The Biology of Belief: Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter, & Miracles Reviews

• You can always tell the pioneers---they're the ones with arrows in their backs

  
  By A1ZYF1THPEI3NG on 2005-06-26
  I am a physician who turns 65 this week. My career was and is punctuated by the harassment one receives when one is challenging medical dogma. When I began doing outpatient surgery, I was called before the Executive Committee of my hospital to explain the "circus" I was involving myself in. When I began to put intraocualar lenses in eyes after cataract surgery, I was fired from my position as Chief of Ophthalmic Plastic Surgery because "Anyone so stupid as to put lenses in eyes has no business teaching residents". When I did the research for the laser used in Lasik, I was told it was unbelievable that anyone could be so stupid as to make incisions across the visual axis of a good eye. Now it is almost malpractice not to do those things!!!!How time changes things.
  
  There are those who are constantly willing to re-examine what they think they know. There are others who cannot deal with the idea that what they were taught might be wrong. One can clearly see that in the reviews above.
  
  Dr. Lipton has clearly challenged what we thought we knew and opened Pandora's box. Scientists have long stated, "If you can't prove it, it doesn't exist." That means that we relegate our belief system to the quality of our measuring devices. Since we couldn't measure things at biological speeds until we got Pentium class computers, we haven't been able to measure biological electronic function for very many years. Lipton has helped refocus us away from the false belief that the body is Newtonian and reductionistic to the reality that the body works at the atomic level where Newton's laws fail and electromagnetic energy rules.
  
  Buy this book---it will change your life if you will measure it against what is real instead of what you were taught.
  
  

• We 'receive what we perceive'!

  
  By A1NLRSBOT6DGFN on 2005-06-26
  This book will sit alongside my most valued resources in my collection. The reasoning is straightforward - conventional medicine is predicated on the Primacy of Matter - that molecules are the basic building blocks of life and the most important. But conventional health solutions are becoming less effective in the provision of long term health, and more expensive. Dr. Lipton's work is admirable by focusing on the wider interconnections between the energy of our beliefs, and the amazing behaviour of cells and now epigenetics.
  
  From changing the central biological dogma of the Primacy of DNA, to outlining the quantum nature of information flows and the astounding benefits of conscious parenting, and the failure of the genome project to find enough proteins, this book is packed full of gems sure to benefit everybody. Lipton addresses energy as purportedly 100 times more powerful than molecules. It simply makes sense we invest our 'energy' in modelling a health system geared towards both chemical AND energy based solutions - vibrations meeting vibrations. Dr. Lipton's work asks us to consider the possibility our primary source of energy comes from our internal and external environments, and our unconscious perceptions have a major influence on the health of this exchange.
  
  Obviously contentious, this book is worth 5 stars simply for the pioneering and unique message it brings.
  
  With modern technology we can repeatedly 'perceive' energy in ways we couldn't before. Science is about improving our technology, and as we are now well and truly in the ascending Dwapara Yuga (Age of Energy) we are being asked to embrace the beginnings of the wisdom and knowledge technology wave.
  
  I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in furthering their study and knowledge of biology beyond what is conventionally proselytised and thought energy or consciousness based healing practices such as energy medicine, homeopathy, reiki, energy psychology or huna had a "flaky" foundation. As an adult child of an alcoholic and abuse I know how ineffective drugs are to heal without treatment of beliefs and emotions. Perceptions very easily select actions from which we make assumptions about people and lifestyle decisions that block energy and create pathology.
  
  In regards to the critical nature of some commentators - Perhaps there is truth to the saying, "A prophet is never known in their home town." I was fortunate to meet Dr Lipton at one of his seminars in Australia and I was blown away by his grasp of biology and the inspirational hope he brings to this knowledge. Thank you.
  
  This work stands on its own, you don't have to know anything about Psych-K to get real value from it.
  
  Regards,
  Daniel John Hancock,
  Centre for Wisdom & Knowledge Technology
  
  

• Somewhat mislead.

  
  By A3VFOHIMQPN53L on 2006-08-20
  In the shadow of so many rave reviews of "The Biology of Belief," I don't wish to be a "downer" on Bruce Lipton's book but believe each person to have their own opinion. Bruce Lipton has written a fascinating book about his observations of the smaller things in life (living and cloned cells) and the affect that thoughts as energy have on our general well being. I do not dispute Lipton's theories; I work earnestly to keep my own compass pointed in the right direction and have seen benefits that I would not otherwise be able to explain. Mr. Lipton seemed misleading with the choice of his full title "The Biology of Belief, Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter and Miracles." The biology was evident in every page, but the unleashing of the power of consciousness was not. Bruce Lipton mentions that he himself changed the outlook of his life by a matter of adjusting his attitude and would lead you to an explanation of how in later chapters. As I read from chapter to chapter I was disappointed that Lipton doesn't share his exercises for success, but promotes a companions system of PSYCH-K in the addendum. "The Biology of Belief" does illustrate how the world can work for those who believe and can inspire some to continue to look harder at the thoughts they keep. For those who are looking for a more "how to" text, you may want to return to "The Biology of Belief" later.
  
  

• Mixed thoughts about this book

  
  By A1LVT45MRYRNOR on 2006-04-03
  This book has some very good information: educationally informative about the biology of our cells, understanding energy, and how mainstream science could benefit from adding this knowledge to pharmecuticals. I recommend it on those alone. The biology of cells is explained simply as Mr. Lipton seems to have the knack for.
  
  Unfortunately, waiting to read how to Unleash the Power of Consciousness, never came. Well, I take that back, it did come, if I went to a Psych K seminar for a small fortune, which Bruce advertises, and appears to be a well-guarded secret. Googling this method didn't offer me any information about this method, only disappointment in knowing I'd have to spend $300 (for starters) to find out. It goes to $700 per seminar after that. Somehow, no one is putting out a summary of what this illusive method is, and I'm not about to fork over this kind of dough to find out.
  
  Call this book a primer for further thought, not forgetting that there is some excellant information to be gleaned from it. I recommend watching "What the Bleep Do We Know?" And reading Candace Pert's "Molecule of Emotion" as well.
  
  
  

• Scientific detail and clinical applications limited

  
  By A1SS10MP7KOJ6X on 2005-11-08
  Bruce Lipton is an entertaining author and is not afraid to espouse his iconoclastic beliefs, so I awarded him an extra couple of stars for courage. However, often he just goes too far, and strays perilously outside of the boundaries of scientific evidence, tending to blur objective reality and fantasy. The biology of belief is essentially a lay-person's guide to a biology that is based on his systems theory and a thesis of holistic function. Dr Lipton's emphasis that DNA provides templates for reproduction of proteins but is not necessarily the "mind" behind the selection process is an interesting proposal, and his been posited by very credible scientists(e.g. The Music of Life: Biology beyond genes, by Denis Noble). His emphasis on membrane function, communication and cooperation between cells, and the potential "self-sabotage" by a maladapted subconscious nervous system, are all points well taken, but require much more scientific exploration to establish a clear model.
  
