A powerful examination of the core of human experience

books:


	• Contentment: A Way to True Happiness Robert A. Johnson, Jerry M. Ruhl HarperOne, 2000 - 128 pages average customer review:based on 5 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Contentment

I own all of Rbt Johnson's books, as I'm quite interested in Jungian psychology, but this has a "different voice", probably because it's co-written by someone else. Nevertheless, anyone interested in the concept of contentment will want to own it as it contains many thought-provoking ideas.

Wonderful & simplistic

I am reading it for a second time because I loved it so much. Very simple, but insightful book on everyone's search for contentment. It shows how the American culture does not support the journey required to find true contentment. I liked it so much I've bought a few copies to give to my friends!

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A powerful examination of the core of human experience

This is a powerful book, full of concise wisdom. Rather than telling you how to interpret an idea--too many books tell you what to think--this thin volume, echoing Shakespeare's King Lear, allows you to integrate the wisdom deeply into your consciousness. What I have always marveled about Johnson's books is their ability to suggest ideas without talking down to you, evoke wisdom without hitting you over the head. Johnson lets you find your own answers to the big questions. This book points me closer to God. What more could you expect from a mere book? (Another bonus: it's inspired me to read Lear again, this time from a new perspective.)

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Great Book. I need to buy it again!

This is an amazing book. Insightfull. I leant it to someone, so now need to buy it again, because I want to leave them with the book! So I will purchase again. Short, and makes you think. Especially loved the bit at the end about how in the past people lived less for themselves, and more for "community". If their community was doing OK, but they were dying, it didn't really matter, as their part had built up the community. It's a bit better worded than that though...

a few good bits of insight

This book contained a lot of stuff that I did not find useful. The King Lear examples were dreary. Here are the best nuggets of knowledge from the book:

Contentment - to be at home with what you already contain - your existing contents. Contentment isn't found on the outside or from getting what we want. It is our capacity to mediate our desires with "what is". Accept what is rather than insist that life be a certain way. Contentment comes from the inside rather than "just as soon as" I get x or event y happens. Honoring and embracing "what is" is the opposite of living a "just as soon as" mentality. Rearranging life on the outside will not produce lasting contentment no matter how much you do or get. Contentment can't be found out there - it is inside of you.

Let the daily upsets, disappointments, and changes pass by like clouds in the sky. In the scheme of theme they are no more important or permanent than the clouds. You can participate in the daily frustrations and absurdities of life while simultaneously observing them as a great movie show.

The past is gone and the future is yet to be. All that exists is now. Try to imagine how life might be if you were able to let go of a predetermined course of action and instead accept what life presents to you. When you bump up against a rock, try moving in a different direction. Letting go is not giving up. In letting go you consciously do what can be done. Become aware of how the urge to act interferes with true knowing. Try simply being aware rather than doing or demanding.

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Simple Gifts of Contentment

The forces of modern life urge us to achieve and acquire more, pushing us outward in our quest for contentment. World?renowned Jungian analyst Robert A. Johnson and psychotherapist Jerry M. Ruhl guide us inward, to a deep understanding of true, lasting happiness.

Instead of relegating joy and satisfaction to another time, a different place, a better circumstance ("just as soon as I finish this project / land that perfect job / find a new relationship"), Johnson and Ruhl encourage us to negotiate and embrace "what is." Instructive and wise, this gentle guide contains all the tools we need??including illustrative stories, myths, poems, and practical exercises??to seize true contentment in the here and now.

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