Liberation from the Lie: Cutting the Roots of Fear Once and for All [Paperback]

Eric Gross (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 25, 2009

Despite the plethora of research and writing in the field of mental and emotional health, despite our vast wealth and consumption, despite the availability of so much technology and convenience, people are more unhappy than ever. Liberation from the Lie: Cutting the Roots of Fear Once and for All offers a radically different approach to living that reveals the source of our unhappiness and insecurity. Our families, our institutions, and our culture at large are agents of invalidation, repeatedly delivering the message that we are not good enough to be loved for our original selves. We come to believe that we are inadequate, insufficient, worthless--that in order to be happy, we must change. Liberation helps readers break free of the endless transformation trap. By seeing through the shame that drives self-improvement, we can end the interminable process of seeking and discover our innate resilience, strength, and passion.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Eric Gross received a National Institute of Justice Fellowship to evaluate the efficacy of Navajo Peacemaking in reducing interpersonal conflict, and has been affiliated with Navajo traditional healers for more than a decade. His research has been published by the University of Arizona Press, Sage Publications, and the United States Department of Justice, which hailed his work as a milestone in the community justice movement.

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: BookSurge Publishing (February 25, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 143922160X
• ISBN-13: 978-1439221600
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #634,884 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Recently the Enlightenment Dudes reviewed Liberation from the Lie and gave it their highest ranking a ten out of ten. You can see this review at their site at: enlightenmentdudesdotcom. They also ranked Liberation from the Lie as the third best book they have ever reviewed? Why are they so exited about this book? The reason is this: Liberation from the Lie is different. It's understanding and approach to ending depression and hopeless, while providing the basis for powerful self-transformation is truly innovative. It is in tune with the age we live in.

A Reader writes: If you're looking to be lulled or soothed, this is not the book for you. But if you have had enough of your misery and want the doorway out of your personal prison, then you will love what you read. Scott Kiloby in his review at amazon.com noted: "Eric has taken on a great challenge by attempting to liberate us all from our deepest held, most destructive beliefs and he has come up with a masterful book."

Liberation from the Lie offers a radically different approach to living that reveals the source of our unhappiness. Because our families, institutions, and culture repeatedly deliver the message that we are not good enough, we come to believe that we are not adequate - that in order to be happy, we must change. Reading Liberation is a way out from the endless striving and seeking organized around the creation of a new and better me. You already have resilience, strength, and passion. The journey of Liberation is bringing that authentic self to light.

Eric was the recipient of the coveted National Institute of Justice Fellowship Grant to evaluate the efficacy of Navajo Peacemaking in reducing interpersonal conflict. This began a 10-year affiliation with Navajo traditional healers, and Mr. Gross is now a national leader in this field. The U.S. Department of Justice hailed Mr. Gross' work as a milestone in the community justice movement. He has spoken to audiences throughout the United States on this topic and was a featured interview of Philadelphia public television's "PhillyLive." Mr. Gross' research has been published by the University of Arizona Press, Sage Publications and the U.S. Department of Justice.

To find me at Facebook just use the Facebook widget on other pages of this site.

If you are interested in talking about some of the subjects raised on this blog or introducing a new one, please feel free to chat via Skype. My Skype identity is hozho1.

I'm still unsure why Twitter is so popular, but I am guessing that we are interested in following the lives of others in as few words as is possible. Maybe that's a good thing. My twitter is hozho1.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Uniqueness of Me, April 6, 2009

By 

William McPeck "Coach/Consultant" (Maine) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Liberation from the Lie: Cutting the Roots of Fear Once and for All (Paperback)

Having read some of my other reviews, the author contacted me and asked me to review this book. I found the book to be both interesting and challenging. Interesting in theory and concept and challenging in how to apply and make sense of it all. At times I felt like I was back in my college philosophy class, chasing my tail and never catching it. I can only imagine how challenging it was for the author to write the book.

If you read this book, be prepared to be exposed to psychological, sociological, anthropological, philosophical and theological concepts as they relate to the development of the human psyche. For me, one of the more interesting concepts was the author's linking the nature of the human psyche to the evolution of human culture. This was a new concept for me.