  I was very disappointed by the limited scientific detail. I encourage him to develop an additional academic version. In addition, he was very quick in disparaging our so-called conventional system of medicine, but he did not clearly suggest any realistic improvement based on evidence. Biomedicine, with all of its deficiencies, is not only the best system that we have developed, but has an exciting future in that it is open to scientific exploration that will improve it even further. Having said that, I agree that in some situations, there is an over-emphasis on pharmaceutical intervention, and that biomedicine can be complemented by other systems, especially for prevention, symptom control, mind/body wellness, and rehabilitation.
  
  I look forward to a more scholarly book.
  
  
• Great Book-But Lacks Solutions
  By ARBGGWJRH77LV on 2005-08-12
  Having had the pleasure of hearing Bruce Lipton speak about these topics, I knew pretty much what I was in for with the book. But having all of this information in book form is invalueable, as it will reach so much further. I loved being reintroduced to the idea that belief has much (if not all) to do with our wellbeing in this world. This is something I have believed for a long time and it is certainly nice to have some scientific proof to validate it. Anyone who is ready to consider stepping away from the medical/pharmaceutical model of healthcare should absolutely read this book.
  
  I do however have one complaint. There was not enough covered on how to reprogram the subconscious, especially if most hinderances to change are entwined with subconscious beliefs not matching conscious beliefs. I did find a very brief reference at the very back of the book that mentioned Psych-K and suggested it as the way to achieve the lacking balance which would allow belief to shift. I must surmise that Psych-K is the only thing Bruce Lipton finds effective, because nothing else was offered. I happen to disagree and wish that Dr. Lipton had covered more extensively, other ways to affect change in the subconscious mind. I feel like this would have been a much better book if as much time had been given to offering solutions as was given presenting problems. I was left feeling like I had watched a movie that climaxed minutes before the movie ended, leaving little time for an appropriate resolution.
  
  
• Gave Me The Most Important Belief of All...
  By A2WTWR89J5DOYX on 2006-04-11
  Firstly, this book is definately beneficial and worth reading whether you agree with all of Lipton's conclusions or not. Others have summarized and commented so well that I would only be redundant. Instead I'd like to respond to the understandable criticism I've read in a few of the reviews...
  
  In response to the people who complained that the book lacked "tactics" and only pointed people in the direction of a partner's Psych-K seminar to sign up for, I totally understand this reaction. I had this reaction too at first and I do think Lipton could have done better here. There is nothing at all wrong with an author cross-marketing to a complementary product or service as long as the author provides significant real value in their own material. In this case I Lipton undoubtedly provided this value. Because Lipton should have handled this part much better, don't really like giving it all 5 stars, but the book really delivers the goods overall and it had such a positive effect on me, that it deserves more than 4 stars too. I would give 4 1/2 stars if I could.
  
  Lipton could have improved it by being more clear about the other other ways there are to help people change their beliefs/unwanted patterns. Lipton did clearly state that there are a number of Psychology techiques for achieving this and that Psy-K is just one of them (the one he has personally experienced). Lipton could have been more helpful by pointing people to other general areas too. He could have done it in a way that didn't dilute his referal to the one example that he has an indirect business interest in (Psy-K) by listing some things apart from his Psy-K endorsment. Remember, theraputic/tactical end is not Lipton's expertise though (he's a cell biologist, not a hypnotist or other therapist) and nor does he claim or imply that he is. For this reason, I think it would have been irresponsible of him to write about that end of it unless quoting someone else. Seeing a very experienced hypnotist (in person) for example is the most effective way of doing this--the least time consuming and ultimately the least costly way of doing it as well. For deep-rooted beliefs it's more difficult to do it on your own. It's not impossible though...some good resources that I know personally have worked for people are a video set titled something like "Thought Crimes In Taos" by Mark Cunningham (www.trucor.com/thought_crimes.html), Anthony Robbins' "Personal Power II" or "Get The Edge" or "Mastering Influence" audio programs, Paul McKenna's "Change Your Life in Seven Days" cd/book (this is by far the least expensive of those I mentioned). A well trained experienced hypnotist or other professional with a track record of real results can be extremely effective though. From what I can tell from a brief demonstration on a video I saw, Psy-K includes a bit of muscle testing, NLP, and waking hypnosis. That was ultimately a teaser to sign of for the training seminar too though so I'm just speculating. Any of these routes (and never give up just because one wasn't right for you) have much greater chance of achieving real measurable results upon reading "The Biology of Belief"--I'll explain my reason for this opinion in the next paragraph.
  
  
  In the subject line I mentioned "The Most Important Belief of All..." I say this because this book had a huge impact on my life because it changed one important belief in me that I was always a bit "wishy washy on": THE KNOWING THAT YOU TRULY DO HAVE CONTROL OVER YOUR BELIEFS! and also how much our thoughts really do affect us on a cellular level. The book really explains this in detail which I think is very important for people who had trouble fully believing it based more on "faith" like I did. That may seem simplistic but I don't think most people are *really* convinced of this on a deep unconscious level. This book really drove that home for me and it really left me no doubt about it at all. On an intellectual level, I knew this before but it wasn't internalized because my skepticism got in the way. I needed a convincing "show me" and this book did that for me. Previously, I kind of knew that intellectually but it wasn't internalized. A couple of my biology classes in college and grad school would have been *much* more educational if I was exposed to Lipton's way of explaining cell biology.
  
  This book really inspired me and it helped me "grow up" in ways that I still needed to. As a result of this book, I've experienced significant *measurable* positive results in my life where I only had fears before. The method I previously learned years ago from a hypnotist to change my beliefs now works *much* more effectively.
  
  
• An Awesome Look at how Biology can Help Us Understand the Deepest Mysteries of Life
  By A1N2L9A6I686G5 on 2006-07-10
  Although I have come to realize the power of our thoughts in creating the lives we lead, I had no idea that this concept could be "proven" through science. And yet, Bruce Lipton has provided the evidence of such "proof" through cellular biology - how our cells behave & what the results of those behaviors are.
  
  It's said that we can learn a lot from nature - from seeing the interaction of various animals, insects, plants/tress & such - and, after reading "The Biology of Belief", I can see how we can also learn much through the study of cells - how they interact and create their environments.
  
  Much of this book deals with providing a framework for understanding cellular biology, and I must say that the author does and excellent job of making this subject not only easy to understand, but also interesting at the same time. Then towards the end, Mr. Lipton uses the information gleaned from his experiments with cells to show the amazing impact our everyday thoughts have on the lives we lead, and our environment (Earth) as a whole. He then shares how his findings led him from being an agnostic, to one who believes fully that our spirits/souls continue to exist even after our bodies have died.
  
  Overall, I found "The Biology of Belief" to be an interesting, thought-provoking book. As such, I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in the sciences, as well as those interested in spirituality - I think this book has much to offer. An open mind is a must.
  
