Customer Reviews:
Excellent!.......2005-05-26
In my opinion, Stanislav Grof is the best, or at least one of the best, in his field of study. I have read most of his books and participated in a Holotropic Breathwork seminar weekend in Vermont. I highly recommend any educated person to familiarize him/herself with Grof's work (all of his books very informative and really make one think) and try a Holotropic Breathwork session.
An easy introduction to Grof.......2003-09-20
This was my introduction to stanislav's ideas. This book is almost a chapter by chapter introduction to all of Grof's different areas of research and writing. The written experiences of holotropic states are entertaining and informative. This book adds a needed understanding to psychology by examining consciousness around the time of birth. The author is obviously well versed on many topics, and presents sound logic and arguments throughout. Holotropic breathwork might be very useful for anyone suffering from their personality (especially to those that are fear based). This book is a relative easy introduction to Grof's ideas, and a welcomed step to combining science with unbiased spirituality.
Consciousness research on the cutting edge.......2003-09-12
I first encountered Stanislav Grof in the late 'seventies at a seminar held in Pacific Grove, California. He was a featured speaker, and to say that I was impressed would be an understatement.
In this book, he discusses transpersonal psychology, involving a shift in awareness. Our psychologists and psychiatrists need to engage themselves in this transformational system and get outside the accepted paradigm of the current model of reality that scientists work within today, accepting certain basic assumptions, and move on to the equivalent of the quantum theory of consciousness.
He points out in another of his books, Beyond the Brain, that the Newtonian/Cartesian paradigm (a system of thought based on the work of Isaac Newton and Rene Descartes) is still accepted and the orthodox foundation of precepts in use in psychiatry, psychology, anthropology and medicine. He points out that physics has moved on to a new paradigm: relativity and quantum theory and beyond, while the previously named sciences have languished, and opines that it is time for psychiatrists and psychologists to re-examine their fundamental belief structure as well.
Grof said, at the seminar, that he was originally--in Czechoslovakia where he originated--a dyed-in-the-wool Freudian, until he began to perceive difficulties with that approach. He grew from there. He was one of the original medical investigators to use d-lysergic acid diethylamide in serious psychiatric research, from which he derived some astonishing results.
Grof was formerly Chief of Psychiatric Research at the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center and Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He is no lightweight airhead, but rather is a highly qualified, credentialed and credible researcher. This and his other books are well worth your time, if you have the necessary vocabulary and the scientific background to benefit from them.
Grof makes a bold argument that understanding of the perinatal and transpersonal levels changes much of how we view both mental illness and mental health. His research in transpersonal experience evokes serious questions into such areas as reincarnation and the spritual side of the human being.
Joseph (Joe) Pierre,
author of The Road to Damascus: Our Journey Through Eternity
and other books
Consciousness explorer.......2002-09-16
a wise, hopeful, enlightened work from a truly qualified scientific humanist who has helped many for so many years. When reading Stan Grof, one's mind is treated to elegant research, philosophic musings, and poetic, smoothly flowing language that proves entertaining in its own right.
Grof builds a carefully laid out tapestry of thought unlike any other writer. Boldly going into dimensions that the orthodoxy fears, Grof consistently shows us that the best findings are often the result of adventurous undertakings.
One must truly venture into uncharted territories in order to discover hidden, powerful forces in the world.
All of Grof's work makes for a rich intellectual and spiritual treasure that will be edifying humankind indefinitely.
an archaic revival.......2002-08-25
As our planet is threatened by wars, terrorism-violence environmental degredation, the only antidote is turning back to the roots individully or in groups and bringing back the archaic revival, bringing back the message of the ancient traditions. Stanislav Grof does this elegantly with the eyes of a scientist. This book will require the mainstream Psychiatrists to re-construct their worldview. It is a detailed exploration and a new explanation of the nature of human consciousness and the nature of reality
Customer Reviews:
'Dark Night' adds light to spiritual journey.......2005-07-28
For anyone interested in stretching the bounds of spirituality and exploring the limits of consciousness--and the unconscious--this is a must-read. Author Chris Basche is both courageous and humble in this undertaking, and the ideas he puts forth add much to the discourse on transpersonal communication and spirituality.
A Cosmosopher Worth Checking Out!.......2004-07-11
Christopher Bache may be the world's first Cosmosopher. In his refreshing and innovative book, Dark Night, Early Dawn: Steps Towards an Ecology of Mind, he articulates transpersonal realms with a convincing intimacy, revealing a universe that is alive, intelligent and directly accessible within ourselves. The author has taken great care to share many of the entheogenic, meditative and philosophical experiences he has had which assist in fore-lightening the inevitable global/galactic revolution to come. The timing of his work could not be better. One only need look at current sociopolitical urgencies to appreciate Bache's efforts to move transpersonal psychology beyond its self referential orbit into more effacing, collective trajectories. Dark Night, Early Dawn offers a much needed alternative, encouraging us to explore a connection to a cosmos which may require the very ego death of the human species as a prerequisite for its realization.
