Will and Spirit: A Contemplative Psychology

Rating:
Summary: I couldn't finish it!
Review: After reading and enjoying "Grace and Addiction", I thought this sounded like a good book. I was SO wrong! Besides being rather put off by some rather vague verbosity, I was increasingly appalled the further I got into this book...I literally forced myself to read it, hoping it would finally reach some conclusion that I would find edifying. I made it as far as chapter 11- "On Being a Pilgrim" and I finally did something I've never done. I threw the book in the trash.
As one who was a member of a "Christian" cult in the mid- 70's, when I got to the part where he tried to analyze the dynamics of what a cult member's "responsibility" is, I realized that Mr. May is very most likely NOT speaking from experience, but from (subject-object?) observation, and a rather skewed, demanding and harsh one at that. Not to mention he is in my well-experienced opinion just plain wrong.
I continued trudging through this book, determined to make it to the end, but the clincher was when he stated that in the case of suicide that "as much as this attitude may wear the mask of the downtrodden and beaten, it in fact constitutes an absolute refusal to SURRENDER to any power or force greater than oneself!" And then he actually described the decision to end one's life as where "one attempts the final statement of willful self-control." At this point I simply couldn't stomach any more of this book. As I have had two suicides in my very close family, I was horrified at Mr. May's statements.
As one who is a believer in Jesus Christ, yet sympathetic to other cultures, particularly those of indigenous peoples, I have read such books as George Tinker's "Missionary Conquest- the Gospel and Native American Cultural Genocide", and Mircea Eliade's "Shamanism," among other similar literature. That being the case, I found parts of this book to contain what seemed to me to be distressingly ethnocentric and narrow-minded assesments of some of the religious practices and mythology of other cultures, and I was shocked at the amount of what struck me as judgemental and downright arrogant criticisms that I would only expect from a "manifest-destiny" believing, domineering fundamentalist...

Rating:
Summary: Completely changed my understanding of spiritual practice
Review: At a time, ten years ago, when I had hit a wall with my Zen practice, this book helped me to see that my approach to spiritual practice had been utterly "willful" and that "willingness," instead, is the key. This distinction has remained central to my understanding of both Buddhist and Christian spiritual practice, giving me some sense of why Zen is always saying that you can't _become_ a buddha because you already _are_ a buddha, and why Christianity is always saying that you can't _earn_ your salvation but need only _accept_ it. (Now if only my practice would catch up with this understanding . . . ) Thank you, Gerald May! ;-)

Rating:
Summary: Completely changed my understanding of spiritual practice
Review: At a time, ten years ago, when I had hit a wall with my Zen practice, this book helped me to see that my approach to spiritual practice had been utterly "willful" and that "willingness," instead, is the key. This distinction has remained central to my understanding of both Buddhist and Christian spiritual practice, giving me some sense of why Zen is always saying that you can't _become_ a buddha because you already _are_ a buddha, and why Christianity is always saying that you can't _earn_ your salvation but need only _accept_ it. (Now if only my practice would catch up with this understanding . . . ) Thank you, Gerald May! ;-)

Rating:
Summary: I threw it in the trash!!!
Review: Having read and enjoyed "Grace and addiction," I thought this would be a good book. I was SO wrong!!!
Besides being put off by the verbosity of this book, anyone who has read Mircae Eliade's book on "Shamanism", George Tinker's "the Gospel- Native Americans and Cultural Genocide," or any other such literature will discern a troubling vein of ethnocentric arrogance.
His statements about the "responsibility" of religious cult members were not only harsh and judgemental, but just unbelievably wrong.
And, anyone who has had a family member or loved one commit suicide will be APPALLED at Gerald May's cruel assesment of a suicide victim's being "childish." His statement that "In deciding to end one's life, one attempts the final statement of willful self-control" was shocking enough, but then he writes "as much as this attitude may wear the mask of the downtrodden and beaten, it in fact constitutes an absolute refusal to surrender to any power or force greater than oneself" This one of the most horrid statements I have ever heard uttered, and although after paying...I had resolved to force myself to trudge through the entire book , I finally couldn't take any more and threw it in the trash.
One would do much better do read something by Thomas Keating or Morton Kelsey.

