First publisher: SIMON & SHUSTER; ISBN: 0-671-24067-1
CURTEA VECHE; ISBN: 973-8120-77-2
The Road less traveled was published in 1978 to little fanfare, but its popularity grew by word of mouth until; it reached the New York Time Best Seller List. It remained there for more than 13 years, selling over seven million copies, and has been translated into 20 different languages. From 2001, it is available and in romanian language, at Curtea Veche House, under title, “Drumul catre tine insuti”. In this book, dr. Peak offers advice on how to live a spiritual life drawing on his decades of practicing psychiatry while also studying work mysticism.
The Road less traveled was published in 1978 to little fanfare, but its popularity grew by word of mouth until; it reached the New York Time Best Seller List. It remained there for more than 13 years, selling over seven million copies, and has been translated into 20 different languages. From 2001, it is available and in romanian language, at Curtea Veche House, under title, “Drumul catre tine insuti”. In this book, dr. Peak offers advice on how to live a spiritual life drawing on his decades of practicing psychiatry while also studying work mysticism.
The book begins with the statement “Life is difficult”, which Peck points out is similar to the Buddha’s assertion “Life is suffering”. Life is a series of problems. Though these problems cause pain, they also may ultimately be a source of growth and even joy. As Peck says, “Problems call forth our courage and our wisdom … It is only because of problems that we grow mentally and spiritually”. Discipline is the set of tools required to solve life’s problems. Peck discusses four aspects of discipline that support both mental and spiritual growth: delaying gratification, acceptance of responsibility, dedication to truth, and keeping a balance.
Delaying gratification simply means that we do what is difficult first, leaving us free to enjoy our time afterward.
Delaying gratification is the process of scheduling the pain and pleasure in life in such a way as to enhance that pleasure by meeting and experiencing the pain first and getting it over with.
Before we can solve a problem, we must first accept responsibility for it. We can’t solve if it we believe it is someone else’s problem or by simply hoping someone else will solve it.
Before we can solve a problem, we must first accept responsibility for it. We can’t solve if it we believe it is someone else’s problem or by simply hoping someone else will solve it.
Dedication to truth is a particularly challenging aspect of discipline. As Peck points out, “The more clearly we see the reality of the world, the better equipped we are to deal with the world”. A problem arises in that our perception of reality is always being filtered through mental maps based on our past experiences, yet the world is constantly changing - and our own vantage point changes throughout different phases of life. Bombarded with new information, we must constantly revise our maps. This process can be painful and frightening, causing us to shy away from truth. Dedication to truth requires continual self-examination, willingness to be challenged, and honesty.
To lead a successful life, we must exercise the forth type of discipline, keeping a balance, and this means disciplining discipline itself. We must learn to be flexible and apply discipline in a way that is appropriate for each situation – for example, to delay gratification, keeping an eye on the future, while still acting spontaneously in the present. As Peck says, “Mature mental health demands an extraordinary capacity to flexibly strike and continually re-strike a delicate balance between conflicting goals, duties, responsibilities, directions etc”.
Discipline requires “giving up” throughout life: “giving up” the old to grow and mature into the new, until one ultimately gives up the self and like itself. Peck says, “It is in the giving up of self that human beings can find the most lasting, solid, durable joy of life. And it is death that provides life with all ist meaning. This ‘secret’ is the central wisdom of religion”.
Love is not a feeling. Many, many people possessing the feeling of love and even acting in response to that feeling act in al manner of unloving and destructive ways. On the other hand, a genuinely loving individual will often take loving and constructive action toward a person he or she consciously dislikes.
Love is too large to be completely understood. It involves a collapsing of ego boundaries - incorporation of the beloved within ourselves, thus expanding our boundaries and blurring the distinction between the two. Extending ourselves in this way requires both hard work and courage – acts of will against the inertia of our mind. The primary form that this work takes is attention. Love is fundamentally a mystery, and psychology can only be a small help in understanding it. Peck says, “The people who know the most about such things are those among the religious who are student of Mystery”.
Our religion is our understanding of what life is about, our world view. To some, religion is a set of dogmatic and superstitious beliefs inherited from childhood. These may need to be rejected before real spiritual growth can begin. To some, science is a religion. Because science relies on measurement to determine reality, things that are difficult or impossible to measure, such as God, are rejected as not real. However, in this century scientific exploration of such things as light, quantum mechanics and relativity is discovering the paradoxical nature of reality wich mystics have spoken of throughout the ages. To find a more accurate world view we need to avoid scientific tunnel vision but not lose our critical faculties and skepticism.
Psychology has gained an understanding of how mental illness results from traumas of childhood, but not how some people with extremely traumatic circumstances grow to be healthy adults. There seems to be “a powerful force originating outside of human consciousness which nurtures the spiritual growth of human beings”. We call this force Grace. It may manifest as intuition from oru subconscious and serendipitous events. These are commonplace and happen to all of humanity.
Spiritual growth is the evolution of the individual and is in itself a miracle. The second law of thermodynamics tells us that the universe is winding down and becoming less organized through the force of entropy. The force that pushes individuals and species to evolve against the force of entropy is Love. To explain the existence of the miracles of grace and evolution, Peck hypothesizes the existence of a God who loves us and wants us to be like him. He says God “is intimately associated with us – so intimately that he is a part of us … God has been with us all along, is now and always will be”.
Enjoy with this book.
Enjoy, the energy work for everyone.
Best regards,
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