About the Book
Henosis is the Greek word for oneness/unity. Since time immemorial this universal concept has been championed within traditional wisdom, ancient philosophy and theology. The psychoanalyst, Carl Jung referred our shared human experience with the phrase “collective unconscious,” while physicists use the term “quantum entanglement” to describe how every particle is inherently connected to the whole. The missing links between the wisdom of ancient philosophy and the startling insights within modern psychology to transform suffering, transcend circumstances, and increase our capacity for love are explored in The Promise of Wholeness.
Most philosophical studies of ancient wisdom lack practical applications, and many popular psychology books simply skim the surface of the human experience. Licensed clinical social worker and psychotherapist Eric Ehrke offers a new foundation for profound living based on classical teachings and enriched by modern scientific/psychological breakthroughs. The principles and values it takes to be happy and whole endure, but gentle makeovers are needed to modernize the message. Clinical examples from Eric Ehrke’s forty years of psychotherapy practice and personal stories from courageous individuals are included throughout the book. Emphasizing innovative teachings, and new critical exercises for infantile, childish, and adolescent stress responses, Ehrke offers powerful meditations and invaluable tools for bringing these concepts and strategies into everyday life. Here, eternal wisdom, sound psychological principles, and practical solutions come together in this handbook of consciousness; a truly helpful guide for anyone seeking lasting peace and well-being.
Table of Contents:
Chapter 1Ancient Perspectives on Wholeness
Chapter 2Illusion and the Paradox of Being Human
Chapter 3Merging Humanness with Love
Chapter 4The Cherished Human
Chapter 5Grace
Chapter 6Mindfulness, Soulfulness, and Equanimity
Chapter 7The Brain: Logic, Presence, and Emotional Intelligence
Chapter 8The Empathy Paradox
Chapter 9Human Incorruptibility
Chapter 10The Promise of Wholeness
Camel Wave Meditation
Wise and Loving Inner Voice Meditation Bibliography
About the Author :
Eric Ehrke LCSW, LMFT is a psychiatric social worker whose private practice has spanned more than forty years. Trained in Western and Eastern applied philosophy, he served as faculty for an integrative healing school. His original teachings merge immortal principles, mind-body wisdom and modern psychology into practical strategies that lead to lasting peace and wholeness.
Review :
Rich with understanding and perspective . . . . With his forty years’ experience as a psychotherapist and seeker of hidden truth, Eric Ehrke merges classical teaching with modern psychology to create a new framework for a revitalized humanity.
Eric Ehrke creates a tapestry in The Promise of Wholeness, weaving Platonic forms, Plotinus’s ideas, with Jungian and modern psychological thought. The Promise of Wholeness is born of Ehrke’s years of experience with clients, peers, family, and the ordinariness of daily life....The quality and depth of thought reflected in his writing, the time and thought needed for each chapter are investments in further understanding the glory of being human.
It is rare when a book embodies the very potential it claims to awaken in its readers. Henosis takes us on a journey of the human quest for soul - it is a living breathing labyrinth of self-discovery and awakening that shatters illusions and asks us to question everything. And in the end, its message is the antidote for a new humanity.
Eric Ehrke gives us an open and detailed account of what he has learned over a lifetime about bearing pain and learning to love the world and all its creatures. In addition to a good understanding of modern developmental psychology and neuroscience, he has dug deeply into the history of philosophy, especially Plato and Plotinus, and shows how all of us move through many illusions to a larger understanding of all of Being, achieving Henosis (oneness with everything)---or at least as far as we can do it, with or without the kind of thoughtful psychotherapy he practices. It is humbling and refreshing to realize that in this larger context we are all working through some of the same dilemmas as the citizens of ancient Greece and Rome. (In fact, people were probably doing it before then, but we don't have their written records.) Although the exercises and extensive bibliography of the book show the impressive research Ehrke has done, he has the grace at times to tell an anecdote about his own personal experience which brings the account down to earth in the present. This is a book worth studying and meditating on.
The Promise of Wholeness is a challenge to go deeper into the historical, philosophical and spiritual underpinnings of our individual and professional journeys. Eric Ehrke's writings are a personal impetus to take time from my daily multitasking for deeper thought and reflection. I welcome his insights and inspiration.
In The Promise of Wholeness Eric Ehrke outlines our journey to joy. He shows us how to move beyond the haze of illusion, revise our templates for love, and turn difficulties into blessings. With great depth he also speaks of the cherished human and how to create a state of grace for ourselves and others. His emphasis on our inherent goodness and how to maintain our principles in the midst of serious challenges offers a new and empowered understanding of individual happiness and well-being.
The writing in The Promise of Wholeness is extremely concise and packed with meaning, full of wisdom and profound insights. The author’s powerful personal stories grab the reader and offer new perspectives to bring swift personal change. His philosophical understanding is very clear and easily woven into modern psychology to supports his examples. This is a profound read that offers solutions and illuminates our hidden lives.
Well-researched, The Promise of Wholeness is based on the premise of Unity Consciousness or the inherent goodness/love of every person. Through the teachings and applications of tested meditation exercises included in this book, based on the mind/body/soul connection, the reader can embrace self-discovery and ultimately reach that timeless quest for Soul. Eric Ehrke writes from a deep humility, sharing not only his own teachable experiences but also those of his clients, helping us to transform ourselves and discover what stands in the way of loving others.
Wonderful, profound and engaging: takes the reader on a journey into “a quest for meaning.” Eric Ehrke begins with revered Greek and Eastern philosophers and connects to our modern storytellers of Hollywood and books, to show the quest for oneness and spiritual meaning is universal across time and cultures. He connects us to this shared human longing for oneness, to set the stage for the depth and intricacies that are yet to come.
Eric Ehrke then guides the reader into the multilayered field to explore human consciousness. He takes on a formidable task, and succeeds; combining knowledge from psychology, spirituality, mysticism with intriguing discoveries in sciences of psychoneurophysiology, and physics that inform us how the brain and body communicate. He ultimately teaches and shares techniques that he has used in clinical practice that assist the individual through a journey toward self-understanding, acceptance, love of oneself, and how unity is created within our human family. This book is for anyone interested in exploring the depths & dimensions human consciousness. In the end, we find an abundance of unique and wonderful discoveries throughout the journey to better love ourselves and each other.
[Ehrke] directs readers to ask better questions about how one’s innate sense of love and empathy have been corrupted due to circumstances of both nature and nurture [and] provides meditations to increase empathy, such as the Camel Wave Meditation and form meditations.
