Yoga and Psychology

Yoga and Psychology PDF Author: Harold Coward
Publisher: State University of New York Press
ISBN: 0791487911
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 126

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Book Description
Harold Coward explores how the psychological aspects of Yoga philosophy have been important to intellectual developments both East and West. Foundational for Hindu, Jaina, and Buddhist thought and spiritual practice, Patañjali's Yoga Sutras, the classical statement of Eastern Yoga, are unique in their emphasis on the nature and importance of psychological processes. Yoga's influence is explored in the work of both the seminal Indian thinker Bhartrhari (c. 600 C.E.) and among key figures in Western psychology: founders Freud and Jung, as well as contemporary transpersonalists such as Washburn, Tart, and Ornstein.. Coward shows how the yogic notion of psychological processes makes Bhartrhari's philosophy of language and his theology of revelation possible. He goes on to explore how Western psychology has been influenced by incorporating or rejecting Patañjali's Yoga. The implications of these trends in Western thought for mysticism and memory are examined as well. This analysis results in a notable insight, namely, that there is a crucial difference between Eastern and Western thought with regard to how limited or perfectible human nature is—the West maintaining that we as humans are psychologically, philosophically, and spiritually limited or flawed in nature and thus not perfectible, while Patañjali's Yoga and Eastern thought generally maintain the opposite. Different Western responses to the Eastern position are noted, from complete rejection by Freud, Jung, and Hick, to varying degrees of acceptance by transpersonal thinkers.

Yoga and Psychology

Yoga and Psychology PDF Author: Harold Coward
Publisher: State University of New York Press
ISBN: 0791487911
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 126

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Book Description
Harold Coward explores how the psychological aspects of Yoga philosophy have been important to intellectual developments both East and West. Foundational for Hindu, Jaina, and Buddhist thought and spiritual practice, Patañjali's Yoga Sutras, the classical statement of Eastern Yoga, are unique in their emphasis on the nature and importance of psychological processes. Yoga's influence is explored in the work of both the seminal Indian thinker Bhartrhari (c. 600 C.E.) and among key figures in Western psychology: founders Freud and Jung, as well as contemporary transpersonalists such as Washburn, Tart, and Ornstein.. Coward shows how the yogic notion of psychological processes makes Bhartrhari's philosophy of language and his theology of revelation possible. He goes on to explore how Western psychology has been influenced by incorporating or rejecting Patañjali's Yoga. The implications of these trends in Western thought for mysticism and memory are examined as well. This analysis results in a notable insight, namely, that there is a crucial difference between Eastern and Western thought with regard to how limited or perfectible human nature is—the West maintaining that we as humans are psychologically, philosophically, and spiritually limited or flawed in nature and thus not perfectible, while Patañjali's Yoga and Eastern thought generally maintain the opposite. Different Western responses to the Eastern position are noted, from complete rejection by Freud, Jung, and Hick, to varying degrees of acceptance by transpersonal thinkers.

The Psychology of Yoga

The Psychology of Yoga PDF Author: Georg Feuerstein
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
ISBN: 0834829215
Category : Health & Fitness
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
"Psychoanalysis itself and the lines of thought to which it gives rise," said C. G. Jung, "are only a beginner’s attempt compared to what is an immemorial art in the East"—by which he was referring to the millennia-old study of the mind found in Yoga. That tradition was hardly known in the West when the discipline of psychology arose in the nineteenth century, but with the passing of time the common ground between Yoga and psychology has become ever more apparent. Georg Feuerstein here uses a modern psychological perspective to explore the ways Hindu, Buddhist, and Jaina yogas have traditionally regarded the mind and how it works—and shows how that understanding can enhance modern psychology in both theory and practice.

