Dick Price
Encyclopedia
Richard “Dick” Price -- co-founded Esalen Institute
in 1962.
Dick Price was a veteran of the Beat Generation
. He ran Esalen in Big Sur
for many years, sometimes virtually single-handed. He was an explorer of the Santa Lucia Mountains that define the Big Sur coast. He developed a form of personal integration and growth that he called Gestalt Practice
, based upon Gestalt therapy
without its limiting professional constraints.
Dick Price worked with his awareness, and helped many people work with their own. His memory remains at the core of the Esalen experience.
on November 25, 1985, and was survived by his wife, Christine Stewart Price, and two children, David Price
and Jennifer Price.
Dick had a sister, Joan, born in 1929, and a twin brother, Bobby, who died in 1933. Bobby's death was traumatic for the family, and especially for Dick.
Dick's father, Herman Price (anglicised
from 'Preuss
') was born into an Eastern European Jewish family in 1895. He emigrated from Lithuania
in 1911 (at that time a part of Russia
), first to New York
and finally to Chicago. During World War I
he served in the United States Coast Guard
, and then in the United States Navy
. Herman was a refrigeration expert. He headed appliance manufacturing and design at Sears
for Coldspot, working extensively with Raymond Loewy
, who was a close family friend. With the onset of World War II
, Herman was loaned by Sears to the Douglas Aircraft Company
where he applied his assembly line experience to organizing the mass production of aircraft, including the B-17 in particular. Although Herman was a charismatic businessman, he was an emotionally withdrawn and distant father for Dick.
Dick's mother, Audrey (Meyers) Price was born in Indiana
in 1895, and grew up in Auburn, Illinois
. She was of Dutch, Irish
and English
heritage. Audrey was a domineering figure in the family, and a problematic and intrusive mother for Dick.
When Dick was born, the family lived in Rogers Park
. In 1936, the family moved into the two-floor penthouse apartment in a building at 707 W. Junior Terrace, just off Lake Shore Drive
in Chicago.
on the North Shore
of Chicago. Dick graduated from New Trier High School
in 1948. He joined New Trier’s wrestling team and placed second in his weight class in the state of Illinois
.
Dick Price graduated from Stanford University
in 1952, with a major in psychology
. He went on to do graduate work in the social relations department
at Harvard University
, although he left because of his frustration with the conservative, research-oriented faculty.
While at Stanford, Dick studied with both Gregory Bateson
and Frederic Spiegelberg
. They would later prove to be pivotal influences in the founding and development of Esalen.
and was given an assignment in the East Bay (San Francisco Bay Area)
. He took a room in San Francisco at Alan Watts
’ and Frederic Spiegelberg
’s newly founded American Academy of Asian Studies (the precursor to the California Institute of Integral Studies
; though it was to close in late 1956). This placed him at the hub of the emerging North Beach
Beat scene
. Dick knew most of the primary figures involved with the group (Jack Kerouac
, Allen Ginsberg
, etc.) and Gary Snyder
in particular. During this time Dick married his first wife, Bonnie, in a Zen ceremony.
psychosis
, which he later described as simply "a state," referring to a mental break that he believed to be transitory, and which he needed to go through and experience rather than repress or manage. He was hospitalized, returned to Chicago and discharged from the Air Force.
On December 7, 1956, Dick was committed by his parents to the Institute of Living, an exclusive mental treatment facility in Connecticut
, until he was released on Thanksgiving Day of 1957. He was misdiagnosed as a schizophrenic
, then subjected to physical confinement and major tranquilizers
, along with numerous electroconvulsive
and insulin shock
treatments. While committed, his mother had his marriage annulled
. He never forgave his parents for their actions during this episode.
These are Dick Price’s own words about the hospitalization experience:
After his release, Dick went back to the Chicago area, where he worked for his uncles' sign company, Price Brothers, the originators of many innovative American lighted signage designs of the early 20th century. However, the work did not engage Dick's imagination.
. That year he met fellow Stanford University
graduate, Michael Murphy
, at Haridas Chaudhuri
’s Cultural Integration Fellowship where Murphy was in residence. Dick moved into the Cultural Integration Fellowship as well. In 1961, Michael Murphy and Dick Price visited the oceanside property in Big Sur
, California
, that was owned by Murphy's family. The property included a natural hot spring
s.