  
• Good read, but read carefully
  By A3OV5VB4LRO1T4 on 2006-06-18
  In The Biology of Belief, Bruce Lipton sets forth a lot of new ideas that are exciting and seems to back them up with sincere medical articles. While his ideas are interesting, read skeptically since, like most persuasive authors, he bends and manipulates a few articles to further his own point. For example, in the chapter on the placebo effect in which he takes a few pot shots at the pharmaceutical industry, Lipton cites an article in the New England Journal of Medicine in which J.B. Moseley performs a blind test for arthroscopic surgery for the osteoarthritic knee and a placebo surgery. Mosely finds that the placebo surgery patients recover as well as the patients who actually recieved the surgery. Lipton uses this as evidence that even procedures as large as surgeries are useless and that the same effects could be reached by his "positive belief" ideas. Well, upon further research, one would find that arthroscopic surgery for the osteoarthritic knee has long been one of the more controversial surgeries, with many surgeons believing that it does not actually do anything to fix the problem. The study proves what many surgeons had suspected for a while, that THAT particular surgery is unnecessary, not all surgery in general. Seeing a placebo heart surgery leave a patient as well off as a real heart surgery is something that the world of holistic medicine still waits to see. So while this book does lay out some interesting new concepts in the field of epigenetics, be weary of some of Lipton's ideas and examples and read with a discerning eye.
  
  
• I wish I could give this book 10 stars
  By A3TMH3ESKQN3L4 on 2006-11-29
  This is one of the most important books of the new age that will sit in my small; but very important library with other books that changed my life such as "Hawaiian Magic" Clark Wilkerson, "Zen Training: Methods And Philosophy" Katsuki Sekida, "Move Your Stuff: Change Your Life" Karen Rauch Carter, "Saved By The Light" Dannion Brinkley, the books on the metaphysical properties of Crystals by A. Melody, and Judy Hall, and other books that are special to me.
  
  Finally a scientist gets it. He is able bridge the gap from physics to metaphysics.
  
  You are NOT a victim to your genes. If we were victims of our genes; I would have died in 1980 when I was diagnosed with Muscular Dystrophy and given six months to live.
  
  I go back to the movie "What The Bleep Do We Know" where the gentleman turns to Amanda in the subway station and says "If thoughts can do that to water; what are our thought doing to us?"
  
  By the way we think about our self and talk to our subconscious mind; you are given a choice to live a happy healthy life by thinking positively, or thinking negatively toward yourself; activate those problem genes in your biology.
  
  After I went from riding a Honda Motorcycle to a wheelchair; I refured to see myself as a victim or an invalid. I saw myself on my Honda tearing down the road at 70-80 MPH, and a few months later; I walked away from the wheelchair, and about a year later; I was strong enough to go back to riding the motorcycle I enjoyed.
  
  I do not remember who said this; but you should be able to find out if you want "As a man thinketh in his heart; so is he"
  
  Your subconscious mind is NOT in the brain. Your subconscious mind is in the solar plexus. There is a ganglian of neurons (brain cells) almost the size of thr brain in the solar plexus, that receives oxygen and nourishment via the Celiac artery. Exactly where mystics have been talking about (the Nefesh to Jewish mystics, Unihipili to Hawai'ian mystics, and Nagi to Lakota Indians) for 3,000, 14,000, and 35,000 years respectively.
  
  Aloha nui loa
  
  
• Where are the "Unleashing" techniques?
  By A21J2AMYMW9Y2Y on 2009-11-11
  Interesting subject but I was anxiously awaiting with every chapter the how-to methods of reprogramming the mind. They never came! Each chapter repeated over and over again what the author discovered from his experiments as I became more and more bored! The sub-title of the book is "Unleashing the Power of Consciousness" and is misleading since it implies the book will show you how. On the last page of the addendum it gives a web address to visit for techniques. The website advertises a $22 book but pretty much tells you the book won't help you - only an expensive workshop will. These 2 authors don't want to help people, they want to make money!
  
  
• Enlightening to a degree, but disappointing.
  By A3TIQQ3VLAKOMD on 2006-03-12
  I bought this book because I was under the impression it had to do with "unleashing the power of consciousness, matter and miracles" achieved through your beliefs. Page after page, chapter after chapter I'm thinking..."When do we get to the part about how to change our beliefs?" All kinds of data regarding how cells work, a smidgen about how early childhood programming effects us through our sub-conscious. A little bit about how we are all one, sprinkled with a little spirituality. Well, thank God for the "Addendum" starting on pg 203 where you are directed to Rob Williams' "Psych-K" as the means for meaningful change, otherwise this book was nothing more than a personal dissertation regarding "the Biology of Cells." I feel the title of the book is highly mis-leading.
  
  
• Interesting, but very misleading title
  By A1KXEZGZU2T2LP on 2009-12-13
  I've started trying to learn all that I can on the subconscious mind in an attempt to live to my fullest potential. So far, I haven't found the "ah ha!" book that has done the trick for me. A few chapters into The Biology of Belief: Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter, and Miracles, I really thought I had finally found "the" book!
  
  The author has a very strong biology background and has made some interesting discoveries on how cells "think". He ties that in to how colonies of cells are more efficient than single cells and made good arguments in my opinion on how that resulted in the first multi-celled organisms many billions of years ago. I haven't dwelled on it TOO much, but I've always struggled mentally with how the shift from single celled organisms to a living breathing animal could have occurred... I mean what would have prompted a bunch of cells to band together and decide that they would be better off if some of them became a specialized tissue or an organ like a lung? :) This book lifted that fog for me, so I was really entrenched then.
  
  I'm a "computer guy" by profession. In one section, the author started building up one of his eureka moments where he came up with a description of cellular structures that was identical to that of a microprocessor chip. I was very interested to see where this would lead.
  
  Then he started throwing in the words "quantum physics". I love reading about quantum physics. I don't claim to understand much of it, but I am truly fascinated by it and I started setting myself up to hear the author's opinion on how cells might communicate with the subconscious via a quantum physics mechanism rather than being confined to those of classical Newtonian methods.
  
  So at this point, I can't put the book down. I'm honestly not much of a reader (although I've been getting better about that lately), but I was going full speed on this book. I got to chapter 7, and I thought it was kind of a random tangent to the rest of the book. It was all about DNA selection/masking in the prenatal and early infant stages of life with an overtone of how to be a good parent during this time. It was interesting, but I'm not a parent so I was ready to get on to the parts that were relevant to me!
  
  Chapter 7 was definitely a turning point in the book though, so I thought we were just starting to get into the "Unleashing" part that the subtitle promised. I purchased the Kindle version of this book for my iPhone, and if you're flipping through and focused on the book, you don't have any concept of how far along you are in the book as a whole. So I got to the end of chapter 7 and flipped to the next page, and....... That was the end of the book! @#%!@ I couldn't believe it!
  
  There was no interesting connections made on his viewpoints of why a cell is like a microprocessor, the quantum physics never got any deeper than implying that biology and medicine today are still deeply entrenched in Newtonian physics, but most disappointing of all was that there was definitely no "Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter, and Miracles". For that matter, there really wasn't any "Biology of Belief". It was truly an interesting and well written book on biology and how cells communicate. There really was nothing regarding the subconscious mind. The author made a point several times to show how he wasn't exactly mainstream in his biology field, so I was let down by the fact that he stopped so abruptly and didn't tie all of this together (even if it was a wild opinion on his part).
  