Practical Yoga Psychology

Practical Yoga Psychology PDF Author: Rishi Vivekananda
Publisher:
ISBN: 9788186336397
Category : Painting, Japanese
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Practical Yoga Psychology is a guide to applying the principles of yoga to understanding the human mind and character. The book relates the practice of yoga to the principles and practice of psychology. Psychology is a science that tries to understand how the human mind functions. It tries to explain individual human traits, the behaviour of a person, the way they relate to other people, their surroundings and the world in general. The character and behaviour of a person is studied not just for an abstract understanding but also to find ways in which each person can improve relationships, improve the way they interact with the world and thus enhance their life experience.The science of yoga studies the human soul. In the view of yoga, it is not the body and mind that experience life. It is the soul that undergoes all these experiences through the body. Yoga classifies the character of a person based on the three Gunas, Tamas, Rajas and Sattva.Tamas is inertia, Rajas is passion and action and Sattwa is purity and balance. Yoga also studies the influences of the various chakras on the body and mind of a person. The chakras are centers of concentrated energy. The book explains the core qualities inherent in each chakra.

Integral Psychology

Integral Psychology PDF Author: Brant Cortright
Publisher: State University of New York Press
ISBN: 0791480135
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 244

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Book Description
Integral Psychology connects Eastern and Western approaches to psychology and healing. Psychology in the East has focused on our inner being and spiritual foundation of the psyche. Psychology in the West has focused on our outer being and the wounding of the body-heart-mind and self. Each requires the other to complete it, and in bringing them together an integral view of psychology comes into view. The classical Indian yogas are used as a way to see psychotherapy: psychotherapy as behavior change or karma yoga; psychotherapy as mindfulness practice or jnana yoga; psychotherapy as opening the heart or bhakti yoga. Finally, an integral approach is suggested that synthesizes traditional Western and Eastern practices for healing, growth, and transformation.

The Psychology of Kundalini Yoga

The Psychology of Kundalini Yoga PDF Author: C. G. Jung
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400821916
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 192

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Book Description
"Kundalini yoga presented Jung with a model of something that was almost completely lacking in Western psychology--an account of the development phases of higher consciousness.... Jung's insistence on the psychogenic and symbolic significance of such states is even more timely now than then. As R. D. Laing stated... 'It was Jung who broke the ground here, but few followed him.'"--From the introduction by Sonu Shamdasani Jung's seminar on Kundalini yoga, presented to the Psychological Club in Zurich in 1932, has been widely regarded as a milestone in the psychological understanding of Eastern thought and of the symbolic transformations of inner experience. Kundalini yoga presented Jung with a model for the developmental phases of higher consciousness, and he interpreted its symbols in terms of the process of individuation. With sensitivity toward a new generation's interest in alternative religions and psychological exploration, Sonu Shamdasani has brought together the lectures and discussions from this seminar. In this volume, he re-creates for today's reader the fascination with which many intellectuals of prewar Europe regarded Eastern spirituality as they discovered more and more of its resources, from yoga to tantric texts. Reconstructing this seminar through new documentation, Shamdasani explains, in his introduction, why Jung thought that the comprehension of Eastern thought was essential if Western psychology was to develop. He goes on to orient today's audience toward an appreciation of some of the questions that stirred the minds of Jung and his seminar group: What is the relation between Eastern schools of liberation and Western psychotherapy? What connection is there between esoteric religious traditions and spontaneous individual experience? What light do the symbols of Kundalini yoga shed on conditions diagnosed as psychotic? Not only were these questions important to analysts in the 1930s but, as Shamdasani stresses, they continue to have psychological relevance for readers on the threshold of the twenty-first century. This volume also offers newly translated material from Jung's German language seminars, a seminar by the indologist Wilhelm Hauer presented in conjunction with that of Jung, illustrations of the cakras, and Sir John Woodroffe's classic translation of the tantric text, the Sat-cakra Nirupana. ?

Psychology of Yoga and Meditation

Psychology of Yoga and Meditation PDF Author: C. G. Jung
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691217858
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 408

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Book Description
Jung's illuminating lectures on the psychology of Eastern spirituality Between 1933 and 1941, C. G. Jung delivered a series of public lectures at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich. Intended for a general audience, these lectures addressed a broad range of topics, from dream analysis to the psychology of alchemy. Here for the first time are Jung's illuminating lectures on the psychology of yoga and meditation, delivered between 1938 and 1940. In these lectures, Jung discusses the psychological technique of active imagination, seeking to find parallels with the meditative practices of different yogic and Buddhist traditions. He draws on three texts to introduce his audience to Eastern meditation: Patañjali's Yoga Sûtra, the Amitâyur-dhyâna-sûtra from Chinese Pure Land Buddhism, and the Shrî-chakra-sambhâra Tantra, a scripture related to tantric yoga. The lectures offer a unique opportunity to encounter Jung as he shares his ideas with the general public, providing a rare window on the application of his comparative method while also shedding light on his personal history and psychological development. Featuring an incisive introduction by Martin Liebscher as well as explanations of Jungian concepts and psychological terminology, Psychology of Yoga and Meditation provides invaluable insights into the evolution of Jung's thought and a vital key to understanding his later work.