In 1962, using the Murphy property and capital that Dick had accumulated, along with assistance from Alan Watts
, Aldous Huxley
, Laura Huxley
, Gerald Heard
, Gregory Bateson
and Frederic Spiegelberg
(with whom both had studied at Stanford), Dick Price and Michael Murphy founded Esalen Institute
. Among other objectives, Dick saw Esalen as an alternative to then current mental health practice, especially the practices of mental hospitals. Esalen was to be a place where inner process could move forward safely and without interruption.
Previously, the natural hot springs baths on the Murphy property were part of a run-down resort (known as Slate's Hot Springs). The security guard was a youthful Hunter S. Thompson
. Joan Baez
was also in residence. Thompson was soon fired by Murphy's grandmother, although Baez remained in residence through the beginnings of Esalen. Henry Miller
regularly visited the hot springs during this early period of Esalen's history.
In the summer of 1962, Abraham Maslow
happened to drive onto the Esalen grounds and soon became an important influence upon the development of the Institute. Julian Silverman came to Esalen in 1965, in order to work on the schizophrenia project at Agnews State Hospital, and ended up serving as Esalen's General Manager. Will Schutz came to Esalen in the 1960s and worked on aspects of his "encounter group" process. George Leonard
, Joseph Campbell
and Ida Rolf
were among the many people who had an impact upon Esalen's trajectory. In 1974, Dick Price married his second wife, Christine Stewart Price, a Gestalt practitioner who became Dick's primary collaborator at Esalen.
administered by a psychiatrist. Later he discovered that empathogens, such as MDMA, facilitated self-exploration and were helpful in psychological healing when used in conjunction with therapy.
In 1973, Dick was instrumental in bringing Stanislav Grof to Esalen in the capacity of Scholar in Residence. Dr. Grof was interested in the enhancement of human potentials through the induction of non-ordinary states of consciousness. He had conducted research with LSD at the Psychiatric Research Center in Prague, followed by similar research at Johns Hopkins University and the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center. At Esalen, Dick Price encouraged Dr. Grof to develop the therapeutic technique of Holotropic Breathwork
, which functioned as a substitute for psychedelic drugs.
, the psychiatrist who developed Gestalt therapy
, arrived at Esalen. Dick Price became one of Perls' primary students during Perls' time at Esalen. Dick was influenced by the work of Wilhelm Reich
, who had been Fritz Perls' analyst. Dick worked with Perls for approximately four years, between 1966 and 1970. During this period Dick experienced a second, brief manic break, arising from the unresolved trauma of his commitment. Fritz declared this episode fully resolved, and then told Dick that it was time for him to start teaching Gestalt on his own.
During the time that Dick Price ran Esalen, he educated himself widely in Western psychology and Eastern religions, including Buddhism
and Taoism
. Dick drew from the work of many teachers who came to Esalen over the years. Gestalt Practice provided a humane approach that pulled together all these strands of ancient and modern knowledge into a coherent technique, similar to shamanistic methods of healing. This practice allowed Dick to work with other people as real people, not as objects that needed to be “fixed” in some way. Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, Dick continued practicing, modifying, and teaching Gestalt at Esalen, until his death in a hiking accident on November 25, 1985, when he was struck by a falling boulder. The method of Gestalt Practice
that Dick Price developed remains one of his most important achievements.
was often a solitary practice for Dick, although he regularly took other people along. Sometimes Dick worked with them while hiking, doing Gestalt sessions that would turn out to be quite moving.
Steven Harper was one of Dick’s close friends and hiking partners at Esalen. Steven became a permanent resident of Big Sur, and a leader of wilderness process groups at Esalen. Steven was able to secure the official naming of two geographic features for Dick after his death. A very prominent ridge behind Esalen is now called Price Ridge, and a trail is named Price-Gagarin Trail after Dick and his friend Andrew Gagarin.
Stepping in, Stepping Out: Gestalt and Hiking Practice October 3–8, and
Following the Way, Returning to the Source: A Celebration of the Life and Work of Richard Price November 14–19.
Besides the general role that Dick played in a unique episode of American history, he affected the lives of many people individually by his work in Gestalt Practice
groups. Moreover, Richard Price will be remembered for Esalen Institute
- the place he built along with friends, the venture he ran for many years, and the model he left behind.
Esalen Institute
Esalen Institute is a residential community and retreat in Big Sur, California, which focuses upon humanistic alternative education. Esalen is a nonprofit organization devoted to activites such as meditation, massage, Gestalt, yoga, psychology, ecology, and spirituality...
in 1962.
