Customer Reviews

Sacred Selfishness: A Guide to Living a Life of Substance

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Our whole lives, we are taught to play by the rules that others make. We are also bombarded with messages designed to make us want to buy things or join organizations. Many of our activities--including work and play--are at odds with who we really are. We make the wrong educational choices, career choices, and leisure choices. And we may feel frustrated, restless, unfulfilled, or even despondent due to this.

So, what's the answer? Harris believes the answer lies in valuing ourselves as individual human beings and finding out who we really are. In "Sacred Selfishness," Harris draws lessons from the classic quest stories--such as those involving the Greek and Roman gods, Biblical heroes, and other icons of our culture. He demonstrates how to question the very assumptions that we have taken for granted--assumptions that have formed a sort of glass cage from which many of us never escape. This questioning, and the journey it takes us on, leads to discoveries of our own potential.

Self-knowledge provides a basis for strength in ourselves and an understanding of others--thus we enjoy life more and love more fully.

In addition to being philosophical, the book is practical. Harris demonstrates the techniques of journaling and dialoguing, plus presents some other tools for those seeking self-knowledge. Harris provides case histories, and gives insight into the kinds of issues a person should consider delving into.

Be warned, though. This book contains no simple recipe, cute formulas, or six step process for transforming yourself into a superhuman. It does provide a solid foundation for the thinking person who wants to develop more fully and realize her or her own potential. With a bit of work and this book as a guide, you can expect a rewarding journey of self-discovery.

I wondered what I would find within the pages of this work. Would it be words of advice that I could truly use, or just another book to place on my shelf. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised in my reading and what I found.
The author gently leads you into stories of many people's life experiences, their heart felt emotions, their deep seated fears, hopes, dreams and breaks down the why's of their failures and even their success. Interesting.

My favorite chapters were those on dreams and keeping a journal.
I always knew that dreams, if not ignored could help us on our journey in life, and this work added new dimension to that idea. I loved it and found it very helpful.
As far as the chapter on keeping a journal, this was something I had been doing for quite sometime, but gradually stopped as I felt it was not helping me. How wrong I was. In this chapter I learned how important and helpful it can be to keep track of your life and all that revolves around you. In a way, it certainly helps to keep things in the proper perspective, and the author explains so many ways that doing this can be beneficial to you.
There is so much helpful information in this book that it would be impossible for me to detail here in this short review. However, this is one book you certainly will keep handy to read time and time again. It is full of helpful thoughts, insights and information that will be a great aid for you in your journey through life.
The final thought that was left with me is this. The blame or the pat on our back for our failures or our success does not go to circumstances, location, upbringing, or any of the things we so quickly point our finger at. It lies within ourselves. Want to change your life? Read this work, and get started down the road to victory.
Shirley Johnson
MidWest Book Review
Denise's Pieces

This is one of the best books of the self-help genre that I have read in a long time. Living a balanced fulfilled life with a loving and peaceful attitude is possible, but sacred selfishness is required. Everyone needs time to look at their self and examine their life, passions, plans, etc. Sacred selfishness is not selfishness with a negative connotation. It is taking the time to retreat for yourself, taking the time to reclaim balance in your life.

The book is divided into three parts - Breaking the Mold and Seeking a Path, Cultivating Inner Substance, and Cultivating a Life of Substance. The chapter titles also give a good idea of the direction the book takes. Some titles include The Call to Transformation, Preparing for Change, Journaling as Inner Exploration, Beginning the Search for Personal Substance, Befriending Our Dreams, Learning to Love Ourselves, and Relationships of Substance.

This is a book of such substance that I found myself reading a section, stopping to think about it, and then reading another section. For a person who reads a typical book in about an hour it is rare that I find one of such substance that it takes me almost a week to read it carefully so I can be sure to extract all the value out of it I can. Sacred Selfishness is very highly recommended to anyone seeking balance and fulfillment in their life.

"Sacred Selfishness" is a wonderful new addition to my book collection; I have placed it next to "A Road Less Traveled". However, it is not light reading. It requires energetic attention from the reader. "Sacred Selfishness" offers an in-depth look at becoming a person with character and living a life of substance. Dr. Harris is very well read and draws from many appropriate literary resources, but he always expresses his point of view with a lot of heart. The book is full of moving real life examples and illustrations and Dr. Harris does not hesitate to share his own personal experiences. I found the chapters on journaling and dialoguing especially complete and helpful. I have noticed that when I reread sections of the book, I come away with fresh new insights that I missed the first time.

