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The Secret Teachings of Plants: The Intelligence of the Heart in the Direct Perception of Nature by Stephen Harrod Buhnerhttp://www.amazon.com/The-Secret-Teachings-Plants-Intelligen…Reveals the use of direct perception in understanding Nature, medicinal plants, and the healing of human disease• Explores the techniques used by indigenous and Western peoples to learn directly from the plants themselves, including those of Henry David Thoreau, Goethe, and Masanobu Fukuoka, author of The One Straw Revolution• Contains leading-edge information on the heart as an organ of perceptionAll ancient and indigenous peoples insisted their knowledge of plant medicines came from the plants themselves and not through trial-and-error experimentation. Less well known is that many Western peoples made this same assertion. There are, in fact, two modes of cognition available to all human beings–the brain-based linear and the heart-based holistic. The heart-centered mode of perception can be exceptionally accurate and detailed in its information gathering capacities if, as indigenous and ancient peoples asserted, the heart’s ability as an organ of perception is developed.Author Stephen Harrod Buhner explores this second mode of perception in great detail through the work of numerous remarkable people, from Luther Burbank, who cultivated the majority of food plants we now take for granted, to the great German poet and scientist Goethe and his studies of the metamorphosis of plants. Buhner explores the commonalities among these individuals in their approach to learning from the plant world and outlines the specific steps involved. Readers will gain the tools necessary to gather information directly from the heart of Nature, to directly learn the medicinal uses of plants, to engage in diagnosis of disease, and to understand the soul-making process that such deep connection with the world engenders.Quote:Review“Humanity’s ultimate liberation lies in the realization of the radiant transcendental consciousness in which nature inheres—that ultimate reality to which Buhner’s excellent books always seem to be pointing us.” (DharmaCafe, November 2011)“Buhner’s writings are a powerful call for people to work together to restore the sacredness of Earth.” (Brooke Medicine Eagle, author of Buffalo Woman Comes Singing)”. . . Stephen Harrod Buhner reveals the use of direct perception in understanding nature, medicinal plants, and the healing of disease. . . . This book is a must read for any nature lover.” (Share Guide, Mar-Apr, 2005)”Science and spirituality blend in an intriguing ecological assessment of what the plant world can teach us.” (The Midwest Book Review, April, 2005)”. . . how to achieve heart-based perception, and how to learn the medicinal uses of plants directly from the plants themselves.” (The Burlington Free Press, Feb. 27, 2005)“I learned more from part one of this magnificent book than from any source in years. Buhner writes of complex discoveries in neuroscience and neurocardiology with clarity and coherence. Encompassing the highest spiritual insights of such giants as Blake, Goethe, and Whitman, part two is worthy poetry in itself, offering readers a unique way to move into transcendent realms. Of the truly great books appearing today, The Secret Teachings of Plants is easily the most rewarding I have had the privilege of reading.” (Joseph Chilton Pearce, author of The Biology of Transcendence)“In this wonderful book Stephen Buhner shows us that the heart is not a machine but the informed, intelligent core of our emotional, spiritual, and perceptual universe. Through the heart we can perceive the living spirit that diffuses through the green world that is our natural home. Required reading for all owners of a heart.” (Matthew Wood, herbalist and author of The Book of Herbal Wisdom)“Beautifully written, The Secret Teachings of Plants is a work of art–as much a poetical journey into the essence of plants as it is a guidebook on how to use plant medicine in our healing practices. Stephen Buhner is among the plant geniuses of our time. Like Thoreau and Goethe and Luther Burbank, the master gardeners and “green men” he so liberally quotes throughout, Buhner will be long remembered for his deep and introspective connection with the green world and for his ability to connect us to the heart of the plants through his teachings.” (Rosemary Gladstar, author of Rosemary Gladstar’s Family Herbal and founder of United Plant Sav)“A ‘must read’ for herbalists, healers, gardeners, nature lovers, and anyone who has ever been moved to tears by the everyday miracles of life.” (Susun S. Weed, author of Healing Wise)”The Secret Teachings of Plants offers ways to bypass the linear intelligence of the brain and tap into the nonlinear intelligence of the heart. . . . enables people to gather information directly from nature for diagnosing and treating illnesses, as well as for developing connections with the natural world.” (Richard D. Wright, Tranquil Things, New Age Retailer, Holiday 2005)”If you work directly with plants, as a gardener or in herbal and alchemical practices, and want to cultivate a more intimate view of them or simply want to better enjoy your time spent outside and among growing and green things, The Secret Teachings of Plants will help you do both. (Mark Stavish, Institute for Hermetic Studies, April 2006)”This book is part poetry, part sicence . . . There is an energy that overcomes and refreshes.” (Loretta, Widewest blog, Feb 2010)Uploaders notes – Thanks go to mememe who, in response to a request I made in another recent Buhner upload, sent me this and asked me to upload it here. I don’t know its origin (scan, ocr yada yada) but it is searchable and clearI read this many years ago. If you have an interest in Heart Coherence and Heart Intelligence ala HeartMath  then it worth your time. I have been  told that a true Taoist Alchemist can practice Herbal/plant medicine anywhere in the world  with native plants because instead of relying on memorized attributes and formulas, they instead would simply walk through the wilderness with the need in mind and the appropriate plants would make themselves known. This is a manual (independent of Taoism) for how to do that. Alas I have never actually tried it myself – one of the things on my to do list, but it is a compelling read with lots of fascinating references and an inspiring take on the world.