Peace of Soul - Fulton Sheen

Why I Read This. Many years ago I often wondered why my friends said ?salam walekum?, or why jews wished ?shalom?, or why in church we were asked to offer peace to each other, which we did by folding hands & bowing heads to the ones seated next to us, saying ?peace be with you? Slowly I realized one of the things with ever increasing demand & ever decreasing supply was Peace. No wonder Jesus didn?t promise his followers money, home, fame but only said ?I give u peace, my peace I give u, the peace I give u, the world cant take away?. Having thought over these sooner I saw the book I bought, read, readily as it was from my trusted author. Also by this time I was anyway only reading books on spirituality, theology & counseling.

The book & its audience This is primarily a Psycho-spiritual classic on Peace. The author uses a lot of psychology, science, religion, theology. It might be of interest to any seeker as well as students, counselors, psychology enthusiasts, psychiatrists etc. I am not sure how a person who doubts there being a thing called ?the soul? will find it! it is also noteworthy that the author shows how many of the modern psychological theories are but myth. Printed by ATC Bangalore, 280 pages, 120Rs, 5x8 inches.

Subject put simply the book wants to convey why we cant have peace of mind without peace of soul Like many of Fulton Sheens book this also stands out for its treatment of the subject, indepth analysis, style of narration, persuasive writing, brilliant logic & analogies to drive points home. Peace being abstract & relative its always difficult to generalize, still the author dealing it at the individual human level has done great job.

Contents The book has 14 chapters with abstract sounding names just as the topic itself. Few examples are Frustration, The philosophy of anxiety, the origin of conflicts & their redemption, sex & love of god, repression & self expression, fear of death etc I guess only those that studied psychology or psychiatry may know what to expect in them. Others can only find out after reading, like I did. Since its not a story I don?t think I can give u a plot & ask u to read, to know the end.

Still to give u an idea of the book I will take the liberty of mentioning some things worth mentioning. By the way I understand many things the book says as I read repeatedly or as I experience those very things myself. ;-) Author writing abt frustration analyses the modern psychoanalytic theory & later comes out with what he calls the 3 primary causes of this in the modern man. I had something to smile going thru how the author dealt with the ?philosophy of anxiety?. Brings abt beautifully how anxieities have increased these days.

One wud agree with the author when he differentiates between the anxieties of earlier generations & the present ones. The author doesn?t miss an opportunity how sin leads to anxiety & the offers 3 ways by which anxiety can be transcended. The chapters on conscience, psychoanalysis?. are full of psychology, one will have to leave the book too often.

I wondered why movies, ads, & everything these days are sexed up, the author explains this over insistence on sex by giving 4 reasons, at attack in these chapters is many modern psychology lies. One can't avoid laughing when the author compares the sex instinct in animals & man. In the chapter on remorse & pardon the author brings abt 6 differences between the worldly wisdom & divine wisdom.

The writing on the fear of death is a classic, starting with how rich are unhappier than poor. he states 'the fear of death results from attachment to the material wealth' All thru the books the author uses a lot of logic, analogies, slight humor which fit the context so well. This despite the very seriousness of the topic is welcome, otherwise surely it wud be boring.

My conclusion: I havent read any other book on peace, so its the only & hence best I have come across. Reading the book with intention might point at ur own life, but as with all spiritual guides we will forget this easily as these are difficult to recall & at times impossible to implement. My feeling is there is age, maturity level where u can read & understand this, before that the depth of topic, density of content might put u off. p.s: I am not happy with the title, but had to give one. my reason for the title is that ppl more n more looking for peace from outside, whereas it has to be found within, the appraoch suggested by the book.

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