Future of the Body: Explorations into the Further Evolution of Human Nature - Hardcover

Murphy, Michael

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0874776864 ISBN 13: 9780874776867

Publisher: TarcherPerigee, 1992

Synopsis

A projection of the future of the species documents reports of extraordinary perception, cognition, volition, and spiritual development, predicting a continuing evolution of humanity. By the author of Golf in the Kingdom. National ad/promo. Tour.

About this title

Review

An impressively researched, authoritative, and absolutely mind-boggling survey of "the transformative capacities of human nature." As to be expected from a co-founder of California's Esalen Institute, the emphasis here is very much on mind-body phenomena, with the focus on individuals who apparently have extended the usual reach of human possibility - saints, mystics, psychics, artists, geniuses, etc. Drawing on an astonishing array of eyewitness accounts, scientific studies, biographies, letters, monographs, etc., Murphy rigorously organizes his vast material into three categories: "Possibilities for Extraordinary Life"; "Transformative Practices"; and "Evidence for Human Transformative Capacity." In the last category, for example, he discusses and documents placebo effects, spiritual healing, hypnosis, "somatic" disciplines such as the Alexander Technique and the Feldenkrais Method, yogic powers, the charismas of saints, etc. All this fascinating if sometimes sensational information does serve a purpose, of course - to illuminate the author's "central observations and proposals," e.g., that "the evidence for extraordinary human attributes strongly supports some sort of penentheism....the doctrine that Divinity is both immanent and transcendent to the universe." Whatever one thinks of Murphy's conclusions, even a casual dipping into his text, which will no doubt become a primary source for future mind-body investigation, will reveal a world of inspiring wonders. (Kirkus Reviews) --Kirkus Reviews

About the Author

In 1961 Michael Murphy cofounded, with Richard Price, the Esalen Institute, a learning center in California that fosters change in individuals and society, and has hosted thousands of human potential workshops and conferences led by such notables as Joseph Campbell, Aldous Huxley, Joan Borysenko, Allen Ginsberg, and Linus Pauling, to name a few. In 1980, he helped create the Esalen Institute's Soviet American Exchange program, which, among other things, initiated the first live television space bridges and hosted president of the Russian Federation Boris Yeltsin during his first visit to the United States. Murphy is the author of The Future of the Body, Golf in the Kingdom, and An End to Ordinary History, and the coauthor of The Psychic Side of Sports. He lives in San Rafael, California.

Edition details

• Publisher: TarcherPerigee
• Publication date: 1992
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0874776864
• ISBN 13: 9780874776867
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 800