Product Description

Trance is a state of narrowed awareness. We go in and out of trances all our lives, enthralled by our inner minds, our relationships, our families, our communities, and our culture at large.

Trances are at the root of what is the very best and very worst in human beings. Trance states can trap us in our rigidities, but they can also open the door to creative productivity and personal freedom.

In this groundbreaking new book, Adam Crabtree dissects the condition of trance we find ourselves in and suggests ways of being more aware and empowered in our lives. He describes the ultimate aim: to arrive at what he calls Trance Zero--an intuitive state of being in which one is fully awake to the real condition of our existence. This state is nothing less than a new paradigm of personal immanence and is the very essence of optimism.

To understand trance is to appreciate the true nature of human experience--both in its potentials and limitations. In times of massive change and confusion, Trance Zero is an essential text for renewing our faith in what it means to be human.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1878297 in Books
• Published on: 1999-09-24
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 288 pages

From Library Journal
If you've ever driven a car and arrived at your destination without remembering the actual ride, if you've ever been so focused on the story in a book that you forgot where you really were, or if you've ever been so in love that your whole world took on a rosy hue, you've lived in a trance, according to psychotherapist Crabtree. Our lives, he suggests, are composed of a series of trances, which is not always a bad thing: trances help us to focus on tasks and relationships. But trances also cause us to lose the ability to experience life to the fullest, and so, he suggests, we should move toward "Trance Zero"Atranscending cultural, relational, and work-related trances by using our intuitive abilities. Not a "quick fix" how-to guide with exercises, this book provides a thoughtful and highly credible discourse on influences on the mind. Crabtree's multileveled theorizing will appeal to an array of students of psychology. Highly recommended for academic libraries.AMarija Sanderling, Rochester P.L.., NH
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
In rather a Zen-without-koans approach to living fully, psychotherapist Crabtree posits that we spend most of our lives in a trance, focused on one thought or object so intently that our awareness of the complexity of reality is dimmed. Some trances can be productive, such as creative trances, in which we fail to notice the hours that pass while we work. Some are pleasurable, like the trances of lovers centered on each other. Crabtree discerns various kinds of trances, including thought trances, in which we are so intent upon our inner world that we ignore the outer, and cultural trances (including those induced by the media), which exploit, often for commercial or political purposes, the acceptingness of the trance state. We can wake up from the enchantment of trances, Crabtree argues, and lead fuller lives, entering what he dubs "trance zero," when we are deeply conscious of each moment in which we live. Such deep awareness is essentially spiritual, a recognition of the immanent divinity that surrounds us. Patricia Monaghan

From the Publisher
"It is impossible to overestimate the importance of this book and the subject it addresses... This study is a must." -- Stephen Larson, author of The Mythic Imagination

"Embark on this intriguing journey through the mysteries of consciousness -- love, creativity, culture, religion -- to the Ultimate Self." -- Sylvia Fraser, author of My Father's House

"Adam Crabtree reveals why we are not actually in control of our lives. He exposes the hypnotic role of our culture and shows how we can wake up from this trance dream and regain control of our lives." --J.L. Whitton, M.D., PH.D., co-author with Joe Fischer of Life Between Life

"Adam Crabtree offers a masterful exploration of the varieties of trance experience. Written with clarity and compassion, this book offers the state of the art in understanding one of the least understood of all human phenomena. Especially useful is his concept of Trance Zero, which involves breaking free from the limitations of trance states through reliance on an instinctual inner guidance. This book should be read by everyone who has an interest in human consciousness and personality development." --Jean Houston, author of A Mythic Life and A Passion for the Possible

"Adam Crabtree seems tome to be one of the most interesting minds in the field of modern psychology...In some ways, this is his most challenging book so far. What makes it so stimulating is that he takes a basic and simple idea--that we all spend more time in 'trance' than we realize--and then develops it in wholly unexpected ways...Crabtree suggests that our culture induces a trance state--in fact, many kinds of 'microtrances'--and that we have to awaken from this trance before we can enter the condition he calls Trance Zero, a state of being in touch with our 'inner guidance.'...It seems to me that Adam is a new kind of psychologist--one who intuitively understands that the mind is far vaster and stranger than anyone suspected--and at the same time, stronger and more full of creative possibilities." --Colin Wilson, author of The Outsider and Alien Dawn: An Investigation into the Contact Experience

Customer Reviews

Waste of Time
This book is nothing but hundreds of pages of self-serving tripe. There were hundreds of in-depth descriptions of "trances", but nothing the average person doesn't already understand. Further, though the book proposes the "trance zero" state, it's only hypothetical, offering no means to obtain or experiment with this state of consciousness.
I admit the author's complete lack of moral character did not help this book any- as when he rather casually describes a woman being victimized by another psychologist over a period of YEARS while she is seeing the author professionally for help. By his own words, he never helped her at all or stoppped this monster from destroying a woman's life. So much for the effectiveness of his methods.
I learned nothing of practical value. Period. If you must read it, try the library first.

Whoever thought this book sucks is in a trance
As a full time student, part-time worker, and volunteer, I usually never write online reviews due to extreme time constraints, but I was so disturbed by the two bad reviews for this book that I felt that I must write at least a short review to counter them.

I read this book several months ago so it is not fresh in my mind and thus I will be unable to offer specific points about it. But I do remember that I was hugely impressed by this book. The ideas in it gave me a much better understanding of social groups, culture, and human nature in general. These new understandings spilled over into my understanding and views on history and contemporary issues and even my own life and the people who populate my life. Also, the author writes in a clear and straight forward manner which keeps the pages turning quickly.

Best explanation of the "group mind" concept
I bought this book wanting to find out how to do hypnosis, and figuring it would give me the right theoretical+practical basis. The information was so good I felt no need to go on to practice "hypnosis". For the first time I saw someone dissect and analyze "group minds", how we human beings act together as cells of separate "organisms", and what the properties of these organisms are and how they evolve and act, as well as how we influence each other. It changed my whole perspective on how I deal with others. You don't need hypnosis when, by understanding humans, you can just act normally and get the same benefits.

This book is a must read. I think it should be required reading for everyone before they leave high school. Did you know that some "group mind" organisms have "lived" for more than a thousand years? And many of these group minds live out their lifespans undetected, unrecognized as such by their component "cells" (us humans)?