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The Secret Teachings of Plants: The Intelligence of the Heart in the Direct Perception of Nature By Stephen Harrod Buhner ( Bear & Company )
Release Date: 2004-10-27
Average Customer Rating:
List Price: $18.95
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Product Description
Reveals the use of direct perception in understanding Nature, medicinal plants, and the healing of human disease
• Explores the techniques used by indigenous and Western peoples to learn directly from the plants themselves, including those of Henry David Thoreau, Goethe, and Masanobu Fukuoka, author of The One Straw Revolution
• Contains leading-edge information on the heart as an organ of perception
All ancient and indigenous peoples insisted their knowledge of plant medicines came from the plants themselves and not through trial-and-error experimentation. Less well known is that many Western peoples made this same assertion. There are, in fact, two modes of cognition available to all human beings--the brain-based linear and the heart-based holistic. The heart-centered mode of perception can be exceptionally accurate and detailed in its information gathering capacities if, as indigenous and ancient peoples asserted, the heart’s ability as an organ of perception is developed.Author Stephen Harrod Buhner explores this second mode of perception in great detail through the work of numerous remarkable people, from Luther Burbank, who cultivated the majority of food plants we now take for granted, to the great German poet and scientist Goethe and his studies of the metamorphosis of plants. Buhner explores the commonalities among these individuals in their approach to learning from the plant world and outlines the specific steps involved. Readers will gain the tools necessary to gather information directly from the heart of Nature, to directly learn the medicinal uses of plants, to engage in diagnosis of disease, and to understand the soul-making process that such deep connection with the world engenders.
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 Amazing book, not for everyone
The Secret Teachings of Plants is very unusual--it's not your grandmother's plant book! It makes connections between various parts of the natural world, including plants, animals, people, healing, etc. I found the techniques for discovering the healing properties of plants to directly correspond to how I relate to the mineral world (crystals). I have never read anything else like this book. A bit wordy at times, with some repetition, but its advanced concepts about learning from the natural world are fascinating! Information about the human heart and circulatory system is great, very detailed and r-evolutionary. Interestng, good for anyone in the metaphysical healing arts. Definitely OUT OF THE BOX.
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Connection to Nature
The Secret Teachings of Plants is a book that does much more than remind us of the importance of Nature in our lives. It provides simple skills to help us make a much deeper connection to the natural world and bring our lives back into balance. Too often we get so caught up in the busyness of the human world that we become numb to ourselves. It is at times like this when we need a sage like Stephen Buhner to guide us back to the wisdom the other living beings of this planet have for us.
The book is based on a wonderfully insightful concept of the "intelligence of the heart." Recent discoveries in neuroscience have proven that more than 50% of the heart is comprised of neural cells. It is from our hearts that we process our energetic connection to everything we come in contact with. The problem is that we have cut ourselves off from this connection by allowing ourselves to be caught up in our rational, analytical minds.
Buhner explains that the knowledge of plant medicines that ancient and indigenous peoples have, comes, not through trial and error experimentation, but is directly transmitted from the plants themselves. And while this may seem like a stretch to the rational, analytical mind caught up in the post-industrial, television-based world, deep within all of us this truth awaits rediscovery.
The first part of the book contains scientific explanations and linear analysis. The second part is a stream of consciousness, full of quotes and practices for enhancing our relationship with plants. When I first started the book I loved the first part and was a bit skeptical of the 2nd half. But once I began reading that part, I realized that the first half was merely setting the stage and the second part is where the real understanding lies.
The consciousness of plants may be vastly different from our understanding of consciousness. Interacting with plants is not simply about talking to them. It is much more about opening the lines of communication with them on an energetic level and sharing our lifeforce. By opening our hearts and experiencing nature in its fullness we can begin to realize this connection.
Personally I have been cultivating my relationship with plants for many years, yet while reading this book I found my experience reaching a deeper level of understanding, to the point of profound wonder at this world we live in. See for yourself....read the book.
in peace,
Aaron Hoopes
(author of Zen Yoga: A Path to Enlightenment through Breathing, Movement and Meditation)
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One of the best books I have read this year
This book has opened my eyes to the "reality" of the living earth and how we are all connected. It is so profound that I found myself rereading passages to fully grasp the meaning. The first part of the book is more technical and I had to read slowly. But as the book progresses, it becomes easier. The words are poetic and beautiful. It is a book you can read over and over and find a deeper understanding each time.
The main theme is that the heart is an organ of perception and communication and how as a society we have become linear thinkers due to the science's "reductionism". The benefits of thinking with our hearts are manifold: reduced stress, better body functioning and a sense of the sacredness of life. In fact the heart is a second brain: it has the same neurons the brain does. This book teaches you to use the heart as an organ of perception and communication as our ancestors did.
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Of The Truly Great Books..., A 'Must Read' ( ahtun )
"Stephen Harrod Buhner is an Earth Poet and senior researcher for the Foundation for Gaian Studies.
He lectures throughout the United States on herbal medicine, the sacredness of plants, and the intelligence of Nature.
He is the author of nine works of nonfiction and one book of poetry, including the award-winning The Lost Language of Plants and Sacred Plant Medicine.
He lives in Braintree, Vermont."
"OF THE TRULY GREAT BOOKS appearing today The Secret Teachings of Plants is easily the most rewarding I have had the privilege of reading."
- Joseph Chilton Pearce, author of The Biology of Transcendence
"A 'MUST READ' for herbalists, healers, gardeners, nature lovers, and anyone who has ever been moved to tears by the everyday miracles of life."
- Susun S. Weed, author of Healing Wise
[from the back cover of the book]
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Surprisingly good!
This book kept coming up as a recommendation so I bought it expecting more new age fuzziness. I was surprised at how the author convincingly anchors heart perception in neuroscience and then brings the reader into a new perspective. I was really inspired by this book and highly recommend it.
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