| Description |
xvii, 253 pages : portraits ; 24 cm. |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 235-248) and index. |
| Contents |
List of illustrations -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction -- I. Paranoid enclosures -- II. Georgei Ivanovitch Gurdjieff -- III. Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh -- IV. Rudolf Steiner -- V. Carl Gustav Jung -- VI. Sigmund Freud -- VII. The Jesuit and Jesus -- VIII. Sanity and insanity -- IX. Chaos and order -- X. Delusion and faith -- XI. To whom shall we turn? -- References -- Bibliography -- Index. |
| Summary |
In his classic work, Solitude, internationally acclaimed author and psychiatrist Anthony Storr probed our basic and often unmet need for solitude, especially emphasizing its relation to creativity. In Music and the Mind, Storr explored the fundamental human need for music, demonstrating its ability to reunite the mind and body. Now, in Feet of Clay, Storr again provides a fresh perspective into one of the most potentially dangerous human needs, the need for certitude. In vivid portraits of some of history's most intriguing gurus, from David Koresh to Freud and Jung to Jesus, Storr examines why we are so enthralled with certain dogmatic figures who play on our need for certainty. |
|
Gurus are extraordinary individuals who cast doubt upon current psychiatric distinctions between sanity and madness. Because gurus are charismatic figures who are gifted teachers, they recruit disciples who adopt the guru's vision as their own. The guru convinces others that he knows, a persuasive capacity which can bring illumination but which may end in disaster. Storr demonstrates that most of us harbor irrational beliefs, and he discusses how the human wish for certainty in an insecure world leads to our confusing delusion with truth. Storr reveals how the adoration for the guru can so easily corrupt him and explains why certain gurus become moral parasites while others become spiritual beacons. |
| Subject |
Gurus -- Biography.
|
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Spiritual biography.
|
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Cults -- Biography.
|
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Gurus -- Psychology.
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Authoritarianism -- Religious aspects.
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Control (Psychology) -- Religious aspects.
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Charisma (Personality trait) -- Religious aspects.
|
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Cults -- Biography.
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44.91 psychiatry, psychopathology. (NL-LeOCL)077596900
|
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11.06 psychology of religion. (NL-LeOCL)077593936
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Authoritarianism -- Religious aspects.
(OCoLC)fst00821645
|
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Charisma (Personality trait) -- Religious aspects.
(OCoLC)fst00852368
|
|
Control (Psychology) -- Religious aspects.
(OCoLC)fst00877067
|
|
Cults. (OCoLC)fst00884980
|
|
Gurus. (OCoLC)fst00949496
|
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Gurus -- Psychology.
(OCoLC)fst00949498
|
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Spiritual biography. (OCoLC)fst01130067
|
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Goeroes (religie)
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Leiderschap.
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Charisma.
|
| Genre/Form |
Biography.
|
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Biographies. (OCoLC)fst01919896
|
|
Biographies.
|
| Other Form: |
Online version: Storr, Anthony. Feet of clay. New York : Free Press, ©1996 (OCoLC)559959687 |
| ISBN |
0684828189 |
|
9780684828183 |
|
