The Secret Teachings of Plants

The Intelligence of the Heart in the Direct Perception of Nature

By: Stephen Harrod Buhner

Narrated by: Stephen Bel Davies

All 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. Listeners 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.

©2004 Stephen Harrod Buhner (P)2017 Tantor

Performance stilted

Lovely book full of intriguing ideas and inspiring quotes. Now I need to read Walden.

While a polished recording, the reader's voice is a little too formal. I would have preferred this in a woman's gentle voice since we hear enough male voices in this world.

A good book for opening minds and hearts. Practical tips for how to get out of your brain and sense with your heart.

Incredible insights by an amazing teacher.

Bravo! I am so inspired by this book for years I have wanted to hear Buhner's work in audio format!!!.
This is exceptional ,...beyond words.
The comprehensive nature of Buhner's insights is literally breathtaking.
Bravo. We could use more of his work in audio.

I never wanted this book to end

Interesting how drawn in I was by this book. Many lessons to contemplate, much wisdom to inspire from. I’ll be heading to the beginning shortly, but first tapping into the wonderful lessons provided at the end.

Nice info, but the reader, well...

You get distracted from the info, by the reader's perfomance. It is nice not to sound monotonous and give some emotion to the text, but this gentleman, exagerates juuuuuust a little.

transformational

The narration was perfect. The content is engaging. This author and book are in my top 10.

narrator distracts from content

I've been trying to finish this book for a long time and find myself getting frustrated and switching to something else often. I think there are valuable things in this book. For the most part all content is obscured by the reader's over-performative cadence. Sounds like he is telling a really juicy story, only the tone is the same for hours and the emphasis is usually in meaningless verbal patterns, like a tempo. Sounds like he loves the sound of his own voice and is not focusing on the content. Simple reading would be better.

Superb!

I loved this book and thought the usage of all the quotes... and there were many, was masterfully done and it deepened the journey. It touched my heart in a powerful way and I will never experience plants the same.

The Secret Teachings of the Heart

I had two very different reading experiences working my way through The Secret Teachings of Plants: The Intelligence of the Heart in the Direct Perception of Nature, by Stephen Harrod Buhner.

The first six chapters or so provide a fascinating reeducation concerning the heart. The physical organ in our chests. Buhner is a poet, but “The Intelligence of the Heart” in the title of this book is not a metaphor. This opening section is a detailed scientific (and to some extent sociological) treatise on the physical human heart as a “second brain” – and even perhaps as the primary one, making the brain in our skull a mere supporting player.

The heart is no simple pump for our blood. It’s a complete intelligence/sensory system that sets and maintains our natural rhythm, keeps us in synchrony with the rhythms of our environment, and participates in constant responsive communication with the people, animals, and plants around us via a complex array of electric fields. Buhner convincingly argues that if we’re only living in our heads, oblivious to the output and input of the sensory system of the heart, we are not aware of our full human potential, let alone fulfilling it.

The rest of The Secret Teachings of Plants shares a path of application of this knowledge to waking up our own hearts and reclaiming the ability to communicate directly with all of Nature, and here, especially, with plants. I have to admit I stumbled a bit here, mostly because I was listening to the audiobook edition during my daily commute, and lacked the ability to safely do any of the exercises. I will have to revisit the second half of this book one day under more settled circumstances to be able to evaluate it fairly.

I will say now, though, that the pace of the two halves of the book are jarringly different. The first, “intellectual half” can be absorbed in just a few mesmerizing hours. The second, “now apply this heart-knowledge to yourself and the world” half, approached seriously, would take months, even years, to engage. That I found the pace change disconcerting is probably evidence I am out of touch with my “heart brain,” and that I’m in serious need of these techniques. One day I’ll get there, I promise...

Before buying this audiobook, I read a few disparaging comments in reviews regarding the narrator, Steven Bel Davies. I want to say out loud here that I thought his performance was a delight – cheery, intimate, personable. He’s the polar opposite of monotone, which I guess bothers some people. But I found that his enthusiastic reading held my attention even in spots where the text did not. Well done.

A philosophy for living and sensing more

I liked the author’s encouragement to sense more, to recognize and appreciate the multi dimensional reality of nature, the intertwining of quotes from fellow philosophers, and the inclusion of assignments for developing one’s own ability perceive more. As a student of stoic philosophy, I found this book to be a meaningful read at this stage of my life — adding another layer of understanding about the living world we share with others. If you want to better understand what it means to be present in the moment, you will find something useful in this book.

Life changing and reality shifting

This book will change your life and your relationship to the world around you. It's perfect to pick up and put down. Sometimes you need to time to sit with the information to let it sink in