The Guru Next Door: A Teachers Legacy

by Wemdy Dolber and Wendy Dolber

In a suburban community, a young child struggles with a dysfunctional family and a brilliant therapist creates a profound method to help others to be happy. They happen to live next door to each... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1934450006
• ISBN13: 9781934450000
• Release Date: March 2008
• Publisher: Dialogues in Self Discovery
• Length: 266 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.4" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

The Simplicity of Happiness

I just finished reading The Guru Next Door. I'm not surprised that it came into my life at a time when old and outdated messages about family can have a strong influence. Annie's sad but resilient childhood touched me deeply. Bruce Di Marsico's words resonated in me to return me to a daily life balance. It didn't take much reading for me to start looking for those italicized words that indicated Option Method thoughts. Thank you for a real reminder of what is. Ethel Lee-Miller, NJ, author Thinking of Miller Place: A Memoir of Summer Comfort

The Guru Next Door: a delightfully engaging novel and an important tool for growth

I never had the good fortune to meet Bruce Di Marsico, a noted psychotherapist, teacher and creator of the Option Method but through Wendy Dolber's efforts in "The Guru Next Door" I feel as though I have had a personal encounter with that very special human being. Ms. Dolber's character development is such that I feel as if I had met and made friends with Bruce Di Marsico and his protégé Annie, both very much worth the effort of getting to know. Told through the medium of Annie, one of Dr. Di Marsico's neighbors, as she grows from toddler to womanhood the reader is exposed to the wit, wisdom and ineffably compassionate and loving presence of a man whose life's work has been - to put it simply - the increase of human happiness and the elimination of unhappiness. Annie, the novel's voice, is the loveable, bright child of a profoundly dysfunctional and unhappy family: a masochistic, self-immersed mother, a domineering, esteem-eating grandmother and an absent and unreachable father. Already set by her family on a trajectory that would surely leave her a psychic casualty, Annie experiences a series of encounters with Bruce which change her thinking about herself and her surroundings, her beliefs about her right to happiness, and, ultimately, the course of her life. This is a valuable book. Not simply an artfully written, delightfully engaging novel but a cornucopia of practical teachings about the nature of happiness, its absence and its attainability through an active, conscious choice, The Guru Next Door is one of the most important and inspiring (as well as fun and captivating) works that I have read in a very long time. Thank you very much, Wendy Dolber, for a superlative piece of writing, one which I will unhesitatingly recommend to all.

A beautiful read...

One of the first things you'll notice shortly after you begin to read this book is the wonderful flow Wendy Dolber has achieved in it's writing. It reads as a beautiful poem with striking imagery. I knew Bruce Di Marsico and experienced what a powerful person he was. Bruce's concepts on how you can actually choose to have a happy life are interlaced with a touching story. I gave it to my mother to read and she said it really made her think. Great book!

The Guru Next Door

The Guru Next Door is the tale of a child's journey to adulthood as she struggles with issues of self-worth and unhappiness growing up in a not-uncommon dysfunctional family setting. Fortunately for this child, Annie, she has the rare opportunity of growing up living next door to a man, (Bruce DiMarsico), whose life focus has been on teaching others about their power for choosing happiness, which he teaches through a process he has created called the Option Method. Whether it is by secretly observing her neighbor over time, or later directly engaging him with questions, Annie slowly pieces together the foundation that allows her to finally understand her capacity for creating a happy life, regardless of the impact and choices the significant people in her life have made. I wholeheartedly endorse this book, whether you would like to learn more about the man who created the Option Method, become absorbed in a heart-felt story, or learn more about your power for happiness. Karen Taylor, Option Method Practitioner

An Inspirational Legacy

Wendy Dolber weaves the teachings of Bruce Di Marsico through "Annie", who represents the child in us all. Instead of searching in adulthood for the tools to deal with the wounds of growing up in a dysfunctional family, she learned them firsthand from "The Guru Next Door" while growing up. This enabled her to understand and develop some healthy emotional boundaries, such as that her parents unhappiness was their own choice and not her "fault". Although confused as to who she is in all of this chaos, Bruce's friendship and guidance help her to recognize that she herself is a separate individual in the making, and can "be" and "feel" what's real and true for her and her alone. As she emerges into young womanhood, we see that the truths she turns to within herself will continue to guide her for the rest of her journey. "The Guru Next Door" is a delightfully unique way to tell the story of Bruce Di Marsico and his insightful teachings. Not only deep and revealing, but fun too! Dr.Marcine Trella,DC