This book changed my life. All of this time, I was living in fear and I didn't even KNOW it! I'm not afraid anymore!

In our Internet/computer connected, super-speed world, we sometimes need to sit back an experience love, peace of mind. I recommend this book, as well as, "Life and Death on the Internet" by Keith A. Schroeder. They are a plus to any library.

A number of years ago, I was referred to the book, "Love is Letting Go of Fear" by Jampolsky. At the time, it created such an impact on my life, I never forgot its message.......Last week, I saw it on the shelf in my favorite bookstore and new I once again had to read it! Again, I was filled with a peace and "understanding", but felt it's content to be different than the original publication I had read. I know that the publisher is different ----- can anyone tell me if the book has been rewritten and text changed? I had thought I had read the book over 25 years ago, but it could be that my mind is detouring! :)

I thought this book had amazing ideas, and the approach is so simple and clear. I'm only 23 and I didn't think I had that much to let go of until i really looked more closely at my mind. I realized that lots of the problems I was having in relationships and school had to do with my past. I like Mr. Prather's approach because he's not into blame. You take responsibility for your own stuff, and you learn how to let go of the stuff that's not helpfull. I also like the imagery and the stories because they made the concepts easier to understand. Sometimes these self-help books seem like they're written for an older generation, but this one doesn't. It's funny and usefull and I think it's something I can use the rest of my life.

"Our lives are filled with useless battles because our minds are filled with useless thoughts," according to Hugh Prather, the best-selling author of 15 books, the most famous of which is Notes to Myself. His latest release is The Little Book of Letting Go: A Revolutionary 30-Day Program to Cleanse Your Mind, Lift Your Spirit and Replenish Your Soul.

He says that "failure to let go can eat up every small chance we have to be happy," and he filled his book with "releases," which are simple exercises for letting go. The releases first bring into awareness what isn't being held on to, and then shows how to let it go. None of them require any tools or equipment other than a willing mind. He begins with an exercise on "letting go of the fear of letting go."

Other releases cover mental pollutants, emotional fixation, misery, control, inner conflicts, negative honesty, the ego mind, and spiritual specialness.

Prather emphasizes the role of thought and provides suggestions for identifying the ones that can trigger negative emotions. He calls these the "T-thoughts." The releases are designed to help you let go of the T-thoughts and unclutter your mind. While simple to do, the releases are exceptionally powerful and most are immediately effective. Readers can do the releases in the order presented, or pick and choose among them.

"There are only three things you need to let go of," Prather says, "judging, controlling, and being right. Release these three and you will have the whole mind and twinkly heart of a child." He combines humor and real-life stories with straight-forward and easy-to read writing to help readers release the thoughts that have kept them from wholeness and happiness. The Little Book of Letting Go is essential for all those who wish to rediscover their twinkly hearts.

I had pretty much gotten jaded about self-help books when I picked this one up, but it actually helped a lot and I finished the book feeling better about myself and my life. One of the things I liked was that there's humor which makes the book much more accessible and fun to read. I also like the spiritual aspect and the way it's presented.

The most important thing to me was that Mr. Prather's approach actually worked! I bought the book because of the title and because I had just gotten out of a relationship that I was having trouble letting go of. I started trying some of the exercises and amazingly I found myself stopping all the endless thoughts about what I wish I'd said, etc.

I definitely recommend this book because I also had the feeling that Mr. Prather actually believes this and practices it. I love the whole imagery of cleaning out the mind, which when I started doing it made me feel so much better!

I was really disappointed with this book. His previous book ~{!0~}notes to myself~{!1~} was really beautiful, simple, authentic and felt very true to me (see my review). So I hurried to buy the book ~{!0~}spiritual notes to myself~{!1~}, and expected it to be the same, but instead, I found just the opposite. This book sounds more like preaching, or like lip service. I got the sense that these thoughts didn~{!/~}t flow directly from his heart, like in the first book, but instead, they were chewed, repaired and mended to fit a presupposed ideal about altruism, love and relationships. There are many other books that cover these aspects more authentically than this one.

My wife brought me "Spiritual Notes..." from the library. I'm not much of a reader but I found Mr. Prather's writings to be profound but very accessible. Not content to read a library book, I bought 2 copies from Amazon. One to allow me to underline and reread and a second to share. I think Mr. Prather delivers great wisdom. Each time I read his book I feel calmed and more confident. My thanks to the author!

Before I share the review with you, I want to say that all the reviews I have read of this book have been very positive, except for the Kirkus Review.

Library Journal "Hugh Prather, best known for writing the self-actualization notebook of the seventies, Notes to Myself (LJ 7/71). Prather is back with the same quirky sense of humor, now coupled with a more mature wisdom that takes the self lightly and gently laughs at the ego's demands. His latest reflections turn away from the theme of self-fulfillment to the awareness that love and service are the way to heal our separation from God and one another. The Methodist minister touches briefly on issues such as gossip, money, marriage, parenting, prayer, and dying with thoughtfulness and humorous practicality. Sure to please many readers with its timeless wisdom presented in a fresh, simple manner."

This is a more balanced review of Spiritual Notes to Myself than the review posted above.

Hugh Prather, Notes to Myself (Real People Press, 1970)

Ouch. This was an ugly experience. The worst part is, it didn't HAVE to be an ugly experience. Yet more evidence that, yes, it's all in the presentation.