Dick Price was a veteran of the Beat Generation
Beat generation
The Beat Generation refers to a group of American post-WWII writers who came to prominence in the 1950s, as well as the cultural phenomena that they both documented and inspired...
. He ran Esalen in Big Sur
Big Sur
Big Sur is a sparsely populated region of the Central Coast of California where the Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from the Pacific Ocean. The name "Big Sur" is derived from the original Spanish-language "el sur grande", meaning "the big south", or from "el país grande del sur", "the big...
for many years, sometimes virtually single-handed. He was an explorer of the Santa Lucia Mountains that define the Big Sur coast. He developed a form of personal integration and growth that he called Gestalt Practice
Gestalt Practice
Gestalt Practice - Pratique Gestalt, Gestaltpraxis, Prática Gestalt, Γκεστάλτ-πρακτική, Гештальт-практика, ゲシュタルト・プラクティス-Gestalt Practice:Gestalt Practice is a contemporary form of personal exploration and integration developed by Dick Price at Esalen Institute...
, based upon Gestalt therapy
Gestalt therapy
Gestalt therapy is an existential/experiential form of psychotherapy that emphasizes personal responsibility, and that focuses upon the individual's experience in the present moment, the therapist-client relationship, the environmental and social contexts of a person's life, and the self-regulating...
without its limiting professional constraints.
Dick Price worked with his awareness, and helped many people work with their own. His memory remains at the core of the Esalen experience.
Biography
Dick Price was born October 12, 1930, to Herman and Audrey Price in Chicago, Illinois. He died while hiking near EsalenEsalen Institute
Esalen Institute is a residential community and retreat in Big Sur, California, which focuses upon humanistic alternative education. Esalen is a nonprofit organization devoted to activites such as meditation, massage, Gestalt, yoga, psychology, ecology, and spirituality...
on November 25, 1985, and was survived by his wife, Christine Stewart Price, and two children, David Price
David Price (actor)
David Price is an American film and television actor and musician who lives and works in Poland. Originally from Big Sur, California, he is the son of Esalen Institute co-founder Dick Price.-Music:...
and Jennifer Price.
Dick had a sister, Joan, born in 1929, and a twin brother, Bobby, who died in 1933. Bobby's death was traumatic for the family, and especially for Dick.
Dick's father, Herman Price (anglicised
Anglicisation
Anglicisation, or anglicization , is the process of converting verbal or written elements of any other language into a form that is more comprehensible to an English speaker, or, more generally, of altering something such that it becomes English in form or character.The term most often refers to...
from 'Preuss
Preuss
Preuss or Preuß is a German surname derived from Preussen, the German word for Prussia, and may refer to:* Charles Preuss , surveyor and cartographer on Fremont expeditions in the American West...
') was born into an Eastern European Jewish family in 1895. He emigrated from Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
in 1911 (at that time a part of Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
), first to New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and finally to Chicago. During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
he served in the United States Coast Guard
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...
, and then in the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
. Herman was a refrigeration expert. He headed appliance manufacturing and design at Sears
Sears, Roebuck and Company
Sears, officially named Sears, Roebuck and Co., is an American chain of department stores which was founded by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck in the late 19th century...
for Coldspot, working extensively with Raymond Loewy
Raymond Loewy
Raymond Loewy was an industrial designer, and the first to be featured on the cover of Time Magazine, on October 31, 1949. Born in France, he spent most of his professional career in the United States...
, who was a close family friend. With the onset of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Herman was loaned by Sears to the Douglas Aircraft Company
Douglas Aircraft Company
The Douglas Aircraft Company was an American aerospace manufacturer, based in Long Beach, California. It was founded in 1921 by Donald Wills Douglas, Sr. and later merged with McDonnell Aircraft in 1967 to form McDonnell Douglas...
where he applied his assembly line experience to organizing the mass production of aircraft, including the B-17 in particular. Although Herman was a charismatic businessman, he was an emotionally withdrawn and distant father for Dick.
Dick's mother, Audrey (Meyers) Price was born in Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
in 1895, and grew up in Auburn, Illinois
Auburn, Illinois
Auburn is a city in Sangamon County, Illinois, United States. The population was 4,317 at the 2000 census, and 4,445 in 2009. It is part of the Springfield, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Auburn is located at ....