In order to fully realize the transition, Bache suggests that we abandon what remains of the Newtonian, mechanistic worldview, i.e., the threadbare 3-D illusion that our consumer society depends upon for its own self- perpetuation. He suggests that we assist, through such things as rebirthing, holotropic breathing and meditation, in the realization/integration of multi-dimensional world where spiritually advanced beings exist. These beings can offer us compassion, wisdom and a kind of infinitely broad, celestial panorama which encourages us to adopt a more life affirming perspective on what appears to be a severely limited human future at present. Nemeses abound however at current time, dedicated to making sure that such a marvelous realization as described above will not take place. Paranormal debunkers such as Paul Edwards are devoted to discrediting the claims of those who believe in rebirth, for example. Edwards insists that the last two thousand years of philosophical development with its emphasis on linearity and so-called 'rationality' is the end all, be all of human intelligence. Bache makes sure to point out the weakness of Edwards's argument and does so quite convincingly. He observes: 'If reincarnation can be proven to be true, then the modern Western philosophical paradigm will crumble because rebirth contradicts the core assumptions of that world view.' Such a remark enables one to perceive the unconscious fears which motivate people like Edwards, not to mention Martin Gardner and the CSICOPS cadre as well, who may very well be threatened by how integrated multi-dimensional awareness is becoming. Just imagine the CSICOPPERS all doing holotropic breathing and what kind of resistances within themselves they would have to deal with!
Fortunately, Dark Night, Early Dawn does not dwell on the 'infallible' 3-D consensus delusion and the organizations that continue to promote it. The author shows a balanced approach to transpersonal work and offers the reader an effective way to traverse a living, intelligent cosmos and come back home not only intact but spiritually integrated in a deep and lasting way. Citing the works of Stanislav Grof, Ken Wilber and Robert Monroe, as well as visionary mystics such as Teresa of Avila, Bache offers us a useful as well as fascinating means to explore the worlds these people describe so vividly. The author also shares his own inner experiences in which he himself connected with these spiritually evolved worlds:
"The time of rebuilding was suffused with an inner luminosity that signaled a profound awakening in the human heart. It was not the overwhelming brilliance of diamond luminosity that shines forth from individual awakening, but a softer luminosity that reflected the same reality but more gently present and more evenly distributed throughout the entire species. The whole of humanity was going to go through the death/rebirth experience, and the substance of awakening for the group was the same as for the individual, though realized more slowly and in smaller increments."
With insights such as described above, it is apparent the Bache has prepared himself sufficiently enough not only to share this kind of profound information with us but to inspire us to safely explore these transpersonal worlds as well. I found his as well as his students' journal entries to be most revealing and informative.
Read it.......2003-07-28
A must for anyone with interest in the matters of life and death. Bache unravels his grasp of 30 years of psychedelic work, and where it lead him, with rare humility, grace and poise. This isn't a book that tries to hopelessly (albeit heroically) sell the future to the academic community; it's a substantial, juicy, and sometimes even heavy speculation piece. Inform you it will really not, but get you searching it will. Feels like a swift kick in one's karmic rear, if you pardon the pun.
All in all, a rare gem. Read!
Remarkable Account of Our Collective Transformation.......2002-05-31
Millions of sane, intelligent people living today seem to live in a world that modern, scientific cosmology tells us just doesn't exist. Either they are deluded, or what they have to say about the world calls into question the dominant cosmological myth.
Judging by a deluge of media reports and a growing body of respectable scientific literature, a great many people are having experiences that don't fit into our civilization's dominant cosmological map. You may be one of them: someone who has experienced, for example, powerful, even predictive, dreams; remarkable synchronicities; undeniable psychic events; or convincing mystical experiences.
But, according our culture's cosmology, none of these experiences is supposed to be possible.
In this book, transpersonal psychologist Chris Bache opens up a different way of approaching this conundrum - by exploring the spectrum of our consciousness and what it implies for a much wider and comprehensive cosmology. The personal and social consequences of such an expanded worldview are profound.
Cosmology orients us in the universe. It tells us where we came from, where we are, and where we are going. Implicitly or explicitly, it defines what is possible for us as human beings, and thus it channels, or limits, our highest ambitions.
Modern Western culture lives entirely within the confines of what Bache identifies as "daytime" consciousness - that is, it takes into account only what we can perceive through our outer, physical, senses, and of those perceptions it takes seriously only those we can measure. These data are then organized according to the rules of logic and reason (mostly mathematical). "Nighttime" consciousness - what we can learn about the world through, for example, dreams, intuition, psychic or mystical experiences, and other nonordinary states - plays no part in designing modern cosmology.
As a result, we are moving into a kind of cultural dislocation, in which the official cosmology fails to map many of the experiences that matter most to us.
