The Reconnection: Heal Others, Heal Yourself [Paperback]

 

 

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For a long tiume, I have heard about Eric Pearl, and decided to give the book a try, to find out what the fuss was all about. After reading the book, I am a bit baffled: After having been active in the healing and energy field for 30 years, I expected to find something new, but found all the elements that characterize a run-of-the-mill new age healing book from California:
1) Claims that this is a new level, a new energy or a new level of light. This is the main mrketing plot in new age circles to this very day: "Teacher A. brings a new level of energy": "others may bring some light, but master B. brings the highest light, a level the world has not seen befor, but you can be among the chosen to take part in this light - if you pay for the seminar".
Pearl's basic tenets fall right into this bracket, and are no different than any of the other claims.
2) Mythologizing of life events. A natural life development is twisted into something extraordinary. Truth is, so many thousands have (like me) had life-changing experiences with energy or light or another level breaking through. Each story is fascinating and special, like each life is. But some people have the need to link into Savior archetypes and make it into something more. What are their motives? They will get a power to make others follow them - but what happens in the long run - freedom or bondage?
3) "My approach is special". Instead of seeing that the field of energy work is like the parable of the blind men and the elephant - each different individual working their own different ways into exploring the potential of healing energy/consciousness, Pearl goes to great pains to explain that his approach is different from the others, but nowhere showing in what way it is, ending in an "all animals are equal, but some are more equal than others"-stance. He has a special healing energy, it is not a technique, etc.; Matthew Manning and a thousand others are saying the same, and having their followers contorting on stage. The "miraculous healings" follow the same patterns as scores of such seances I have witnessed in fundamentalist religious meeting - in Norway we have a magazine reporting such ocurrences from a Christian viewpoint, healing of blindness, deafness, AIDS, contorted back pain, etc. - Pearl's tales would go straight into these pages. But there is a difference. The Christian healings are free of charge.
4) This is not a technique (but you can take level 2), it is unique and not teachable (but for an exorbitant price you can get it from me). Pearl debunks other healers' "technical" approach, but ends in the same basic stance.
5) And this is my basic problem with Pearl'sa approach. What are his motives for using so much time to ridicule the work of others in the field, who are doing their sincere work, presumably from the same motives as his (but not attaining the same level of fame and fortune. Others painstakingly try to translate the energy experience into writing - Pearl easily debunks it as "tango". He uses the "new age" label denigratingly on others an astounding number of times, ignoring that he himself falls right smack in the middle of this category.
6) With his generous claims of heling serious diseases, he has a huge responsibility. Why does he not, then, present serious research or stringent reports on his web site, but instead sticks to the snake oil marketing schemes?

Pearl has been a huge disappointment. But the good news: There is a lot of promising research in this field now coming up, much of it presented in James Oschman's excellent book "Energy medicine". And there is also a book that. maybe for the first time, satisfactorily translates the energy experience into writing: Donna Edens book, also titled "Energy medicine".
These two books actually present a new level in the field, without bragging about it, like Pearl does. My recommendation: Go for these two, and leave Pearl.

What if you were a chiropractor for many years and then one day your patients started insisting that they were: sure that there were other people in the room while you were working on them; able to feel energy from your hands before you touched them; seeing the exact same angels in the treatment rooms; recovering from afflictions not related to chiropractic care? What if you yourself discovered that you suddenly had the ability to facilitate miraculous healings?

In his book "The Reconnection", Dr. Pearl relates the story of how he became a "spiritual healer." He gives an account of the paranormal phenomenon that was happening in his office, and his quest for answers. As we read the details, we can imagine ourselves in Dr. Pearl's shoes. We can think to ourselves, "Who would I turn to for answers if I sounded more like a "crazy person" than a credible doctor?", and, "What would I do if my story was so far outside the realm of normal experience as to be believable?" Yet the miraculous healings themselves were believable and documented until Dr. Pearl became an internationally-recognized healer.

Dr. Pearl's book starts by providing us with insight into his early life. We learn about how his mother died giving him birth, and returned to life with new insights about life after death. Dr. Pearl also tells us about other paranormal phenomenon and amazing coincidences that colored his pre-adult years, incidences that seemed more meaningful in hindsight.

"The Reconnection" also reveals the bizarre details of what was happening in Dr. Pearl's office during the time of his initiation into healing. Dr. Pearl's story about the chanellings is especially revealing. He reports that about fifty of his patients, people who didn't know each other and never channeled before in their lives, channeled the exact same phrases right in front of him. Two of these phrases were: "What you are doing is reconnecting strands", and "What you are doing is reconnecting strings". It is Dr. Pearl's current understanding is that the phrase "reconnecting strands" refers to reconnecting strands of DNA, and that the phrase "reconnecting strings" refers to reconnecting parallel planes of existence as described by string theory in quantum physics. Reconnective Healing ®, which got it's name from the chanellings, purports to reconnect strands of DNA and strings to parallel planes of existence.

The later chapters of the book explain how to do Reconnective Healing ®. Many people report that Reconnective Healing ® frequencies become activated in them simply by reading this book. it isn't necessary to attend a Reconnective Healing ® seminar. Does this sound believable? Not at all, except that I have had similar experiences myself.

