The Positive Psychology of Buddhism and Yoga: Paths to A Mature Happiness
Product Description
This book describes Buddhist-Yogic ideas in relation to those of contemporary Western psychology. The book begins with the Buddhist view of the human psyche and of the human condition. This leads to the question of what psychological changes need to be made to improve that condition. Similarities between Buddhism and Western Psychology include: Both are concerned with alleviating inner pain, turmoil, affliction and suffering. Both are humanistic and naturalist… More >>
The Positive Psychology of Buddhism and Yoga: Paths to A Mature Happiness
In the first part author makes two no-nonsense courses: buddhism and yoga for dummies. For complete novices this is great reading, for more knowledgable or practitioners there are many maybe not so well known similarities between systems. For example buddhist eight-fold path (4th noble truth) and yamas and niyamas of yoga (first two of eight limbs or ashtanga) are two quite congruent systems of .. of what? First answer would be ethics, or sort of eastern ten commandments, but they are much more – they are concise systems for personal/spiritual growth. And both are positive (although buddhism on the west has – wrongly – a sort of pessimistic undertone), focusing on cultivating the mind, beginning with right attitude and awarness. Yoga is stronger on physical side (asanas and pranayama), buddhism on philosophy and meditation. So the question – buddhism or yoga? – has simple answer: both.
In the second part western psychology is introduced. Till about 1970 it was mostly interesting in ‘negative’ psychology, that is helping people in difficulties (depression, hysteria, ..) to function normally. Eastern systems are more interested in how normally functioning humans can achieve greatness, ultimately nirvana or samadhi. On this path (hatha) yoga and meditation are very important, and many studies, especially in last decade have shown, that they have significant positive impact on person’s feeling of well being and happiness. It was almost scientifically proved, that most happy and content people one finds between buddhist monks (I have read this some weeks ago in NewYork Times). So when western positive psychology took shape, meeting with ‘good news’ from east was sort of inevitable.
This book was written about 10 years ago, if one wants to be more up-to-date, here are two books to look at: Beyond Happiness: Deepening the Dialogue Between Buddhism, Psychotherapy and the Mind Sciences and Buddha’s Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, and Wisdom.
Rating: 4 / 5
I enjoyed reading this book. It has a kind of quaintness about its language and examples.
I was determined to find the best (for me) advice from the book and put it into practice. It turned out to be use of the mind’s eye (anterior mind) which watches the goings on and semi-continual chatter of thoughts and feelings coursing through our mind. By simply watching and listening and feeling those thoughts as an observer, rather than being immersed in them, caught up in them, they are more available and informative (sometimes surprisingly) and less able to result in unreflective behaviour or consequent (often unpleasant) emotions.
There was also a scientific point made on pages 180-181 which finally explained to me why it is that breathing and muscle relaxation is so important to meditation. Breathing and muscle tension/relaxation are the only behaviours in which the Central Nervous System overlap with the Autonomic Nervous System. Hence they are the only behaviours we can directly control and use to relax and soothe the Autonomic Nervous System. I haven’t seen this anywhere else.
Rating: 5 / 5
This book was outstanding! I have been in the martial arts for 33 years and most of that is has been with the study of Buddhism. This book was stellar in clearing up many of the cofusions that I did (and didn’t) know that I had. I always thought that Buddhism was a philosophy! Not! It is an empirical study of your own mind. I highly recommend that all students of Buddhism and Yoga add this to your library. Even if you find it a repeat of what you already know you will love it as a ‘loner’ to friends.
Greg Sluys – Ferndale, WA.
Rating: 5 / 5
This book does an incredible job of making buddhism and yoga accessible to the average, everyday man or woman raised in the west. The author has clearly spent years studying this material and is able to translate and present important concepts it in a format that is easy to digest but no less profound. Whenever the author presents an important eastern concept, he anchors that eastern concept to a western concept, which makes otherwise foreign ideas easy to relate to. Excellent work. By far this is the clearest, most well written introduction to basic buddhist beliefs I have read.
Rating: 5 / 5
Not only would you do well to buy this book and read it, you would do better to memorize it. The benefits for your time and effort will be rewarded 100 times over. This is the first book I ever read that when I finished it, I went right back to page one and read the whole thing again.
There are several reasons why I am so enthusiastic about this book. For one, it is the most accessible introduction to Buddhism and Yoga that I have found. Levine keeps the jargon to a minimum and instead gives a sensible and straightforward explanation of subjects that are all-too-often made to sound complicated. The ideas are very simple and very useful, and Levine has a knack for conveying that.
Secondly, Levine is an accomplished researcher in cognitive psychology and he seamlessly blends ancient eastern philosophy with modern psychology. He makes profound philosophical insights sound like the plain common sense that they actually are. His sections on communicaton and anger-reduction strategies are indispensible. Neither venting anger nor suppressing it is effective. The only useful long-term strategy is to reduce it at the source, by changing the way we think about things. Levine has succeeded in making that point clear.
Rating: 5 / 5