Healing The Split Madness Or Transcendence

The links between madness, creative genius, and spiritual experiences have tantalized philosophers and scientists for centuries. In Healing the Split, John Nelson brings the lofty ideas of transpersonal psychology down to earth so they can be applied in a practical way to explain the bizarre effects of insanity on the human mind. Drawing on a vast knowledge of Eastern philosophy and mainstream neuropsychiatry, he heals the split between orthodox and alternative views with a comprehensive approach that goes beyond both. Starting where R. D. Laing and Thomas Szasz left off, Nelson revises and expands their radical views in light of modern brain science. He then turns to ancient tantric yoga for a synthesis that weaves brain, psyche, and spirit into a compelling new conception of mental illness. For professionals who seek to meet the needs of their patients more creatively, this book offers a unique synthesis. For people in emotional crisis, it clarifies the distinctions among intractable psychosis, temporary breakdowns in the service of healing (spiritual emergencies), and psychic breakthroughs (spiritual emergence). And for anyone interested in the seemingly inexplicable workings of the human mind gone mad, this fascinating exploration of psychotic states of consciousness will be exciting reading.

The philosophy of psychosis and the psychosis of philosophy: a philosopher draws on his experience of madness. In this book, philosopher and linguist Wouter Kusters examines the philosophy of psychosis—and the psychosis of philosophy. By analyzing the experience of psychosis in philosophical terms, Kusters not only emancipates the experience of the psychotic from medical classification, he also emancipates the philosopher from the narrowness of textbooks and academia, allowing philosophers to engage in real-life praxis, philosophy in vivo. Philosophy and madness—Kusters's preferred, non-medicalized term—coexist, one mirroring the other. Kusters draws on his own experience of madness—two episodes of psychosis, twenty years apart—as well as other first-person narratives of psychosis. Speculating about the maddening effect of certain words and thought, he argues, and demonstrates, that the steady flow of philosophical deliberation may sweep one into a full-blown acute psychotic episode. Indeed, a certain kind of philosophizing may result in confusion, paradoxes, unworldly insights, and circular frozenness reminiscent of madness. Psychosis presents itself to the psychotic as an inescapable truth and reality. Kusters evokes the mad person's philosophical or existential amazement at reality, thinking, time, and space, drawing on classic autobiographical accounts of psychoses by Antonin Artaud, Daniel Schreber, and others, as well as the work of phenomenological psychiatrists and psychologists and such phenomenologists as Edmund Husserl and Maurice Merleau-Ponty. He considers the philosophical mystic and the mystical philosopher, tracing the mad undercurrent in the Husserlian philosophy of time; visits the cloud castles of mystical madness, encountering LSD devotees, philosophers, theologians, and nihilists; and, falling to earth, finds anxiety, emptiness, delusions, and hallucinations. Madness and philosophy proceed and converge toward a single vanishing point.

Volume Four of The Collected Works of Ken Wilber includes: • Integral Psychology, a concise version of Wilber's long-awaited textbook of transpersonal psychology, presenting one of the first truly integrative models of consciousness, psychology, and therapy. • Charts correlating over one hundred developmental and evolutionary theories, ranging from ancient mystical traditions to modern theorists. • Essays on human development, art, meditation, spirituality, yoga, women's studies, death and rebirth, science and mysticism, and transpersonal psychotherapies. • Wilber's thoughtful replies to criticisms of his work.

The first comprehensive overview of the life and thought of the American philosopher Ken Wilber.

Breaches the wall between the psychotherapeutic and the sacred as respected pioneers in the field give their vision of the synergistic potential in these two powerful traditions.

Be, these women see a common need and share a common goal - to create more humane and nurturing workplaces. Truth and a willingness to risk are benchmarks of the essays, as is the search for personal and spiritual freedom. The authors speak of personal responsibility and a balance among all the areas of one's life. Work becomes an arena for self-discovery, explained through metaphors that are organic, contrasting with traditional male metaphors taken from sports and the.

As more people practice meditation, yoga, and participate in workshops for personal transformation, increasing numbers of them are having experiences related to spiritual awakening. The problem is they don't know the territory. An intense spiritual experience can seem overwhelming and scary and even be confused with going crazy. This practical book is the classic text, newly updated in 2006 (3rd edition), defining the problems that can arise when someone is disoriented by intense spiritual experiences. It is a valuable resource for anyone interested in spiritual experiences and their relationship to mental health and mental illness. It distinguishes the differences between various mental pathologies and indicators of spiritual awakening. It clearly describes the kind of care one needs in a spiritual emergency process and how the care is dramatically different than conventional psychiatric treatment. It traces the history of how signs of spiritual awakening have been perceived in the past. Graduate schools of psychology use this book as a text because it is such a clear statement about the nature of spiritual crises and appropriate treatment. However, it is written in a style that is also appropriate for any adult reader. The author, a transpersonal psychologist, has written five other books on spiritual healing and awakening. The title of the first edition of this book was "A Sourcebook for Helping People in Spiritual Emergency" and was published in 1988.