Again, another brilliant insight into the human condition and life. I love almost everything about this author. He thinks differently and explains things clearly. I think anyone who likes to think and ponder or wonder what the heck is it all about, will love this book.

As is often the case with writers, once they write a book that strikes with the public consciousness they often are asked to give lectures that talk about that material, and that is what we find here.  It is not a retread of the author's previous book, and one should not blame a writer like this one for having decided to hitch up to a meal train as worthwhile as that of encouraging people to live in a way that is based on contemplation and spiritual growth and not merely mindless action and the acquisition of material possessions as is so often championed.  While I did not find myself agreeing with everything in this book, I did not expect to, and I found myself enjoying the way that the author discussed his own spiritual growth and his own (often inaccurate) understandings of the stages of growth that people have.  The author extrapolates his own experience to a general law that, unfortunately, is not a universal one.  That said, this book remains interesting and insightful, and that is certainly good enough to appreciate it for what it has to offer.

In a bit more than 200 pages this author manages to make this book a worthwhile sequel to the original.  The first step in the author's three step series of lectures are four chapters on growing up (I), including consciousness and the problem of pain (1), blame and forgiveness (2), death and the meaning of life (3), and the importance of having a taste for mystery (4).  After that the author talks about the second step of spiritual growth in knowing oneself (II), with chapters on self-love (which the author approves of) rather than self-esteem (5), the connection between mythology and human nature (6), the relationship between spirituality and human nature (7), and the sacred disease of addiction (8), wherein the author confesses his own addiction to cigarettes.  Finally, the last step of the book is the search for a personal God (III), which includes chapters about the role of religion in spiritual growth (9), the connection between matter and spirit (10), some deeply critical comments on the New Age movement (11), and finally a chapter on sexuality and spirituality.  The author then provides a short epilogue on the predicament of psychiatry in seeking to encourage spiritual growth and personal growth among those who are in therapy.

Frequently in this book, the reader comes across areas where the author makes some pointed criticism of some aspect of contemporary life.  For example, the author seems to believe that those with advanced stages of spiritual growth are threatening to those on lower levels.  His own idea is a four-step level beginning with disordered chaos, moving on to rigidity, then moving to critical and skeptical, and finally to mystical development.  A better four-step process to virtue would begin as the author does with vice, open hostility to virtue, then moving on to incontinence where one recognizes the right standard but cannot do it, then followed by continence where one obeys but with a great deal of effort, and finally reaching the level where obedience and love become automatic and internalized.  Likewise, when talking about the New Age movement, the author concedes that a great deal of criticism of contemporary science and religion is valid, but that one should not throw out the baby with the bathwater and that a great deal of the problems one sees in Christian institutions is the lack of Christian practice rather than the problems with Christianity itself.  And that is something that one can appreciate even if one has varying thoughts and worldviews to the author, an appreciation that others can have the correct diagnosis of problems without having the right solutions to those problems, and a respect for those that spur us on to growth whether we agree with them or not.

A valuable read. A rare voice for a reasonable appreciation of science where it is good, and of spirituality also where it is good, when it comes to our mental health and well being.

Insightful, but getting a little too evangelical

I found in this time of COVID where life has changed drastically and job security is at it’s lowest, I needed a book to help me pull myself together.
The follow up to “The Road Less Traveled”, he discusses in deeper detail spirituality, being a product of your environment and the help AA (or Al Anon, Gamblers Anonymous, etc.) programs are a way of self help and support.
If you are not a Christian, this book may not be for you as he discussed his spiritual re-birth and carries God through the writing.
He did speak of himself if the third person, which is not wrong but always bothers me.
I got an emotional boost from this book, especially the part about people who have been married for many years and how sex is not always part of the marriage and that is OK.
It may not be the therapy I need being in this time of isolation, but it did give me insight.

After the success of his first Road Less Traveled book, this one reads more casually with lots of his personal opinions, like a blog.

The most value I got from it was his simplification of someone else's "stages of spiritual development". No model is 100% accurate, but there's value in a good model, and I think this feels like a good roadmap/general template for classification.

Stage 1: Chaotic, Antisocial
Characteristics:
People in this stage are self-centered and lack a sense of moral responsibility or spiritual awareness. They may engage in harmful or destructive behaviors and often reject any higher purpose or authority. Their relationships tend to be manipulative, and they may operate with little regard for others' needs or well-being.
Spiritual Status:
There is little to no conscious connection to spirituality or morality. Often marked by disorganization and a lack of accountability.

