The Biology of Transcendence: A Blueprint of the Human Spirit

Rating:
Summary: illuminating
Review: I've only gotten half way through it but this is a wonderful book! Dr. Pearce writes with authority and grace, and has read widely and compiled the most essential findings from the ongoing revolution in the biology of intelligence. Surprisingly, it turns out that our hearts are largely composed at the cellular level of glia and neurons, and connections with our brain and nervous systems are so extensive that one could refer to the heart as the fifth brain. I've read in the other reviews where one reader refers to the author as a "psychopath". This is really hard to swallow, especially considering Dr. Pearce's straightforward honesty, humility and humour in describing some extraordinary experiences from his quite extraordinary life. It's also rather ironic that such slander should be thrown at a person who has devoted a lifetime to investigating and exposing how our industrial, materialist society twists our youth's natural processes of intellectual and emotional growth... and spurs instead, at a biological and neurological level, the deformity of violence against self and others.

Rating:
Summary: Hokum Pokum
Review: If you're the science type who goes out and enjoys conerts and people and "experiences" then you'll swear this guy must be married to a kindergarten teacher. But if you're the type who's kind of bookish, and likes to stay home you'll probably like this book.

Rating:
Summary: An intriguing survey of intellect and biology
Review: It's unusual to see a survey of spiritual transcendence so linked to science that it earns a place of respect in the spheres of science, health, and metaphysics. Joseph Chilton Pearce's The Biology Of Transcendence: A Blueprint Of The Human Spirit is just such a title, deftly examining the current biological roots of neural facilities to consider how humans can transcend current evolutionary capacities and limitations. Studies profile the four neural centers of the brain and explore the science of neurocardiology to explore a newly discovered fifth center located in the heart. The Biology Of Transcendence is an intriguing survey of intellect and biology emerges.


Rating:
Summary: Helping us to see ourselves
Review: On page 137, Pearce writes, "Keeping their natural world out of reach of children seems to be our national passion. In fact, greater numbers of children are brought up in the artificial world of cement, asphalt, plastics, and the virtual reality of television, while fewer each year experience a world of nature and the unfolding of organic life."

Then, in the Epilogue, on page 259 we read, "We have ignored for half a century or more the studies that show some 95 perecent of all a child's learning or "structures of knowledge" form automatically in direct response to interactions with the environment, while only about 5 percent form as a result of our verbal teaching or intellectual instruction."

Pearce further tells us how there are certain international organizations with members who intentionally raise their children in "living" environments. These children are said to possess unusual intelligence and sometimes clairvoyant-like abilities. One example on page 250 sites a mother who diliberately gave birth to her son in the ocean of the Bahamas,..."about as far from a hospital you can get."

As the author of "The Holy Order of Water", I firmly believe that Pearce is doing his best to spiritually guide us toward fostering a new generation of children to help save humanity. With the way things are today, I think this concept has much merit.

Rating:
Summary: Compelling discussions on spirituality
Review: Pearce has a true gift of engaging discussion that crosses the boundaries of science and spirit. This book is full of gems that bring together brain physiology, psychology, Christianity and personal spirituality.

Pearce is well known from his earlier books about the magical child. Here, he writes of his personal spiritual development and of his views on the difference between transcendence and religion.

His personal experiences include periods during his life when he was able to activate intuitive/psychic abilities to scan masses of data accurately; to sell sterling silver to everyone (including an unscheduled, in-home sale at midnight); and impossible physical feats (e.g. climbing a high, crumbly cliff with an overhang).

He points out that the need to honor, nurture and develop our transcendent awareness is not a trivial or unimportant difference.

Pearce presents a strong case for interpreting the teachings of Christ in the light of personal spiritual development, rather than adherence to a ritualized liturgy. Pearce suggests that Christ's teachings were not intended to enthrone Jesus and the apostles, and certainly not the later established church, as the primary purveyors of spiritual wisdom, nor as the primary focus for spiritual observance. Christ taught that each of us has a direct connection to God.

Pearce has a gift for reviewing diverse materials in an engaging manner. He includes a helpful discussion on the brain and transcendent awareness, but this is nowhere near as compelling as his discussions on spirituality. This book is worth a good chew.


Rating:
Summary: A Masterpiece of Science and Biology
Review: Pearce's The Biology of Transcendence has the ability to transform the reader's mind, and ultimately, life. This compelling novel shows why humans are stuck in a realtiy of violence and hatred, and how we can transcend that reality. Pearce explains the different parts of the human mind scientifically, but in a way any reader can understand. The importance of the heart is revealed, and Pearce discusses the field effect and the model imperative. In the second section, the book gives a stunning description of where we have gone wrong, and that one of the main problems is Christianity. The last part of the book tells us how the world can change for the better, and how we can be part of that transformation. Although The Biology of Transcendence can be difficult for a reader not well-versed in science and philosophy, no one should put this one down before the last page. Pearce explains everything and gives us a good picture of modern man.

