The concepts of Ayurveda and Pāli Literature in connection to Psychotherapy

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kolarkar Rajesh Shivajirao ◽  
Kolarkar Rajashree Rajesh
Keyword(s):  
Mental Disorders ◽  
Laws Of Nature ◽  
Code Of Conduct ◽  
Economic Consequences ◽  
Ultimate Truth ◽  
Traditional System ◽  
The World ◽  
Mind And Body ◽  
The Mind ◽  
The Buddha

The perfect balance of Mind and body is considered as complete health in Pāli literature as well as in Ayurveda. Pāli literature and Ayurveda have their own identity as most ancient and traditional system of medicine in India.The universal teachings of the Buddha are the most precious legacy ancient India gave to the world. The teachings are a practical code of conduct, a way of purity and of gracious living. There is a scientific study of the truth pertaining to mind and matter, and the ultimate truth beyond. In fact, the Buddha should be more appropriately known as a super-scientist who studied the entire laws of nature governing the Universe, by direct personal experience. The Buddha's rational teachings are clearly explained in the Eight-fold Noble Path, divided in three divisions of Sīla (morality), Samādhi (mastery over the mind), Paññā i.e. ‘Pragya' (purification of the mind, by developing insight). In Ayurveda Psychotherapy can be done by Satvavajaya Chikitsa and good conduct. Aim is to augment the Satva Guna in order to correct the imbalance in state of Rajas (Passion) and Tamas (Inertia). Sattvavajaya as psychotherapy, is the mental restraint, or a "mind control" as referred by Caraka, as well as Vagbhata is achieved Dnyan (education), Vidnyan (training in developing skill), Dhairya (development of coping mechanism), Smruti (memory enhancement), Samadhi (concentration of mind). According to WHO, Mental disorders are the common problem. The burden of mental disorders continues to grow with significant impacts on health and major social, human rights and economic consequences in all countries of the world.

scholarly journals Enhancing the power of understanding

2021 ◽  
Vol 01 (01) ◽  
pp. 13-15
Author(s):  
Asoka S. Karunananda ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Cognitive Capacity ◽  
Cognitive Tasks ◽  
Ultimate Truth ◽  
The World ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Second Year ◽  
The Buddha ◽  
Reading Activities

Power of understanding is a rewarding cognitive capacity required for all of us from early childhood to the highest level of intellectual settings. Among other things, the concept of understanding plays a vital role in education. When I was a second-year undergraduate, I was so curious to know why some of my colleagues could understand subjects much faster than the others, and this curiosity compelled me to research on how understanding manifests in our minds. My literature review revealed that the ultimate happiness/truth stated in Buddhism is a matter of understanding the world differently from the way we do it generally. Literature also showed that many people in Buddha’s time understood the ultimate truth while listening to the discourse of the Buddha. Those who could not understand a matter then and there had to develop certain cognitive skills through various cognitive tasks such as further listening, discussing, thinking, and meditating. This is equally applicable to our educational settings as well because some students understand the subject matter during the lecture itself, while the others need involve in additional reading activities, discussions, tutorial work, and so on.

The Vajrakīla Tantras

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Boord
Keyword(s):  
Complete System ◽  
Code Of Conduct ◽  
Ancient India ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Total Destruction ◽  
Sanskrit Word ◽  
The World ◽  
The One ◽  
The Buddha ◽  
Vital Element