. She was of Dutch, Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
and English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
heritage. Audrey was a domineering figure in the family, and a problematic and intrusive mother for Dick.
When Dick was born, the family lived in Rogers Park
Rogers Park, Chicago
Rogers Park is one of the 77 Chicago community areas on the far north side of Chicago, Illinois, and is also the name of the Chicago neighborhood that constitutes most of the community area...
. In 1936, the family moved into the two-floor penthouse apartment in a building at 707 W. Junior Terrace, just off Lake Shore Drive
Lake Shore Drive
Lake Shore Drive is a mostly freeway-standard expressway running parallel with and alongside the shoreline of Lake Michigan through Chicago, Illinois, USA. Except for the portion north of Foster Avenue , Lake Shore Drive is designated as part of U.S...
in Chicago.
Education
In 1941, the Price family moved to KenilworthKenilworth, Illinois
Kenilworth is a village in Cook County, Illinois, north of downtown Chicago. It is the newest of the nine suburban North Shore communities bordering Lake Michigan, and is the only one developed as a planned community...
on the North Shore
North Shore (Chicago)
The North Shore is a term that refers to the generally affluent suburbs north of Chicago, Illinois bordering the shore of Lake Michigan.- History :Europeans settled the area sparsely after an 1833 treaty with local Native Americans...
of Chicago. Dick graduated from New Trier High School
New Trier High School
New Trier High School is a public four-year high school , with its major campus located in Winnetka, Illinois, USA, and a second campus in Northfield, Illinois, with freshman classes and district administration...
in 1948. He joined New Trier’s wrestling team and placed second in his weight class in the state of Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
.
Dick Price graduated from Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
in 1952, with a major in psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
. He went on to do graduate work in the social relations department
Harvard Department of Social Relations
The Department of Social Relations for Interdisciplinary Social Science Studies, more commonly known as the "Department of Social Relations" was an interdisciplinary collaboration among three of the social science departments at Harvard University beginning in 1946...
at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, although he left because of his frustration with the conservative, research-oriented faculty.
While at Stanford, Dick studied with both Gregory Bateson
Gregory Bateson
Gregory Bateson was an English anthropologist, social scientist, linguist, visual anthropologist, semiotician and cyberneticist whose work intersected that of many other fields. He had a natural ability to recognize order and pattern in the universe...
and Frederic Spiegelberg
Frederic Spiegelberg
Frederic Spiegelberg was a Stanford University professor of religion. A friend of Paul Tillich, Martin Heidegger, and Carl Jung, he participated in Jung's Eranos symposia and lectured in Jung's institute in Zurich. Paul Tillich helped Spiegelberg escape Germany in 1937 after Spiegelberg was fired...
. They would later prove to be pivotal influences in the founding and development of Esalen.
San Francisco
After leaving Harvard in 1955, Dick Price joined the Air ForceAir force
An air force, also known in some countries as an air army, is in the broadest sense, the national military organization that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army, navy or...
and was given an assignment in the East Bay (San Francisco Bay Area)
East Bay (San Francisco Bay Area)
The East Bay is a commonly used, informal term for the lands on the eastern side of the San Francisco Bay, in the San Francisco Bay Area, in California, United States...
. He took a room in San Francisco at Alan Watts
Alan Watts
Alan Wilson Watts was a British philosopher, writer, and speaker, best known as an interpreter and popularizer of Eastern philosophy for a Western audience. Born in Chislehurst, he moved to the United States in 1938 and began Zen training in New York...
’ and Frederic Spiegelberg
Frederic Spiegelberg
Frederic Spiegelberg was a Stanford University professor of religion. A friend of Paul Tillich, Martin Heidegger, and Carl Jung, he participated in Jung's Eranos symposia and lectured in Jung's institute in Zurich. Paul Tillich helped Spiegelberg escape Germany in 1937 after Spiegelberg was fired...
’s newly founded American Academy of Asian Studies (the precursor to the California Institute of Integral Studies
California Institute of Integral Studies
California Institute of Integral Studies is a private institution of higher education founded in 1968 and based in San Francisco, California. It currently operates in three locations just south of the Civic Center district...
; though it was to close in late 1956). This placed him at the hub of the emerging North Beach
North Beach, San Francisco, California
North Beach is a neighborhood in the northeast of San Francisco adjacent to Chinatown, Fisherman's Wharf and Russian Hill. The neighborhood is San Francisco's Little Italy, and has historically been home to a large Italian American population. It still holds many Italian restaurants today, though...