Combining philosophical reflections with deep self-exploration to delve into the ancient mystery of death and rebirth, Bache emphasizes collective rather than individual transformation. Drawing on 20 years of experience working with nonordinary states, he argues that when the deep psyche is hyper-stimulated using powerful psychedelic techniques, the healing that results sometimes extends beyond the individual to the collective unconscious of humanity itself.
Bache presents one of the most persuasive accounts - based on many years of personal spiritual exploration and incisive scholarly work - of why our culture needs to take seriously the spectrum of nonordinary states of consciousness experienced by so many people.
If you want a powerful, at times dramatic, account of the sheer majesty and mystery of our multidimensional cosmos and how the psyche fits in, this book is a must-read. If you want a transformative approach to learning and eduction about who we are and our place in the cosmos this book will inspire you.
on the cutting edge of the spiritual paradigm.......2002-04-24
I've read this book three times. Chris offers a realistic, and yet optimistic reaction to the coming ecological crisis. He doesn't back away from what lies ahead, yet he compares the end of the 'world as we know it' to a birthing process. The coming environmental meltdown will be the 'near death experience' for the species. Chris' conclusions rank amoung the best spiritual paradigms for the ecological future.
Book Description
A comprehensive account of Robert Assagioli's psychosynthesis, a type of therapy that seeks to address both spiritual development and psychological healing and growth.
Customer Reviews:
A clear, comprehensive introduction.......2002-12-29
Psychosynthesis may not be as popularly known as psychoanalysis, depth psychology, etc., but it holds some tremendously powerful keys for self-understanding, self-renewal, and emotional healing that in turn lead to more empathetic and authentic relationships with others. This book is a clear and comprehensive introduction to psychosynthesis, outling such fundamental concepts as primal wounding, lower and higher unconscious, and subpersonalities within a developmental framework. It has stimulated my own growth and I have been recommending this book widely.
Customer Reviews:
Knowledge and Knowing.......2004-02-25
This is not a psychology book, but rather a text that should be read by anyone who is seriously interested in inquiry. As a teacher of research, it is no surprise to me that students generally dislike research classes. The academic view has become so focused on teaching methods for constructing knowledge that the actual experience of knowing has been quite forgotten. The contributors to this book remind us of the joy and liberation that can be experienced in the process of inquiry.
Talking about the ineffable........2000-12-11
Today psychologists nip closely at the heals of lawyers and doctors as top parasites in the lower intestine of public misfortune. There are nevertheless still a few dedicated people in the field who avoid the institutionalized witch-doctor clap-trap of this psuedo-science and approach human behavior head-on, pun intended, by looking at the raw data that is present immediately to all of us, human consciousness. What is the business of human consciousness? Their answer, "knowing", directly, intuitively and unencumbered by the prejudice of cyclical neuroses or circular rationalization. What are the limits of this consciousness/knowing continuum? There are none to be found anywhere. And, this is more more than a logical conclusion, it is an experiential, experimental conclusion. The editors, particularly Kaisa Puhakka, have no gimmicks of popular self-help to pander, no nine hundred numbers backed by Taro cards. They don't even offer statistics or new psychy buzz words. Yet, they have only language to talk about that which is basically ineffable. And for that, they do a more than servicable job of copernicus-izing psychology starting from the inside out.
Customer Reviews:
Inner Journey's........2006-05-27
Stanislav Grof, having researched the human psyche for 20 years with various psychedelic substances has now for the past 30 years been using Holotropic Breathing to bring about the same experiences in his patients. Grof uses these experiences to create his model of the human psyche. This model also deals with space/time and the paranormal showing that Grof is by far, the world's premier inner explorer.
Holotropic Breathwork, which is more or less Hyperventilating while listening to certain music in a safe environment, brings the subconscious to such a place where it will bring up the issues you need to deal with, even if you never knew they existed, without any outside help.
This book not only explains Grof's model of the Human Psyche, but also shows the reader what goes on in and how to go about Holotropic Breathing.
For those of you on a Holistic Journey or someone interested in the human Psyche, then this is definitely a must read book.
The Most Brilliant Investigator in History.......2003-02-12
I have to respond to Zosimos review below. The therapeutic technique Grof has been using since the 70's, is not original to him. It is derived from the tradition of Kundalini yoga, and his observations from research conducted both at the Prague Psychiatric Research Center, and Spring Grove Hospital, in Spring Grove, MD. His sessions with "holotropic breathwork" is very similar to "gestalt psychotherapy", involving elements of Reichian body work, combined witht he Kundalini technique of rapid breathing. The theoretical aspects of his research, conducted in the 60's with the hallucinogen LSD, was a reasonable attempt to model a framework to account for the clinical observations that he and his staff has made during their extensive research. This theoretical framework has been "born out" in his clinical work with "holotropic breathwork" involving, at this point, over 35,000 participants.
