THE OPEN WAY By E. Graham Howe and L. Le
Mesurier
Dr. E. Graham Howe, whose psychological teachings wield a steadily growing influence, has now published a book in collaboration with a distinguished woman writer, Mrs. L. Le Mesurier. The Open Way (Methuen, 8s. 6d.) is a candid and understanding exposition of a way of life, an attitude to life, which the authors feel to be of vital urgency in our present troubled times. " Acceptance of Ourselves," " Acceptance in Politics," " Health and Disease," are some of the chapter- headings ; the teaching is that " The whole of life is our destiny, to be met with courage and confidence. . . . The just man made perfect accepts the whole of his earth-experience, but he is not bound by it. He has attained detachment through enlightenment." And elsewhere : " Non-attachment is a difficult art to practise, but it is the most positive of all the achievements of the soul." Detachment, balance, and accept- ance are some of the key-words of the book ; and how very far " acceptance " is from apathy, indifference, or fatalism one can learn from any and all of the things it has to teach. Dr. Howe's is not a new teaching—as he says, it would be suspect if it were. Christ taught it, and St. Paul, Lao Tzu and the Zen masters. It can be stated in terms of every religion, and can make its appeal to every kind of personality. It is always a little doubtful whether books such as this say anything except to the converted, yet perhaps they have more chance at the present day than ever before. The Open Way is strongly recommended to any reader who has the one essential qualification for reading it—a willingness to question his own standards.
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