This book expresses the clear uncomplicated voice of Bud Harris as he encourages us and coaches us to initiate contact and maintain contact with our unconscious as a guide in the journey of self awareness- and,by doing so, increases our awareness of and intimacy with the world surrounding us-including the close relationships we have with those around us- as well as other personal relationships we have with others-whether close or not. The self-centeredness that may result from self-awareness is not self-absorbed or self-directed, but is directed outwardly from the Self to all those around us. The messages that Harris presents are timeless and universal and I learned a lot from the book. The best way to complement the book is to dialog with the author-which is an opportunity of great value.

Timely and provocative, as well as clear and perceptive, Sacred Selfishness presents the individuation process as the journey we must take if we desire to become more authentic. Attaining self-knowledge and living a life of substance is at the heart of this book and depends upon our ability to learn to truly love ourselves. Ultimately, sacred selfishness means allowing ourselves to be transformed by the powers of love. A love so vital and profound it can turn our ordinary lives into true gold.
This is a breakthrough book where the author delivers new perspectives to help move us into more illuminated levels of consciousness. Not since "Care of the Soul" or "The Road Less Traveled" have I seen anything like it.

Although I have never met Bud Harris personally, I have followed his work through the articles he has published in professional journals over the years. Each article has been a gem. Now he has written an entire book--a great collection of gems and well worth the wait. I am a psychologist and spend much of my time practicing the kind of psychotherapy that this book describes. Only very rarely do I recommend a book to a client. I have already recommended this one to three. Through describing his own experiences of transformation, Bud Harris makes clear that the goal of psychotherapy goes far beyond the elimination of symptoms. Good psychotherapy is a shared journey between client and therapist, and this book gives a very good description of what the adventure of such a journey might be like. For those of us who have been involved in such journeys, Bud Harris reminds us of the significance of what we are doing. For those who are contemplating such an adventure, he both tantalizes and gives fair warning about the stakes of the game.

I just finished it and am blown away by how much it "spoke" to me. I'm new to studying Jungian thought, introduced just a few months ago via James Hollis after hearing him on the local radio and attending his talk completely on a whim. I've since read several of Dr. Hollis' books as well as a primer on Jungian thought that I found here on Amazon, so Dr. Harris' book (aside: what is it that all Jungian analysts, at least the ones I read, have names that end in "s"?) is the 5th or 6th one I've read in the past several months. I am so glad I did. His book is clear, comprehensive and helpful, particularly for those who are new to this although as another poster said, Dr. Harris doesn't try to provide easy answers. But, he also doesn't try to cloak it in mystique either. As an example, I've read through other books but for whatever reason delayed doing the things that were recommended, while I immediately started doing the things Dr. Harris recommends, including journaling/writing down dreams and dialoguing (VERY helpful). Obviously, writing down dreams everyone recommends - but Dr. Harris' book actually got me to do it, I think because of the dialoguing.

I came across Dr. Harris while researching analysts in my area. He gives concrete examples of how to get started, much more so than comparable books, and his thoughts on the shadow, the impact of societal values, anima/animus and other aspects of Jungian thought that I've found very compelling. And I don't mean to bash Dr. Hollis - he's how I got to where I am now, and I'm sure his books will be beneficial at another stage of my development.

btw, if you go to Dr. Harris' site, there is a pdf workbook for the book that you can download, plus several interviews with him. He's as reasoned (and reasonable) and thoughtful when speaking as he is when writing. The LA interview I think is particularly interesting.

Bud Harris has made a most delightful change in writing styles in his new book "Sacred Selfishness". He is not only the teacher here, but a participant as well. This sharing presents a new way of opening one's self to learning from his example. As a counselor myself, I find this book a useful guide to self help as well as to knowing it is OK to ask for professional help.

This book is the essence of wholeness. Bud Harris writes with exquisite mindfulness and openhearted compassion. Prepare to be affected. Sacred Selfishness is the quest for your soul.