Stage 2: Formal, Institutional
Characteristics:
People in this stage adhere to established religious systems, traditions, and authority figures.
They find security in rules, structure, and a literal interpretation of faith. There is a strong focus on conformity and obedience to external standards.
Spiritual Status:
Spirituality is often externally driven, based on fear of punishment or desire for reward. This stage provides a sense of order but can limit critical thinking or deeper exploration of faith.

Stage 3: Skeptic, Individual
Characteristics:
This stage is marked by questioning, doubt, and a rejection of blind adherence to authority or dogma. Individuals seek truth through personal exploration, often turning to science, philosophy, or introspection. They value intellectual integrity and self-discovery over institutional belief systems.
Spiritual Status:
Often agnostic or atheistic, though not always. Faith is deconstructed, but the individual may feel disconnected or adrift.

Stage 4: Mystical, Communal
Characteristics:
A mature stage where individuals integrate knowledge, experience, and spirituality into a cohesive, transcendent worldview. There is a deep sense of interconnectedness with others and the universe. The focus shifts from ego-driven goals to a life of service, compassion, and love.
Spiritual Status:
Faith is no longer rooted in dogma but in personal experience and an intuitive understanding of the divine. This stage is characterized by humility, wisdom, and a profound sense of peace.

A big theme of the book is that "life is complex", which is something he feels he omitted unintentionally in his first book. So these are not rigid categories (though they must be engaged linearly, he says) and there are subcategories and people can have different aspects of themselves within different stages.

My brain translated these stages into the law that this individual follows and a characterization of the person who follows those laws:
Stage 1: Your Own Laws, Chaotic
Stage 2: Your Church's Laws, Obedient
Stage 3: The Laws of Nature, Rational
Stage 4: God's Laws, Mystical

I'd recommend this book to anyone who really enjoyed his first book, The Road Less Traveled (and I'd recommend that book to ~everyone who is interested in personal development and can stand to read a book).

Psychology or really self-help for the spiritual road and growth. The book is interesting but it is not a great book for me. It has some interesting information and ideas in it but others have been along some of the paths with more interesting and more in depth work.

It is a book that one interested in popular psychology should enjoy.

J. Robert Ewbank author "John Wesley, Natural Man, and the 'Isms'"

An amazing book that takes you inside for self-discovery and life recovery and movement towards a vital and vivid spirituality.

Although not as good as the first, I did enjoy it 15 years ago. Today I might have a different feeling for this book.

I was on the roof of a two-story housing unit recently, installing gutter guard and trying not to freak out. I do not like heights; under the influence of them my heart rate increases and I don’t trust my body to stay attached to whatever it’s attached to to keep me from falling to serious injury or death.

On that roof, I remembered Peck’s Chapter Three, that learning how to die is one of life’s most insistent purposes and that learning how to die is really the same as learning how to live. I know he didn’t have me on a rooftop in mind when he wrote this book, but I also know that what he has written is true, and so I tried, in my recurring moments of fear that afternoon, to accept the fact that I could fall to my death. While I could contemplate and analyze this situation endlessly, mostly I’m just glad to have my feet on the ground again.

This chapter on “death and meaning” is essentially a survey of an already familiar concept, and as such it illustrates the general organization of Further Along the Road Less Traveled, in which Peck covers a variety of spiritually-related topics in modest depth. Though many of Peck’s thoughts on these topics--pain, death, forgiveness, addiction, and sexuality to name a few--are familiar to me, I enjoyed receiving both reminders and fresh insights, and my copy of the book is now filled with underlining and margin comments. It’s unlikely that this follow-up to The Road Less Traveled will influence me as profoundly as did the first, but it has certainly been worth my time.

Had to stop reading. Did not resonate with me at all.

A disappointing read. I was wowed by "The Road Less Traveled" and could not wait to get my hang on the #2 sequel but alas, the incoherence of the main ideas as well as his skewed subjective thoughts succeeded in turning me off. Alas, I had hoped to gain more insights from an objective keen observer of human nature instead I got ramblings of religious frustrations and personal grievances of a troubled psychiatrist.