The Human Biological Machine as a Transformational Apparatus [Hardcover]

E. J. Gold (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 28, 1985

Initiated by the question "Why do we need to have a body to do spiritual work?," this collection of ideas and hypotheses, which grew from a conversation in a coffee-shop, discusses the body's essential role in personal transformation and spiritual development. The crucial observation that the "body-mind" must act as an ally and collaborator in human consciousness--or essence growth--is rounded out by actual experiments meant to demonstrate the highlighted concepts. This new edition includes chapter commentaries by students and practitioners who have used the suggested techniques, and features a new introduction by the author.

Editorial Reviews

Review

E.J. Gold has hit the nail squarely on the head. -- Robert S. de Ropp

Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Gateways Books & Tapes; 2nd edition (May 28, 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 089556064X
• ISBN-13: 978-0895560643
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,313,323 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars HBM, A CONSCIOUSNESS CLASSIC FROM GATEWAYS !, August 5, 2002

By 

Se Duggan (Land of Living Skies, Regina, Saskatchewan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Human Biological Machine As a Transformational Apparatus (Paperback)

No intelligent, conscientious individual reading this book, and who carries out the experiments/exercises given within, can seriously refute the conclusions drawn; that man, for all intents and purposes, is asleep, and the 'essential self' or 'being', if you will, having fallen into identification with the sleep of the 'machine' can undergo transformation if and only when the 'human biological machine', within which it voyages, is brought into the 'waking state'.

Such a mouthful, is the basic premise of this book.

If, while asking ourselves what the meaning and purpose of life can be, we find that the key to accomplishing something of objective value lies in our potential for inner evolution, then we must find special methods which can teach us how to use our mind, body, and emotions to transform our inner selves.

Real transformational methods enable us to achieve objective change by transforming the ' essential self '. The HBM is a veritable ' hitch-hikers guide ' through the perils and pathways of such inner transformation.

As Robert S. de Ropp, author of The Master Game, says in the Forward to the book, " E.J. Gold has hit the nail squarely on the head. Man is an unfinished animal endowed by nature with the capacity to complete itself. It can then take charge of its own evolution and become worthy of the proud title Homo sapiens. The alchemical process of self-completion is shrouded in mystery and understood only by a few people in each generation. The Great Work consists of transforming a helpless other-directed puppet into an inner-directed unified being that understands its place in the scheme of things. Nothing can be more important than the attainment of this uderstanding. Without it we are at the mercy of our dreams and delusions and our technical devices become more of a menace than a blessing.*If a great cathastrophe is to be avoided a growing number of people must grasp the central truth. To compele one's own inner transformation is the only task worth taking seriously. Everything else is secondary.

*Here's to a hopping an' hoping good time.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A gem of a book!, July 14, 2004

By 

Chai "Chai" (LA, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Human Biological Machine As a Transformational Apparatus (Paperback)

The author provides a unique (to westerners) perspective that enables you to "assume" the position of a multi-dimensional traveler in order to gain knowledge and understanding through experience.

Thank you Mr. Gold for such an enlightening work!

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Search for Impedimenta, August 2, 2004

By 

Robert Templar (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Human Biological Machine As a Transformational Apparatus (Paperback)

From the book: "What keeps the machine asleep is our fear of the discomfort of awakening."

As a society of comfort-seeking creatures this sentence from the book was quite disturbing to me. It appears that we are heavily invested in sedation thru comfort. It is almost as if there is a "conspiracy" to keep "us" asleep, or as the author indicates, not "us" but our "machines."

So what does the cultural pressure to not awaken have to do with me? Am I doing everything I can to awaken? I think I'll check out the authors other books to see if there are some answers there.