Notes to Myself is a collection of observations and thoughts from Prather's journals. They range from the surprisingly insightful ("The principle seems to be: it is a fault if I am capable of it, a disease if I am not.") to the charmingly naïve ("What is the difference between 'I want food' and 'I want sex'? Consent.") and just about everywhere in between. And had they been presented as prose journal entries (in other words, as they were no doubt written), this could have been a small surprise, a bit of a self-help book that doesn't try to batter the reader over the head with stupid jargon.

Instead, however, it is presented as poetry, and in this presentation it becomes a marvel of offense. You know how magazine editors are constantly decrying submissions that are "prose chopped up into short lines?" Well, Notes to myself is the epitome of prose chopped up into short lines. It's literally prose chopped up into short lines. (If Prather's journal actually contains this stuff in poetic form, that makes it even more monstrous.) The material in here, while workable prose, violates every possible rule of poetry one can conceive. No thought at all went into the line breaks, the word choice, the image (what very little here is presented as image in the first place!), the diction, anything. It's obvious thought and reflection went into the material, but one of the main differences between poetry and prose is that the presentation of the material is far more important in poetry than it is in prose. In fact, the presentation is more important than the material itself, something Prather (or his editor, blame whichever you like) obviously didn't grasp.

In other words, the material gets three stars, the presentation gets zero (and would get negative stars if I gave such things out), leading to an average of * ½.

Notes to Myself by Hugh Prather searches to descibe the truth of our personal,critical inner voices. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has questioned their inner voice and wondered if they were alone with their own private meanderings. Prather uses his thoughts and ruminations as philosophical journeys into various stages of emotional and psychological transition. Notes to Myself is a helpful guide to reconnecting with the personal truth. Its format reads quickly and flows in the media of journal enterings. Prather's bold honesty and soul searching are almost always poetic and capable of moving the reader. I often times go back to this book;each time I get something more out of it(a sure criteria for a great book). This book has something to offer anyone over the age of 13.

I received this book when I was 18 from my best friend. I recently lent it out and never received it back. I am now 33 and a single working mother of five wonderful children. This book, along with "The Quiet Answer", provides my solitude, my motivation, and my inner peace. When the world is falling apart, I seek Hugh Prather's words of wisdom to guide me into his peacefullness. Thank you for such a beautiful work of art.

I found this and other books by Hugh very helpful when I read them over 12 years ago. I was able to work through some depression I was experiencing from my parents getting divorced. I am now sending copies to my brother, who is having a tough time. I hope they help him as much as they did me.

This book was recommended to me in 1974 by a family therapist, as my estranged husband and i were involved in family and individual counseling. The ideas presented in this book helped me let go of old hurts and unhealthy ways of thinking and living. Two of Mr. Prathers books, and one by John Powell, FULLY HUMAN FULLY ALIVE, helped me to change my life totally for the better. I let go of my hurtful marriage environment, and trusted in luck, faith, and optimism to go to graduate school to get into a career field that seemed promising and a better match for me. Since that was 26 years ago, I now have the advantage of hindsight to say YES, THESE BOOKS HELPED ME GET THROUGH AND BEYOND sadness, disappointment, dullness, feeling trapped. I truly don't believe I would have made the necessary changes, had I not read Prather's ( and Powell's) books. I thank you Hugh Prather for hleping me rescue myself.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I have an original copy from 1972 that my Mother left me in her book collection. Inside I found Mr. Prather's observations very insightful as well as some startling personal revelations I felt. This book is very well written with his honest thoughts and expressions that really give us something to think about within ourselves. I found his work to have several meanings. For anyone that decides to stay in the now and really read it, perhaps while you're in the quiet, there is a message. For anyone that doesn't come away with any sort of message from Mr. Prather's piece of written Art here, is perhaps not really ready yet or looking for it.- James D. Sapara Comments Welcome jpsapara@home.com

Thats all I have to say....File 13 this one!

If you are tired of thinking in the same old ways, this book is for you. Loaded with ideas for a different perspective, this book provides a month's worth of continuous spiritual play. If at least three of these games don't shock you out of your rut you need a vacation. I recommend this book to everyone, open minded or not.

Spiritual practice, putting the principles behind our beliefs into day to day action, is not a subject that gets a lot of attention. Throughout most of humanity's history we have focused on worship as a duty, rather than a source of wisdom and information on how best to live and change our lives. Unlike many practitioners, who are often very private people, Hugh Prather chose the path of ministry and teaching, hoping to help others while he helped himself.

Unlike many of Prather's works, which are often notebooks and musings, "A Book of Games" is a series of practices, couched as games, that are intended to help us mine the potential for happiness in each of our lives.

The first game, for example, is called 'The Secret Agent.' It has us imagine that we are agents of a foreign king. Our assignment is to bring a sense of harmlessness and gentle caring into play between ourselves and others and let go of expectations of agreement or disagreement. It we succeed we are to send a coded message back to the king. The code is 'thank you.'

All the games are of this nature, often very simply put, but not always easy to carry out. We are cautioned not to expect to 'win' the game every time we play. Indeed, it is the playing, not the winning, that is important.

"A Book of Games" is completely non-denominational in character. I am not positive that even a belief in a higher power is absolutely necessary, although it certainly would help. This little book has been in my library for some 10 years. I don't take it off the shelf often enough. Each time I do I find that there is always something that appeals to me, that helps me on the way through a current situation.

I think this book depicts the art of life... and give the best advice to live by. Everyone should have this in their book collections.

I'm always interested in reading weird sci-fi-like stories, and these dont' disappoint.