Belonging to an esoteric corpus of Buddhist texts known as the teachings of secret mantra (Skt. guhyamantra), the tantras of Vajrakīla have been carefully guarded through the centuries and handed down from teacher to disciple under a strictly ethical code of conduct. Although the texts themselves often seem to advocate a violent and unrestrained lifestyle, under the skillful guidance of a suitably qualified guru, who must be seen by the disciple as none other than the Buddha himself, one who seriously engages in the systematic practice of their profound series of meditations becomes quickly and thoroughly purified in body, speech, and mind. The wrathful deity Vajrakīla is described in all the tantras that bear his name as the manifestation of heroic power for the overthrow of Māra. During times of peace he manifests as Vajrasattva, and his mind abides in tranquility. During times of activity he manifests as “Vajra of Total Destruction” (Skt. *Ativināśanavajra) and, when manifesting as a bodhisattva, he is Vajrapāṇi, “the One with a Vajra in his Hand.” With regard to his name “Vajrakīla”: vajra as a prefix is found everywhere within the Buddhist tantras. Originally meaning “the hard or mighty one” and referring in particular to the thunderbolt as a weapon of Indra, it subsequently became so intimately associated with the development of tantric ideas in Buddhism that the entire system of practice came to be known as the Vajrayāna or Vajra Vehicle. Indeed, as a symbol within the Buddhist tantras it is as pregnant with meaning as the very texts themselves. Characterized as abhedya, “unbreakable,” and acchedya, “indivisible,” the term may be said to represent nothing less than the full enlightenment of the samyaksaṃbuddha, who himself came to be referred to as Vajradhara, “Holder of the Vajra.” The Sanskrit word kīla means “nail,” “peg,” or “spike,” and thus Vajrakīla may be taken to mean “the unassailable spike” or, on a higher level, “(He who is) the nail of supreme enlightenment.” Introduced to Tibet during the 8th century ce, the Buddhist tantras of Vajrakīla were received with great enthusiasm and quickly became established as a vital element in the religious life of the Tibetan empire. Said to encompass every aspect of the ground, path, and goal, the Vajrakīla tantras present a coherent and complete system of spiritual practice that culminates in the attainment of perfect liberation from the round of rebirth. The roots of Kīla mythology, however, may lie buried deep within the pre-Buddhist religion of ancient India where, in the Ṛgveda, the story is told of the god Indra who slew the demon Vṛtra. It is said that, at that time, Indra stabilized the earth and propped up the heavens with a kīla and thus, at the outset, we have clearly discernible indications of a path along which a simple wooden stake might travel so as eventually to become deified as a terrifying god of awesome power, one by whom all demons are vanquished and enlightenment realized for the benefit of the world.

James’s Radical Empiricism: Sensation and Pure Experience

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wesley Cooper
Keyword(s):  
Radical Empiricism ◽  
The World ◽  
Mind And Body ◽  
Pure Experience ◽  
The Law ◽  
Nomic Structure ◽  
The Mind

This chapter examines the concept of sensation in William James’s Principles of Psychology (1890). Like empiricists before him, James thought that the contents of the mind are built up from sensations; this is the sensationalism of the Principles. But for him, this interior location is secondary to sensation’s first location, which is exterior to the mind. In James’s psychology, the interiority and exteriority of sensations are differentiated by their role in the economy of the mind. In his radically empiricist metaphysics, the economy of the mind will become the economy of the world. The law-governed dualism of mind and body persists, even if these categories are anachronistic from a metaphysical viewpoint. The world of pure experience retains the nomic structure introduced in the Principles, and as such it is not autonomous from the physical. The physical is rendered pure-experiential, but its relationship to the mental, also now rendered pure-experiential, remains governed by scientific law. The chapter then considers how, in the Principles, James’s sensationalism is tied to his cerebralism.

AN OBJECTIVITY OF THE IDEAL IN A MODERN PHILOSOPHY

2021 ◽  
pp. 28-37
Author(s):  
Evgenii M. Dmitrievskii ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Practice ◽  
Laws Of Nature ◽  
Social Consciousness ◽  
Cultural Objects ◽  
The World ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Mind ◽  
Objective Existence ◽  
Form Scheme ◽  
The Ideal

