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The Road Less Traveled, 25th Anniversary Edition : A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values and Spiritual Growth Review

Obviously, our parents were the two most significant human beings to guide and shape our opinions, prejudices, learning, and adoption of our worldview or outlook toward the universe. Peck makes that clear, as he details the impact his dad had on him. Depending upon where we went to school, which schools we attended, our religious training, whether in church or catechism or whatever, we learned from those who taught us as we grew up.

One of several individuals that have had an impact upon my thinking is M. Scott Peck--author of The Road Less Traveled. His book's success speaks for itself.

After reading it I followed up with several of his books published afterwards including People of a Lie. Peck was a Christian psychologist/minister/writer. I don't know how he got tagged as being a scientist. He defined his own place in life, not really fitting into the mainstream. It was his thinking out of the box that attracted me to him. He is dead right when he says that as thinking creatures one stops "growing" when he or she doesn't challenge daily about everything they believe and perceive in the universe.

Peck wrote The Road Less Traveled in his late 20's and had one of those unique experiences to be able to find a publisher and publishing it. It became an overnight success. I enjoyed this book because he seemed to understand the human condition and wrote honestly of the struggle of good versus evil. He believed evil existed in the universe.

By the time he had written his 5th book titled Searching for Stones, I had begun to split ways with him. I read it shortly after it was published in 1996. In 2007 I was spending time doing what I do fairly often--reflecting back over my past life and asking myself why I think the way I think and why I believe what I believe. I was reviewing books, teachers, individuals, experiences, and events in life that have made me the personal mental construct that I am with my world view, habits, religious beliefs, and thoughts that make me the person I am. While doing this I recognized that Scott Peck had a significant impact upon my thinking at a point in time starting with the Road Less Travelled. My brother and I had shared quotes from his books through the years. Both of us admired his writings. But, a question lingered in my mind in 2007 as to why I moved on to other writers and his impact upon me at a point in time had diminished. I got on Amazon.com and reviewed all of his books. I knew that at one time I had read of an angelic appearance, as he described it. He had called it a "spirit of mirth". I found this episode in his book Searching for Stones.

In the early 80's he had spent time with individuals who were, according to Peck, demon possessed. One evening he was "accosted by a good spirit." He wordlessly asked "what kind of spirit it was." He speaks of waging a battle with the spirit as to whether he would let it in. Upon doing so, He described how he was consumed with delirious laughter.

I found a reread of this book to be very sad. In it he detailed a great deal of his inner thoughts and thinking. While reading it dawned upon me why I had begun to set Peck's books aside in 1997 and no longer viewed him as mentor. I no longer saw him as a teacher and mentor. I saw him as a struggling human soul making his way through life just like all the rest of us, trying to make sense of life's experiences, who and what we are, God, religion, and purpose and meaning of life. I believe that God uses individuals in our lives as we make our journey. Peck's words were not written in vain. He reached out to others attempting to help and assist them think for themselves and understand life and its mysteries. He ended the Road Less Traveled by stating that the purpose of human existence was to become God. By the time he wrote Searching for Stones in 1996, he said: "As I reread The Road Less Traveled almost twenty years after I wrote it, I am still struck by the truth that was given me. I am also struck by a glib quality to its certainty. I am not as certain about many things as I used to be."

It is this kind of honesty that was characteristic of Peck. Stone's is laced with his humanity. He exposes himself as a human being struggling with life and its meaning and mysteries just like all of us are. It is almost as if when he grew older he realized that he walked on water at a point in time in his life. Now, he was looking down, and found himself sinking. I really didn't need to hear about his struggles with sex, his having sexual relations with his patients, his estrangement from his adult children, or his unfaithfulness to his wife. I felt I saw some of the ego that creeps into the lives of most people who become "celebrities" and are fawned upon by the public. As Bill Clinton said, "I did it because I could." But perhaps, I did need to read about Scott Peck's personal life. And perhaps Scott felt a need in his life to expose his humanity to his readers and admirers, somewhat the way Paul and Peter did when they threw off their clothes and ran naked into the crowds to show they were human beings among human beings. I just know that after I finished reading Stone's a second time, Peck ceased to be a mentor of importance in my life. I saw him as one to pray for and a "brother" rather than a teacher at this point in my life. I put him in a category that he had placed all his mentors in life. He speaks of "having lost all his mentors in life" before he died in 2005. Scott was one of my mentors at one time. I keep his books on my shelf. When I pick them up again to read them I see myself along the path in the journey of life, and my mind can easily drift back to what I was internally feeling and thinking when I first picked up his books to read them. They help me recall the thinking that has laid the brick and mortar of my mental construct. Peck will timelessly have a lot to offer anyone searching for meaning to life.

The Road Less Traveled, 25th Anniversary Edition : A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values and Spiritual Growth Feature

ISBN13: 9780743243155
Condition: New
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The Road Less Traveled, 25th Anniversary Edition : A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values and Spiritual Growth Overview

Perhaps no book in this generation has had a more profound impact on our intellectual and spiritual lives than The Road Less Traveled. With sales of more than seven million copies in the United States and Canada, and translations into more than twenty-three languages, it has made publishing history, with more than ten years on the New York Times bestseller list.

Now, with a new Introduction by the author, written especially for this twenty-fifth anniversary deluxe trade paperback edition of the all-time national bestseller in its field, M. Scott Peck explains the ideas that shaped this book and that continue to influence an ever-growing audience of readers.

Written in a voice that is timeless in its message of understanding, The Road Less Traveled continues to help us explore the very nature of loving relationships and leads us toward a new serenity and fullness of life. It helps us learn how to distinguish dependency from love; how to become a more sensitive parent; and ultimately how to become one's own true self.

Recognizing that, as in the famous opening line of his book, "Life is difficult" and that the journey to spiritual growth is a long one, Dr. Peck never bullies his readers, but rather guides them gently through the hard and often painful process of change toward a higher level of self-understanding.

The Road Less Traveled, 25th Anniversary Edition : A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values and Spiritual Growth Specifications

By melding love, science, and religion into a primer on personal growth, M. Scott Peck launched his highly successful writing and lecturing career with this book. Even to this day, Peck remains at the forefront of spiritual psychology as a result of The Road Less Traveled. In the era of I'm OK, You're OK, Peck was courageous enough to suggest that "life is difficult" and personal growth is a "complex, arduous and lifelong task." His willingness to expose his own life stories as well as to share the intimate stories of his anonymous therapy clients creates a compelling and heartfelt narrative.

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Customer Reviews

a great book for all - P. Houck - USA
this book will open your mind to what happens in psychology the way the mind works. this book i found was great for me in helping me to decide to take the road less traveled in my every day life in a relationship with any one.

Dr. Peck's Book: Road Less Travelled - Patsi -
A well known lawyer highly recommended this book in his classroom. I could not be more pleased with its content.Arguments relevant to my life are easily identifiable. The author's definition of Psychotherapy alone cleared up my misunderstanding of the field. Dr. Peck also clears up the correlation between religion and Psychotherapy. The importance of love in everyday life is highlighted especially as it relates to spiritual growth.

Favorite! - L. Jones - Baltimore, Maryland
This is one of my favorite books! I read it for a college course and kept it in mind for reference. It is a great read! I recommend it to everyone!

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Wednesday, September 8, 2010