Rating:
Summary: Profound study of contemporary mystical practice
Review: I first discovered contemplative spirituality when I read Evelyn Underhill's "Mysticism" -- a book that introduced me to many great historical spiritual writers, such as Julian of Norwich, Meister Eckhart, and John of the Cross. I found the great mystics of old to be deeply nurturing to my spiritual practice -- but I had a wistful relationship with the mystical books I read, for it always seemed mysticism was something that happened "back then." Where were the profound mystical explorers of our time? Then a friend recommended I read "Will and Spirit," and so finally I discovered a powerful and beautiful expression of mystical spirituality as practiced today. For May writes squarely in the tradition of the great Christian mystics, with insight, humility, and devotion that characterizes the best spiritual writing. His premise is simple: most human beings live their lives from a posture of willFULness ("I'm in control here"), but the mystical journey is a radical call to enter into the spirituality of willINGness (not my will, but thine). From there, May considers the limitations of much popular spirituality, and celebrates the promise and possibility of a deep practice of meditation within the context of western religion and culture. I now count this as one of the two or three most important texts on spirituality I've ever read. I quote May in my own books, and I still turn to his words for inspiration and guidance.

Rating:
Summary: Profound study of contemporary mystical practice
Review: I first discovered contemplative spirituality when I read Evelyn Underhill's "Mysticism" -- a book that introduced me to many great historical spiritual writers, such as Julian of Norwich, Meister Eckhart, and John of the Cross. I found the great mystics of old to be deeply nurturing to my spiritual practice -- but I had a wistful relationship with the mystical books I read, for it always seemed mysticism was something that happened "back then." Where were the profound mystical explorers of our time? Then a friend recommended I read "Will and Spirit," and so finally I discovered a powerful and beautiful expression of mystical spirituality as practiced today. For May writes squarely in the tradition of the great Christian mystics, with insight, humility, and devotion that characterizes the best spiritual writing. His premise is simple: most human beings live their lives from a posture of willFULness ("I'm in control here"), but the mystical journey is a radical call to enter into the spirituality of willINGness (not my will, but thine). From there, May considers the limitations of much popular spirituality, and celebrates the promise and possibility of a deep practice of meditation within the context of western religion and culture. I now count this as one of the two or three most important texts on spirituality I've ever read. I quote May in my own books, and I still turn to his words for inspiration and guidance.

Rating:
Summary: Will and Spirit Encouragement at its best
Review: I found May's book encouraging. I particularly was drawn to his disclosure of the sexuality involved when your spirituality is expanding. The physiology of the Spiritual/Sexual response is not often spoken about. I am thankful for those disclosures.

Rating:
Summary: Will and Spirit Encouragement at its best
Review: I found May's book encouraging. I particularly was drawn to his disclosure of the sexuality involved when your spirituality is expanding. The physiology of the Spiritual/Sexual response is not often spoken about. I am thankful for those disclosures.

Rating:
Summary: Soul food for the brain.
Review: I have read this book several times in as many years. Each reading has shed a new light on my own development or, in some cases, an exploration into areas that require growth. The joy of this book is that the reader can take ownership of every word. It takes the complexities of the human psyche and vividly describes the interaction with our human reality. This includes our capacity for life-giving behavior and our frequent battles with human selfishness at a conscious and subconscious level.

Rating:
Summary: A profound inner-journey
Review: I have read this book several times in as many years. Each reading has shed a new light on my own development or, in some cases, an exploration into areas that require growth. The joy of this book is that the reader can take ownership of every word. It takes the complexities of the human psyche and vividly describes the interaction with our human reality. This includes our capacity for life-giving behavior and our frequent battles with human selfishness at a conscious and subconscious level.