Joseph Chilton Pearce (January 14, 1926 – August 23, 2016) was an American author of a number of books on human development and

child development Child development involves the Human development (biology), biological, developmental psychology, psychological and emotional changes that occur in human beings between birth and the conclusion of adolescence. Childhood is divided into 3 stages o ...

and is best known for his books, ''The Crack in the Cosmic Egg'' (1971), ''Magical Child'' (1977) and ''The Bond of Power: Meditation and Wholeness'' (1981). He preferred the name "Joe".

Early life and background

Pearce was born January 14, 1926, in Pineville, Kentucky, US. He served in the

U.S. Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. He graduated with a BA from the

College of William and Mary The College of William & Mary (officially The College of William and Mary in Virginia, abbreviated as William & Mary, W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William III ...

in Williamsburg, Virginia, received a Master of Arts degree from

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universi ...

, and did post-graduate studies at Geneva Theological College in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania.

Career

Pearce taught college humanities until the mid-1960s, and thereafter devoted himself to writing and lecturing. In the following decades, he has written on themes ranging from child development, mind-heart connection and themes in spirituality, in over 12 books. He presented the idea of the heart, or compassionate mind, as a category of brain function equal in stature to the

thalamus The thalamus (from Greek θάλαμος, "chamber") is a large mass of gray matter located in the dorsal part of the diencephalon (a division of the forebrain). Nerve fibers project out of the thalamus to the cerebral cortex in all directions, ...

prefrontal cortex In mammalian brain anatomy, the prefrontal cortex (PFC) covers the front part of the frontal lobe of the cerebral cortex. The PFC contains the Brodmann areas BA8, BA9, BA10, BA11, BA12, BA13, BA14, BA24, BA25, BA32, BA44, BA45, BA46 ...

and lower brain. Pearce believed that active, imaginative play is the most important of all childhood activities because it cultivates mastery of one's environment, which he terms "creative competence." Children denied that form of play develop feelings of isolation and anxiety. He also believed that child-parent bonding is crucial, and sees modern clinical childbirth and lack of

breast feeding Breastfeeding, or nursing, is the process by which human breast milk is fed to a child. Breast milk may be from the breast, or may be expressed by hand or pumped and fed to the infant. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that brea ...

as obstructions to that bonding. In the 1970-1980s Pearce practiced

meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm ...

under the guidance of Swami Muktananda, and he wrote a book about that subject, ''The Bond of Power''. Pearce died in August 2016 at the age of 90., Joseph Chilton Pearce January 14, 1926 – August 23, 2016
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Bibliography

* ''The Crack in the Cosmic Egg: Challenging Constructs of Mind and Reality'' (1971) and multiple later editions. ** * ''Exploring the Crack in the Cosmic Egg - Split Minds and Meta-Realities (1974) * ''Magical Child'' (1977) * ''The Bond of Power: Meditation and Wholeness'' (1982) * ''Magical Child Matures'' (1985) * ''Evolution's End: Claiming the Potential of Our Intelligence'' (1992) * ''The Crack in the Cosmic Egg: New Constructs of Mind and Reality'' (2002) * ''The Biology of Transcendence: A Blueprint of the Human Spirit'' (2002) * ''Spiritual Initiation and the Breakthrough of Consciousness: The Bond of Power'' (2003) * * ''Death of Religion and the Rebirth of Spirit: A Return to the Intelligence of the Heart '' (2007) * * ''The Heart-Mind Matrix: How the Heart Can Teach the Mind New Ways to Think'' (2012)

References

*Mercogliano, Chris (2003) ''Teaching the Restless: One School's Remarkable No-Ritalin Approach'' *Rosemond, John (2001) ''New Parent Power!'' *Peirsman, Etienne and Peirsman, Neeto (2006) ''Craniosacral Therapy for Babies and Small Children''

External links

Joseph Chilton Pearce Library
at The Touch the Future Academy *Kindred Media and Community articles and interviews: http://kindredmedia.org/author/joseph-chilton-pearce/ * Joseph Chilton Pearce website at http://www.JosephChiltonPearce.org
Institute for Applied Meditation : Interview with Joseph Chilton Pearce
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20050313203010/http://www.ttfuture.org/services/joseph_pearce/main.htm Touch The Future : Bio page and linksbr>EnlightenNext : Bio page and bibliography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pearce, Joseph Chilton 1926 births 2016 deaths American family and parenting writers American social sciences writers American spiritual writers College of William & Mary alumni Geneva College alumni Indiana University alumni New Age writers People from Bell County, Kentucky United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II