Beat scene
Beat generation
The Beat Generation refers to a group of American post-WWII writers who came to prominence in the 1950s, as well as the cultural phenomena that they both documented and inspired...
. Dick knew most of the primary figures involved with the group (Jack Kerouac
Jack Kerouac
Jean-Louis "Jack" Lebris de Kerouac was an American novelist and poet. He is considered a literary iconoclast and, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Kerouac is recognized for his spontaneous method of writing, covering topics such as Catholic...
, Allen Ginsberg
Allen Ginsberg
Irwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet and one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation in the 1950s. He vigorously opposed militarism, materialism and sexual repression...
, etc.) and Gary Snyder
Gary Snyder
Gary Snyder is an American poet , as well as an essayist, lecturer, and environmental activist . Snyder is a winner of a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry...
in particular. During this time Dick married his first wife, Bonnie, in a Zen ceremony.
Psychosis
In 1956, in San Francisco, Dick Price experienced an episode of manicMania
Mania, the presence of which is a criterion for certain psychiatric diagnoses, is a state of abnormally elevated or irritable mood, arousal, and/ or energy levels. In a sense, it is the opposite of depression...
psychosis
Psychosis
Psychosis means abnormal condition of the mind, and is a generic psychiatric term for a mental state often described as involving a "loss of contact with reality"...
, which he later described as simply "a state," referring to a mental break that he believed to be transitory, and which he needed to go through and experience rather than repress or manage. He was hospitalized, returned to Chicago and discharged from the Air Force.
On December 7, 1956, Dick was committed by his parents to the Institute of Living, an exclusive mental treatment facility in Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
, until he was released on Thanksgiving Day of 1957. He was misdiagnosed as a schizophrenic
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a disintegration of thought processes and of emotional responsiveness. It most commonly manifests itself as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social...
, then subjected to physical confinement and major tranquilizers
Chlorpromazine
Chlorpromazine is a typical antipsychotic...
, along with numerous electroconvulsive
Electroconvulsive therapy
Electroconvulsive therapy , formerly known as electroshock, is a psychiatric treatment in which seizures are electrically induced in anesthetized patients for therapeutic effect. Its mode of action is unknown...
and insulin shock
Insulin shock therapy
Insulin shock therapy or insulin coma therapy was a form of psychiatric treatment in which patients were repeatedly injected with large doses of insulin in order to produce daily comas over several weeks...
treatments. While committed, his mother had his marriage annulled
Annulment
Annulment is a legal procedure for declaring a marriage null and void. Unlike divorce, it is usually retroactive, meaning that an annulled marriage is considered to be invalid from the beginning almost as if it had never taken place...
. He never forgave his parents for their actions during this episode.
These are Dick Price’s own words about the hospitalization experience:
There was a fundamental mistake being made and that mistake was supposing that the healing process was the disease, rather than the process whereby the disease is healed. The disease, if any, was the state previous to the “psychosis.”
The so called “psychosis” was an attempt towards spontaneous healing, and it was a movement towards health, not a movement towards disease.
In some categories it would be called mystical, really a re-owning and discovery of parts of myself.
After his release, Dick went back to the Chicago area, where he worked for his uncles' sign company, Price Brothers, the originators of many innovative American lighted signage designs of the early 20th century. However, the work did not engage Dick's imagination.
Founding Esalen
In May 1960, Dick Price returned to San Francisco and took up residence at the East-West House with Gia-Fu FengGia-Fu Feng
Gia-Fu Feng was prominent as both an English translator of Taoist classics and a Taoist teacher in the United States, associated with Alan Watts, Jack Kerouac, The Beats and Abraham Maslow....
. That year he met fellow Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
graduate, Michael Murphy
Michael Murphy (author)
Michael Murphy is the co-founder of the Esalen Institute, a key figure in the Human Potential Movement and author of both fiction and non-fiction books on topics related to extraordinary human potential.- Biography :...
, at Haridas Chaudhuri
Haridas Chaudhuri
Haridas Chaudhuri , Bengali integral philosopher, was a correspondent with Sri Aurobindo and the founder of the California Institute of Integral Studies . He was born in Kolkata. He studied at the Scottish Church College and later at the University of Calcutta from where he earned his doctorate in...
