Customer Reviews

The Secret of Letting Go

5 star:		(63)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

Guy Finley filled his book, The Secret of Letting Go, with examples and stories that illustrate his concepts of how to let go of all the emotional baggage that drags down our spirits and often makes life a painful journey.

Finley says that we "don't need strength to let go of something. What you really need is understanding; and that's how this book will help you accomplish your lifelong dreams of being truly strong and independent." He explains that our inner selves are like hot air balloons, always trying to soar, and we hold them down by not letting go of the "angry attitudes, wasteful wishes, [and] harmful habits" that offer false promises of strength.

The book includes nine chapters, with titles like "How to Defeat What's Defeating You" and "Dare to Let Go and Live As You Please." Finley starts most chapters with a story, then uses the story to help explain his general philosophy. Further explanations are offered in the form of specific questions and answers, some of which are drawn from workshops he has conducted. Each chapter contains a list "special insights" to help readers apply what they have learned to their own lives.

Readers are also given questions that will help them understand the messages their inner selves have for them.

In his forward to the book, Desi Arnaz, Jr. writes that "Guy Finley takes the Wisdom of the Ages and uses it to gently coach his readers to heal the places in their own minds where psychological problems originate." He adds that "It equips a human being with an entirely different set of qualities that transforms stress to serenity, anxiety to assurance, and doubt to decisiveness."

Finley emphasizes throughout the book that we are not what we think we are, that we are in reality someone far greater than we have so far imagined. The answers to what keeps us holding on to self-defeating attitudes lie within us. The Secret of Letting Go is for everyone interested in understanding how they can free themselves from all that keeps their lives tethered in unhappiness and defeat.

There are a number of books and courses around that deal with `letting go' in the sense of emotional releasing. This book isn't one of them. It is a unique and full-blooded assault on your habitual thought patterns and preconceptions of yourself and the world. I would say it is unique because, although Guy Finley acknowledges the wise words of others, there is never a sense that the presentation piggybacks on the work of others in any way. Instead, the book argues its own case in a series of truth tales, analogies, dialogues, bulleted insights, explanations and devilishly teasing questions like: if I am thinking what I want to think, why is it hurting me to think it?

I confess it took me quite a long time to work through this book. It is so thought provoking that I could only take it in short pieces in order to absorb it. But it was well worth the effort. When I open it at random now, there isn't a single page that doesn't offer a profound truth that is worth reading and absorbing all over again. In fact that's exactly what the author suggests: to pick out ideas and work with them. I do, and perhaps the biggest recommendation is that, every time I do, I am tempted to start reading the book all over again.

To summarise, this book is not just a `how to' manual for letting go, it is about deeply understanding the need for such a process. Read it and be provoked into a new relationship with yourself!

"The Secret of Letting Go" is a gentle introduction to mysticism, nonduality or "The Perennial Philosophy." Finley is an expert at avoiding confusing terminology and new-age pap and gently introducing timeless and true spiritual principles to the beginner. Yet it is not without value to those who have had some experience with the nondual perspective. Of all Finley's books, this is probably the best.

I originally bought this book when it came out in 1990 thinking it would help me let go of a relationship. My heart was broken. To my surprise, it not only helped me with letting go of the relationship, it helped me to let go of lots of other "stuff" that was keeping me S-T-U-C-K!! I refer to it often. Bless you, Guy Finley. Your insight is invaluable. This book is a perfect "10." HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

.... The subject content is simple and straightforward enough: Let go of self-defeat and release your inner strength. What really annoys me to no end about this book, and why the book wasn't very helpful at all, is primarily his obnoxious writing style. He writes like this throughout the book: to NOT be aware of what you DON'T want is in truth what you CAN'T change. And you're shaking your head, what did he just say there? So, you spend more time than you should translating these ridiculous double-negative inverted statements into something simple, as they should be, that makes sense. I am currently re-reading the book to try and understand what he's really saying. I found Anthony Robbins book, 'Unlimited Power' to be clearly written without all the verbal game-playing, and much more helpful in content.

