The Biology of Belief - Bruce H. Lipton [2]
The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, which is your constitutional right, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.
Previously published by Mountain of Love Productions (ISBN: 0-9759914-7-7)
Library of Congress Control No.: 2008925733
Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-4019-2311-2
Tradepaper ISBN: 978-1-4019-2312-9
11 10 09 08 4 3 2 1
1st Hay House edition, September 2008
Printed in the United States of America
This book is dedicated to …
The Mother of Us All
May She forgive us our trespasses.
To my own mother, Gladys,
who has continually encouraged and supported me
while being patient for the twenty years
it took to get this book out.
To my daughters, Tanya and Jennifer,
beautiful women of the world who have always been there
for me … no matter how weird things had become.
And especially to my darling, Margaret Horton,
my best friend, my life partner, my love.
May we continue on our joyous quest
to live happily ever after!
Contents
Prologue
Introduction
Chapter 1: Lessons from the Petri Dish: In Praise of Smart Cells and Smart Students
Chapter 2: It’s the Environment, Stupid
Chapter 3: The Magical Membrane
Chapter 4: The New Physics: Planting Both Feet Firmly on Thin Air
Chapter 5: Biology and Belief
Chapter 6: Growth and Protection
Chapter 7: Conscious Parenting: Parents as Genetic Engineers
Epilogue: Spirit and Science
Addendum
Acknowledgments
Endnotes
About the Author
Prologue
“If you could be anybody, who would you be?” I used to spend an inordinate amount of time pondering that question. I was obsessed with the fantasy of changing my identity because I wanted to be anybody but me. I had a good career as a cell biologist and medical school professor, but that didn’t make up for the fact that my personal life was, at best, a shambles. The harder I tried to find happiness and satisfaction in my personal life, the more dissatisfied and unhappy I became. In my reflective moments, I resolved to surrender to my unhappy life. I decided that fate had dealt me a bad hand, and I should simply accept it. Que sera, sera.
In the fall of 1985, my depressed, fatalistic attitude changed in one transformational moment. I had resigned my tenured position at the University of Wisconsin’s School of Medicine and was teaching at an offshore medical college in the Caribbean. Because the school was so far from the academic mainstream, I had the opportunity to think outside the rigid parameters of belief that prevail in conventional academia. Far from the ivory towers, isolated on an emerald island in the deep azure Caribbean Sea, I experienced a scientific epiphany that shattered my beliefs about the nature of life.
My life-changing moment occurred while I was reviewing my research on the mechanisms by which cells control their physiology and behavior. Suddenly I realized that a cell’s life is controlled by the physical and energetic environment and not by its genes. Genes are simply molecular blueprints used in the construction of cells, tissues, and organs. The environment serves as a “contractor” who reads and engages those genetic blueprints and is ultimately responsible for the character of a cell’s life. It is a single cell’s “awareness” of the environment, not its genes, that sets into motion the mechanisms of life.
As a cell biologist I knew that my insights had powerful ramifications for my life and the lives of all human beings. I was acutely aware that each of