Rating: 
Summary: Fantastic and insightful
Review: Marianne Williamson has for years been a source of comfort I've been able to reflect upon over the years. I got all of the audio cassettes of her speeches and A Course In Miracles and the tapes of that. I remember exactly how I came upon this book---Oprah was interviewing Ivana Trump and Ivana said something about her pain and turmoil over the divorce from The Donald, Oprah recommended it to her and I took my last $20 until payday and went out and got this book.
It changed my life because it agreed with my own thoughts about the universe. Not because it was so revolutionary but because I had thought these thoughts before and thats what lead me to the Course.
Neither this book nor the Course is ultimately easy to digest. You must change your mind. About Time, Space, the Body and Death existing and all of the precepts we place upon that thoughtform. What I like about ARTL is that it opens this whole thought in a way that is accessible to someone before you tackle the Course. The Course is such an intense book, the spiritual lessons so different from normal spiritual lessons that there does need to be a primer of sorts and entrance into it. Are there others? Wapnick, Gawain, yes. But Marianne gives you the feeling that she's sat on the same barstool you have, dated the same jerk you did, endured the dysfunctional parents you did.
And if you listen to the tapes of her live, she'll admit that yes, she has all of the above and more! Marianne is a hoot and a half and at the same time she GETS IT! There's a separation on the Earth of folks who get it and those who don't. Is that enlightenment? Of Perception? Yes, I think it is a step in teh right direction. There are a dozen high book sinbetween and perhaps the true lesson is that if you truly get one of them you don't need a dozen.
The thought of God as balance, as love, as energy accessible to us all as a choice, as a thought manifestation. This book is one of the cars on a whole new train of thought, ACIM is the engine. ALL ABOARD!
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Summary: All you need is love.
Review: Whether by coincidence or miracle, I was prompted to read Marianne Williamson's book after three different friends asked me last week if I'd ever read RETURN TO LOVE. First published ten years ago in 1992, Williamson's book integrates spiritual principles drawn from A Course in Miracles with personal growth and interpersonal relations, to teach us not only how to realize our divine nature, but how to embody that nature in human form. Her book, Williamson writes in the Preface, "is about the practice of love, as a strength and not a weakness, as a daily answer to the problems that confront us. How is love a practical solution? This book is written as a guide to the miraculous application of love as a balm on every wound. Whether our psychic pain is in the area of relationships, health, career, or elsewhere, love is a potent force, the cure, the Answer" (pp. xviii-xix). Love is the answer, she tells us, to our relationships with "money, the body, work, sex, death, ourselves, and one another" (p. 84).Okay, so it's like the Beatles told us when they sang, "All you need is love." We were born with love, but replaced that love with fear of life. "The spiritual journey is the reliquishment--or unlearning--of fear and the acceptance of love back into our hearts," Williamson writes. "Love is the essential existential fact. It is our ultimate reality and our purpose on earth. To be consciously aware of it, to experience love in ourselves and others is the meaning of life" (p. xxii). Returning to love is "the personal journey from pretense to self, from pain to inner peace" (p. 25). Williamson's message is just that simple. Well, almost that simple. "The goal of spiritual practice is full recovery," Williamson observes, "and the only thing you need to recover from is a fractured sense of self" (p. 150). For me, this point raises one small criticism of Williamson's book--more of a concern, really. Williamson confides that she was "a total mess" (p. xv) and "a total basket case" (p. 11) when she first encountered A Course in Miracles. "I had what is commonly called a nervous breakdown," she says. "A certain amount of desperation is usually necessary before we're ready for God," (p. 11). Although she readily observes that many people in our culture turn to spirituality while suffering from psychological wounds including self-loathing, addictions, fears, obsession, compulsion, depression, and violence (p. 7), and although she immerses her reader into the relationship between personal growth and spiritual development, I wonder if there are other important issues which she has not fully explored in her book, namely, the extent to which the practice she advocates really requires its practitioners to deal with their personal and emotional wounds. Or would they also benefit from a course of psychotherapy integrated into their spiritual practice to assist them in fully recovering from their "fractured sense of self"? To change the effects in our life, Williamson encourages us to "change our mind about the world" (p. 66), and forgive the past (p. 71). All in all, RETURN TO LOVE offers a life-affirming approach to spiritual and personal growth, and will appeal to anyone interested in becoming a mature, authentic person, while also discovering love as our true, essential human nature. G. Merritt
Rating:
Summary: Good introduction to A Course In Miracles
Review: This book is wonderful, a very gentle feeling flows throughout. I love Marianne's stories, particularly about her upbringing at the hands of an "eccentric Jewish father." "I come from a dysfunctional family," Marianne writes, "But who doesn't? This world is dysfunctional." I have given this book as a gift twice, and I love Marianne's audio tapes upon which this book is based. Marianne Williamson is very direct and very strong. Her thinking is very clear. However, I would have to say that this book is for beginners on the path of the Course. The Course is a very demanding spirituality that makes us take stock of all our beliefs and eventually finds them to all be lacking. Further, the Course is founded on a non-dual view of God which many comment is quite similar to the Vedanta. Marianne does not tackle any of these more "abstract" themes of the Course in this book. The result is that the metaphysics of the Course do not always come vividly clear in this book. But that doesn't take away from the appeal of this book. This book is very important in Course history, and the publication of this book was responsible for a 60% jump in sales of A Course In Miracles. I had a chance to talk to Marianne Williamson after seeing her speak at a seminar a few years back, and she was very helpful in my understanding the Course. Or, rather, she helped me get to where I currently am in my study of the Course. Because the Course is a book that may ultimately be impossible for a human being to fully understand. Some further books by Marianne Williamson that I would recommend are: * A WOMAN'S WORTH
* THE HEALING OF AMERICA
* ILLUMINATED PRAYERS She is a truly enjoyable and inspiring author. (Dear review editor: please see to it that this edited version of my review is placed on the website. I would really like to be able to direct people to Marianne's other works. Thank you)
Rating: 
Summary: Good Solid Personal Growth Material
Review: I really enjoyed the book and feel that anyone could learn and prosper personally from its content. It is a book that I read and reread portions several times. Simple to understand with excellent life lessons. Did not rate the book at its highest because I'm not sure just how I feel about the lessons from "A Course in Miracles" but I did not find anything objectionable in the book. I feel that it is a book with genuine help for those who are willing to accept its teachings.
