Religions: Values and Peak Experiences [Hardcover]

Abraham Harold Maslow (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 123 pages
• Publisher: Peter Smith Pub Inc (June 1983)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0844660701
• ISBN-13: 978-0844660707
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 4.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,255,321 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A SYNTHESIS OF SCIENCE AND RELIGION, January 1, 2009

By 

Larry Mullins "Larry Mullins" (St. Augustine, Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Religions, Values, and Peak-Experiences (Compass) (Paperback)

Written near the end of his life, Dr. Maslow sought to leave threads for others to pick up and develop. He disturbed those who prefer the logic-tight barriers between science and religion, and boldly suggests that his "most important finding" was his discovery of what he termed "being values," or metavalues. This, his lost discovery, has been virtually ignored by psychologists and religionists. Yet, this insight is pivotal to understanding Dr. Maslow's belief that human nature has been sold short. He discovered metavalues to be active agents that configure the personalities of self-actualizing individuals. He pointed out that Truth, Beauty and Goodness are expressed in the lives of all self-actualizing personalities. Without these metavalues, the qualities of devotion and passion toward a cause or mission can become lethal to humankind. Science without higher values often creates better weapons of distruction and even more efficient gas chambers. Those who observe that much of what Maslow says in this book is colored by religion and philosophy are correct. His intention was to break down the arbitrary barriers between disciplines. Along with "The Psychology of Science" ad his posthumous: "The Farther Reaches of Human Nature" this book is of landmark importance to the 21st century.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ONE OF MASLOW'S LAST WORKS, September 21, 2010

By 

Steven H. Propp (Sacramento, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Religions, Values, and Peak-Experiences (Compass) (Paperback)

Abraham Maslow (1908-1970) was an American psychologist best known for his conceptualization of a "hierarchy of human needs" and "self-actualization." He (along with Carl Rogers) is considered the founder of humanistic or "Third Force" psychology.

He states in the Preface to the 1970 edition, "Since this book was first written, there has been much turmoil in the world and, therefore, much to learn. Several of the lessons I have learned are relevant here, certainly in the sense that they are helpful supplements to the main thesis of the book... Organized Religion, the churches, finally may become the major enemies of the religious experience and the religious experiencer. This is a main thesis of this book." He adds, "I now consider that the book was too imbalanced toward the individualistic and too hard on groups, organizations, and communities. Even within these last six or seven years we have learned not to think of organizations as necessarily bureaucratic... If I were to summarize both the book and my remarks in this Preface in a few words, I would say it this way: Man has a higher and transcendent nature, and this is part of his essence, i.e., his biological nature as a member of a species which has evolved."

Here are a few quotations from the book:

"The high religions... tends to rest ... its right to exist on the codification and the communication of this original mystic experience or revelation from the lonely prophet to the mass of human beings in general. But it has recently begun to appear that these 'revelations' or mystical illuminations can be subsumed under the head of the 'peak experiences' or 'ecstasies' or 'transcendent' experiences which are now being eagerly investigated by many psychologists." (Ch. III)
"(A)ny doctrine of the innate depravity of man or any maligning of his animal nature very easily leads to some extra-human interpretation of goodness, saintliness, virtue, self-sacrifice, altruism, etc. If they can't be explained from within human nature---and explained they must be---they they must be explained from outside of human nature." (Ch. V)
"We must remember, after all, that all these happenings are in truth mysteries. Even though they happen a million times, they are still mysteries. If we lose our sense of the mysterious, or the numinous, if we lose our sense of awe, of humility, of being struck dumb, if we lose our sense of good fortune, then we have lost a very real and basic human capacity and are diminished thereby." (Appendix I)

22 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Maslow on Peak Experiences, December 24, 2005

By 

Angel Book Reader "book reviewer" (Morgantown, WV) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Religions: Values and Peak Experiences (Hardcover)

Maslow makes a good distinction between the peakers and the non-peakers and makes an excellent connection between this and organized religion. His use of the term "non-peakers" is not to refer to people who do not have peak experiences, for he believes that every one has peak experiences but he uses this terminology to refer to a person who is afraid of peak experiences The purpose of organized religion for him is to communicate peak experiences to non-peakers. His position tend to advance personal revelation over dogmatic revelations. The question he leaves unanswered is how personal revelations can be verified or validated? I believe organized religion will help in confirming peak experiences. If not, what most people might call peak experiences might just be neurosis.

He also advances a religious pluralism that will accommodate every person, both the atheist and the believer. Maslow gives us good insights into peak experiences and helps us to appreciate more these experiences. His book is interesting to read and easy to follow. I enjoyed reading the book.