Yoga Psychology and the Transformation of Consciousness

Yoga Psychology and the Transformation of Consciousness PDF Author: Don Salmon
Publisher: Paragon House Publishers
ISBN:
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 454

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Book Description
From the perspective of yoga psychology the view from infinity even our basest instincts, our most mundane acts, and our greatest follies can be understood as the limited or distorted expressions of a purposeful, compassionate and infinite intelligence. Yoga Psychology is based on the writings of Sri Aurobindo, the revolutionary poet and philosopher who founded the independence movement in India later led by Mahatma Ghandi.

Yoga & Psyche

Yoga & Psyche PDF Author: Mariana Caplan
Publisher: Sounds True
ISBN: 9781622036561
Category : Health & Fitness
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
Has yoga improved your health and expanded your awareness—but emotional and relationship issues continue to challenge you? Or have you found psychotherapy helpful . . . yet you yearn for further spiritual discovery? With Yoga & Psyche, Mariana Caplan invites you to explore these two profound domains of transformation and learn how they so effectively complement each other. In this compelling guide—rich with original research, clinical findings, Dr. Caplan's own personal experiences, and many direct, hands-on practices—she takes you on an in-depth exploration of this emerging terrain. Along the way, you are invited to become a participant in the evolution of this emergent field. Using the core principles and practices of trauma healing, yoga therapy, somatics and somatic therapies, depth psychology, and neuroscience—seamlessly combined with yoga postures, breathwork, meditation, and visualization—Yoga & Psyche will help you to: • Apply the insights of psychology in a practical way to your own yoga practice, teaching, professional work, and personal life • Discover how to use psychological inquiry to amplify yoga—turning it into a powerfully effective "free therapy on the mat" • Delve into the many emotional layers of asana and yoga practice for trauma healing and recovery • Experience step-by-step exercises to transform your yoga practice and experience greater calm, clarity, and emotional well-being Yoga & Psyche is emerging as a go-to reference guide to the joining of these two fields, now being adopted in yoga and somatic teacher training programs and university psychology classes nationwide. If you're seeking healing, transformation, and greater moments of daily joy and fulfillment—or want to help others do so—this comprehensive guide provides the compassionate, practical, and groundbreaking guidance you need.

Integral Yoga Psychology

Integral Yoga Psychology PDF Author: Debashish Banerji
Publisher: Lotus Press
ISBN: 1608692337
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 582

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Book Description
Integral Yoga Psychology is a new attempt to position the Integral Yoga of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother within the frame of yoga psychology, as an inquiry related to transpersonal and whole-person psychologies. This book contains 11 essays by leading scholar-practitioners of integral yoga, sketching its possibility-space as a psychology. It attemps this through a hermeneutics of the texts of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, as well as their own and their disciples' practices and experiences. It also makes a beginning at locating the field in its larger contexts, through comparative, qualitative and empirical studies, as well as probing the clinical possibilities of its models.

Our Many Selves

Our Many Selves PDF Author: Sri Aurobindo
Publisher: Lotus Press
ISBN: 9780940985346
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 292

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Book Description
Many of us face the difficulty of trying to change something in our nature, only to find that it is either difficult or virtually impossible. The key to solving this problem actually lies in a deeper understanding of the true nature of our psychological being. We are actually composed of various different "parts" or "planes" of action that combine together, interact with one another and impinge upon one another. This understanding allows us to differentiate between a mental idea, a force of will, an emotional movement, a vital energy, or a physical structure, and thereby more clearly understand the results of our psychological efforts and growth activities.