Books by Russell Targ

We don't live the way we could, but we have the capacity to activate and enter into a more evolved way of being human. In this wide-ranging survey of spiritual insight, healer Jane Katra and physicist Russell Targ demystify consciousness transformation by showing how centuries of wisdom teachings ---from the ancient Indian Vedas and Christian Gnosticism to modern quantum physics and Centering Prayer---all point to a common experience of realizing one's connection to a higher reality that is available to everyone. Whether we call it connecting to God, satori, or unity consciousness, the authors describe it as our evolutionary mandate to become active agents of consciousness transformation by turning our attention away from our separate selves.Building on these ancient teachings, Katra and Targ explore how modern scientific exploration of psychic phenomena --- from laboratory evidence of mind-to-mind connections, hospital studies of distant healing, research showing precognition of the future, and fascinating evidence of verified past-life memories---all indicate that consciousness extends beyond the individual self.As in their previous groundbreaking exploration of nonlocal mind and spiritual healing, Miracles of Mind, Targ and Katra team up here to show how we are hard-wired for higher consciousness. At the core of The Heart of the Mind is the idea that by learning to direct steady, intentional and selfless attention onto awareness itself, the transformative experience of radiating spiritual power, also called compassion, or a palpable power of peace, may be realized by any sincere seeker -- without dogma, ritual, or religious belief. By beginning with the concrete steps of mind-quieting with forgiveness and gratitude, the authors invite us to use our minds to transform ourselves and lift the consciousness of the world.

Russll Targ''s story is an idiosyncratic journey through the highways and byways of intellectual, scientific and cultural life in 20th century. His father (the long-time editor-in-chief at Putnam) acquired The Godfather on the basis of an outline scribbled on the back of a napkin. His mother was the first press agent of the fan dancer Sally Rand. His step-mother is the legendary literary agent Rosalind Targ. He was married for thirty years to the sister of the infamous chess master Bobby Fischer. He briefly dated Henny Youngman''s cousin. He attended college with Alan Alda''s wife, Arlene. He was part of Ayn Rand''s study group in the 1950s - along with economist Alan Greenspan. He was a pioneer in laser research. He spent many years developing air-borne laser wind sensors for Lockheed and NASA. He co-founded the Stanford Research Institute remote viewing programme - which was funded by the CIA - and was instrumental in tracking Soviet and Chinese weapon installations during the Cold War. And, he is a legally blind motorcyclist - who happens to be a Buddhist. This is a fascinating memoir by a first-class intellect; the story of a physicist who has pushed the boundaries of science to explore the realms of parapsychology, spirituality and the unexplained.