’s Cultural Integration Fellowship where Murphy was in residence. Dick moved into the Cultural Integration Fellowship as well. In 1961, Michael Murphy and Dick Price visited the oceanside property in Big Sur
Big Sur
Big Sur is a sparsely populated region of the Central Coast of California where the Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from the Pacific Ocean. The name "Big Sur" is derived from the original Spanish-language "el sur grande", meaning "the big south", or from "el país grande del sur", "the big...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, that was owned by Murphy's family. The property included a natural hot spring
Hot spring
A hot spring is a spring that is produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater from the Earth's crust. There are geothermal hot springs in many locations all over the crust of the earth.-Definitions:...
s.
In 1962, using the Murphy property and capital that Dick had accumulated, along with assistance from Alan Watts
Alan Watts
Alan Wilson Watts was a British philosopher, writer, and speaker, best known as an interpreter and popularizer of Eastern philosophy for a Western audience. Born in Chislehurst, he moved to the United States in 1938 and began Zen training in New York...
, Aldous Huxley
Aldous Huxley
Aldous Leonard Huxley was an English writer and one of the most prominent members of the famous Huxley family. Best known for his novels including Brave New World and a wide-ranging output of essays, Huxley also edited the magazine Oxford Poetry, and published short stories, poetry, travel...
, Laura Huxley
Laura Huxley
Laura Huxley was a musician, author, psychological counselor and lecturer.-Life and work:...
, Gerald Heard
Gerald Heard
Henry Fitzgerald Heard commonly called Gerald Heard was an historian, science writer, educator, and philosopher. He wrote many articles and over 35 books....
, Gregory Bateson
Gregory Bateson
Gregory Bateson was an English anthropologist, social scientist, linguist, visual anthropologist, semiotician and cyberneticist whose work intersected that of many other fields. He had a natural ability to recognize order and pattern in the universe...
and Frederic Spiegelberg
Frederic Spiegelberg
Frederic Spiegelberg was a Stanford University professor of religion. A friend of Paul Tillich, Martin Heidegger, and Carl Jung, he participated in Jung's Eranos symposia and lectured in Jung's institute in Zurich. Paul Tillich helped Spiegelberg escape Germany in 1937 after Spiegelberg was fired...
(with whom both had studied at Stanford), Dick Price and Michael Murphy founded Esalen Institute
Esalen Institute
Esalen Institute is a residential community and retreat in Big Sur, California, which focuses upon humanistic alternative education. Esalen is a nonprofit organization devoted to activites such as meditation, massage, Gestalt, yoga, psychology, ecology, and spirituality...
. Among other objectives, Dick saw Esalen as an alternative to then current mental health practice, especially the practices of mental hospitals. Esalen was to be a place where inner process could move forward safely and without interruption.
Previously, the natural hot springs baths on the Murphy property were part of a run-down resort (known as Slate's Hot Springs). The security guard was a youthful Hunter S. Thompson
Hunter S. Thompson
Hunter Stockton Thompson was an American journalist and author who wrote The Rum Diary , Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 .He is credited as the creator of Gonzo journalism, a style of reporting where reporters involve themselves in the action to...
. Joan Baez
Joan Baez
Joan Chandos Baez is an American folk singer, songwriter, musician and a prominent activist in the fields of human rights, peace and environmental justice....
was also in residence. Thompson was soon fired by Murphy's grandmother, although Baez remained in residence through the beginnings of Esalen. Henry Miller
Henry Miller
Henry Valentine Miller was an American novelist and painter. He was known for breaking with existing literary forms and developing a new sort of 'novel' that is a mixture of novel, autobiography, social criticism, philosophical reflection, surrealist free association, and mysticism, one that is...
regularly visited the hot springs during this early period of Esalen's history.
In the summer of 1962, Abraham Maslow
Abraham Maslow
Abraham Harold Maslow was an American professor of psychology at Brandeis University, Brooklyn College, New School for Social Research and Columbia University who created Maslow's hierarchy of needs...
happened to drive onto the Esalen grounds and soon became an important influence upon the development of the Institute. Julian Silverman came to Esalen in 1965, in order to work on the schizophrenia project at Agnews State Hospital, and ended up serving as Esalen's General Manager. Will Schutz came to Esalen in the 1960s and worked on aspects of his "encounter group" process. George Leonard
George Leonard
George Leonard was an American lawyer, jurist, and politician from Norton, Massachusetts. Besides service on state court benches and in both houses of the state legislature, he represented Massachusetts in the U.S. House of Representatives.-External links:*...
