Spirit and the Mind

This book, then, is my attempt to investigate spiritual reality and to put it into a language which is relevant to psychiatry. It is divided into four section. Part I investigates the growing need to integrate spiritual and mystical insights about the dynamics of consciousness into Western psychology. We will also explore the nature and depth of our resistance to spirituality.... In Part II, I will offer suggestions on the type of education and training necessary for the development of the New-Age therapist of consciousness. Drawing upon my experiences with Sai Baba, I will attempt to describe how spiritual insight leads to a psychotherapist's personal growth, his way of conceptualizing psychological problems, his therapeutic approaches and thus, ultimately, his capacity as a therapist... In Part III, I will look at the possibility of Sathya Sai Baba's being an authentic world teacher who will have global influence in the years to come. I'll present a discourse in his words, explaining the meaning of his "miracles"; describe an international conference on Service to Mankind, held at his ashram in November, 1980 and attended by 200,000 people from almost every country in the world; and present a particular revealing interview that he gave to a prominent editor of the largest national Indian newspaper, the Blitz, in which he describes his world mission. Part IV consists of four Appendices, and is directed especially although by no means exclusively to therapist. Appendix I is a glossary of terms related to consciousness, and I suggest that you refer to it from the start to avoid confusion. Appendix II summarizes some of the current spiritually-oriented Trends in psychology, neurosciences and physics. Appendices III and IV compares Western scientific concepts about mind and consciousness to Eastern spiritual concepts, and provide a conceptual framework which shows the relationship of higher levels of consciousness to those with which we are already familiar.