Who should read this book? Anyone who identifies themselves as a "healer" or anyone who wants to be healed.

Let me immediately state that I like this book. Dr. Eric Pearl has a rare combination of wit and wisdom that makes for easy reading. He has added significantly to the literature of healing. I like this book, so much in fact, that I have committed to a weekend workshop with Dr. Pearl. When used correctly this book can be invaluable. That said, I now want to share a few critical thoughts.

Despite Dr. Pearl's many statements to the contrary, The Reconnection is a technique, just like every other form of externally activated healing process. Only when the entire process comes from within the "dis-eased" individual, and only when performed without fore-thought, any form of focus, attention, or intention on the illness or healing it, would such a "method" be free of technique. Stated otherwise, healing would have to be fully spontaneous. I read a review in which the writer mentions studying Levels One and Two - that alone tells me there is a technique. If you progress through stages, if you hold your hands a certain way, if you hold a specific focus, be it love, openness, to be unfocused, or whatever, it is a technique. If you are playing with a slinky or pulling taffy, it is a technique (you'll relate to this when you read the book). In Elmer Green's "Copper Wall Project" the single common denominator was that the involved "sensitives" (healers) all used their hands. Again, this implies technique. As Pearl states, there are other ways of working with energies, but the hands are unique (they are also where energy is most unstable, changing polarity from yin to yang - and when something is unstable it is more easily affected).

I have now read this book twice and have referred to highlighted sections numerous times, and I have to say, it strongly resembles qigong. A serious, long-time student of qigong, I still manage to avoid holding it in such awe as to be closed to other possibilities, and that is why I was able to read and put to use Dr. Pearl's many insights. Just as he says that the word "energy" is insufficient, so do most qigong practitioners. Many qigong adepts have long said that the process is one of information. Like homeopathy and most other healing modalities, this information is exchanged on a vibrational entrainment level. This explains why, as another reviewer points out, simply holding the book will set off energetic frequencies in the hands of some readers. For more detail on this, I strongly recommend James Oschman's "Energy Medicine, The Scientific Basis." I won't go into all the other reasons Reconnective healing and qigong are kissing cousins, but know that they are.

Finally, over time I have come to realize there is nothing inherently wrong with "technique". Technique is simply a teaching protocol, a way of introducing the learner to a universe of possibilities. As with every teacher-student relationship, some instructors (especially "bow down and worship me, guru types") will abuse it, making learning more ridgid than it needs to be, a disservice to the student and future generations of learners. But once the foundation is properly in place, each individual will find their unique way of advancing. Then we can draw outside the lines. The strength of The Reconnection is in the introductory foundation it lays, but there are numerous other techniques just as effective. And this in no way takes away from what Pearl has brought to the table.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Good book for all healers
This is an excellent book for all people in the healing professions. It is well written. I understand a few more things much better now. Karen S. E. Read more

Published 1 month ago by Karen S. E. Raven

5.0 out of 5 stars The Reconnection: Heal Others, Heal Yourself - excellent book
After hearing Dr. Pearl on Coast to Coast Radio a month ago, I was thoroughly intrigued by this healing technique and his brief life history sounded interesting. Read more

Published on Aug 12 2009 by Catherine Harris

5.0 out of 5 stars Adding the Final Piece
Eric has added the final dimension I needed to hear to bring all the different hands on healing works together. Read more

Published on July 26 2009 by Lynda E. Shelvey

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing new healing energy
I am a Reiki Master and have just been introducted to this new healing energy. Dr. Eric Pearl has written an easy to read account of how this new energy came to him. Read more

Published on Jun 27 2009 by Elizabeth Diamond

3.0 out of 5 stars some caution advised
In my experience, (reading this book, and then choosing to try the "self-healing" session it suggested) this book did awaken a palpable energy connection with marked physical... Read more

Published on July 10 2007 by Vancouver Customer

4.0 out of 5 stars At the very least, it's worth a try
I just finished the book (I found my copy at a garage sale), and all in all, I'm glad to have found it. Read more

Published on May 18 2004 by Skip

1.0 out of 5 stars Skip the first half of the book
I found the first part of this book to be very boring, so I quite reading it. Then about a year later someone suggested that I read the book. Read more

Published on April 28 2004 by alicemarie

4.0 out of 5 stars Reconnection experience was awesome!
Having just completed the Level I/II weekend and the Reconnection. And I have to say I was pleased. Although I cant say exactly what occured. Read more

Published on Mar 24 2004

5.0 out of 5 stars Pearl is the Bruce Lee of the Energy Healing field
The title of my review says it all. In the 1960's the world of martial arts was dominated by traditional Asian styles that were heavy on complicated methodology and short on... Read more

Published on Mar 17 2004 by emeryscott

5.0 out of 5 stars I Don't Agree with Everything but This Book is Provocative
Dr. Pearl is a great writer, funny, and I hope he'll be writing more soon. I'm a Reiki master and for the most part, so far, it looks and feels like Reiki to me. Read more

Published on Feb 8 2004 by Blinlee

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