homophobe....racist.....got it.

I'm done with this book! (less)
flag 22 likes · Like · 8 comments · see review

Aug 21, 2007 Jamie rated it it was amazing
Shelves: spiritualandpsych-read
A very insightful book authored by a psychologist/psychiatrist who reveals the secrets to fulfilling, healthy, meaningful and lasting relationships. It really makes you see yourself and others in a different light, as well as words and concepts we think we understand. His hallmark argument is that we so often view love as a noun instead of a verb... as something that just happens to us or doesn't happen to us, instead of an ongoing task we must work at...that work, that action-is love. In fact, something I clearly remember is his point that when people feel as though they've "fallen out of love", it is then that the opportunity for true love to grow is at its greatest. Not at all written in a preachy, self-help sort of way. It's very interesting, full of a lot of great anecdotes. (less)
flag 21 likes · Like · 2 comments · see review

Sep 27, 2008 Mike rated it did not like it
This book starts out extremely engaging and helpful in nature - worthy of four or five stars. But midway through Peck reveals his psychology of teaching his patients and readers to become like God.

While I'm certain he means no malice in this objective, he seems ignorant of negative psychological aspects of this philosophy. Indeed, the book "Toxic Faith" cites "You can become God" as one of the twenty-one Toxic Beliefs of a Toxic Faith (p.98). Having observed the deleterious effect of this belief among the Mormon population I find Peck's thesis professionally reckless regardless of the popularity of his message. (less)
flag 20 likes · Like · 2 comments · see review

Hal J Sandbach

5성급 중 2.0 Interesting, but he lost me with his ideas about god

2018년 1월 20일에 영국에서 리뷰됨

아마존에서 구매

This book was recommended to me, and I found the first half largely interesting. Peck's long history as a therapist enables him to recount very interesting case studies, and these are definitely the strongest aspects of this book. However, when he diver about the collective subconscious, visions of the future and the idea that god is manifest via an individual's subconscious, I'm afraid he lost my trust. Modern neuroscience has enabled a lot of progress to be made regarding how our brains and central nervous system work , and this book, in my opinion, suffers from being written before such advances.

BUT I also think that Peck's overall message is a valid one - we grow by exhibiting real, deep love for ourselves and others. And there's always room for some more love.

한 고객이 이것이 도움이 되었다고 생각합니다.