Further Along the Road Less Traveled is an enlightening self-help book by M. Scott Peck, M.D. that expands on the best selling The Road Less Traveled.
Forgiveness
Further Along the Road Less Traveled delves deeply into the fascinating and often misunderstood subject of forgiveness. People holding a grudge are often hesitant to grant forgiveness because they don’t think it’s deserved. This is understandable, but it might not matter to the offender whether they’re forgiven or not. Forgiving others is a good way to obtain inner peace and M. Scott Peck explains this beautifully.
Death and Meaning
M. Scott Peck on the issue of death and meaning: “We cannot live with courage and confidence until we can have a relationship with our own death. Indeed, we cannot live fully unless there is something that we are willing to die for.”
Self-destructive narcissism is the main reason M. Scott Peck says that people have trouble dealing with death. In order to overcome self-absorption, it’s necessary to focus on other people and become more selfless. What causes some people to become more narcissistic than others is unclear, but being severely abused as a child does interfere with proper development.
Addictions
Peck touches on non-drug addictions and explains how destructive they are. Gambling, sex, money and power all can be addictive and destroy families just as easily as alcohol or drugs. He theorizes further that drug addicts simply have a stronger calling to connect with God or heaven.
Alcoholism is referred to more as a spiritual disorder than a disease, but it’s acknowledged that there is a genetic factor. Either way, there is usually a spiritual aspect to drug or alcohol treatment because it works.
Religions and Cults
In chapter 11 (New Age: Symboline or Diaboline?) there is a list of characteristics to identify cults. The interesting thing about the list is that so many churches, government groups, and even schools have many of these characteristics.
Encouraging dependence and conformity are two of the characteristics of cults, which result in loyalty to a leader at the cost of individuality. Accepting secrets and putting other people on a pedestal without question does further damage, because power and money is given to the leader rather than the individual.
About M. Scott Peck
M. Scott Peck, M.D. is a psychiatrist, lecturer and best selling author of the Road Less Traveled and Further Along the Road Less Traveled (Simon & Shuster, 1993, ISBN: 0671781596). Peck manages to balance his education with strong spiritual development, and encourages others to do the same. He’s also the founder of the Foundation for Community Encouragement, which was founded in 1984 to help teach principles of community.
Related: Forgiveness, Good for Your Health
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