The New Man [Paperback]

Maurice Nicoll (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 12, 1984

The son of a celebrated Free Church minister in Scotland, Maurice Nicoll (1884-1953) studied at Cambridge, where he gained a 'First' in science. He qualified as a doctor at St Bartholomew's hospital in London and then travelled to Paris, Vienna, Berlin and finally Zurich where he became a colleague of Carl Jung. The psychological insights of Jung left a lasting impression on the young Nicoll. During the First World War, he served in the Army Medical Corps, and there revealed himself as a pioneering psychiatrist, being one of the first to recognise shell shock as a psychological illness rather than moral weakness. He returned to England after the war, worked in Harley Street and published many papers on psychological medicine. In 1921, he heard a lecture by the Russian philosopher P.D. Ouspensky which was to prove a turning point in his life. He became a pupil of the 'Fourth Way' teaching of the Armenian G.I.Gurdjieff and from 1931, ran his own study groups in England on the psychological and spiritual teaching that became known as 'The Work'. And all along, he combined his understanding of the Fourth Way with his understanding of Christian teaching in the New Testament scriptures. 'The Mark' and 'The New Man' are the books of his which most clearly explore this interest. In the main, 'The New Man' is a meditation on the relationship between knowledge and being in humans. Nicoll follows Plato in saying that a person must possess a certain quality of being before they can helpfully handle knowledge. To give knowledge to those unready for it leads to its misuse; in the wrong hands, knowledge and truth become weapons of violence, pearls before swine. To this end, Nicoll tells the story of ancient schools of learning which placed students in menial positions to test whether or not they were worthy to receive knowledge. If they pitied themselves, complained, were weak in their being, behaved maliciously, took advantage of others, were resentful or imagined themselves better than others, then they received no knowledge. 'The New Man' looks at incidents and stories in the Bible - and in particular the parables and the Sermon on the Mount - in the light of this relationship. It follows Jesus as he attempts to give people a new inward disposition of goodness, one that can helpfully handle knowledge. The teacher with great knowledge but inadequate being may impress with his complexity but he can take people nowhere. It is certainly a contemporary theme in our own information-obsessed society. For Nicoll, the aim of the Lord's Prayer, and all other prayer, is to reach a higher inward level. We are to seek first the Kingdom of God which is the highest possible level; a happy union between knowledge and goodness. But the journey must start with goodness. Concerning 'The New Man', Nicoll wrote: 'The intention is to indicate that all teaching such as that contained in the Gospels, and many teachings both old and new, in the short period of known history, is about transcending the violence which characterises mankind's present level of being. It affirms the possibility of a development of another level of being surmounting violence.'

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

The son of a celebrated Free Church minister in Scotland, Maurice Nicoll (1884-1953) studied at Cambridge, where he gained a 'First' in science. He qualified as a doctor at St Bartholomew's hospital in London and then travelled to Paris, Vienna, Berlin and finally Zurich where he became a colleague of Carl Jung. The psychological insights of Jung left a lasting impression on the young Nicoll. During the First World War, he served in the Army Medical Corps, and there revealed himself as a pioneering psychiatrist, being one of the first to recognise shell shock as a psychological illness rather than moral weakness. He returned to England after the war, worked in Harley Street and published many papers on psychological medicine. In 1921, he heard a lecture by the Russian philosopher P.D. Ouspensky which was to prove a turning point in his life. He became a pupil of the 'Fourth Way' teaching of the Armenian G.I.Gurdjieff and from 1931, ran his own study groups in England on the psychological and spiritual teaching that became known as 'The Work'. And all along, he combined his understanding of the Fourth Way with his understanding of Christian teaching in the New Testament scriptures. 'The Mark' and 'The New Man' are the books of his which most clearly explore this interest. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 153 pages
• Publisher: Shambhala; 1st edition (April 12, 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0394723902
• ISBN-13: 978-0394723907
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #248,045 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

53 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent for serious students of personal integration., June 21, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The New Man (Paperback)

The new man describes clearly the process of personal integration as Jesus taught in the gospels. It is an excellent guide on the difficult path to completion. It gives the student an understanding of some of the inner experience that take place as one evolves spriitually. It describes the tempation, the bewilderment, and confusion that is experienced as part of the process. Those hungering for light will find this book and invaluable guide in understanding they are not crazy, but just experiencing what is necessary as one evolve to wholeness, to peace of mind, to completion within self

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars it was one of those books..., February 4, 2003

By 

suncloudsky@netscape (Toronto, ONT) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The New Man (Paperback)

.
...that turned over a new leaf in my thinking. From my then very unclear sense of the meaning of religion, reading "The New Man" was a truly galvanizing experience. It speaks not of faith in the usual out-of-reach sense nor the hoped reward of Heaven beyond one's death. It speaks of knowing, during one's life.

Dr. Nicoll illuminates the beautifully subtle teaching of Christ as a way to complete one's inner evolution - to become literally a "new" man or woman, pretty much discarding the old false self. To as he says "overcome one's own inner violence" and change inwardly seems a deceptively major task, but a hopeful one.

This is a book that will open ideas for certain readers.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Gospel of Inner Evolution, June 27, 2006

By 

Robert L. Rose (Blooming Glen, PA, 18911-0064, Bucks County,United States)) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The New Man: An Interpretation of Some Parables and Miracles of Christ (Mass Market Paperback)

Christianity is born again as a wisdom tradition, thanks to Nicoll's perspective on the Gospel parables.

This small book is an excellent guide for those who are integrating the charism of Christianity as a source of personal evolution in an age when religion is employed to divide us against ourselves and others.

Highly recommended!