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Modern Psychology and Ancient Wisdom

Psychological Healing Practices from the World's Religious Traditions

• By Sharon G. Mijares

• Price: $49.95
• Binding: Hardback (also available in Paperback)
• Pages: 284
• Published by: Routledge
• Publication Date: 14th January 2003
• ISBN: 978-0-7890-1751-2

About the Book

Harness the psychospiritual healing potential of prayer, meditation, breathing, and more!

This thoughtful anthology illuminates ancient ways of psychospiritual healing. Research has shown the healing potential of prayer, meditation, controlled breathing, and other timeless spiritual disciplines. This extraordinary book brings together experts who explore these concepts from the perspectives of Christianity, Buddhism, Sufism, the Goddess tradition, Judaism, Native American spirituality, Taoism, and Hinduism/Yoga.

In Modern Psychology and Ancient Wisdom: Psychological Healing Practices from the World’s Religious Traditions, you’ll discover ancient techniques used by teachers, guides, and practitioners through the ages to facilitate psychological healing.

Each chapter of this unique book presents a unique and distinctive view of psychospiritual practice and demonstrates its healing applications. With it, you will explore:

• the Buddhist concept of Brilliant Sanity and how to help clients reconnect to it through several specific practices
• ways of accessing the healing power of Christ as employed by various denominations
• a remarkable collection of metaphors in the Goddess tradition to help in the healing process for battered and abused women
• Kabbalistic (Jewish mystical) paths to healing
• Native American healing rituals and tales
• Sufi stories, poetry, and practices--dance, sound, breathing, turning, walking meditation, and remembrance--that encourage the healing process
• health and healing resources from the Taoist tradition, including wu-wei (effortless effort), acupuncture, diet and nutrition, and meditation
• Hindu yoga techniques that employ physical postures, mantric sound, and breath control
• and much more!

Modern Psychology and Ancient Wisdom is a book that offers important help to the layperson, psychologist, pastoral caregiver, and professor. It will help religious leaders understand more about the practices of other faiths. It is in harmony with the movement of our post-modern world toward multicultural perspectives, offering a large, varied, and meaningful view of the world.

Table of Contents

• About the Editor
• Contributors
• Foreword
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Examining the Problem
• The Shadow Side of Neglect
• Integrating Science and Religion
• Buddhism
• Chapter 1. Nurturing the Seeds of Sanity: A Buddhist Approach to Psychotherapy
• Introduction
• Brilliant Sanity and Buddha Nature
• The Four Noble Truths
• The Path of Contemplative Psychotherapy
• Cultivating Mindfulness
• The Four Foundations of Mindfulness
• Using Mindless Practices Mindfully
• The Outcome
• Christianity
• Chapter 2. Rediscovering Christ, the Healer
• Rediscovering Mystical Christianity
• Contemporary Prayer Experiences
• Prayer Healing with Scripture Stories
• Free-Form Prayer Healing
• An Experience of Prayer Healing
• A Transpersonal Model of Christian Prayer Healing
• Mary, the Saints, and Other Wisdom Figures
• Healing of the Generations—A New Perspective on Purgatory
• Intercessory Prayer and the Liturgy of Healing
• Prayer in a Mystical Cosmos
• Goddess Spirituality
• Chapter 3. Tales of the Goddess: Healing Metaphors for Women
• The Splitting of Earth and Sky
• Embodied Narratives
• The Cycles of a Woman’s Life
• Reclaiming the Garden of Paradise
• Judaism
• Chapter 4. Jewish Spiritual Pathways for Growth and Healing
• Introduction
• Kabbalistic Paths of Healing
• Balancing Yourself on the Tree of Your Life
• The Three Strands of the Soul
• Meditation and the Tree of Life
• Returning to Your Soul: The Relationship Between Rabbi and Student
• Community As Healer
• Jewish Holidays: Holistic Days
• Future Directions in Jewish Spirituality and Psychological Growth
• Summary
• Native American Psychospirituality
• Chapter 5. Dancing the Circle: Native American Concepts of Healing
• Introduction
• East: New Beginnings
• South: Initiation and Learning
• West: Revelation and Insight
• North: Transformation and Systemic Change
• Self-Care and Integrity: Guides for the Healer
• Conclusion
• Sufism
• Chapter 6. The Key in the Dark: Self and Soul Transformation in the Sufi Tradition
• History and Background
• The Ecology of Mind in Sufi Stories and Poetry
• Views of the Self and Soul
• Practices: Breath, Sound, Walking Meditation, Dance, Turning, and Remembrance
• Twenty-First-Century Applications
• Taoism
• Chapter 7. Taoist Mind-Body Resources for Psychological Health and Healing
• Taoism: The Tao, Ch’i, and Ch’i Gung
• “Good-Enough” Health and Wellness
• The Path of No-Paths: Suchness and Simplicity
• “No-Identity Is True Identity”
• Illness As “Stuck” or “Attached” Life Energy
• Wu Wei: The Ultimate Achievement in Taoist “Wellness”
• On Taoist Masters and Students
• Conclusion
• Yoga and Hinduism
• Chapter 8. The Yoga Path: Awakening from the Dream
• Introduction
• Indian Science
• Yoga As Somatic Science
• Yoga Education
• The Goals or Outcomes of Yoga
• Yoga and Psychotherapy
• Cautions for Yoga Practice
• Yoga and the Psychospiritual Client
• Yoga As a Way of Life
• Conclusion
• Ways of Presenting Spiritual Teachings
• Ethical Concerns
• Distinctions and Similarities
• Healing Self, Healing Culture
• Index
• Reference Notes Included