Rating:
Summary: If you've ever had a mystical experience, you'll get it
Review: Reviewed by Elliot A. Ryan and Charles O. Bubar

Many books have one or a handful of fundamental concepts. This book has dozens, woven together in a powerful fabric to provide intelligent clothing for a new paradigm of transcendence. A major argument of this book is that transcendence, the ability to go beyond limitation and restraint, is our biological birthright, built into us genetically, and blocked by enculturation. It is an inspired and heretical work as all great truths are heretical in the context of the culture that encounters them.

Depending on your cultural and religious background, it will be either joyful or somewhat disturbing to read. Nevertheless, for those who deeply understand its profound implications, The Biology of Transcendence can be a blueprint for a new paradigm in child development.

In this powerful work, Pearce draws on research from a wide range of the physical, social, biological, and medical sciences. His bibliography contains over 100 sources from Frederick Leboyer on birth and bonding to Paul MacLean on the brain, Jean Piaget on development, John and Beatrice Lacey on the heart, the Holy Bible on religion, David Bohm and Rupert Sheldrake on science, and Rudolph Steiner on spirituality.

Joseph Chilton Pearce reveals the biological and neurological underpinnings that help us discover the underlying principles of our own deepest nature.

This is a book which can be productively read numerous times, each time grasping more of the interrelationships among the fundamental concepts and understanding their implications for our own lives and those of our children.

This book deserves to be a best seller, yet even as the Bible is a best seller, the Bible is often not read by those who own it - or if read, may be fundamentally misunderstood. In the same way that the Bible is a profound affirmation of spiritual possibility and an indictment of "the world", The Biology of Transcendence is an affirmation of our transcendent birthright and an indictment of cultures which oppose this birthright.

An important goal of culture is to inhibit destructive impulses and behaviors. Unfortunately, culture can result in a failure in nurturing and a consequent failure in the brain development of the child's prefrontal cortex - the brain system which, when developed and integrated, internally inhibits the same destructive impulses and behaviors in children and adults which culture has failed to externally control.

Pearce offers evidence of the growing failure in nurturing of children in the United States and the increase in destructive impulses and behavior. By the end of the 20th Century, 6000 American children and teens were being killed annually by their peers. Further, suicide has become the third highest cause of death by youth between ages 5 and 17, with suicide attempts in this age group occurring on the average every 78 seconds.

Pearce shares many of the transcendent experiences of his own life of 83 years, which provided his powerful personal motivation to understand the true nature and source of these experiences and the framework of child development principles which can open this potential to our children.

In explanation of "unconflicted behavior" he describes two such instances from his own life that occurred due to his discovery in his early 20s of how "to bypass my body's most ancient instincts of self-preservation, which resulted in a temporary absence of all fear and subsequent abandonment of all caution. This enabled me, at particular times, to accomplish things that would have been considered impossible under the ordinary conditions of the world," (1) such as sleep and operate a check-proofing machine at the same time plus take customary coffee breaks and (2) climb a sheer cliff straight up from the ocean with an overhang at the top. His implicit trust in the force of unconflicted behavior operated the check-proofing machine and propelled his body up through an avalanche of dust and debris. Unconflicted behavior allows no space for doubt.

Pearce sees these fundamental concepts as part of the process of building lifeboats to ferry humankind out of a growing chaos and into a new realm of transcendent possibility. These concepts provide affirmation of the innate intelligence of mothers who possess strength and self-confidence, who are deeply spiritual in a personal sense, who exhibit freedom, and who exude inner security, confidence, and the intelligence of the heart. For fathers, their most important role is to provide mothers with a safe space, free from fear during pregnancy, childbirth, and their son's or daughter's early childhood years, so that the child's safe space is never in question. After the first three years, the father provides the model for bridging between the nest and the world.

Rating:
Summary: A Must-Read for People Interested in Consciousness
Review: Reviewed by Elliot A. Ryan and Charles O. Bubar

Many books have one or a handful of fundamental concepts. This book has dozens, woven together in a powerful fabric to provide intelligent clothing for a new paradigm of transcendence. A major argument of this book is that transcendence, the ability to go beyond limitation and restraint, is our biological birthright, built into us genetically, and blocked by enculturation. It is an inspired and heretical work as all great truths are heretical in the context of the culture that encounters them.

