Rating: 
Summary: Practice the principles and become a different person
Review: I originally read this book ten years ago then bought copies to send to relatives and friends. It would be inconceivable to think that anyone, regardless of their religious affiliation, could find anything in this book to be offended at. Williamson is tremendously skilled at putting the principles of A Course in Miracles into understandable terms. Here is a Jewish woman talking about a book written by another Jewish woman, and both are revealing the principle of unconditional love taught by Christ. I intend to read pages from this book every day until it becomes an automatic part of my unconscious mind. There is nothing--not one person or situation--that can't be helped by unconditional love.
Rating:
Summary: Love it!
Review: Marrianne Williamson's work is both real and honest. Rather than couch things in a concepts that are alien or extremely religious, she talks to you about the realities of existing. Of how things will not always be easy, about how you will lose your way, and honestly how to see people clearly. Growth is messy, it's not neat, maturity is not easy, nor is spirtiuality delicate work, but with assistance from a tape like this you can see yourself clearly and how to bridge yourself from concept to human to spiritual being.
Rating:
Summary: Well written spiritual book
Review: Marianne Williamson is a great storyteller and spritual leader. Recently, I have read this book for the third time and it felt like I am reading it for the first time! The material is timeless as I get something totally new out of it each time I read it.If you continually feel hurt in relationships, this is a great book to read. Regardless, it is a wonderful book.
Rating:
Summary: A positive message...
Review: In its own way, "A Return to Love" is a seminal piece of writing, more for its message than its poetry. I turn to Marianne Williamson's when I need a little pick-me-up; I have found she is one of the few "religious" voices I can handle these days. This book is based on her interpretation of "A Course in Mircacles," a kind of New Age bible. I have never attempted to read that tome, so this book acts as a kind of cliff notes version for a mainstream audience. Its basic message is the following: when we are born, we are programmed perfectly to focus on love, but as we grow older we are taught a bad philosophy of fear. The key is to reconnect with our essential, loving selves by asking God to erase the fearful thoughts that block our essential selves. This process--letting go of fear and anger-- is a miracle. The logical side of me says that the central supposition of this book is false; in fact, children are born with both love and fear --on a primal level, anger in a baby (crying) is an expression that needs aren't being met, and that anger is an essential part of an infant's survival. In a sense, anger is a form of communication, and is something people are born with. And, yet, this book distills spiritual principles in a language that is more accessible to a general audience than traditional religion. It has the power to reconnect people to a basic type of spirituality that is lacking in a lot of mainstream life. It also contains a lot of advice about relationships that is greatly helpful, and is a fun read. I found that reading it lead me to a greater curiousity about religion and spirituality; it is a gateway.
Rating: 
Summary: Ridiculous!
Review: This tome was not only stupid, it was insulting. Marianne Williamson says things like, "Our WHOLE GENERATION fears this and fears that and fears the other thing," then proceeds to list some of the biggest fears of crackpots going - which, presumably, are her own personal fears that she's projecting onto everyone else. Had she said, "Many people in our generation fear this and fear that," it would have sounded a lot more intellectually responsible than it does as written. Save the money! Don't bother purchasing this book.
Rating: 
Summary: A Life Changing Book
Review: Ignore the 11/13/02 review by the closed-minded Christian Science snob! A Return to Love will change your life if you are open minded. You need not be a student of A Course in Miracles to be transformed by this book, though if you don't consider yourself a spiritual person, this might not be the best book for you, since it deals so much with the presence of (God as) Love in our lives. I read it long before I got involved in religion and metaphysics and I was and still am very moved by it. This is a book about the healing and transforming power of Love and how to practice it in your daily life. Ms. Williamson has been-there-done-that and her intelligent and very hip writing style is far from preachy. I've read it over and over since the 1980's and it gets better every time. Can't recommend it highly enough!
Rating: 
Summary: Sounds familiar....
Review: I'm a former Christian Scientist who picked up this book out of curiosity. I'd say a full three-quarters of the book's basic philosophy is lifted right out of the Christian Science "textbook" -- Science and Health, by Mary Baker Eddy. Ms. Williamson's book is a nice, frothy milkshake -- a New Age, feel-good blend of pop psychology and secular spirituality that goes down very easily. From what I can gather from the book, it sounds as if the folks who concocted A Course in Miracles studied the Science and Health, rewrote the Victorian language so that it was contemporary and appealing, and left out all the hard, controversial stuff -- like relying solely on God for physical healing. Hmm. All I can say is: give me good, old-fashioned, traditional, church-going religion. That's where you get to know God -- AND yourself.