  I was even more let down that there was no section whatsoever on his thoughts on how we can use anything in his book to make changes in our lives. I finally flipped a little further past the epilog and found an addendum where he comes right out and says that when he does lectures on this topic, his audience is pretty much left with the same feeling of "Ok, that was interesting, but where's the good stuff?! How do we do something about it!?" His answer is directing them to his partner Robert Williams who does seminars on his "PSYCH-K" technique. If you look that up, you'll see that they cross-reference one another and push each other's products. The author even touts PSYCH-K as a cure-all because that is what motivated him to finish this book. To me, that's an argument against it because I felt very strongly that this book was not finished and he just got tired of doing it and slapped an ending on it.
  
  If you're looking for an interesting read on cellular biology, I have absolutely no problem recommending this book. If you are like me and were drawn here by the title that implies that you will gain useful self-help knowledge, keep shopping. Biology books don't sell as good as self-help books I'm guessing. :)
  
  If any of you have suggestions on books that you think would have been more in line with what I was looking for, please comment!
  
  
• Personal insights are not scientific understandings
  By A2QBZT0B5HZJ2P on 2006-01-25
  I was wary about reading this book after checking out Bruce Lipton's website and my instincts were quickly confirmed in the preface where he lists Yanni as one of his great inspirations. Another scientist-cum-guru. I'd reached my limit with Candace Pert, whom Lipton cites briefly but favorably. Like Pert, he claims to have gained an important insight into life or the human condition or whatever through his research, then having had to leave traditional science when his pronouncements became too heretical. It looks to me more like stretching the conclusions too far beyond the data. Lipton's two papers of 1991 and 1992 show that immortalized endothelial cells take on different phenotypes in the culture dish when grown in different conditions. Hardly surprising now, but from this he gets an epiphany that DNA does not control every characteristic manifested by a life form. Would anyone say otherwise nowadays? That's the problem with this book in a nutshell; he keeps claiming to have arrived at heretical paradigm-shifting ideas that in the end are either trivial (the membrane is the brain of the cell), scientifically (yet) unverifiable but unoriginal retreads of New Age standards (there is a vibrational energy that communicates between life forms), or fairly undisputable truisms (how you think can affect your physiology). All this presented in the self-congratulatory context of telling his story of transition from academic scientist to proselytizer of the "New Biology" in a traveling road show. First of all, to still call yourself a cellular biologist 13 years after your last paper was published takes some chutzpah in my book. Secondly, this is more a story of a man with a mess of a life finding peace and happiness outside of the rat race. Fine, but his telling of the story is embarrassing at times. And he states some howlers regarding what "science" thinks (as if it's a monolithic institution) such as, "it is only in recent years that scientists have realized the importance of the membrane's IMPs (integral membrane proteins)." The whole long history of the field of pharmacology was "realizing the importance of IMPs," figuring out how the membrane actually does what it does. I, like almost every other biologist I know, have spent my whole career in science studying in some form membrane proteins and how they transduce input from the external environment into intracellular "awareness." And his whole "DNA is not paramount" schtick is knocking down a straw man. To refer to "scientists" as genetic determinists and social Darwinists, believing that genes direct everything with no regard to the environment, is cartoonishly simplistic. Overall, I feel a little guilty criticizing an enthusiastic and energetic purveyor of quite positive and optimistic ideas about the human condition, none of which I have any problem with at heart. But I've heard or read all of these ideas elsewhere, much better presented. He did provide good references, some of which I was not aware, and if any readers are first exposed to these ideas here, than more power to him.
  
  
• How the New Science of Epigenetics Links Mind & Matter
  By A3FXT4UPI30K7S on 2005-11-15
  Bruce Lipton's extraordinary book THE BIOLOGY OF BELIEF is destined to revolutionize the way we think about the effects our thoughts have on our bodies at the cellular level. Lipton writes with enthusiasm, warmth and passion about the role of the environment in regulating gene activity, with the authority of having had decades of published scientific papers which pre-date the official start of the brand new scientific field of epigenetics.
  
  Not only do our thoughts directly influence our health and well-being, but we are probably unable to heal or succeed without them. Lipton states, "The placebo effect should be the subject of major, funded research efforts. If medical researchers could figure out how to leverage the placebo effect, they would hand doctors an efficient, energy-based, side effect-free tool to treat disease."
  
  THE BIOLOGY OF BELIEF really shines when describing the relevance of cutting-edge scientific findings to our daily lives. Lipton writes with such sparkling, down-to-Earth words that it's a real pleasure to take them fully and deeply to heart. And when we do, we can feel glad that the world will no longer be the same.
  
  
• Not as groundbreaking as it suggests
  By ANF4FWMIGGTHW on 2007-09-19
  I certainly applaud the author, especially one from such a science-oriented background, for writing this book. He attempts to "prove" the power of the mind with scientific studies, etc. On some levels he succeeds; there are certainly some surprising and interesting studies he cites.
  However, the book is entirely too filled with tedious, dry scientific discussion that, in my opinion, really didn't need to be there. He could've greatly shorted that part of the book. Also, I can't help but raise and eyebrow at parts of the book where the author says things like "I discovered the secret of life." His "secret" is something that, if you've been involved at all in "alternative medicine" for any amount of time, you'd already know. Also, I think that comment was entirely inaccurate. I didn't come out of this feeling there was any ground-breaking, belief-shattering discovery. Compelling, yes, powerful, yes, but come on, don't go overboard.
  In the end, he provides very little that you can actually do to change your biology, other than "think positive thoughts" and similar things. Again, something energetic healers have known for decades, if not centuries. Almost as an afterthought, he has a section at the end, about two pages, where he mentions an exciting new science based on energetic psychology, that can greatly change peoples long-standing beliefs, and reprogram their subconcious, leading to true change. THAT is what I was lead to believe THIS book was about. So, overall, I would skip this book and get another book that actually expands on this idea.
  
  
• Fascinating Connection between Thought and Health
  By A281NPSIMI1C2R on 2006-10-23
  Why do spontaneous remissions occur? Why do you feel terrible when depressed? What is actually controlling your health? Why do you feel so good when "in love" or when you feel loved?
  
  In this groundbreaking lecture Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. explores the reason why our beliefs influence our health. Can changing your mind change the way your body responds to illness? He also explores epigenetics, the gap between quantum mechanics and biology, the chemistry of stress, the healing force of love, the immune system and a variety of emotional states.
  
  If you watched "What the `Bleep' do We Know" and you had more questions, Dr. Bruce H. Lipton provides a deeper understanding of the fascinating connection between how we think and the state of our health. On this three CD set he explores:
  
  The Central Dogma of Biology
  The Human Genome Project
  Proteins and the Nature of Life
  The 3 Sources of Biological Dysfunction
  The Function of the Cell Membrane
  How the Cell Controls Behavior
  How Perception Influences Behavior
  Love and Fear
  Perception and the Immune System
  Conscious and Subconscious behaviors
  The Importance of Fetal Environment
  Childhood Brain Development
  Changing your Subconscious Programming
  Freeing Yourself from the Past
  
  It only takes a few observations in your own life to convince you that love heals and fear and hate destroy. Look at how you feel when experiencing a variety of emotions, take notes or write a journal. Soon, you will start to desire much more peace, love and emotional connection as you realize you can literally destroy yourself "physically" with negative thoughts. We need the right foods, nutrients and supplements too, but learning to think positively helps to balance out all your efforts.
  
