Customer Reviews

Soul without Shame: A Guide to Liberating Yourself from the Judge Within

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book provides incredibly detailed information on the workings of the inner critic, and helps build awareness and a solid skill set for disarming it. It is very well organized; each chapter introduces a topic and then gives you exercises to work with the material. It had a very powerful impact on me, equivalent to a week-long spiritual retreat.

It seems like a repeat of so many topics that speak about mindfulness. If you've read a few books on Zen and mindfulness, then you're probably easily bored with new authors finding new ways to say, "pay attention!" This book steps away from the rest by using the ideas of Almaas and essence. This is a very useful book to read slowly and repeatedly. It does not contain any miracle methods for killing the superego, but it has lots of simple and useful exercises to explore the depth of your judge.
I especially recommend this book to shy people.

Personally and as a mental health therapist this is one of the most effective presentations I have read with regard to recognizing, confronting, and changing unhelpful and ineffective intra- and interpersonal patterns. If one is 'ready, ' for a personally fulfilling joruney, this text will serve as a welcome guidepost. Thanks Byron Brown.

I love this book! It's one of the best books I've ever read. For me it's in the same category as Fromm's Art of Loving and Buber's I and Thou--that is a book that makes such an impression that you don't forget it for decades. Soul Without Shame is well written, deeply thought provoking, and practical. I found myself making use of ideas from the book before I finished reading it. The exercises and practices at the end of each chapter are very worthwhile. Chapter 8 (Engaging the Judge) and Chapter 12 (Why Judge?)were chapters that resonated for me. I strongly recommend this book to people who are interested in becoming more aware of their own thought patterns and for those trying to quiet the inner critic so they can express their creativity.

Byron Brown captures every feeling I've felt in the past 3 years and addresses it simply by not determining it as good or bad but just the way it is. You can choose to continue to try to conform or you can realize that you have, along with your inner judge, the capacity to step out of bounds and make a singular decision from your soul, if you can find your soul.

Very well laid out, presenting concepts in bite size pieces and with lots of supporting examples in simple terms. I found I resonated deeply with many of the issues raised. For the first time felt myself naturally doing the exercises at the end of the chapters because they made perfect sense. I gained much joy and hope from myself through this book. It's feels like having a friend confide their worst fears to you and realising that you feel exactly the same way and had been too scared to speak out.

Tony Schwartz, author of What Really Matters, says it well in his blurb on the back cover: "Soul Without Shame is that rare book that blends intellectual depth, genuine originality, and practical usefulness. As Byron Brown envisions the 'inner critic,' (the superego) it is a force that most of us accept as a necessary moral compass in our lives, but which in fact attacks us relentlessly and insidiously. Gracefully and persuasively, Brown makes the case that we literally become our own worst enemies, undermining even our most determined efforts to grow and prosper. This book offers rich and fresh insights into an aspect of inner work that is far too often neglected, and also sets out systematic ways to break free of the prison of judgment--both of ourselves and of others."

Byron Brown has achieved a deceptively simple, compelling, systematic and clear distillation of basic superego analysis--as practiced in the Diamond Way so superbly developed by A. H. Almaas (Hameed Ali). The book might be more accurately and successfully marketed with a title such as Soul Without Judgment, if Shambhala just had to use popular buzz words.

From A. H. Almaas' blurb: "In very clear and available language, this book details how to recognize the inner critic and how to deal effectively with it. Byron Brown's presentation is useful for any individual who wishes to be free from the inner suffering and coercion of this ancient foe of our humanity, but it is specifically directed to those interested and engaged in the inner journey toward realization and enlightenment."

Brown does a superb job of illustrating the different levels of "attack" our "inner critic" performs on us daily. Very easy to read and to follow its concepts. Great examples and excercises to apply concepts.

Even after the first three weeks of elation that I experienced after reading the book and implementing the many skills I learned, and the subsequent return to the reality of my "inner judge" causing havoc in my life, I still find this to be the most powerful self-help book I haver ever read. I reference it constantly, to find language to support my soul and release myself from negative feelings and related behavior caused by internal criticism. I have recommended this book to many friends who all agree. This book, if you are willing to do the work, will change your life.

Ok, I love the Diamond Approach, and love A.H Almass, and I heard that this was a really important foundational book for that work. So, I bought it.

I'm almost finished with the book, and I can't help but wonder why it felt like a chore to read. Unlike Almaas' books, this one was a bit harder for me to keep my attention.

So, I did a little spacecruiser inquiry into my own relationship with this book. And, here's what I found...

This book does an excellent job of NOT being a self help book. There is no practice for improvement, no exercises that will make you better. In that sense... awesome!

It's more a book of bringing awareness to your own inner workings. And, through the awareness, you regain your essence, you regain the part of you that you gave up to your inner critic. Wonderfully healing. Yes.

But, what I found lacking, was that vibrant, fun, joyful, curious sense of excitement that I get when I read Almaas. When I read Almaas' books, I feel like I'm always on the verge of some really cool new discovery about Truth. And, I love that! With this book, I think all the talk about "Judge" and "attack" and "critic" and on and on... just felt boring and dry.

I really wish he would've just put some jokes in the middle just to lighten it up. It can be a very heavy topic indeed.

After all, the judge is me! Isn't that hilarious! I think that's the funniest thing in the world... somehow, here I am.. in this human body, on planet Earth, and I have this really outrageous voice in my head that constantly wants to tell me what to do and how to live correctly. What the F**? Isn't that the most bizzarre trippy thing you could ever think of?

I wish he brought some more humor or excitement to the book, to keep the soul engaged. I found that the more it tended toward technical or dry - the more my judge was reading the book, and my soul was checked out.

Ok, well, I'm being critical now. he he... (crazy judge - writing reviews on amazon!). But, really I like the book. I just don't think it's a five-star book. And it's not going on my list of "Most Recommended."

Hope that helps.