, Joseph Campbell
Joseph Campbell
Joseph John Campbell was an American mythologist, writer and lecturer, best known for his work in comparative mythology and comparative religion. His work is vast, covering many aspects of the human experience...
and Ida Rolf
Ida Pauline Rolf
Ida Pauline Rolf was a biochemist and the creator of Structural Integration or "Rolfing".-Early life and education:Rolf was born in New York in the Bronx on May 19, 1896....
were among the many people who had an impact upon Esalen's trajectory. In 1974, Dick Price married his second wife, Christine Stewart Price, a Gestalt practitioner who became Dick's primary collaborator at Esalen.
Altered State Research
Dick Price's interest in the expansion of human potentials led him to investigate many avenues of research, including the exploration of altered states of consciousness with psychotropic substances. In the early 1960s Dick experimented with LSDLSD
Lysergic acid diethylamide, abbreviated LSD or LSD-25, also known as lysergide and colloquially as acid, is a semisynthetic psychedelic drug of the ergoline family, well known for its psychological effects which can include altered thinking processes, closed and open eye visuals, synaesthesia, an...
administered by a psychiatrist. Later he discovered that empathogens, such as MDMA, facilitated self-exploration and were helpful in psychological healing when used in conjunction with therapy.
In 1973, Dick was instrumental in bringing Stanislav Grof to Esalen in the capacity of Scholar in Residence. Dr. Grof was interested in the enhancement of human potentials through the induction of non-ordinary states of consciousness. He had conducted research with LSD at the Psychiatric Research Center in Prague, followed by similar research at Johns Hopkins University and the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center. At Esalen, Dick Price encouraged Dr. Grof to develop the therapeutic technique of Holotropic Breathwork
Holotropic Breathwork
Holotropic Breathwork is a practice that uses breathing and other elements to allow access to non-ordinary states for the purpose of self-exploration. It was developed by Stanislav Grof, M.D., Ph.D. and Christina Grof, Ph.D. . Holotropic breathing has some similarities to rebirthing-breathwork,...
, which functioned as a substitute for psychedelic drugs.
Gestalt Practice
In 1964, Fritz PerlsFritz Perls
Friedrich Salomon Perls , better known as Fritz Perls, was a noted German-born psychiatrist and psychotherapist of Jewish descent....
, the psychiatrist who developed Gestalt therapy
Gestalt therapy
Gestalt therapy is an existential/experiential form of psychotherapy that emphasizes personal responsibility, and that focuses upon the individual's experience in the present moment, the therapist-client relationship, the environmental and social contexts of a person's life, and the self-regulating...
, arrived at Esalen. Dick Price became one of Perls' primary students during Perls' time at Esalen. Dick was influenced by the work of Wilhelm Reich
Wilhelm Reich
Wilhelm Reich was an Austrian-American psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, known as one of the most radical figures in the history of psychiatry...
, who had been Fritz Perls' analyst. Dick worked with Perls for approximately four years, between 1966 and 1970. During this period Dick experienced a second, brief manic break, arising from the unresolved trauma of his commitment. Fritz declared this episode fully resolved, and then told Dick that it was time for him to start teaching Gestalt on his own.
During the time that Dick Price ran Esalen, he educated himself widely in Western psychology and Eastern religions, including Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
and Taoism
Taoism
Taoism refers to a philosophical or religious tradition in which the basic concept is to establish harmony with the Tao , which is the mechanism of everything that exists...
. Dick drew from the work of many teachers who came to Esalen over the years. Gestalt Practice provided a humane approach that pulled together all these strands of ancient and modern knowledge into a coherent technique, similar to shamanistic methods of healing. This practice allowed Dick to work with other people as real people, not as objects that needed to be “fixed” in some way. Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, Dick continued practicing, modifying, and teaching Gestalt at Esalen, until his death in a hiking accident on November 25, 1985, when he was struck by a falling boulder. The method of Gestalt Practice
Gestalt Practice
Gestalt Practice - Pratique Gestalt, Gestaltpraxis, Prática Gestalt, Γκεστάλτ-πρακτική, Гештальт-практика, ゲシュタルト・プラクティス-Gestalt Practice:Gestalt Practice is a contemporary form of personal exploration and integration developed by Dick Price at Esalen Institute...
that Dick Price developed remains one of his most important achievements.
