Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #150893 in Books
• Published on: 2006-05-31
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 360 pages

Customer Reviews

journey
I have been a great fan of S. Grof not only for the fact that he comes from the same country I do. I have undergone several holotropic sessions and think have at least some idea of what it takes to go beyond your brain. This book is certainly a great piece of work - it reveals details from Stan's life that I felt were missing in his earlier books on holotropic mind. I so much enjoyed reading again the most awkward story Mr.Grof has in store for us: his trip through time to his parent's flat in Prague and his metaphysical fear connected with the idea of crossing the borderline of time. Stunning story. There are several other stories that make you sit with your mouth wide open with amazement. On the other hand you can find lots of pretty 'normal' stories that happen in our everyday lives now and then too. As I said I have read maybe all of Stan's books but the one that really changed my life and has been a great companion through my own spiritual development was not written by him. It was his wife, Christina Grof, who wrote a very intimate, beautiful and wise book describing her coming out of alcohol addiction. With grace she deals with serious topics, stays with both feet on the ground and takes you on a journey towards personal maturity and wisdom. Her husband has been breaking entirely new ground and is therefore much more radical and disconnected from reality. This is not to say we sometimes need to go through hell and heaven to land on our MOther Earth again. Read it.

Towards a more comprehensive worldview
This fascinating book by one of the intellectual giants of our time falls somewhere between Jung's "Memories, Dreams, Refelections" and Timothy Leary's "Flashback". It gives an overview over Grof's life and all his personal experiences with realities that lies beyond what the materialistic-scientific worldview considers 'possible'.

Some of the anecdotes are taken from his previous books, but they are certainly worth telling again. Experiences with esp, reincarnation, energy-transferring (Swami Muktananda)and not least lots of experiences with all kinds of mind-altering drugs, often taken at exotic places like old mayan temples and the australian desert.

Many of the examples are taken from his own life-story, but a lot of them comes from his yearlong work as therapist, with LSD and later with holotropic breathwork.

Few people challenges the ortodox scientific worldview with such vigor and depth as Grof (guess a book like this could give Richard Dawkins nightmares for weeks after, if he had the courage to read it). But having said that, there seems to be in his works a strong tendency to make spirituality synomynous with 'experiences' and to underestimate the value of Silence, introspection and emptying the mind.

Grof certainly also comes across as more of a 'head' in this book than in his previous more scientific works, like a man who likes to take drugs and let his vision of the world be altered by chemical means.

All in all an important collection for anyone interested in a more comprehensive picture of the world around us and inside us.

autobiographical gem
A beautiful collection of anecdotes from the greatest psychiatrist since Jung. This book is Grof's "memories, dreams, reflections" and should be treasured. Grof bestrides the psychedelic and transpersonal scene from the 50s to the present. He knew and collaborated with most of the other players. This is the least academic, most personal and accessable of his books. It can be read as a book of short stories. Wonderful tales told by a pioneering scientific mind and charts the evolution of his work. Enjoy it.