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Summary: Something to Think About . . .
Review: Ms. Williamson has always fascinated, from her early t.v. appearances, to her current gig as the leader of Church of Today near where I live. I find her to be forthright, believable, and easy to listen to. This review is based on the audio tape, which I think must have more impact that the book as her speaking voice brings the test alive. For any of you out there 'questioning the meaning of life', you might give this a listen. Most of what she says I think many of us know, but it's very comforting to have her agree with us.
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Summary: Please read this book!!
Review: I can't say how much this book has meant to me. Every time I have read it, the truth and the spiritual wisdom of Ms. Williamson's words strike deeper and deeper. She writes is a gentle flowing manner that speaks to the simplistic life of just learning how to love yourself because we are all extensions of God and the Universe and therefore are expressions of pure love. When you finally realize that in spiritual reality, all there is is love, then all your problems are immediately solved, and you finally realize these problems were never "real" in the first place.This is the "holy instant" or the miracle of "atonement" of which A Course in Miracles teaches. Even though I have never met Ms.Williamson personally, she has made more a difference in my life than anyone else.
Rating:
Summary: A Timely Book for These Troubled Times
Review: Not sure what "A Course in Miracles" is all about? Neither was I when I picked up this book. If you are new to these principles then you will thoroughly enjoy Ms. Williamson's book and come away with answers to your basic questions about "A Course in Miracles." Plus Ms. Williamson writes in an easy style that makes this book accessible to all. More importantly, she speaks from the heart and inspires each of us to do the same. Given these troubled times, "A Return to Love" will be a source of comfort to many. My only problem with this book? When I first skimmed through it, I dismissed it as a lot of "Pollyannish" talk. It was only until later, at a low point in my life, that I found myself opening up to its wisdom. So if someone gives you this book as a present and you are not quite in a place for it? That's okay. Keep it on your shelf and it will be there for you at just the right moment. I highly recommend it to anyone searching for spiritual answers.
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Summary: Wonderful Blessings You'll Receive
Review: Simply put, Marianne's works here is a wonderful and a light filled way to walking the path to understanding God, but not just from a "thought process", but rather from a experience process... Truely wonderful!!! Highly recommend you experience this book!
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Summary: A beatiful example of how to live your life
Review: I subscribe to most of her suggestions. It is a great way to life. Live and let live!! Kasey Hamner, author of "Whose Child?: An Adoptee's Healing Journey from Relinquishment through Reunion and Beyond."
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Summary: The most Mind Stirring, Soul Touching Audio Book Ever
Review: I first came upon this Audio book about 4 or 5 years ago, and have yet to find an Audio book that reaches as deep into you as this one does. A Return to Love is a great Book, but it is a truly incredible Audio book! The tone of her voice, and the way it's spoken is so perfect, that you hear every word, and feel she is talking directly to YOU! I have listened to 100's of Audio books over the years, and have not found anything close to this one. Deepak, Millman, Lucado, Dyers, and as much as I hate to say it, even Mariannes other audios don't hold the magic this one does. If someone has found an audio that gets as deep into your soul as this one does, PLEASE write me and let me know what it is. And Marianne, Please consider doing an Unabridged version of the audio. If you have not listened to this audio book yet, and are looking for some spiritual enlightenment, you have no idea what your missing out on here! Buy the Tape, even if you have read the book!!! Time and time again, I have gone back and listened to this tape, and it never loses a bit of the magic I felt the first time I heard it. This Audio will remind you of so much you have forgotten through the years. The best Audio book I have EVER listened too!
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