  "The Biology of Belief" is one of the next steps in human understanding where we take full charge of our health by learning how to think in ways that encourage health. This empowering 3-CD set captures a variety of spiritual and medical ideas and condenses them into a workable theory for advanced health and well-being.
  
  Highly Recommended!
  
  ~The Rebecca Review
  
  P.S. If you enjoy this, I just reviewed "The Wisdom of Your Cells"
  by the same author - which is incredibly good!
  
  
• How Our Cells Really Work
  By AI30FRNT33PHZ on 2006-11-03
  This book expands on how the mind truly operates the body beyond anything else that's been written on this subject. It's a must read for anyone wanting to understand how one's belief systems directly affect cellular growth, death, division and the consequent quality and longevity of life itself.
  
  As a long time student of the body-mind connection, I view this work as the most profound, scientifically grounded yet easy to read book ever published on this topic.
  
  Mark Rocchio, Vilcabamba, Ecuador
  
  
• The Emperor's New Clothes are Hype
  By A1VTDRNLLV8215 on 2005-08-14
  Unless you're an avid reader of scientific jargon and theory, save your money. At best, this book is misleading; at worst, it borders on scam.
  
  Most readers, like me, are searching for answers: what is the meaning of Dr. Lipton's miraculous discovery? How can I apply it to my life? How can it help me change my beliefs - for that is what the complete title implies: "The Biology of Belief: Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter & Miracles."
  
  Readers should be aware that Lipton's breakthrough "discovery" occurred as the result of emotional upheavals in his life that drove him to teach biology at an offshore university that specializes in accepting medical students who can't qualify for American medical universities. A misfit teaching misfits.
  
  I'm not a scientist, so I have no way of knowing if the scientific "proof" he presents is proof or hyperbole. Although it's nice to know his wonderful and exciting discovery has a basis in what he presents as scientific fact, as a layperson I just want to know how I can apply what he learned to my own life.
  
  Halfway through the book, he was still spouting scientific jargon, explaining and re-explaining. About that time I confess I started to skim, as the suspicion grew that he had no intention of answering my pressing question. Okay, Dr. Lipton, this scientific stuff is all well and good - but what's your point?
  
  He doesn't state his point until after the end of the book - in the Addendum: "I use PSYCH-K™ in my own life. . . I believe PSYCH-K™ represents an important step toward the New Psychology for the 21st century, and beyond. You can find more information about PSYCH-K™ at Rob's web site: [...]."
  
  That, my friends, is his answer to changing your beliefs: Rob Williams' PSYCH-K™. Ah, but visit the website and you'll find no hint as to how to apply these wondrous techniques! No, you have to take a class that costs around $350.
  
  Neat, huh?
  
  P. T. Barnum said there's a fool born every minute. I was the fool for falling for the hype and ordering the book. Don't make the same mistake.
  
  
• Two Chapters Too Short
  By AXF2WCMH1JWA9 on 2008-10-05
  If you are looking for answers on how to improve your life, don't waste your money. The author starts off by telling you how he turned his life around by changing his beliefs. The chapters explain the science very cleary and in layman's terms - it is all very interesting. Just when you are ready to turn the page to find out the author's secrets, the book is ending !!! The author doesn't explain what he did to resolve issues in his own life and does not explain how you can do it in yours. He only refers you to his friend's book which, if you read the reviews on that one, is just an infomercial for an expensive seminar they both teach !!!! Unless you are a scientist, you will not find this book helpful.
  
  
  
  
• disapppointng nonsense
  By A25UBG9OZO03NM on 2006-05-03
  I had thought based on some of the reviews that I had read that this book might be a biologist's equivalent to physicist writers such as Stephen Barr and Paul Davies. No such luck. Like Davies and Barr Lipton argues against scientific materialism and philosophical naturalism. Where the physicists use nuances of quantum theory to open the door to a nondeterministic universe Lipton atttempts the same through his selective use (misuse) of cellular biology. Biology of Belief is a painful read. Lipton misrepresents his opponent (primarily Darwinism), misstates scientific and theological history, confuses basic concepts such as natural selection and evolution (he doesn't appear to realize the two are not interchangeable terms) all with a complete disregard for balanced logical analysis.
  
  It doesn't help matters that the author comes off as egotistical and something of a hypocrite. The book is largely written in the first person and Lipton informs the reader at least a dozen times that he was at one time a "tenured professor" at a "world renowned" medical school. Though he seems too self-impressed by this apparently accurate if not overstated fact he makes very critical almost slanderous critique of the "medical establishment". This is rather tangential to his thesis and leaves the reader wondering whether his ultimate departure from the "world class" medical school was as self-imposed as he suggests.
  
  Some chiropractors will savour his childish swipes at allopathic medicine; indeed, six of the twelve testimonials to Lipton's book are written by chiropractors. A seventh is by LeVar Burton (?!).
  
  It's a shame this book is such a mess because there really is something to be said for the author's thesis. There are intelligent arguments to be made against scientific materialism based on cellular biology they just don't come out very cleanly in this book
  
  -David Mckee MD
  
  
• Vital for our survival
  By A3U6N7L45YKYM on 2006-10-18
  After 20 years of researching a variety of potentially transformative subjects and theories, I believe this is the most hopeful and significant material I've yet encountered. I'm especially excited about what this could mean for society.
  
  The connection between personal wellbeing and societal wellbeing is clear, and therefore this material's relevance to human evolution is greater than even the revolutionary models of reality described by quantum physics. Actually, like most great advancements, it incorporates and builds upon many such related discoveries that preceded it.
  
  In the societal context, Lipton's work implies that current concerns like war, climate change, and peak oil are merely symptoms of a far more basic condition native to the individual and which he identifies. This high degree of applicability gives it the rare potential to be truly world-changing.
  
  Although its message isn't especially novel among enlightened philosophies (the timeless, interconnected nature of self, wherein thought literally creates reality), the modality it describes is, not to mention the obvious benefit of scientifically demonstrating how the process actually works in people and thus how it might be manipulated for personal growth, which is a first in the many attempts to quantify this idea (including quantum physics!).
  
  More on the how-to techniques can be found in complimentary research called Psych-K being done by an associate of Lipton's, Rob Williams. In fact, the two are strongest when taken together.
  
  Although I'm not saying Lipton (or Williams) is a messiah, I do believe his work could turn out to be the much-anticipated trigger that will inspire a cascade of spiritual awakening among a sufficiently wide population to successfully inaugurate the next stage in our evolution (before we destroy ourselves, that is). It will certainly contribute to that effect. I consider it a large part of a rapidly building crescendo in our understanding of ourselves.
  
