It was exhilarating ordering a copy of The Manual of Gestalt Practice in the tradition of Dick Price!  Congratulations, John!  I have a place ready next to The Natural History of Big Sur and Upstart Spring.  (Thanks for the notice, Steve.)

You can't see me jumping up and down, but I am. (That's why the keyboard is bouncing).

You go, John! (And no more hiding your light).

  Totally Committed

I give thanks for unknown blessings already on the way

A tremendous accomplishment!  :-)   Hip, hip, hooray! 

For some strange reason, wanting to spontaneously sing "for he's a jolly good fellow" over and over again.  :-)

Congratulations, my friend.  Well done!

I feel the urge to say something about my intentions. This manual was designed with the idea that, using it, two people in the middle of nowhere, like rural Iowa or someplace, could start doing Gestalt practice, and maybe even build a community.

One of the main premises is that there is a close relationship between Gestalt practice and Buddhism. They actually compliment each other. Dick knew that. And both support the practice of ecopsychology. In fact, one of the subtexts is that an expanded form of Gestalt practice is a way for human beings to live naturally, in harmony with the Earth.

Of course, I see Dick Price as a transformative figure. Fritz was not the founder of Gestalt practice. Dick was. At the same time I don’t mean to deify Dick. Nonetheless, Dick stood at the intersection of many lines of development that have given us a form of practice that continues to evolve. Chris Price’s GAP, for instance, is something entirely new and different, with roots in the practice that Dick invented.

One of my principal concerns is that the communitarian nature of Dick’s Gestalt practice is at risk of being lost in this new era of hyper-professionalism. Gestalt practice is a way of building a community, a sangha, not just a lucrative professional practice. To that end, this Manual is written for people who haven’t even heard of Gestalt or Theravada or Mahayana or ecopsychology, but who are drawn to the wisdom of people like Dick,and his progeny. At the same time, it was written for old time Dharma Bums, like me, who want to remember….

i bought 2 copies - one for me and one to send john heider.  

 it is sooooo wonderful to have some of this material committed to paper and shared with others.  thank you john!!!  i know you put a lot of time and effort into this and for that, i am grateful.

 congratulations!

 d 

Authenticity Heals....

and it seems to me that this would make a great gift for those we want to encourage -- any birthdays or gifting holidays coming up? People could consider giving this book for one of those presents. And thus, be of benefit.

for Newbies, and for Dharma Bums and Dharma Bummettes.

Real community of individuals that connect and communicate in a conscious and self-responsible way is one of the gifts that came out of the lived experience of Esalen as a community (not just as a "fun" workshop center).

  Totally Committed

I give thanks for unknown blessings already on the way

Double wow.  Thanks for the info.  Yes Congrats on the Book.  I shall endeavour to acquire one someday, for sure.

You've accomplished your goal with this work, John.  As I read it, the message I hear inside is "I can".  I can do this, I can live this, I can continue to learn this practice, I can implement these techniques in my own life.  Thank you for your diligent efforts (at great personal cost, I'm certain) and your generosity to share the collected knowledge with the rest of us.  Bravo!  I treasure my copy.  It is one of the ten books I'd take to a desert island.

I feel like saying a few more things about this text, and here is a good place to say it. Much of the motivation for the text is embedded in the practices, without further explanation. I seriously considered leaving it that way. However, that’s hard for me to do, especially when I’m sitting alone with a word processor.

Of course, parts of this text have been evolving for many years. But a lot of the motivation for the current text was what I heard Jeff Kripal say. He said something like, “I think the future of Esalen is with the tantra.” I said to myself, “What the **** does that mean?”

Anybody who knows me well, knows that in my mind the future of Esalen is problematic. This doesn’t mean that Esalen, as a concept, doesn’t live on as an important icon, for me and others, no matter what happens. But how is tantra implicated in that concept?

It seems to me that if tantric practices come to America in a form that can be integrated into the natural American psyche, then they certainly won’t be in the form of Hindu tantric practices, as they sprang from the charnel grounds of ancient India. Nor will they be transplanted from Tibetan Buddhism, whether Nyingma or Mahamudra or whatever. This doesn’t mean that these traditions aren’t worth studying. It just means that the core of the practices have to be assimilated, if they can reasonably be expected to have an impact upon the American mind.

Ultimately, after sitting with that core, what materialized for me was the section called “The Future of Practice,” which is an Americanized form of tantra. As an example, the second meditation in that section is an adaptation of Phowa, as impacted by Gestalt and ecopsychology. Essentially, the section is an answer to the question, “What might American tantric practice look like?”

Beyond this, I’d say that the next most important thing for me about the text, conceptually, is the definition of “mindfulness” in the glossary. In a sense, the glossary exists in order to make that move. This is not to say that the rest of the glossary isn’t useful, and required a lot of work! But one of the fundamental points of the whole text is contained in the idea that Gestalt practice and Buddhist meditation are complimentary, and play discernible and interlocking roles. More than anything else, that’s the most important part of Dick’s legacy. He brought together Fritz Perls and Nyanaponika Thera into a sparse form of psycho-spiritual transformation.

Ultimately this text is about practice. It is not intended to be academic or documentary. It is intended to teach people a particular way of practice. That practice really is at risk of being lost. As Esalen evolves into whatever it becomes, the foundation of Gestalt practice will continue to be threatened by its own inherent syncretism, manifested as a tendency for devolution back toward a therapeutic model, and a kind of spiritual eclecticism. So this manual is also an attempt at preservation, starting from the very basics of the practice, and pointing the practice toward a possible future that I think Jeff Kripal was trying to predict. At the same time, it is so very important for a practitioner to have a command of the basics, in order to attain personal clarity. In fact, tantric schools of Buddhism start with training in basic practices. Without that, a practitioner is liable to end up mired in a state of neurosis or an escape into “spiritual entertainment.”

I need to express appreciation for the generosity Chris has shown by letting me use material that rightfully belongs to her. Long sections of the text are based directly upon material that she has given me over the years. At the same time, I need to emphasize that Christine’s GAP is her unique invention, distinct from the Gestalt practice I have described.

Of course, it would be disingenuous not to say that this has been my own attempt to honor Dick. He had a dramatic impact on my life, as well as on many other people. And I recognize there is a problem with that, too. I know many people may think that a text like this does not do justice to the experience they had, sitting with Dick. That is certainly true. I acknowledge what is missing between the experience and a written text. On the other hand, for me, it is important to remember that we will all soon be dead. And unless we do something to preserve Dick’s legacy, it will surely be lost. Next year will be an appropriate time to see that legacy preserved. So I urge all of us, collectively, to consider how best to celebrate Dick’s life during next year’s 80th and 25th anniversaries - especially between the date of his birth, October 12th, and the date of his death, November 25th.

I suppose I could say more, but it’s time to do chores. ...Probably just as well!

 What a wonderful accomplishment and gift to the world!  You are amazing!  I learned, second-hand, a little about Dick Price, some years ago.  Now, I will have the opportunity to learn more about Dick Price, and to learn more about the Gestalt Practice in the tradition of Dick Price.  What a very important contribution you have made!  Thank you, John.

I will purchase a copy as soon as I can, probably in about a month. 

Plays well with others