Building on his previous groundbreaking work, Peter Ralston once again proves to be a sure-footed guide for readers seeking to negotiate the challenging terrain of personal and spiritual growth. In accessible language, Ralston demonstrates how the lofty goals of self-transformation and enlightenment can be achieved with a no-nonsense approach available to anyone willing to reach beyond their current experience of self and reality. Pursuing Consciousness is a down-to-earth handbook for staying focused on the work at hand, even while tackling such unsettling tasks as investigating deeply ingrained psychological beliefs and identifying common areas of misunderstanding that hamper transformative growth.
Ralston explains that deeper levels of consciousness aren't just for monks—anyone can have an enlightenment experience. He shows that enlightenment does not transform the self, and transforming the self does not produce enlightenment. Once we grasp that these two pursuits take place in entirely different domains of consciousness, we can use each to empower the other. Ralston provides specific tools for changing the very person that we experience being. His work has been acclaimed by people from a diverse range of disciplines—including spiritual teachers, psychiatrists, cognitive scientists, physicists, and artists. As with Ralston's previous works, this book points the way to a direct encounter with the true nature of Being and the possibility of real personal change.
Since having several enlightenment experiences in his
early twenties, Peter Ralston has devoted his life to a
relentless pursuit of the truth, investigating everything
from the principles that govern movement and interaction
to the true nature of self and reality.
As part of the San Francisco Bay Area consciousness movement
in the 1970s, he founded Cheng Hsin (“true nature”), a dogmafree
approach to consciousness that assists people from all walks
of life in exploring every aspect of their personal experience of
Being, including enlightenment. He is also the creator of The Art
of Effortless Power and in 1978 became the first non-Asian to win
the World Championship full-contact martial arts tournament in
China. He has students in more than thirty countries and travels
the world teaching this work.
Ralston’s other titles include The Principles of Effortless Power,
Zen Body-Being, and The Book of Not Knowing, which Spiritual
Enlightenment magazine voted the “Book of The Year” in 2010,
calling it “a must-have book for the serious spiritual seeker.” His
books have been published in six languages.
“True innovators are, by definition, ahead of their time. Therefore, they remain largely unrecognized, except by a few. How many of us wish we had met Bruce Lee, sat in a session with Carl Jung, or walked around Walden Pond with Thoreau? Too late for that, but not too late to take notice of Peter Ralston. His creativity, commitment, and clarity shine through as he articulates higher principles based on direct experience and piercing insight. A caring teacher, he has been to the mountain- top and bathed in the spring of Being. His insights speak to us all.”
—Dan Millman, author of Way of the Peaceful Warrior
“Ralston is unparalleled in his ability to clearly articulate both the key questions to contemplate, and the life-changing insights one can gain from doing so. I’ve learned more from him than any other author.”
—David Spivak, PhD, research scientist in mathematics at MIT
“I have had many wonderful teachers, before and after working with Master Ralston, but none with the intense, diamond-like brilliance at directing pristine contemplation. His ability to create accurate distinctions in the activities of consciousness is unparalleled.”
—John Robert Nieters, L.Ac., QME, DNBAO
“Peter is one of the few of the many [teachers] I've met that I would call a master.”
—Epi van de Pol, chairman of the Dutch Taijiquan Association
“Working with Peter changed the way I move my body. I exercise, dance, and live differently … it’s not only a powerful way to live in a body but a powerful way to live. His knowledge and application of body mechanics is more relevant than anything I learned in seven years of medical education.”
—Katie McQueen, MD; Clinical Assistant Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, UTHSC-Houston
Other people try to sell you ideas, dogma, and ideology. Peter gets you to check out the truth for yourself, and that's the main reason why this life changing work isn't better known; it's actually legit.
—Ben Robins
The gorgeous thing about this book is that the author talks straight to the point. No bs or delusional metaphors. I don't think it is for beginners though, it takes me (stage Yellow on spiral dynamics) minutes just to read and re-read a paragraph in order to grasp the enormous wisdom packed in every sentence of this book!
—Dimitri Biserov
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