Depending on your cultural and religious background, it will be either joyful or somewhat disturbing to read. Nevertheless, for those who deeply understand its profound implications, The Biology of Transcendence can be a blueprint for a new paradigm in child development.

In this powerful work, Pearce draws on research from a wide range of the physical, social, biological, and medical sciences. His bibliography contains over 100 sources from Frederick Leboyer on birth and bonding to Paul MacLean on the brain, Jean Piaget on development, John and Beatrice Lacey on the heart, the Holy Bible on religion, David Bohm and Rupert Sheldrake on science, and Rudolph Steiner on spirituality.

Joseph Chilton Pearce reveals the biological and neurological underpinnings that help us discover the underlying principles of our own deepest nature.

This is a book which can be productively read numerous times, each time grasping more of the interrelationships among the fundamental concepts and understanding their implications for our own lives and those of our children.

This book deserves to be a best seller, yet even as the Bible is a best seller, the Bible is often not read by those who own it - or if read, may be fundamentally misunderstood. In the same way that the Bible is a profound affirmation of spiritual possibility and an indictment of "the world", The Biology of Transcendence is an affirmation of our transcendent birthright and an indictment of cultures which oppose this birthright.

An important goal of culture is to inhibit destructive impulses and behaviors. Unfortunately, culture can result in a failure in nurturing and a consequent failure in the brain development of the child's prefrontal cortex - the brain system which, when developed and integrated, internally inhibits the same destructive impulses and behaviors in children and adults which culture has failed to externally control.

Pearce offers evidence of the growing failure in nurturing of children in the United States and the increase in destructive impulses and behavior. By the end of the 20th Century, 6000 American children and teens were being killed annually by their peers. Further, suicide has become the third highest cause of death by youth between ages 5 and 17, with suicide attempts in this age group occurring on the average every 78 seconds.

Pearce shares many of the transcendent experiences of his own life of 83 years, which provided his powerful personal motivation to understand the true nature and source of these experiences and the framework of child development principles which can open this potential to our children.

In explanation of "unconflicted behavior" he describes two such instances from his own life that occurred due to his discovery in his early 20s of how "to bypass my body's most ancient instincts of self-preservation, which resulted in a temporary absence of all fear and subsequent abandonment of all caution. This enabled me, at particular times, to accomplish things that would have been considered impossible under the ordinary conditions of the world," (1) such as sleep and operate a check-proofing machine at the same time plus take customary coffee breaks and (2) climb a sheer cliff straight up from the ocean with an overhang at the top. His implicit trust in the force of unconflicted behavior operated the check-proofing machine and propelled his body up through an avalanche of dust and debris. Unconflicted behavior allows no space for doubt.

Pearce sees these fundamental concepts as part of the process of building lifeboats to ferry humankind out of a growing chaos and into a new realm of transcendent possibility. These concepts provide affirmation of the innate intelligence of mothers who possess strength and self-confidence, who are deeply spiritual in a personal sense, who exhibit freedom, and who exude inner security, confidence, and the intelligence of the heart. For fathers, their most important role is to provide mothers with a safe space, free from fear during pregnancy, childbirth, and their son's or daughter's early childhood years, so that the child's safe space is never in question. After the first three years, the father provides the model for bridging between the nest and the world.

Rating:
Summary: Disparate Themes and Transcendence
Review: The Biology of Transcendence contains some material that isutterly fascinating, some material that is well-nigh opaque to thepoint of unreadability, and muchthat, I believe, one must have a"biological bent" to appreciate.The sections dealing with Pearce'sown spiritual revelatory experiences are worth the price of the book. For example, he recounts a period in his life inwhich he entered a state of "unconflicted behaviour" onemanifestation being that he wasable to sell anything to anybody.Another example of an extraordinary state of being ishis climbing a nearly impossiblecliff. However, once Pearce leavesthe recital of his own directpersonal experience and beginstheologisizing, much of the writing become virtually opaque,convuluted and well-nigh unreadable. His descriptions ofthe physical aspects of brainfunction are, I think, somewhatoverly detailed and complex, butnot without value. My wish: thatPearce would write a book concerned soley with his own astonishing, direct spiritualexperiences,and keep the garbledphilosophizing to a minimum

Rating:
Summary: If you've ever had a mystical experience, you'll get it
Review: This book will make you giggle with glee if you've ever had a major Ah ha! or Eureka! in your life. He shows scientifically and tells philosophically how consciousness elevates. Included in this thesis are the landmarks of development of the brain and then the consciousness -- and then he tells you how to really turn on the juice to uplift your consciousness. It's theory, no doubt, but there's enough credence that it's very interesting reading. As in all things, each of us comes to the world from a particular point of view. This one struck me as fantastically interesting.