Customer Reviews (1)

Transcendental meditation in depth
I must begin this review by pointing out that if you are interested in the 'How-to' of meditation this is book is not the one for you.Bloomfield and co. tell little of the techniques used in TM (Transcendental Meditation) other than that a mantra (repeated word) of some kind is used and a comfortable sitting position in a chair is preferred (rather than the cross legged, straight back position of Buddhism).If you want to know more about technique I suggest Herbert Benson's The Relaxation Response in which Chapter 7 describes how to meditate.Benson's book covers some of the material described in Bloomfield's volume, particularly the affects of meditation on blood pressure and heart rate.

Having mentioned the above failure I must point out that this book gives an excellent summary of the medical and psychological research done on Transcendental Meditation, as well as giving good coverage of the applications of the practice in education, psychotherapy, criminal reform and business.The book was first published way back in 1975 when TM was still a new and 'happening' thing, so many of the findings are only tentative.I am able to tell you, however, that many of the findings were later confirmed by further research.Stress is a great stumbling block in so much of what we do and anything we can do to alleviate it results in a surprising improvement in performance.

The subjects covered include:

(1) The physiology of meditation, particularly, reduced oxygen consumption, reduced breath rate, reduced blood lactate concentration, reduced galvanic skin resistance, reduced heart rate and decreased blood pressure.Many of these effects occurred both during and after meditation, and some extended into normal life.Some attention is given to the use of meditation in the treatment of psychosomatic illnesses.A fair amount of space is given to the research demonstrating that meditation is a fourth state of consciousness, different from waking, deep sleep and REM sleep.
(2) The psychology of meditation, including, increased inner/outer directedness, increased self acceptance, increased spontaneity, increased non-aggression, increased intimate contact, decreased anxiety, decreased depression and decreased neuroticism.
(3) Improvements in performance, such as, increased perceptual ability, faster reaction time and increased recall ability.
(4) Changes in behavior patterns, like the reduction of use of illegal drugs, the reduction of alcohol and cigarette use, increase in job satisfaction, increase in job performance, improved relations with supervisors and co-workers.

The philosophic framework of TM is also given in considerable detail and pointers to further research in discovering a possible fifth, sixth and seventh states of consciousness are given.Virtually all of this material remains esoteric and unresearched today.

Finally a summary of the future 'world plan' for the expansion of the 'TM program' is given.It is interesting to see that, while today TM is not totally unheard of, interest has declined considerably, and perhaps lamentably.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Transcendental meditation in depth
I must begin this review by pointing out that if you are interested in the 'How-to' of meditation this is book is not the one for you.Bloomfield and co. tell little of the techniques used in TM (Transcendental Meditation) other than that a mantra (repeated word) of some kind is used and a comfortable sitting position in a chair is preferred (rather than the cross legged, straight back position of Buddhism).If you want to know more about technique I suggest Herbert Benson's The Relaxation Response in which Chapter 7 describes how to meditate.Benson's book covers some of the material described in Bloomfield's volume, particularly the affects of meditation on blood pressure and heart rate.

Having mentioned the above failure I must point out that this book gives an excellent summary of the medical and psychological research done on Transcendental Meditation, as well as giving good coverage of the applications of the practice in education, psychotherapy, criminal reform and business.The book was first published way back in 1975 when TM was still a new and 'happening' thing, so many of the findings are only tentative.I am able to tell you, however, that many of the findings were later confirmed by further research.Stress is a great stumbling block in so much of what we do and anything we can do to alleviate it results in a surprising improvement in performance.