Only the most ignorant of commentators could describe any aspect of his work as "bad". His work is not ideological, or even philosophical, in nature. It is existential. He instructs in the use of a technique, and does not even suggest much theory, to participants. My impression is that Zosimos has had very little exposure to the material associated with LSD Psychotherapy, and has virtually no experience with holotropic breathwork. If this is true, then he can only derive the authority of his opinion from reading, and listening to lecturers. He is the classic case of a paradigm bound individual making no effort whatsoever to wrestle with information and facts that cannot be accounted for by his model of reality. Its sad, really. Grof offers some of the most exciting insights to be found anywhere--but you have to be willing to keep an open mind if you have no experience with either LSD in a therapeutic context, or holotropic breathwork, or a close encounter with death.
Hyperventilation as a Therapy Towards Wholeness and Healing.......2002-05-14
In THE ADVENTURE OF SELF-DISCOVERY, Stanislav Grof, M.D., tells how group hyperventilation is a "powerful and effective method of stress reduction and leads to emotional and psychosomatic healing" (p. 176).
The typical hyperventilation session begins with physical and emotional tensions surfacing. Continued fast, deep breathing brings intensification of physical and emotional pain until the suffering reaches a climax, followed by sudden release, with subsequent deep relaxation and even bliss. During the termination phase, any residual tensions can be released by massage of the painful area. In addition, when a breather seems helpless and vulnerable, and is clearly regressed to early childhood--perhaps even curled into a fetal position--then supportive mother-like physical contact such as rocking and cuddling can have "truly remarkable" (p. 226) therapeutic results, especially in persons with an emotionally deprived childhood.
In early breathing sessions, most people dramatically relive their birth. Later sessions bring transpersonal experiences such as reliving fetal traumas, and feeling healing streams of Kundalini-like energy flowing through one's body; in everyday life, synchronicities often become more common. There is a definite trend over many breathing sessions from difficult, negative episodes to more positive, healing experiences.
Besides describing the technique of group hyperventilation therapy in detail, the book outlines the healing mechanisms involved. The therapeutic value of reliving childhood traumas, of the death-rebirth process, and of transpersonal experiences, are all explained.
The excerpts from breathwork sessions bring the text to life. For example, one woman's experience: "I stayed with my fear and my tantrum....I resumed the deep breathing....I pushed and strained and yelled. Images of struggling to get out of the womb, out of the crib, out of my confining life situation came to me. After maybe twenty minutes, I was quiet again....I...thanked them for helping me find God again....I had never felt so connected, after feeling so alone in my life" (p. 215).
The two dozen or so illustrations from breathing sessions also round out the picture of what this form of therapy is actually like. For example, one painting is of a person lying staked to the ground while overhead a beautiful swanlike bird takes flight, with the sun shining on the horizon in the background; the caption reads, " a powerful death-rebirth eperience".
For those who wish to try hyperventilation on their own, I recommend patience and persistence; I succeeded only after a couple of dozen tries over a period of several weeks (I simply had not been breathing fast and deep enough). One way I can tell when it's working is I get a buzzing/vibrating sensation in my head after I've been hyperventilating for a couple of minutes. Pursing one's lips into a tiny opening, as if whistling, may be more effective at moving a large volume of air in and out of the lungs more quickly (rather than holding one's mouth wide open). Also, alternating a period of hyperventilation with a period of holding one's breath works well for me (Grof mentions this technique).
I have used hyperventilating alone by myself to reduce stress, as well as to resolve several severe panic attacks over a period of several months about two years ago.
It is worth noting that while hyperventilating alone by oneself does have some therapeutic effects, hyperventilating with a group is "much more powerful" due to the "catalytic energy field" (p. 199) that develops. I tried hyperventilating in a group only once (transportation and cost limited my access to the nearest group), and it was with a non-certified facilitator. While it definitely was more powerful than alone, my experience was a mixed one, and I recommend a Grof-certified "holotropic breathwork" facilitator for best results.
Two other books I recommend: Stanislav Grof's masterpeice BEYOND THE BRAIN; BIRTH, DEATH, AND TRANSCENDENCE IN PSYCHOTHERAPY, presenting the author's radical new view of the human psyche, its disorders, and its potential for growth, based on his seventeen years as a pioneering LSD psychotherapist; and Sandra Ingerman's SOUL RETRIEVAL: MENDING THE FRAGMENTED SELF, a modern shamanic view of finding one's lost "inner child" soul parts, which has helped me understand my own returning-inner-child dreams, and begin to welcome my lost sub-personalities (which split off due to childhood traumas) home again.
One of his best.......2002-03-22
I can see where Stan got a lot of his material for the Holotropic Mind. Among being fairly repetitive of his other works it does have a good description of the wide range of Transpersonal type experiences as well as a pretty good description of his Holotropic Breathwork. Also describes Stan's BPM stages as does the Holotropic Mind.