  It's clear that modern civilization is in a sink-or-swim race against the clock--on many fronts, rapidly converging--and if we don't redefine ourselves soon we're going to lose that race. Cultural institutions like government and big business will fight to the death to preserve their outdated and increasingly dangerous practices, since those feed the environment that created and sustains them.
  
  That institutional intransigence--our collective thinking based on how we see ourselves, a la Lipton--is the major cause of these threats to our survival. And since our institutions are just collective expressions of ourselves, it's up to the individual to transform our culture(s). That's only logical, since we all know the maxim about change beginning at home.
  
  So far, I see no better, more naturally appealing vision of what we can be--and how to make it happen--than Lipton's. He's translated a long-respected philosophy into something we can actually incorporate into our lives. Both his and Williams' information have come on scene at just the right time (or just in the nick of time), but that also means that the time for change is now. Thankfully, you can't help but be transformed by this material, and Lipton's is the natural starting point.
  
  
• exciting information
  By A2XMP4ICUKCXNW on 2007-02-21
  As a medical doctor, I am thrilled to read Dr Lipton's book. His ability to simplify complicated science is remarkable. He verbilizes concepts I have intuitively known. After 20 years of medical practice, I plan to change vocations. I am unable to remain in a system that takes healing power from the individual and forces doctors to play insurance games with people's lives.
  
  
• Dr. Allison Ashley
  By A1U07KFOZ93KHM on 2005-04-03
  New Science Urges R&D/Pharma to Adopt a New Paradigm Based on Quantum Theory~
  
  Dr. Bruce Lipton has left no loopholes in describing what we now know about the brain and the mind/body connection as a result of both Quantum physics and the unexpected outcomes of the human genome project...which has set the pharmaceutical industry back at least ten years. He delivers the facts and hard science which create a strategic imperative for a shift from old paradigm Newtonian based research to an entirely new paradigm based on quantum mechanics and epigenetics.
  
  This book is a courageous and eloquent dissertation on what is soon to be recognized as classic leading indicator on the future of Research & Development in the pharmaceutical industry...in order to survive and thrive in the years to come but most importantly deliver the highest value to their patients. This is a 'must read' for anyone working in the Pharmaceutical Industry in order to understand what the future calls for given the new science of epigenetics.
  
  This is also a must read for anyone who desires to be in control of their own life experience. Genes do not dictate biology...it is our response to environmental events or signals based upon our programmed belief system that create our life experiences. We now have a proven scientific and quantifiably measurable modality to change limiting, self sabotaging subconscious 'programs' into empowering and affirming subconscious programs in order to achieve our goals and visions for our ideal life experience.
  
  Like the human cell which responds to the environmental signals, we too respond to environmental signals in our world in accordance to our already established belief system. By changing our subconscious beliefs we have the power and the responsibility to create our desired experience in life. The ramifications for personal and professional development are so pervasive and scientifically validated that we cannot ignore this new information. Nor can the Pharmaceutical Industry ignore the strategic imperative to create a new paradigm~ leveraging this new information in order to provide the best health care with the fewest side effects, and highest profitability for all stakeholders.
  
  It remains to be seen which of the pharmaceutical giants will step up to the plate and lead the way as a trailblazer embracing and putting into practice the 'new science' and the increased viability and value that will flow through to all stakeholders...most importantly the patients or end users of their products/ prescriptions. I invite questions and comments and I challenge one of the big Pharma companies to step up to the plate and lead the pack into the future creating greater health and healthcare!
  
  I applaud Dr. Bruce Lipton for his courageous publication, proclamation of truth, which we all 'know' but has not yet been fully acknowledged or embraced. I also thank Dr. Lipton for his acknowledgment of PSYCH-K™ and PER-K™ as cutting edge modalities/ professional development programs for both individual and corporate peak performance, self actualization, and bottom line profitability (Return on investment of human capital).
  
  Most sincerely,
  Dr. Allison Ashley
  C.E.O. and President ~ Veracity International, Inc.
  
  Also recommended: The Missing Piece/Peace in Your Life by Rob Williams; Dare to Be Yourself by Alan Cohen, As a Man Thinketh by James Allen; Molecules of Emotion; Leadership and the New Science by Margaret Wheatley; Superbeings by John Randolph Price
  
  
  
• Interesting, but not "Life-Changing"
  By A3RR9FG8RIVI97 on 2009-02-23
  The bit about changing your own subconscious negative behaviors into good ones is a sham. This book does NOT tell you how to do it. It hints that it will, but at the end the advice is to attend a PSYCH-K seminar...which costs about [...] bucks.
  
  So the secret of life is: Send me five hundred dollars and I'll tell you.
  
  
• A Groundbreaking But Controversial Work
  By A1M9NWSJMGS5G2 on 2005-09-16
  As a practicing traditional naturopath, I am obligated by the tenets of my profession to incorporate ALL aspects of a client's being into the process of restoring health. Bruce Lipton offers a powerful and persuasive argument, offered in an easily readable style, which slams the door on the Newtonian paradigm of reality and helps usher us into the infinitely more powerful, exciting and helpful realm of epigenetics as a primary determinant of human health. Like any pioneer, he has been and will be villified by those whose mindset is governed by the health care establishment's fear of either professional or finanical loss, should Lipton's philosophy become widely accepted. I certainly hope it will be! I, for one, have already incorporated many of his espoused principles into my own practice and life, with measurable, positive results. If you read his book with an open mind, you will also come away with something of true value.
  
  
• after a long wait
  By AU3GYRAKBUAEU on 2006-01-17
  This is the long-awaited compilation of ideas and research by Bruce Lipton, cell biologist and lecturer in the field of mind/body interaction. Has it been worth the wait? I think so. The book is a wonderful condensation of cutting-edge biological research delivered in simple, readable form. Once I picked it up, I could not put it down until I finished it. Lipton is engaging and interesting.
  
  The book begins with a short overview of how Lipton became interested in science and biology in particular. We glimpse his voyage through academia and the changes in his career. We are treated to a clear discussion of DNA and cell biology that reveals the high quality of Lipton's teaching ability.
  
  Lipton details how he came to the realizations that spawned the book. He reveals his current thinking about how cells operate, and how the mind interacts with cells. His vision is based on research and he includes citations and references. His revelations are also influenced by his incorporation of quantum mechanics into cell biology. We now know that DNA is not the kingpin of biology that it has been assumed to be. It turns out that the membrane is far more important. His discussion of the membrane's function is not only enlightening, it is engaging. (And no, I am not a biology geek.) The book is worth reading for his description of cellular functioning alone.
  
  He discusses problems with allopathic medicine, the pharmaceutical industrial complex (love that term), and science in general. His experiences trying to approach mainstream scientists with his revelations mirror the experiences of those in the new energy field. Regardless of the evidence, many people simply will not accept the death of a paradigm which has outlived its usefulness.
  
  Lipton also touches briefly on the perils of genetic engineering and its emergent problems foreshadowing possible disaster. He discusses the Human Genome Project which has foundered in the wake of conceptual failure and the success of the emerging field of epigenetics. The lesson is that clinging to an outmoded worldview is self-defeating and possibly even fatal. "Grow or die," seems to be a fact of life, and is a "natural law" of greater strength than any postulated by ivory tower scholars.
  