The article analyzes the ideal from the position of antipsycholo- gism (objectivism), which is opposed to psychologism. The proponents of psy- chologism attributed the ideal only to the mind of an individual. Objectivists considered the existence of the ideal not only in the mind of a separate indivi- dual, but also outside of it, as a rule, allocating their own area for it in reality. But the objectivists also understood the objective existence of the ideal differ- ently. E. Husserl connected the ideal with the pure laws of logic and mathema- tics, comprehended intuitively. G. Frege extended the ideal, including the laws of nature, linking it with the meaning of the sentence. He also formulated the concept of three regions of reality, including the ideal. K. Popper extended the ideal to cultural objects and also introduced the principles of evolutionism into the world of the ideal. M. A. Lifshits connected the ideal with all objects, both the natural and cultural. He pointed to the activity of the ideal in relation to the subject. E.V. Ilyenkov understood the ideal not as an abstract image, but as a form (scheme) of human activity in the rational transformation of the reality objects revealed in social practice. He believed that the ideal exists objectively in the forms of social consciousness.

Solitary Confinement—Effects and Practices from the Nineteenth Century until Today

2019 ◽  
pp. 21-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Scharff Smith
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
The United States ◽  
Solitary Confinement ◽  
Confinement Effects ◽  
The World ◽  
Mind And Body ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Mind

This chapter traces the history of solitary confinement practices and their effects in prisons and places of detention from the rise of the modern penitentiary in the United States and Europe during the nineteenth century and up until present day, examining methods used in different countries around the world. It discusses how various forms of isolation have been employed for very different purposes and demonstrates how the effects of solitary confinement have been discovered in different contexts during the last two centuries. Nevertheless, these effects have been forgotten or neglected at several important junctures during the history of imprisonment. Today, few doubt that solitary confinement often has powerful consequences for the mind and body of prisoners, but the degree to which lawmakers and prison administrators acknowledge this varies greatly.

A GLIMPSE ON PSYCHIATRY IN AYURVEDA PERSPECTIVE A REVIEW ON CHARAKA SAMHITA

2021 ◽  
pp. 55-58
Author(s):  
Kshirabdhi Tanaya Rautaray ◽  
Shiva Prasad Mohanty
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Disorders ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Treatment Method ◽  
Traditional System ◽  
Raising Awareness ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Systematic Understanding ◽  
The Mind

Mental health is an essential &integrative part of health. It is the foundation for well being and effective functioning of individuals. The present world is slowly getting consumed by mental health issues every day, with millions are ghting their own battle in trying to survive. Burden of mental disorders has risen over last few decades. Currently mental and behavioral disorders account for about 13% of global burden of the disease. Mental disorders are among the leading causes of non-fatal diseases burden in India, but a systematic understanding of their prevalence, disease burden &risk factors is not readily available now. If we evaluate developments in the eld of mental health, the pace appears to be slow. Raising awareness and mobilizing efforts in support of mental health is necessary for addressing the situation. Ayurveda has its own identity as most ancient and traditional system of medicine. Being a holistic science, Ayurveda explores the symbiotic relationship among the mind, body, soul, the senses and their working. The holistic approach of Ayurveda signicantly results as a complementary treatment method to Allopathic in various mental disorders. Hence an effort is made by the author for understanding the evolution of various mental issues by exposition of the concepts as per Ayurvedic and Modern perspective related to psyche and scientic exploration of the holistic approach of Ayurveda towards the mental health related issues

A Foucauldian Reading of Huxley’s Brave New World

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 12
Author(s):  
Bilal Tawfiq Hamamra
Keyword(s):  
New World ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
World State ◽  
Production And Consumption ◽  
The World ◽  
Mind And Body ◽  
Human World ◽  
Brave New World ◽  
The Mind ◽  
Systematic Control

Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World (1932) is a nightmarish depiction of a post-human world where human beings are mass-produced to serve production and consumption. In this paper, I discuss the manipulations of minds and bodies with reference to Foucault’s biopower and disciplinary systems that make the citizens of the world state more profitable and productive. I argue that Brave New World depicts a dystopian systematic control of mind and body through eugenic engineering, biological conditioning, hypnopaedia, sexual satisfaction, and drugs so as to keep the worldians completely controlled, collectivized and contented in a totalitarian society. The world state eradicates love, religion, art and history and deploys language devoid of any emotions and thoughts to control the mind that judges and decides. I argue that Brave New World anticipates the Foucauldian paradigm of resistance, subversion and containment, ending in eliminating the forces that pose a challenge to the ideology of the world state.

