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•REVIEWS•
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After 15 years of consistent reprints A Revised Second Edition |
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| By Peter A. Campbell, Ph.D. & Edwin M. McMahon, Ph.D. Preface to the 1997 revised and expanded version |
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When BioSpirituality first appeared in 1985 we never imagined it would become the spiritual classic that it is today, growing in demand rather than fading away. “Serious seekers” from diverse walks of life and religious traditions seem determined to learn more about the mystery of spirit unfolding within their own bodies. Writing of Western society’s desperate need for a more embodied spiritual discipline, Carl Jung noted almost forty years ago that: No insight is gained...by imitating methods which have grown up under totally different psychological conditions. In the course of the centuries the West will produce its own yoga. Yoga is about the body and about the body’s involvement in spiritual experience. If we lack a truly Western yoga, it is because we Westerners can talk about the body but we have failed to incorporate it into our spirituality. We don’t know how to do that. This book remains in print twelve years after it was first published because the people who read it recognize that it helps them to do what they know they need to do. And, they then tell other people who help spread the word! The process of body awareness that we describe in the following pages is called “Focusing.” It was developed by Dr. Eugene Gendlin at the University of Chicago. Part of our book describes the practical details and steps of how we teach Focusing. We call our approach BioSpiritual Focusing because we emphasize an openness to the potential for connecting in a bodily way with the “gift dimension of life,” as well as with a spiritual “More” or “ Transcendence” that is implicit within the Focusing process. What began as a purely therapeutic psychological tool has, in our view, the potential to become a widespread and accessible cross-cultural spiritual path for ordinary people as we enter the new millennium. In this book we describe neglected and little used information that has been buried within the Judaeo-Christian tradition. There are clues here that can help both Christians and non- Christians alike to better understand the process of their own wholeness and ultimate identity when the clues can be approached through our body’ s ability to know, and not just out of familiar patterns of rational thinking or interpretation. In addition to a completely revised appendix on the Steps of Focusing, this expanded version adds several new areas that were not developed in the earlier printing. First, there is a clear explanation why many techniques and so-called “New Age” methods fail to produce the much sought-after wisdom and experience that only mature when we allow “space for grace” in our body’s awareness. During recent years, there has been growing concern over the widespread emergence of violent religious fundamentalism across the globe. Simplistic religious solutions to complex social problems as well as the growing use of political power to impose these interpretations and solutions on everyone gives rise to apprehension. Today, more people want to understand the difference between religious practices that promote unity, peace, and community and those that easily become fanatical, deeply divisive, manipulative, and violent. In so many instances, the followers of religions seem pathologically addicted to the practices and outlooks that they so passionately espouse. The process of BioSpiritual Focusing directly addresses this profound contemporary problem. Through his research, Dr. Gendlin has identified the psychological mechanism that locks addictive patterns in place and makes them so resistant to change, whether within an individual, a culture, or a social group such as organized religion. Gendlin calls this mechanism a process-skipping structure We describe it in a new appendix that has been added to this version of BioSpirituality . Within this same appendix we outline five easily understood criteria to help our readers evaluate the health or potential process- skipping pathology in spiritual and growth practices. BioSpiritual Focusing offers a healthy path to wholeness by providing access to a gifting wisdom within our own body. A second addition to this expanded version is new material drawn from our network’s past decade of using BioSpiritual Focusing. This experience offers exciting hints about what lies ahead as we are drawn forward into the relatively unexplored potential that our body’s consciousness contains for nurturing the birth of a global spirituality. Beyond diverse doctrines, religious interpretations, language, ethnic, cultural, and social variations, the one reality that we all share in common with everyone else is the human organism! We may be divided by our ideas and interpretations, but we remain firmly united in the body-life of spirit itself. This is the ultimate common ground and foundation for lasting peace. Ten learnings from BioSpirituality that draw us into a global spirituality are summarized for the reader in an additional new appendix. Finally, useful suggestions for selecting a Focusing teacher or companion who is sensitive to the intrinsic spirituality of this process have been added at the end of the book. BioSpiritual Focusing is about our journey toward healing and wholeness. It describes a simple, practical way to include your body’s wisdom and knowing on this awesome journey. |
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3441 North Ashland Avenue Chicago, Illinois 60657 Tel: 1-800-621-1008 ISBN: 0-8294-0937-8 $10.95 |
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