Well, folks, I've averaged a re-read of The Secret of Letting Go once or twice a year for the past ten years, and each time, I'm stunned to find something new on nearly every page. To be sure, there is simply no end to the depth of insightful knowledge that unfurls itself as I continue to live by those timeless principles. I was fortunate to tear through it ten years ago in no time flat, to enjoy the immediate benefit of actually 'getting it' the first time around, at least on the mental level I occupied at the time, which was eager, and open, and excited at the possibility of leaving behind the same tired old mental habits that kept me running around in circles. Applying the practices and principles right away, I was stunned to discover that I could distance myself from my thoughts, that they were NOT my friends, and that they were coloring my world all wrong!!! Well, THAT was all it took! I set to work with a passion that very week and it has been a perpetual, joyous adventure ever since. Just when I think I'm all sophisticated and wise, I go back and reread to find myself laughing once again at myself with newfound wisdom.

People, get this book. Read it. MAKE yourself go through it - and if you can't grasp the meaning of something, or if you're frustrated at how it flows, GREAT! THAT'S THE FIRST CLUE FOR YOU! WATCH WHAT YOUR THOUGHTS TELL YOU ABOUT WHAT YOU'RE READING!!! Your mind isn't going to go without some kicking and screaming! If it just gets too gnarly for you, go to Guy's website (www.guyfinley.com) and you'll get all the assistance necessary for you to walk under your own steam toward a place where you are free to live without the oppression of something so close to you that you might not be aware of it.

Good luck!

We all have things in our lives that we wish we could get rid of. Guilt, stress, anger, loneliness, defeat and many other things huddle around us daily.

But how to replace these emotions with the good stuff, the good feelings --- that's the hard part. And that's where this book will help.

It's written in an easy-to-grasp style and with understanding and compassion.

Unless your life is perfect, you can benefit from reading this book. It's unique in the way it's presented. Even if you only discover how to replace one bad, painful emotion with one good one, it's worth the price.

Recommended.

This book was fantastic. I divorced about a year ago and found myself still very bitter and angry at times. I read this book and it all made perfect sense to me. It made me understand why I think the way I do and how to let the negative feelings and thoughts go. The most important thing I learned in this book is that no one makes us unhappy or angry. It is a feeling that we produce ourselves. Why do we punish ourselves? This book explains how to stop hurting ourselves and let the negative pass by. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about themselves. It's a great self improvement book.

I have read hundreds if books in a similar vein over the past few decades, thought I'd heard it all...but Guy Finley has truly surprised this jaded New Yorker with his simple yet to-the-point ways of expressing these not-so-simple truths. Love his stories, his analogies, his metaphors, so much so that I have ordered all his other books for myself and friends. What a treat, just when you think there is nothing new under the sun on this topic, Voila, it appears...why didn't I find him sooner? I would have saved lots of money on other books to say nothing of my aging eyesight!

"The Secret of Letting Go", The various reviews on the book vary considerably! After reading the book, I can see why. You almost have to be in the frame of mind that the book needs you to be in, before you start reading. If you aren't a spiritual person and cannot identify with spirituality, then I recommend that you skip this book altogether, but wait! Please read on. There is a reason that it made our list of great books. For the person that can grasp the idea of spirituality and a higher power, I think we have a winner here. Guy explains, with ease, the power of "Letting Go", and how you can use it to become a better you. I honestly believe he's right in many ways. There is a right way and a wrong way to Let Go of the bad things in your head and in your life. Guy teaches us and giudes us onto the right spiritual path and live without oppression. As the book "The Secret of Letting Go" explains, it doesn't happen over-night. You will learn to walk the life that you want. At the same time you will have fewer tormenting thoughts that penetrate your mind. But when they do, you will have the tools and knowledge to place those thoughts where they belong. You will learn "The Secret of Letting Go".
Recommendation: MensSelfesteem.com highly recommends "The Secret of Letting Go" to anyone that is self-limiting, and that includes most of us! Guy Finley teaches us how we can naturally apply his wisdom in our everyday life with simplicity and common sense. This book may very well help you find out what you are capable of.