The Secret Teachings Of Plants: The Intelligence Of The Heart In The Direct Perception Of Nature

Rating:
Summary: REMARKABLE!
Review: I hesitated to buy this book at first, the publisher's weekly review was so bad, but I had liked the author's other work, so I bought it and am I glad I did. It is wonderful. I don't know what the reviewer was thinking of, perhaps we did not read the same book. I can only think that he or she so fundamentally disagrees with the concepts of heart cognition and the livingness of the world that this book was just too uncomfortable for them. And it is true, reductionists will hate this book, as the author says many times in the text. However, if you have felt deep feelings upon coming upon magnificient rock formations in a forest, felt knowledge come to you through stirrings of your heart, known that there was more to life than working and retiring, or ever felt drawn to the teachings of medicine people in indigenous cultures, you will be so glad you bought this book. I have never seen these processes of perception and healing explained, nor spoken of with such reverence and love. This is truly a bible for Earth-centered people who wish to learn the power of depth perception and shape their lives through the deep teachings of the sacredness of Earth.

Rating:
Summary: IF YOU HAVE EVER WONDERED. . .
Review: If you have ever wondered how indigenous peoples learned the uses of plants, if you have ever wondered how people such as Manuel Cordova Rios, the South American healer, could look inside people's bodies in his healing work, if you have ever wondered about the world Kabir described in his poems, if you have ever wondered what Thoreau was really talking about, or how Masanobu Fukuoka's farming did what it did, then this book is for you.

I have read exhaustively in this field and I have never read a book that took me through the process step by step, explained it so well, or showed how innate the ability to read the sacred geography of the world is in each of us. The book takes the reader through the five steps of direct perception, revealing how anyone can do it, that it is the simplest thing, inherent in all of us, in the very beating of our hearts.

The book explores in more detail than any other text I have read how the heart works as an organ of perception and intelligence. But this book explores these things in some of the most poetic and powerful language I have encountered, putting the author in the same category of work as Barry Lopez, Robert Bly, and Alice Walker.

If you have ever wondered about all those subtle feelings you sense each day, about the power of the Earth to move you, and how all our ancestors and predecessors did the things they did, then buy this book. You will not regret it.



Rating:
Summary: An Incredibly Profound Earth Poet
Review: Stephen Buhner's writing style is captivating, humble and poetic, and mirrors the non-linear beauty of Nature. He invites you to skip around the book and read whatever interests you, and if you love all things in Nature like I do, you will surely end up reading everything twice, just like I did. This is honestly, one of the most incredible books I have read in quite some time. I am a currently enrolled in a Master's program in the Health Arts and I think this book should be required reading.

Though there are so many people in society today that take credit for something that has, in fact, been around for years, this is not the case with Stephen Buhner. His intentions are genuine as he writes for and about Nature. He never claims ownership of any of the ideas presented in his book, rather, he takes the words of the wise people who came long before him, and weaves them eloquently through-out his own, demonstrating how the idea of the heart as an organ of perception is not new. That we all have the capability, it has simply been unintentionally taught out us out.

I am also the Director of a medical research foundation, and often times I am appalled by how close minded so many in the realm of medicine/science can be. Though their intentions may once have been sincere, the unfortunate truth is, somewhere along the way, their motivations changed and they lost the ability to see the big picture.

I highly recommend this book. Society is ready for this book. The environment needs for society to read this book. I found the following quote by G. Leonard, in Mu Soeng's commentary on the Heart Sutra, and I think it is appropriate to insert it here:

At the heart of each of us, whatever our imperfections, there exists a silent pulse of perfect rhythm, a complex of waveforms and resonances, which is absolutely individual and unique, and yet which connects us to everything in the universe. The act of getting in touch with this pulse can transform our personal experience and in some way alter the world around us.

By reading this book, perhaps we can learn to come out of our heads, and back into our hearts. By doing so, I am hopeful we, like Stephen Buhner, will be able to feel once again, hear what Nature has to teach us...and listen.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Subject but...
Review: When I saw the title of the book I got really excited. I've been waiting for someone to address this topic. Stephen is one of my favorite authors, but I thought this book was dreadfully boring. The first section is where Stephen gets analytical about science being linear and nature being non linear. I agree 100 percent but I don't think it's necessary to debate the issue for 70 pages. The second section is supposed to be his more heartfelt, non linear writings but, Thoreau and Goethe and Burbank etc. quotes were interspersed so many times that there was no flow in Stephen's writings. All in all, this book didn't resonate with me. However, if you are interested in the using your heart as a mode of perception, maybe something in this book will click with you.