The book is built around the premise that when we are born, we are born with a unique, authentic being with our own life force or "original core." Unfortunately, to one degree or another, we all experience separation and invalidation from our parents and other significant persons in our life resulting in what the author calls "The Wound." Our wound becomes the source of "our greatest fears and self doubt, even self contempt." The author posits that our personality develops in a way that shields us from experiencing the pain of our wound. The author calls our personality our fear selves because it is built around protecting us from our greatest fears. This means that how you see yourself or how you see others is based on these false fear selves and is not a true representation of our core or authentic self.

Liberation From the Lie delves into great detail about The Wound, the various types of fear selves and their relationship to our authentic core or original life force. Fortunately for us, both The Wound and the fear selves we have adopted are porous enough so that our stronger original authentic core or life force can be observed at times and as a result, more fully uncovered.

The Liberation From the Lie presents the framework for embarking on a personal journey. The journey is one of self learning and discovery, rather than self help. In fact, the author states that employing self help techniques results not in self discovery, but in further refining or making our fear selves more sophisticated. To assist you on your personal journey of self discovery, the author has incorporated into the text, exercises for the reader to complete, thereby adding to the value of the text.

If you are looking for a prescriptive self help solution to your psychic pain, this is not the book for you. Reading this book will not be quick and it will require your full attention. You will need to think about and personally explore what the content means to you. If you truly contemplate what you have read, you will increase your understanding which aids your self development. While this book requires you to think, I believe you will be the better person for it.

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Liberation Manual, April 5, 2009

By 

Steve Burns (Nashville, TN) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Liberation from the Lie: Cutting the Roots of Fear Once and for All (Paperback)

This is not a Self-Help book it is a liberation-from-self book. Why do we continually read self-help books in an endless search for some magic solution that will finally make us feel better? Why do we feel inadequate on some level but find it impossible to explain it in words? I believe Eric Gross explains in his book why this is the case. Very early in our childhood, at some point almost all of us were invalidated as human beings. This is an epidemic of our modern world so far removed from our hunter-gatherer forbears where babies were physically with their mothers 24/7 and the clan was geared for community and survival instead of ego gratification through hierarchy and ownership of material things. Our modern world invalidates us all at some point early on, and this creates a psychological wound. In our pain our minds create a mental projection which the author calls a Fear-Self. This Fear-Self is meant to protect us from experiencing the wound. The Fear-Selves take many forms, such as "The Achiever", "The Body Person", "The Expert", "The Spiritualist", "The Tough Guy", "The Loner", "The Imitator","The Terrified One","The Pleaser" or "The Resilient One". The big problem is that these mental projections take us over and we believe they are us, they are not, we are the pure unfettered consciousness that exists beneath these projections. These Fear-Selves do not live in the present moment they live in the past and are goal driven always seeking the next step for validation. Our true self lives in the present, and experiences the world through the senses not through thoughts of the past and future.

I started my spiritual quest as a Christian Fundamentalist, then studied Buddhism for years, I also have read countless self-help books to little avail, before this book Eckhart Tolle's books were the ones I found to be the most helpful in liberating me from my compulsive thoughts. This book has taken me to a whole new level of understanding. I am now longer attempting to improve my Fear-Self with self-help books. Now my quest is to liberate my true self from the Fear-Self through mindfulness of it's nature. I am no longer trying to get my Fear-Self to live in the Now. My true self can live in the Now, after I am mindful of my Fear-Self and see it for what it is a mental projection and not me. I am sure this review can not do justice to this book so I strongly encourage each reader of this review to read the book for themselves and let the author explain to you through the book the path to liberating yourself from the lie of the wound. My life has been changed with this new understanding and I believe yours will be also.

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Only Thing to Fear ..., March 3, 2009

By 

James W. Mooney "cybervigilante" (Apache Junction, AZ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Liberation from the Lie: Cutting the Roots of Fear Once and for All (Paperback)

Everything evolves, including spirituality. Liberation from the Lie is a new concept that builds on solid traditions such as Zen, Advaita, and Navajo healing. Most of us carry some deep Wound from childhood that we paper over with a false self, in order to avoid the pain. Unfortunately, the false self is largely a bundle of drama, fear, anxiety, and really bad decisions that mess up our lives. We think it is us, but it isn't. With the help of this book's techniques, we heal the wound and discard the false self, revealing a true and deeper self of joy, love, and happiness.