  Fortunately, as Lipton points out, our cells have incredible capacity for life, and hence, so do we. We can "reprogram" life patterns and unleash the immense capabilites in us all. In doing that we are cooperating with the flow of life and evolution, not fighting or trying to dominate it.
  
  Lipton provides us with a concise set of scientific data explaining how therapies such as accupunture and even placebos might work. Unfortunately, more detail on how to use this knowledge on a daily basis is beyond the scope of this book.
  
  I do find the analogy on page 198 of cancer to homeless and jobless people to be ill-conceived. I think the analogy would be more accurate if one compared cancer to corporations and damaged cells to homeless and jobless people.
  
  If you want an understanding of the ongoing breakthroughs in cellular biology, this is a very good place to start.
  
  
• the cell gods
  By A3FXV10MKGUQZF on 2009-01-19
  One of my clients under the influence of a controversial New Age guru gave me Bruce Lipton's The Biology of Belief to read because it largely represents my client's world view. I spent an evening going through the book. My reaction was, No wonder. Lately I have had time to read the book thoroughly and make notes. The "Notes" section of blank pages at the end came in handy so I thank Doctor Lipton for including it. Up front, I must inform the reader that I have had a long career as a deprogrammer, euphemistically known as an exit counselor. In that capacity I am more interested in how someone sets up someone else to accept a belief and more importantly a false belief. Bruce Lipton expresses the same concern but from a different mindset.
  
  The author dedicates his book so: "Gaia: The Mother of us all. May she forgive us our trespasses." Philosophically Lipton easily fits the New Age paradigm that grew out of the Sixties hippy movement. The old paradigm of science and religion (especially Christian) he says is patriarchal, neo-Darwinian, gene-centered, linear, materialistic, Newtonian, practically loveless and hell-bent. His New Biology is feminist, neo-Lamarckian, epigenetically centered, holistic, quantum conscious, spiritual, and love-directed to White Light. One-star reviewers on amazon.com have taken Lipton's book to task on his misrepresentation of the sciences, so I will not belabor the details. I will say that Lipton includes enough real scientific teaching to easily impress and confuse the non-specialist--and that is a key to grasping why I am critical of Lipton. On the other end the five-star reviewers offer praises glowing in so much white light they brought a tear to my eye.
  
  I gathered that Lipton was a research scientist in biology. He mentions being with Stanford University (1987-1992) many times doing research on cells. My contacts among professors at Stanford never heard of him, so I am not sure what capacity Lipton believes he was connected to Stanford. Lipton was also a biology teacher who had an epiphany about the nature of reality in mid-career. He was so excited that he enthusiastically approached a student with the discovery that the cell's membrane is the cell's brain with "This is great s#*t!" His epiphany eventually led him away from academia on to the New Age lecture circuit where he promotes his New Biology message. Essentially, Lipton sums up his new biology in his intro:
  "In the immortal words of Tool Time's Tim Taylor: "Baaaack the truck up. Is he saying that humans are God?"
  Well...yes I am. Of course, I am not the first to have said that. It is written in Genesis that we are made in the image of God. Yes, this card carrying rationalist is now quoting Jesus, Buddha and Rumi." (xxvi)
  
  Before some of you toss Lipton into the fires of Inquisition, keep in mind that the divine or supernatural aspect of human nature is nothing new. We have only to turn to ancient myths, major religions, cartoons and Shakespeare in Hamlet (What a piece of work is a man, how noble in reason, how infinite in faculties, in form and moving how express and admirable, in action how like an angel, in apprehension how like a god!) --or if you prefer, Shirley MacLaine and Deepak Chopra. More to the point, Lipton is another player in the neo-occult revivals. New Thought religions appeared in the late 19th Century after Mesmer and later Phinias P. Quimby stumbled upon mental healing through suggestion and redirecting beliefs. Quimby asserted first that this was Christian science. In other words, Jesus performed his miracles this scientific way and we can do it better--"greater things shall ye do..." said Jesus to his Apostles. The cults of positive thinking, mind over matter, and being perfect in the moment began in earnest as a result.
  
  Now Lipton wants us all to join the party. Let us celebrate the new consciousness together. "Many spiritual people anticipate the return of White Light to the planet. They imagine that it will come in the form of a unique individual like Buddha, Jesus, or Muhammed. However, from my newly acquired spirituality, I see that White Light will only return to the planet when every human being recognizes every other human being as an individual frequency of the White Light...Our job is to protect and nurture each human frequency so that the White Light can return." (164). Nice idea but it comes across as suspiciously totalistic--note the language and the narcissism.
  
  "Many spiritual people" were once Ariosophists, Communists, and Futurists a hundred years ago. Those good folks wanted a utopia too and ended up with a Hitler, a Stalin and a Mussolini. Now, I am not implying what many in the Fundamentalist Christian cults imply, that the New Age Movement is some kind of satanic conspiracy. The Satan I imagine would be better organized. Looking to one of the author's heroes, I doubt very much that the Buddha would endorse Lipton's supernatural proclivities. Buddha was prone to avoid metaphysical speculation. As for Jesus, well, we only have to recall what the Gospel says he said about the last judgment and false prophets. Or was he being merely "negative"?
  
  What about the "image of God" invoked by Lipton from Genesis? The Jewish scripture maintains in the Elohist tradition that "Let us (Elohim) make man in our image, after our likeness" (Genesis 1:26). However, in another tradition seen in Genesis 2:7 we find God portrayed as a potter forming man (adam) out of clay or ground (adama). This is why Isaiah 45:9-11 later states: "Woe to him who contends with his Maker; a potsherd among potsherds. Dare the clay say to its modeler, "What are you doing?"" Lipton seems to have adopted the typical occultist's confused reality. He wants us to be the holy trinity of God the Potter, man the potter, and Harry Potter all at the same time.
  
  The ancients in many traditions already knew what happens when man tries to be God. And they also knew how easily we fall prey to the urge to create God in our image. To put it another way understandable to the quantum conscious Lipton, we have a loooooong way to go before our galaxy cares a whit what we do with our petty Self-realizations. Lipton's New Biology succeeds only in thrusting us back into the same geo-centric universe of the medieval mind. Dear Gaia, forgive us our trespasses indeed.
  
  Lipton points to the Inquisition and how it executed Giordano Bruno for defending Copernicus' cosmology supporting the sun, not the earth, as the center of our world. "[Bruno] was burned at the stake for this heresy." This is misleading. Bruno was executed, however tragically, for heresy, divination, magic, and alleged immoral behavior. Although Bruno's views on Copernicus were controversial there was no official Church policy on Copernicus and his revolutionary if flawed science at the time. The subtext implied by Lipton is that he is like Bruno, a heretic, thus we are like the unholy Inquisition when we criticize his ideas. Spare me the grandiosity.
  