Medical Analogies in Buddhist and Hellenistic Thought: Tranquillity and Anger

2010 ◽  
Vol 66 ◽  
pp. 11-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher W. Gowans
Keyword(s):  
Medical Treatment ◽  
Psychological Health ◽  
Medical Science ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Doctor Who ◽  
Mental Diseases ◽  
The World ◽  
Hellenistic Philosophy ◽  
The Mind ◽  
The Buddha

Medical analogies are commonly invoked in both Indian Buddhist dharma and Hellenistic philosophy. In the Pāli Canon, nirvana (or, in Pāli, nibbāna) is depicted as a form of health, and the Buddha is portrayed as a doctor who helps us attain it. Much later in the tradition, Śāntideva described the Buddha’s teaching as ‘the sole medicine for the ailments of the world, the mine of all success and happiness.’ Cicero expressed the view of many Hellenistic philosophers when he said that philosophy is ‘a medical science for the mind.’ He thought we should ‘hand ourselves over to philosophy, and let ourselves be healed.’ ‘For as long as these ills [of the mind] remain,’ he wrote, ‘we cannot attain to happiness.’ There are many different forms of medical analogy in these two traditions, but the most general form may be stated as follows: just as medicine cures bodily diseases and brings about physical health, so Buddhist dharma or Hellenistic philosophy cures mental diseases and brings about psychological health—where psychological health is understood as the highest form of happiness or well-being. Insofar as Buddhist dharma involves philosophy, as it does, both renditions of the analogy may be said to declare that philosophy cures mental diseases and brings about psychological health. This feature of the analogy—philosophy as analogous to medical treatment—has attracted considerable attention.

Yoga and Psychotherapy: A Review of the Literature

2001 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Slède ◽  
Rachel Pomerantz
Keyword(s):  
Mental Disorders ◽  
Review Of The Literature ◽  
Psychological Benefits ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Cultural Expectations ◽  
Personal Motivation ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Mind And Body ◽  
Promising Treatment ◽  
The Mind

Yoga is an ancient discipline focusing on the union of the mind and body. In recent years, Yoga has generated much interest within the scientific community regarding its physiological and psychological benefits,including its power as a healing modality. To date, studies of variable quality have been conducted examining Yoga as a treatment for mental disorders, including mood disorders, anxiety disorders, drug addiction, mental retardation, pain management, and body image. While these studies as a whole suggest that Yoga may be a promising treatment, much work remains to be done before drawing any valid, scientific conclusions. Specifically,more and better-designed studies need to be conducted in order to conclusively demonstrate Yoga's usefulness as a treatment for certain mental disorders. In order to add to the existing knowledge base, future studies will need to more clearly define Yoga and develop better controls for variables such as cultural expectations and personal motivation. Ultimately, a second generation of studies might point to the different types of populations who would most benefit from Yoga versus more conventional treatments. It is hoped that this review will point the way for future studies and encourage researchers to continue exploring the possibilities of this promising treatment for psychological disorders.

Spirit and Body in the World of Modern Technology

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 24-35
Author(s):  
Zoran Avramović
Keyword(s):  
Modern Science ◽  
Modern Technology ◽  
The Body ◽  
Self Image ◽  
The World ◽  
Mind And Body ◽  
The One ◽  
The Mind ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract Spirit and body of the man living in the world of modern technology are discussed in the paper. The entire life of modern man is under the pressure of rapid and far‐reaching changes in economy, organisation, education, self‐image. The relations between the spirit and the body on the one side and illness and health, money, media, narcissism, morality and national identity on the other side are studied in the article. Particular attention is paid to the relationship between the world of modern science and technology and the quality of life focusing on the mind and body. The fact emphazised in the conclusion is that the nature of Western ‐ European civilization has been changing with predominant turning to the SELF, to the absolute interest of an invidual in terms of materialism. The result of this civilizational turn is jeopardizing the spirit and the body of modern man.

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