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You're Not Who You Think You Are: A Blueprint for Retrieving Your Authentic Self
You're Not Who You Think You Are by Albert Clayton Gaulden.
- GenresSpirituality
259 pages, Hardcover
First published September 21, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 10, 2020
The author wants you to get your natal astrology chart done, find some form of 12-step program, separate yourself from your ego, and let God ("as we understood him") be the center of your life, so that you can clean up the karma of your current life and as much of your past lives as possible, so that you won't have to be reincarnated into this not-reality of a teaching-place again. To support this mish-mash of pre-2012 Mayan Calendar (that's when the world will change beyond our ability to fix it by ordinary means) philosophy, the author exposes all of his errors of alcoholism and "ego-based" self-abuse; cites Jung, Edgar Cayce, and his own spiritual teacher, Swami Swahananda of the Vedanta Society of Southern California; and creates his "guide to discovering the authentic you" by offering eight "stages" of utterly incomprehensible things for you to do that are more about what he did and benefited from than any sort of step-by-step progression or self-help.
Gaulden repeats himself so much that one feels beaten down by the sheer number of partially-regurgitate cliches, references to other types of self-help, and astrology (since Jung would not take on any client who would not have his astrological chart done, or thus spake Gaulden -- that idea never came up in my college classes on the history of psychology, nor those on various psycho-therapeutic practices). One thing that he repeats is that we should look within for our truths and stop listening to other people's views of how to find God.
I'm taking his advice: I'm not listening to Gaulden. I urge you to do the same.
Gaulden repeats himself so much that one feels beaten down by the sheer number of partially-regurgitate cliches, references to other types of self-help, and astrology (since Jung would not take on any client who would not have his astrological chart done, or thus spake Gaulden -- that idea never came up in my college classes on the history of psychology, nor those on various psycho-therapeutic practices). One thing that he repeats is that we should look within for our truths and stop listening to other people's views of how to find God.
I'm taking his advice: I'm not listening to Gaulden. I urge you to do the same.
September 19, 2010
"Albert delves deep into his life to grasp who he is not in order to become who he truly is and takes the reader through this adventure of awareness. This book captures the journey of becoming authentic and offers the reader the tools and wisdom to reach within and unleash their inner, authentic self. What a gift to all since the greatest gift we can give another is the truth of who we are!"
August 3, 2011
This was a subject I am really drawn to, but the author was really difficult to follow. He seemed to repeat the same sentence four or five different ways and also bounces around subject matter. I appreciate his views and, while there are some wonderful points and tidbits of wisdom, I didn't find this book helpful to my self discovery process at all.
January 27, 2013
Although it does come off a little bit pretentious at times, this book does have a lot of good information and is well worth the read.
February 19, 2022
Both Gaulden and I share a commonality: both raised in a Christian home. Where we differ is in where we ended up in our religious lives; although I feel that my Christian journey will take me to the same place that his agnostic journey took him.
The principles that he touches on are predominantly biblically-based, even though he doesn't acknowledge this for most of the principles that he sets forth. That is what appealed to me most: he could come at this from an astrology/Brahmin/non-Christian perspective, but still, after his observations and coming to himself for answers, came to the same conclusions that the Bible teaches.
Things that I didn't care for (and why I didn't rate this a "5") were the references to sexual fluidity, karma, reincarnation (although I have my experiences that may suggest this as well), and his passive attacks on Christianity.
I won't keep this book, it doesn't spark joy for me, but I have highlighted some good points Gaulden made that I am sure when put into practice will improve who I am and help me in returning to the real me, the one that God created, and the one that was lost so long ago, as life took its course and I started to forget God and his proximity to my heart.
The principles that he touches on are predominantly biblically-based, even though he doesn't acknowledge this for most of the principles that he sets forth. That is what appealed to me most: he could come at this from an astrology/Brahmin/non-Christian perspective, but still, after his observations and coming to himself for answers, came to the same conclusions that the Bible teaches.
Things that I didn't care for (and why I didn't rate this a "5") were the references to sexual fluidity, karma, reincarnation (although I have my experiences that may suggest this as well), and his passive attacks on Christianity.
I won't keep this book, it doesn't spark joy for me, but I have highlighted some good points Gaulden made that I am sure when put into practice will improve who I am and help me in returning to the real me, the one that God created, and the one that was lost so long ago, as life took its course and I started to forget God and his proximity to my heart.
October 4, 2010
Albert has great insight, but gets too caught up in name-dropping of people, hotels, and restaurants. Also...I had to skip the chapter on confused sexual identity because I couldn't relate.
July 2, 2013
this is a great read with great information
love reads like this one
love reads like this one
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews