The Way of the Small: Why Less Is More [Paperback]

Michael Gellert (Author), Thomas Moore (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2007

A practical and spiritual guide to making everyday living sacred. The Way of the Small: Why Less is Truly More explores the principals of a sound, wholesome exisistence for both the individual and society. Addressing the search for finding true happiness, meaning and success, The Way of the Small gives us new perspectives based on old wisdom on what makes for a truly lived life. A practical and spiritual guide to fulfillment, it illustrates that happiness is found in "the small"-in ways to celebrate the precious small gifts of ordinary life and experiencing the sacred in all aspects of life. We are reminded that "Less Is More, Simpler Is Better." The Way of the Small teaches ways to embrace even life's more difficult passages such as aging, failure, illness, or the loss of a loved one, making even our pain a path to the sacred that helps us find meaning in life as it happens. * Offers 22 key principles to activate the way of the small--simplify and discover true happiness. * Especially relevant for mid-lifers, helping the process of sifting through life experience and finding what is of true essence, personally, spiritually and worldly. * Relates the how "smallness" is part of established major religions and spiritual teachings. * A practical and spiritual guide to help us navigate a way of living in our complex times that leads to a happier and more meaningful and balanced life.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Psychoanalyst Gellerts (The Fate of America) gives readers a chance to feel big in small ways with this guide to cultivating a "less is more, simpler is better" life. Both a zen-like meditation on the significance of insignificance and a cultural-historical tour of an idea-an "organic way of living" rather than a "theory, formula, or fixed belief system"-Gellert locates and celebrates the small in individual experience (including his own and those of his patients), all the major world religions and the Big Bang, among other settings. Eloquent consideration of ideas like "celebrating the right details" and "embracing diminishment" follows, as well as more practical strategy like "facing adversity with humor," "letting go of perfection" and the "mystical idea of amor fat, or loving your fate." Covering a decidedly large range of issues-love, death, warfare, morality, humankind and the cosmos-Gellert applies his "small" principle confidently but perhaps too broadly; still, Gellert's graceful text will definitely boost readers' capacity for accepting one's predicament and finding satisfaction in the slight.
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About the Author

Michael Gellert is a faculty member of the C.G. Jung Institute of Los Angeles and a certified Jungian analyst in private practice. He has been a college professor and a mental health consultant to the University of Southern California and Time Magazine. He is the author of Modern Mysticism: Jung, Zen, and the Still Good Hand of God and The Fate of America: An Inquiry into National Character.

Product Details

• Paperback: 184 pages
• Publisher: Nicolas-Hays (November 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0892541296
• ISBN-13: 978-0892541294
• Product Dimensions: 6.3 x 5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,004,246 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Satisfying, challenging, and a contribution., January 8, 2008

By 

Nancy Dougherty, Jungian Analyst (Austin, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Way of the Small: Why Less Is More (Paperback)

I read this book slowly and thoughtfully. Addressing the contemporary challenges of our fast-paced consumerist society and hunger for meaning, Jungian Analyst Michael Gellert has put together a work that is inspiring and comprhensive. There are not easy answers here; this is not a book of pop psychology or easy religion. Rather, a thoughtful challenge to come back to ourselves, connect to what is real in the moment, and develop a way of living that is sustaining spiritually-regardless of your faith. The author's access to the texts and stories from all of the world's sacred traditions is truly impressive. However, it is this book's heart that is its central feature. I'm sure that I will return to it often.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiritual and Practical, December 19, 2007

By 

J. DiCiaccio - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Way of the Small: Why Less Is More (Paperback)

Let me say that this is the first time I have been moved to write a review on Amazon but have always found helpful and benefited by others that have taken the time to do so.

The author treats us with an alternative look at our material society that bombards us with "more is better". We in the west live in an age whereby keeping up with the Jones's has been replaced with "surpass the Jones's at any cost". Difficult to not get caught up in the jetstream of advertising.
It addresses all stages of life so that nearly anyone can pick it up and find relevance to their particular circumstance. I could see this benefiting young teens as well as those at the end of life looking for ways to find peace. I highly recommend this book as a "life guide".
If you have ever bought a book to tried to figure out how to be happy or looked for ways to be more tranquil, then your collection could be more complete with this book which begs to be a classic.
Michael synthesizes centuries of wisdom with his pilgramage to find truth and further refines it with stories from his therapy practice so that ancient wisdom comes alive in a modern day context. Bottom line is that there is so much useful information that can be applied easily to daily life.
I find myself referring back to it. It is a book you will read and reread at different stages of your life and get something new each time you read it.
I work for a Fortune 500 comany and we are in the process of contacting this author to arrange for seminars for our employees. Not only could this bring them more happiness but make them more productive.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Way of the Small: Why Less is More By Michael Gellert, December 14, 2007

By 

G. Frantz - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Way of the Small: Why Less Is More (Paperback)

What a treat to read The Way of The Small by Michael Gellert. It is inspirational, and filled with wise stories that are immediately useful in daily life. It is superbly written, a real page turner and runs the gamit from tears to laughter in its pages. A book to own and to give as gifts to friends, colleagues and neighbors. It is so readable and enjoyable you will congratulate yourself for having discovered it, as I have.