The subjects covered include:

(1) The physiology of meditation, particularly, reduced oxygen consumption, reduced breath rate, reduced blood lactate concentration, reduced galvanic skin resistance, reduced heart rate and decreased blood pressure.Many of these effects occurred both during and after meditation, and some extended into normal life.Some attention is given to the use of meditation in the treatment of psychosomatic illnesses.A fair amount of space is given to the research demonstrating that meditation is a fourth state of consciousness, different from waking, deep sleep and REM sleep.
(2) The psychology of meditation, including, increased inner/outer directedness, increased self acceptance, increased spontaneity, increased non-aggression, increased intimate contact, decreased anxiety, decreased depression and decreased neuroticism.
(3) Improvements in performance, such as, increased perceptual ability, faster reaction time and increased recall ability.
(4) Changes in behavior patterns, like the reduction of use of illegal drugs, the reduction of alcohol and cigarette use, increase in job satisfaction, increase in job performance, improved relations with supervisors and co-workers.

The philosophic framework of TM is also given in considerable detail and pointers to further research in discovering a possible fifth, sixth and seventh states of consciousness are given.Virtually all of this material remains esoteric and unresearched today.

Finally a summary of the future 'world plan' for the expansion of the 'TM program' is given.It is interesting to see that, while today TM is not totally unheard of, interest has declined considerably, and perhaps lamentably.
... Read more

Product Description
Well-known generalist Buckminster Fuller is interviewed on the topic of how to make the "whole systems" of our society and the world function effectively. He gives the listener a historic overview of the evolution of selfishness and corporate consciousness and talks about calculating the real cost of goods--the cost to the environment, dealing with the waste, and the impact on the earth. 2 cassettes. ... Read more

Product Description

Dieses Buch ergänzt den Band "Your Private Sky: Design als Kunst einer Wissenschaft" und gibt einen authentischen Einblick in die Entwicklung der architektonischen, technischen und anthropologischen Konzepte Fullers. Dieser "Poet der Technologie" war als Ingenieur ein Dichter, als Designer ein Denker, als Forscher ein Künstler, dessen schriftlicher Nachlass einen enormen Umfang aufweist - darunter Texte von visionärer Bedeutung, von hoher Konsistenz, eindringlicher Sprachkraft und nicht zuletzt drängender Aktualität.

"Bucky" war ein Navigator im wissenschaftlichen, kulturellen und sozialen Netzwerk - einer der grossen Beweger dieses Jahrhunderts.

Einige Texte werden hier erstmals veröffentlicht: z.B. sein erstes programmatisches Manuskript "Lightful Houses" (1928), eine aufschlussreiche Vortragsmitschrift zum "Dymaxion House" (1929), sein Brief an Einstein (1944) oder das Konvolut "Noah's Ark II" (1951).

Product Description

R. Buckminster Fuller (1895-1983) fut architecte, ingénieur, cartographe, philosophe, l’inventeur des célèbres coupoles géodésiques et l’un des plus géniaux théoriciens de son temps. Pendant plus de cinquante ans, il a publié de nombreux essais dans lesquels il a exposé ses vastes théories sur les problèmes de notre planète. Ces textes offrent des éclairages instructifs sur son univers de savant universel. Plusieurs décennies après leur première publication, ils restent d’une étonnante actualité.

Manuel d’instruction pour le vaisseau spatial « Terre » a été publié pour la première fois en anglais en 1969. La première édition en français date quant à elle de 1980. C’est une brillante synthèse de sa conception du monde et à ce titre, l’un de ses ouvrages les plus célèbres. Dans ce texte d’une grande limpidité, Fuller étudie les grands défis auxquels l’humanité est confrontée. Comment l’humanité survivra-t-elle ? Quels sont les effets de l’automatisation sur l’individualisation ? Comment utiliser plus efficacement nos ressources pour mettre fin à la pauvreté de cette génération ? Il remet en question le concept de spécialisation, appelle de ses vœux une révolution du design avec de nouvelles découvertes, et indique des moyens pour conduire le vaisseau spatial « Terre » vers un avenir durable.

Jaime Snyder, petit-fils de Buckminster Fuller, a dirigé cette édition révisée de la traduction française. Dans son introduction et ses commentaires, il nous donne accès au contexte dans lequel Fuller a écrit son ouvrage, et il complète ses visions en les actualisant et en les interprétant concrètement.