Are You Getting Enlightened or Losing Your Mind?: A Spiritual Program for Mental Fitness

By Dennis Gersten, Larry Dossey, David Gersten

Book Overview

Lily Tomlin once asked, "Why is it that it's called prayer when we talk to God, but when he answers back it's called schizophrenia?" Almost half of all Americans claim to have had an unusual spiritual experience and as many more have had problems handling stress, anxiety and depression. In Are You Getting Enlightened or Losing Your Mind? Dr. Gersten, a practicing psychiatrist for twenty years, recounts his experiences with his patients to answer questions about the entire spectrum of human consciousness. A doctor of the soul, Gersten clearly differen-tiates between miracles and madness, spiritual emergence and men-tal emergency--as well as the everyday stresses that affect our states of mind. Dr. Gersten demonstrates how a spiritual practice can posi-tively influence our mental health and emotional well-being. His unique, step-by-step program of meditations, breathwork, and imagery for mental fitness will enhance your peace of mind, sharpen your focus and alertness, teach you imagery techniques for gaining perspective on your problems, and strengthen your core values. Visit the Gersten Institute at www.imagerynet.com

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 051770725X
• ISBN13: 9780517707258
• Release Date: May 1997
• Publisher: Harmony
• Length: 310 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.3" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Nice alternative

This book is great for those who want to understand a more "spiritual" side to mental illness. It was one of the first books I read to help me go down a path of understanding healing in a new way. I think we often times like to slap lables on or illness, give them drugs, and try to forget about them. This book can help you go discover a new way of understanding mental illness.

Surprisingly Good Book

As a psychologist who has always defined "psychiatrist" as an M.D. who practices psychology without a license, I was taken by surprise by this book. He actually knows the field of psychology and the field of parapsychology too! His underlying attitude is the most surprising, and compelling, part. Although he self-discloses several personal non-ordinary experiences, he's not selling a "spiritual" or "mystical" or "esoteric" worldview, he's just allowing for possibilities commonly associated with those worldviews, respecting people who have had experiences commonly associated with those worldviews, and offering them some very sensible suggestions. As a person, Gersten meets a criterion for maturity that resonates for me -- the ability to live comfortably with the ambiguity that surrounds us [homo sapiens] in our adolescence as a thinking species. This means that he has not collapsed into PREMATURE CERTAINTY about some unverified and currently unverifiable theory or doctrine, as too many people, including scientists and religionists, are wont to do.

A Must Read For Those Who Are Truly Enlightened

I enjoyed reading this book because certain spiritual experiences have happened to me in the past year that confused me. I was glad to read that Dr. Gersten had a name for what happened to me. I agree with his view of God and how different people are on different levels and that determines the form of God we worship. I recommend this book for those people who have had or have heard about an enlightened experience. After reading this book it showed how in the dark as Westerners we are on this subject and how other parts of the world it is much more common.

The must-read book of the decade!

Dr. Gersten will probably change the lives of many people with this book, he's already changed mine. Nothing in self-help, spiritual psychology or alternative medicine that I have read even comes close. After reading the rehashed clichés of so many "empowerment" books, the idea that you can be a millionaire once you get empowered gets really old if you know what I mean. I was relieved to find new and exciting information I could actually use (check out his explanation of mantra meditation, you'll love it). I have never seen an angel myself, but if I thought I had, this book would be comforting. The author gets into some very cool nitty gritty stories that illustrate how to figure out if you are in spiritual crisis or just need to go on medication. For those who are on medication, you might want to read this to find out if your doctor is trying to medicate away real miracles. If you don't know whether you are seeing real angels or have an over active imagination this book tells you how to tell. Great miracle stories too.