Self-discovery or Self-delusion?.......2001-01-20
Stanislav Grof is up to no good again. In this book, he takes a look at some of the bizarre states that can result using his holotropic breathing techniques (here he doesn't need LSD, like he has used for therapy in the past). He categorizes these states into systems of condensed experience (COEX), basic perinatal matrices (BPM I-IV), and other transpersonal states. As in his other works, Grof believes that the individual can be regressed to birth and beyond, so as to reexperience the birth trauma and resolve all neuroses which result from it. (I personally have a hard time buying that this actually occurs.) The explanation of the transpersonal states is exceedingly bizarre, and includes everything from cosmic consciousness to the appearance of UFO's. Add to this a blend of Eastern mysticism, existential philosophy, Jungian psychology and virtually any other strange or far-fetched system for understanding the world, and you have this book.
Customer Reviews:
Solid, informative, and what you want in a good textbook.......2003-03-09
The aim of this book is to provide the reader with a comprehensive textbook that surveys the emerging body of research literature, and clearly describes procedures and methods for carrying out new research. (From the back cover) This book does that and more. While most historical overviews will cover the major personages and movements, Polkinghorn does so with easy-to-understand and adequate descriptions so you get a good idea how of the field of science, and its methods have shifted through the years. His work served me like a tour guide, and filled in the gaps in my thinking about the historical unfolding drama in science, and their seminal figures. What I got out of the book was the courage and freedom to explore new areas of qualitative research, and not worry about conforming my research to some illusionary image of what I thought science what to be about all about. The book is a dense read, but will serve as a good foundational text in and out of the classroom for those who want to understand research in the human sciences.
Book Description
Interviews with fourteen pioneers in psychedelic research.
Customer Reviews:
Great interviewbook with mindexpanded pioneers.......2007-08-26
This thoughtprovoking and beautiful book presents interviews with some of the people who were pioneers in the (at that time legal) research into psychedelics. Most of them holding academic degrees and the finest credentials. And almost all of them having experienced a profound and lasting change in their outlook on the world, towards an appreciation of our basic spiritual nature.
Amongst the interviewed are giants like Stanislav Grof,Ram Dass and Albert Hofman, and as always it's a great treat to read their words of wisdom. But there is certainly also very fine entries by perhaps lesser known figures like the fine Gary Fisher, who talks at lenght about the importance of sustaining your druginspired insights with regular spiritual practice.
Interestingly enough the two with the greatest mainstream credentials: the anthropologist Peter Furst and the scholar of Religion Huston Smith seem two be the ones with least to contribute. Smith obviously not realizing that he didn't have the courage (and grace) to take the final jump when he came close to the abyss of the Beyond. A jump most of the others seem to have taken.
All 14 come across as healthy, strong, integrated individuals, in themselves good arguments for the lasting benefit of controlled and sincere use of mindexpanding substances.
The great villain is of course the notorious Timothy Leary, the 'hero' of my youth, but today it's easy to see how much damage his immature messianic attitude caused. Not least to a lot of unprepared young people.
But he also gave the authorities the perfect excuse to treat psychedelics like any other drug, an attitude the medias unfortunately has adopted ever since, making it very hard to hope that the religious/spiritual possibilities of these drugs will be recognized and utilized in a positive way. Although they could actually make the world a whole lot better and point people towards true and spiritual values.
All in all a well produced and presented book and a joyous, uplifting read , sad though that ignorance prevales the way it does concerning this subject.
This book certainly lives up to it's title as a source of "Higher Wisdom".
How it all began.......2006-02-24
Roger Walsh and Charles Grob have edited a fine text concerning the impact of psychedelics. It is a very important and interesting book in this field. It is a book detailing how psychedelics became an intensely studied topic in psychiatry and psychology. Beginning with the synthesis of LSD by Albert Hofmann, its intial use was to enable psychiatrists to experience a temporary psychosis first hand. This would let them have greater understanding of the phenomenological experience of their patients. Yet LSD and other psychedelics were soon discovered to be valuable treatment modalities in psychotherapy by themselves, particularly in deconstructing certain defense mechanisms. The elders who participated in this book, were very sincere and responsible in their use of psychedelics. They did their work under controlled conditions that would be therapeutic to those ingesting the drug. This is not a book about the recreational use fo psychedelics but their therapeutic, even spiritual use.
This is a must read book for all individuals interested in learning about the value of these drugs beyond recreational use. I had no idea concerning this topic other than a dislike for 'hippies' who used the drugs and termed me and my friends baby killers for going to Vietnam. The book greatly expanded my understanding of the time and the real benefits surrounding psychedelics. The editors do a fine job of condensing the interviews to make the book extremely readable. I give it 5 stars.
A Psychedelic Resource for Every Library.......2006-01-28
If I were to teach a course about psychedelics, the first book I would have my students read is Higher Wisdom. Edited by Roger Walsh and Charles Grob, this gem of a book provides in-depth interviews with 14 psychedelic luminaries. Collectively, their published books, papers, lectures, and research reports would take up a significant amount of shelf space.