  Oh, then there are those magical, loving bonobos that avoid violence and conflict with happy sex. Lipton begins this section on page 169 with the poet Rumi's words on the power of love and somehow our author drifts into a comparison with a chimp species. Bonobos he says "create peaceful communities with co-dominant males and females in charge...They diffuse their diverse energy by having sex." The Wall Street Journal reported in a December 27, 2008 article by Lionel Tiger "Of Monkeys and Utopia" that bonobos, even females, in the wild of the Congo "engage in clearly willful and challenging hunts. Indeed, female bonobos took full part in some ten hunts observed thus far. Another paradise lost." Lipton seems to have relied solely on an earlier 1980s study by Franz de Waal who observed bonobos using sexual resolution while they were in a lab setting only.
  
  The bottom line for me is that Doctor Lipton cannot have it both ways. His false dichotomies and poorly researched positions deflate the positive intent of his message. His balloon will not fly except as a capitalist enterprise in New Age literature and workshop circuits. Why capitalist? Read the Addendum and his endorsement of Psych-K that incorporates the controversial muscle-testing type of kinesiology. He seems to enjoy being "out-on-a-limb" and no doubt he has benefited or he would not be there. As long as Lipton remains in that self-sealing feedback loop he risks living the very thing he teaches us to avoid...like one of his cells adapting to the special environment it likes, for better or for worse.
  
  Perhaps the author should revisit his title for Chapter 2: "It's the Environment, Stupid."
  
  
  
• This actually is a great AND a helpful book.
  By A30FWUMHE6V9NJ on 2005-06-29
  Just ignore any negative comments and read this for yourself. It is definitely worth your time and money, even if you should (and I doubt you will) decide you don't find it fascinating. His step by step word pictures of his road to these discoveries are amazing, and he didn't get there by belief, but by testing and retesting theories he just couldn't ignore. He was as skeptical as any mainstream scientist could be - but he was willing to be honest and report what he found - and continue to follow up on his discoveries. You may find yourself with a new perspective about a number of things! That's worth a lot. If you really pay attention, what is described in this book could make your life better and more satifying - for yourself and for those around you.
  
  
• not science but metaphysics, drawing the new biology out of the new physics
  By A1XZJ32DJS8YV2 on 2007-04-20
  The biology of Belief: unleashing the power of consciousness, matter, and miracles
  By Bruce Lipton
  
  It's an odd book, hard to classify, even harder to grasp the big picture for which the author argues passionately and rather well. The genre is akin to such books as: The Tao of Physics, Dancing Wu-Li Masters, except the science being rewritten is biology rather than physics.The author uses the words: "new biology" consciously to refer to a new paradigm, a system that is more holistic, much less reductionist, more consciousness, less matter in motion. The author is best described, i think, as a teacher that learns his first and most important lessons from looking at himself, much of the book is prompted by inner turmoil, cognitive dissonance and his attempts to reconcile his experience and his scientific education. As such it makes the book not really about biology, although there is lots of it, but rather about how this man looks out from inside his head and sees the reflection of his consciousness in the world. And from there tries to explain what he has found in terms of modern molecular biochemistry but finds that this is just the beginning and so much more is left unexplored because modern science is blinded by a materialist paradigm that depreciates consciousness.
  
  I think that the book is best read like a detective novel, from the 1st page to the last, with an occasional glance at the end of the chapter to see who-dun-it. The personal nature of the writing makes it difficult just to take a chapter out of context and read it for informational content, although one might be tempted to because of the extensiveness of the science. This would be a mistake because the science is not self contained but rather is being used by the author as an explantory way to unify what often appear to be spiritual issues and questions and finding their potential answer in biology.
  
  For example, chapter 3: the magical membrane. The first paragraph is: "Now that we've looked at the protein assembly machinery of the cell, debunked the notion that the necleus is the brain of the cellular operation, and recognized that crucial role the environment plays in the operation of the cell, we're on to the good stuff-the stuff that can make sense of your life and give your insight into ways of changing it." pg75 This is one of the major themes of the book, the cell is not controlled and run exclusively by the nucleus and it's DNA but rather is a complex interaction of the environment and the cell, mediated by receptors in the membrane. Which is a microcosm of the theme of the book, which appears in the last paragraph of this chapter: "which put the control of our lives not in the genetic roll of the dice at conception, but in our own hands" pg 94 This is consistent with the book's theme that the mind-body division is fundamentally wrong, reflected in the division of physics into Newtonian and Quantum, and biology as fixing machinery versus straightening out mental or even spiritual issues, this is where the idea that the quantum revolution in physics needs to be carried out in modern biology and seeing the importance of energy vs matter.
  
  I've stumbled trying to write this review for weeks. I finished the book the day after i checked it out of the library(it is a good read, the analogy to a mystery is true), but here it sits, the review unfinished weeks later. Why is it so hard to review? What makes it such an odd book?
  
  It is my difficulty in separating the garbage of the new age movement from it's treasure. My problem of differentiating what is good in the book, what is worth pursuing and learning more about, from the general spiritualist, god is in everything pantheism that the author is heading towards (apparently).
  
  I like the science he presents, i appreciate the goals of reducing the reductionism, dematerializing the gross materialism, and spiritualizing the sciences, but i am concerned that the content of his spirituality is very different and in competition with my orthodox conservative Christianity. It is this loggerheads that makes an analysis of the ideas in the book so hard. I am not a pan or a panentheist, God is not part of His creation but wholely other. And to deify creation, to find our consciousness, our imago dei in the physical universe is not the right way to go. But it is a useful thing to see how someone with this author's spiritual sensitivity walk us through his adventures and share with us his journey. This is a good thing and makes the book a high recommendation for me. I'm just afraid that anything i say about what the book is about will really be more about me and my reaction than that of the author, rats.
  
  Biology has missed the crucial contribution of the environment. This is chapter 2, "It's the environment, stupid". As no man is an island, no cell in an organism, no organism in it's lifetime, no community, is an island, separated from the rest of life. The next chapter,"the magical membrane" is his scientific analysis of why DNA is not the king of the cell controlling everything and responsible for all, but he looks at the membrane as the communication center from the cell to it's environment. Here he is probably not only right but a good antidote to the nucleus-centric thinking that dominates cell and molecular biology. The 4th chapter, "the new physics" is a quick analysis of energy and quantum mechanics as a new physics paradigm that basically says something like: energy is all, matter is but energy in a different form. This chapter is the one most like the Tao of Physics and that genre. The next chapter, "biology and belief" makes the analogy of energy to spirit and matter to physical world and tries to drawn a new biology akin to the new physics. IF you can only read a few pages, pick this chapter, it is the key ideas of the book.
  
  Is it true, does our mind control the physics around us? is it true that god is energy and spirit and accessible to the mind of man? how much of the new biology is the old pagan spirituality, the worship of mother earth and the forces of nature? i don't know. but i'm interesting in reading more.
  
  
  
  

• Virus of the Mind: The New Science of the Meme
• Spontaneous Evolution: Our Positive Future (and a Way to Get There from Here)
• Excuses Begone!: How to Change Lifelong, Self-Defeating Thinking Habits
• Molecules Of Emotion: The Science Behind Mind-Body Medicine
• Spontaneous Evolution: Our Positive Future and a Way to Get There From Here