Rating:
Summary: Marryanne has inspired me to look at life differently,
Review: I met Marryanne in 1988, at a unity church, At first, Idid not know what to think of her teachings. The I went on a three day retreat. I had been living with AIDS for 2 years at the time.
Once at the retreat, I became totally focus on her words. It was such an inpact, that by the time I returned home My best friend Mark came over to see how was my visit. After a few minutes, he saif to me, :Michael who are you, there is something very different about you site, there is a glow about you. Its like your Moses with the ten commandments. What a miracle you are. Mark started listening to these tapes that I purchased gor Marryanne. He himself had a new light about him.
To this day he prases me for me introducing Marryanne to his life.
I was once in a coma for 7 1/2 months. The teachings of the course amd Marryanne really helpped me come back. I am truely thankful for this anglel,"Marry Anne.
Thank you
Michael Joshua Adams, seattle Washington 9/2002
Rating:
Summary: 1 of 6 books you ever need to read
Review: There are only six books you need to read to turn your life around and start living a more joyful, abundant and peaceful life...this is the one to start with. Then move on to Conversations With God, book 1, book 2 & book 3 and then to Depak 's How to Know God and end with The Seat of The Soul. There you have it...the truth of it all in six books...the rest on the subject of life are variations on the same theme. These six sum it up. Return to Love will do just that...return you to love, if you dare follow it's teachings and desire such a joy filled life.
Rating:
Summary: NONSENSE
Review: TOO BAD I COULDN'T HAVE GIVEN THIS BOOK ZERO STARS. IT IS PRECISELY THIS TYPE OF MINDLESS DOUBLE-TALK THAT HAS THE WORLD IN THE STATE IT IS IN TODAY. IN A WORLD DESPERATELY IN NEED OF INDIVIDUALS OF REASON, PURPOSE AND SELF-ESTEEM,THE AUTHOR CLAIMS THAT THE "EGO" IS THE SOURCE OF ALL EVIL. INSTEAD OF ENCOURAGING PEOPLE TO USE THEIR MINDS, THE AUTHOR CLAIMS THAT EVERYTHING(INCLUDING ALL READERS OF THE BOOK), IS AN ILLUSION AND THAT ONLY GOD EXISTS, WHATEVER THAT IS SUPPOSED TO MEAN. IF SO, WHY WRITE A BOOK AND MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS TO INDIVIDUAL READERS ABOUT HOW TO LIVE THEIR INDIVIDUAL LIVES? MORE TO THE POINT, WHY BOTHER TO READ SUCH A BOOK, OR ANY BOOK FOR THAT MATTER, IF YOU AND EVERYTHING AROUND YOU IS AN ILLUSION? HOW COULD GOD HAVE CREATED THE UNIVERSE, IF THE UNIVERSE IS MERELY AN ILLUSION? OF COURSE THE AUTHOR CANNOT PROVIDE A LOGICAL ANSWER TO ANY OF THESE QUESTIONS. TO HER, HOWEVER, THAT IS IRRELEVANT, SINCE LOGIC AND REASON ARE MEANINGLESS CONCEPTS. AS AYN RAND POINTED OUT ON NUMEROUS OCCASIONS, THOSE WHO EXPOUSE THE PRIMACY OF CONSCIOUSNESS OVER EXISTENCE(AS THIS AUTHOR DOES, EVEN IF SHE MOST LIKELY DOES NOT REALLY UNDERSTAND THAT FUNDAMENTAL PHILOSOPHICAL DISTINCTION), MUST ASSUME THE VERY OPPOSITE OF WHAT THEY ASSERT IN ORDER TO BE ABLE TO MAKE THEIR ARGUMENTS IN THE FIRST PLACE. I RECOMMEND THIS BOOK HIGHLY TO THOSE OF YOU WHO THINK JOHN EDWARD REALLY TALKS TO THE DEAD, SINCE YOU ARE UNDOUBTEDLY ALREADY HOPELESS CASES. FOR THE REST OF YOU, I RESPECTFULLY SUGGEST THAT YOU NOT WASTE YOUR VALUABLE TIME. TRY READING ATLAS SHRUGGED OR THE FOUNTAINHEAD INSTEAD. THOSE BOOKS WILL PROVIDE YOU WITH A TRULY SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE, I.E. THE EXPERIENCE OF BEING FULLY IN TOUCH WITH REALITY, RATHER THAN THE WORLD OF WISHFUL THINKING.
|