Fortunately for those of us who don't have the time to read through such a treasure trove of information, Grob and Walsh have distilled the pure essence of the work of these elders into a series of remarkable interviews. To be honest, I wasn't expecting to be carried away by this book, because I thought I already knew a lot about almost everyone the editors interviewed. I was wrong. Before I knew it, I lost track of time and was transported back to the days when incredible breakthroughs were being made by these pioneers of consciousness exploration.
Although the interviews are arranged under the general categories of research, psychotherapy, culture & consciousness, and religious implications, I didn't read it front to back. Instead, I began by first reading the interviews of people I knew the best. As I read, I quickly became aware of what a valuable resource I was holding in my hands. Here in a single volume were the "headlines" and best stories of some people whose work will one day be seen as the bedrock of all future psychedelic studies.
Higher Wisdom works on several levels. Psychedelic researchers and explorers may find in it clues to puzzles they have yet to solve. Additionally, it is a work of history that pulls together the stories of a small group of people, largely unknown to most of the world, who made breakthroughs in consciousness research that are for the most part unparalleled today. In addition to the interviews, the editors, along with Gary Bravo, have written several short essays that pull these disparate stories together, placing the work of these eminent elders into a focused historical context. Another useful feature the editors included is an index split in two parts, a Name Index and a Subject Index. While this may seem like a trivial matter, it is a nice touch that many will appreciate.
The split index reveals the interconnections among this small band of researchers, as well as illuminates the influence of a few pioneers who had died before these interviews took place. I like to think of them as ghosts who continue to look over the shoulders of these early explorers. Interestingly, some of the ghosts have more index entries than the subjects of the interviews, and they don't all come across in the most positive light, as these very candid conversations reveal.
As to the appropriateness of the title, Higher Wisdom, consider this thought from Myron Stolaroff: "Ultimately, true liberation in the Buddhist sense is reaching wholeness, where you are totally at peace and intimate with everything that exists. If you leave out EVEN ONE person, you've left out part of yourself; you can't be really whole until you've absolutely accepted EVERY living creature."
The emphasis in that quote was added by me . . . and for me. It is something I am still struggling to put into practice. My bet is that you will also find a great deal of wisdom in this fine little book. I highly recommend it.
Customer Reviews:
Lucid, Approachable & Comprehensive Book on Synchronicity.......2004-09-24
I found this book comprehensive and readable in regards to Jung's theories on Synchronicity/Religion - and learned more
about Jung's general concepts of psychology (such as the unconscious and individuation) through this book than many other books I have read on Jung (or even books by Jung himself).
The scholarly presentation of the book by Aziz, who spent many years preparing the work I found outstanding. The introduction of fundamental concepts, leading into other Jungian theories, backed up by examples and other psychological real-world parallels is impressive in the book.
Overall, any serious student of the great psychologist Carl Jung or student of Synchronicity/Dreams I think should waste no time ordering this book! (heh) And even the casual layman who is curious about what Jung meant by "Synchronicity" - Aziz is emminently approachable because of his clear writing style.
This book perhaps may well be the most up-to-date scholarly work on Jung that appears solidly authentic, rational, and clear-headed on Jung's very serious approach to religion - synchronicity - and the "objective" autonomous unconscious.
Book Description
Beyond the Brain seriously challenges the existing neurophysiological models of the brain. After three decades of extensive research on those non-ordinary states of consciousness induced by psychedelic drugs and by other means, Grof concludes that our present scientific world view is as inadequate as many of its historical predecessors. In this pioneering work, he proposes a new model of the human psyche that takes account of his findings.
Customer Reviews:
Not for the faint-hearted.......2006-12-20
I can't say I'm as enthusiastic about this book as all the other reviewers are. I read this shortly after finishing Grof's book "LSD Psychotherapy", which I found to be an interesting, even excellent, read. "Beyond the Brain" certainly has exciting ideas in it, and is a strong attempt to look at the idea of consciousness in a new light. Grof has much to say about the Newtonian-Cartesian worldview, and makes plain its deficiencies in relation to our concept of the human mind. The book is well researched and covers a lot of ground. Much of what Grof writes about here relates to the field of physics, which he appears to have a firm grasp of.
But, it's also long (400+ pages of text), verbose, and convoluted. A great deal of the book involves psychological/emotional issues, which Grof categorizes according to his concept of "COEX systems". He also discussed the COEX idea at some length in "LSD Psychotherapy", but I just can't buy into the COEX paradigm. As another reviewer pointed out, it pins most psychological issues directly to residual birth trauma.
If you want a very complex, thought provoking read, this should be just the thing. But don't say you weren't warned.