Hiking Practice
Dick Price would frequently hike the trails of the Santa Lucia Range, both for pleasure and for relief from the pressures of running Esalen Institute. This became a part of Dick’s process. HikingHiking
Hiking is an outdoor activity which consists of walking in natural environments, often in mountainous or other scenic terrain. People often hike on hiking trails. It is such a popular activity that there are numerous hiking organizations worldwide. The health benefits of different types of hiking...
was often a solitary practice for Dick, although he regularly took other people along. Sometimes Dick worked with them while hiking, doing Gestalt sessions that would turn out to be quite moving.
Steven Harper was one of Dick’s close friends and hiking partners at Esalen. Steven became a permanent resident of Big Sur, and a leader of wilderness process groups at Esalen. Steven was able to secure the official naming of two geographic features for Dick after his death. A very prominent ridge behind Esalen is now called Price Ridge, and a trail is named Price-Gagarin Trail after Dick and his friend Andrew Gagarin.
Legacy
In the time since his death, Dick Price's work has remained influential. October 2010 marked 80 years since his birth, and November 2010 was the 25th anniversary of his passing. Along with personal commemorations of Dick's life, there were two public workshops at Esalen dedicated to his legacy:Stepping in, Stepping Out: Gestalt and Hiking Practice October 3–8, and
Following the Way, Returning to the Source: A Celebration of the Life and Work of Richard Price November 14–19.
Besides the general role that Dick played in a unique episode of American history, he affected the lives of many people individually by his work in Gestalt Practice
Gestalt Practice
Gestalt Practice - Pratique Gestalt, Gestaltpraxis, Prática Gestalt, Γκεστάλτ-πρακτική, Гештальт-практика, ゲシュタルト・プラクティス-Gestalt Practice:Gestalt Practice is a contemporary form of personal exploration and integration developed by Dick Price at Esalen Institute...
groups. Moreover, Richard Price will be remembered for Esalen Institute
Esalen Institute
Esalen Institute is a residential community and retreat in Big Sur, California, which focuses upon humanistic alternative education. Esalen is a nonprofit organization devoted to activites such as meditation, massage, Gestalt, yoga, psychology, ecology, and spirituality...
- the place he built along with friends, the venture he ran for many years, and the model he left behind.
Further reading
- Anderson, Walter Truett. The Upstart Spring: Esalen and the American Awakening, Addison Wesley Publishing Company, January 1983. ISBN 0-201-11034-2, reprinted February 2004. ISBN 0-595-30735-3
- Kripal, Jeffrey and Glenn W. Shuck (editors). On The Edge Of The Future: Esalen And The Evolution Of American Culture, Indiana University Press. July 2005. ISBN 0-253-21759-8
- Kripal, Jeffrey. Esalen: America and the Religion of No Religion, University of Chicago Press, April 2007, ISBN 0-226-45369-3. {A summary was published in The Chronicle of Higher Education}
- Aperture (magazine)Aperture (magazine)Aperture is a quarterly photography magazine and a book publisher based in New York, New York. The magazine is published by Aperture Foundation, a non-profit organization devoted to fine art photography.-Magazine:...
, Number Ninety-Three, Winter 1982-1983. ISBN 0-89381-129-7 - Lattin, Don. Following Our Bliss : How the Spiritual Ideals of the Sixties Shape Our Lives Today, Harper, San Francisco, 2003. ISBN 0-06-009394-3
External links
- Celebrating the Life and Times of Richard Price
- Manual of Gestalt Practice in the tradition of Dick Price - The Gestalt Legacy Project ..."a peaceful practice, not a discourse"... This manual is used by contemporary practitioners to build peaceful communities. Gratitude is owed to all those who labored tirelessly to make this breakthrough possible, including: Dick Price, Chris Price, Dorothy Charles, Steven Harper, Seymour Carter, Gail Stewart, Pema ChödrönPema ChödrönPema Chödrön is a notable American figure in Tibetan Buddhism. A disciple of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, she is an ordained nun, author, and teacher in the Shambhala Buddhist lineage which Trungpa founded....
, Fritz Perls, Laura Perls, Erv and Miriam Polster. - Excerpts from an interview with Dick Price conducted by Wade Hudson
- "Totally on Fire: The Experience of Founding Esalen" excerpted from Esalen: America and the Religion of No Religion by Jeffrey J. Kripal
- The Richard Price Legacy
- The Dick Price Celebration at Esalen Institute
- Notes on Gestalt Practice