Plenty of nuggets in the goldfield.......2004-06-13
This book is a bit like a gold mine. There are plenty of nuggets there, but I also found a lot of gravel. I'm no psychotherapist, and I do buy into the concept of a holographic universe and transendental consciousness, which is heady stuff indeed, but the insistance that almost all psychological issues are tied in with birth trauma (perinatal matrices), and the constant references to LSD studies got a bit tiresome after a time. I found the summary of the major (historical) contributors to the field of psychotherapy excellent, and much food for thought in Grof's appoaches to mental "illness" (noting, that he seriously challenges the usual definitions of mental illness, and, indeed, mental wellness). For me the book was a bit of a plow, but definitely worth it for the nuggets.
A NEW VIEW OF THE HUMAN PSYCHE AND ITS POTENTIAL FOR GROWTH.......2001-12-08
BEYOND THE BRAIN presents the distilled essence of the lifework of Stanislav Grof, M.D.: the insights and conclusions he has come to as a result of his seventeen years as a
pioneering LSD psychotherapist.
The opening chapter explores the convergence of modern physics with ancient mysticism, and the resulting radical implications for human psychology, thus setting the stage for the rest of the book.
Chapter two, "Dimensions of the Human Psyche: Cartography of Inner Space," describes the stages a person passes through when undergoing a series of low-dose psychedelic therapy sessions; these stages correspond to increasingly deeper layers of the psyche.
During the first few therapy sessions, one relives childhood traumas. Subsequent sessions gradually deepen into a reliving of one's birth, and a confrontation with death. After many such death-rebirth sessions, one experiences the final ego death: a profound psychospiritual annihilation, followed by visions of blinding white supernatural light, with feelings of ecstasy and rebirth. All subsequent psychedelic sessions are transpersonal: embryonic memories, encountering deceased relatives, ESP episodes, etc.
These three levels of the psyche, as revealed by LSD psychotherapy--biographical, death-rebirth, and transpersonal--provide a working model of the psyche.
Chapter three, "The World of Psychotherapy: Towards an Integration of Approaches," describes and critiques about a dozen major schools of psychotherapy from Freud, Adler, and Jung through Maslow and the modern experiential therapies of gestalt, primal scream, and bodywork. Grof feels that each is talking about a different level of the psyche: Freud deals with events occurring since birth, Reich and Rank describe the birth trauma, while Jung and Maslow focus on the transpersonal/spiritual dimension. The author integrates all into a coherent whole: while acknowledging childhood influences, he sees the trauma of birth as primary; he also recognizes the profound healing potential of ecstatic mystical/peak experiences.
Chapter four, "The Architecture of Emotional Disorders," is for me the core of the book. It examines how the birth trauma is the root cause of much psychopathology, from sexual dysfunctions and variations (impotence, sadomasochism, etc.), to extreme violence and aggression (such as serial murders), to neuroses (anxiety, depression, psychosomatic symptoms, and the like), to psychosis. Grof holds out hope of healing for all mental/emotional illness; even with psychosis, he has found that deliberately intensifying symptoms, using experiential or psychedelic therapy, leads to a radical breakthrough and positive resolution.
Chapter five explains why the medical model is ineffective and inappropriate in psychiatry; rather than suppression of symptoms, the author has found that purposefully intensifying symptoms results in spontaneous, autonomous healing.
In chapter six, the various mechanisms of healing are discussed, from abreaction and catharsis, to death-rebirth experiences and reliving fetal traumas, to direct mystical/peak experiences of the divine.
Chapter seven describes hyperventilation therapy as well as other nondrug experiential therapies. It also outlines the basic principles of psychotherapy; Grof Feels that "the psychotherapeutic process is not the treatment of a disease, but an adventure of self-exploration and self-discovery....the client is the main protagonist with full responsibility. The therapist functions as a facilitator" (p. 375).
The book concludes with an epilogue, a fascinating examination of how "in wars and revolutions nations act out a group fantasy of birth" (p. 423), as documented by psychohistorian Lloyd de Mause.
Scattered throughout the book are three dozen or so illustrations, mostly from the author's and others' LSD psychotherapy sessions, which suitably enhance the text and help bring it to life.
This book is not light reading, but to the intellectually curious, motivated layperson or psychotherapist, I believe it will yield its fruits and prove itself well worth reading.
It has served as a guidebook on my own psychotherapeutic journey (involving legal, safe psychedelic therapy complemented by hyperventilation therapy), helping me understand what I am going through, and letting me know what to expect next; it has also helped me understand other people, including their religious fanaticism, sexual preferences, and even, with several persons, their psychotic symptoms.
In conclusion, if I could have only one book in my library (beyond a dictionary and a Bible), BEYOND THE BRAIN: BIRTH, DEATH, AND TRANSCENDENCE IN PSYCHOTHERAPY would be that book.
Other books by Stanislav Grof which I've enjoyed: THE ADVENTURE OF SELF-DISCOVERY, about the author's form of group hyperventilation therapy (which as therapeutic effects similar to psychedelic therapy); LSD PSYCHOTHERAPY, guidelines for psychedelic therapists; and STORMY SEARCH FOR THE SELF, written by Stanislav with his wife Christina, about difficult spontanious psychospiritual awakenings--such as triggered by mystical, near-death, or UFO experiences, and including Christinas's own kundalini/alcoholism crisis--which are often mis-diagnosed as psychosis, and yet have the potential for radical growth and healing.
Challenges the existing paradigm.......2001-11-29
I first encountered Stanislav Grof in the late 'seventies at a seminar held in Pacific Grove, California. He was a featured speaker, and to say that I was impressed would be an understatement.
In this book, he speaks of paradigms--the model of reality that scientists work within, accepting certain basic assumptions. He points out that the Newtonian/Cartesian paradigm (a system of thought based on the work of Isaac Newton and Rene Descartes) is still accepted and the orthodox foundation of precepts in use in psychiatry, psychology, anthropology and medicine. He points out that physics has moved on to a new paradigm: relativity and quantum theory and beyond, while the previously named sciences have languished, and opines that it is time for them to re-examine their fundamental belief structure as well.
Grof said, at the seminar, that he was originally--in Czechoslovakia where he originated--a dyed-in-the-wool Freudian, until he began to perceive difficulties with that approach. He grew from there. He was one of the original medical investigators to use
d-lysergic acid diethylamide in serious psychiatric research, from which he derived some astonishing results.
Grof was formerly Chief of Psychiatric Research at the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center and Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He is no lightweight airhead, but rather is a highly qualified, credentialed and credible researcher. This and his other books are well worth your time, if you have the necessary vocabulary and the scientific background to benefit from them.
Grof makes a bold argument that understanding of the perinatal and transpersonal levels changes much of how we view both mental illness and mental health. His research in transpersonal experience evokes serious questions into such areas as reincarnation and the spritual side of the human being.
Joseph H. Pierre [...]
Preverbal Revelation.......1999-11-18
Read it in 1990 at the age of 29 and was not yet ready to be convinced. Reread it in 1999, older, humbler and still ailing, and found it to be a work so absorbing, so obviously true, that I became depressed at how entrenched medical orthodoxy has been and may continue to be. This book rethinks virtually all aspects of human maturation science, paying crucial attention to the simple observational facts of birthing and how they vary individual to individual in contributing to a staggering range of lasting psychopathologies. The result is one of the essential speculative works of the 20th century. It became the key to my own discovery of long harbored and misunderstood neuroses, and marked the beginning of a long campaign of recovery and personal transformation. This is a massive, clinically-worded text for the advanced psychology reader that testfies to the fact that events of lasting developmental significance happen to many people before the dawn of ego and conscious memory(age 3-4). If you've exhausted all other modern medical strategies for healing without finding whats wrong with you, and are ready to open the door to the huge new world waiting, this is the book. Grof is a caring, brave voice that always allows room for every imaginable personal particular. While it does not provide any firm mechanisms which relate transpersonal phenomena to the biochemical level of functioning, it poses many questions crucial to further investigation in the realm of pure consciousness. The one book by Grof that enters the deepest, most complete account of his thought.
Books:
- Public Speaking: An Audience-Centered Approach (6th Edition) (MySpeechLab Series)
- Regression Methods in Biostatistics: Linear, Logistic, Survival, and Repeated Measures Models (Statistics for Biology and Health)
- Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches (2nd Edition)
- Schaum's Outline of Biology
- Science And Human Behavior
- Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA): Concepts, Technology, and Design (The Prentice Hall Service-Oriented Computing Series from Thomas Erl)
- Social Psychology
- Soulcraft: Crossing into the Mysteries of Nature and Psyche
- Strategies for Teaching Students with Learning and Behavior Problems (6th Edition)
- Student Study Guide for Biology
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- History: Fiction or Science
- Behind the Wheel Spanish/Complete Illustrated Text/Answer Keys/8 One Hour
- Tissue Culture Techniques: An Introduction
- Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Boyhood
- Adobe Photoshop Restoration & Retouching
- Business Dynamics: Systems Thinking and Modeling for a Complex World with CD-ROM
- Baking Boot Camp: Five Days of Basic Training at The Culinary Institute of America
- Elementary Structures for Architects and Builders
- Time Management for Architects and Designers
- Heat and Mass Transfer in the Biosphere
General
| Psychology & Counseling
| Health, Mind & Body
| Subjects
| Books
When the Impossible Happens: Adventures in Non-ordinary Reality
The Adventure of Self-Discovery: Dimensions of Consciousness and New Perspectives in Psychotherapy and Inner Exploration (SUNY Series in Transpersonal and Humanistic Psychology)
The Holotropic Mind: The Three Levels of Human Consciousness and How They Shape Our Lives
The Cosmic Game: Explorations of the Frontiers of Human Consciousness (Suny Series in Transpersonal and Humanistic Psychology)
The Ultimate Journey: Consciousness and the Mystery of Death
