A guide to understanding the relationship between Western psychology and the contemplative sprituality of the East—and how one’s spiritual journey can be enriched by both How can we connect the spiritual realizations of Buddhism with the psychological insights of the West? In Toward a Psychology of Awakening John Welwood addresses this question with comprehensiveness and depth, building on his innovative psychospiritual approach to health, healing, and spirituality. He covers the following topics: • What can the spiritual methodologies of the East teach us about psychological health? • What issues arise when the recognition of our larger nature challenges our very conception of individual self ? • What new directions become possible when psychological work is undertaken in a spiritual context? • How does Western psychological understanding affect our approach to spirituality? Welwood's psychology of awakening brings together three major dimensions of human existence: personal, interpersonal, and suprapersonal in one overall framework of understanding and practice.

Current mainstream opinion in psychology, neuroscience, and philosophy of mind holds that all aspects of human mind and consciousness are generated by physical processes occurring in brains. Views of this sort have dominated recent scholarly publication. The present volume, however, demonstrates empirically that this reductive materialism is not only incomplete but false. The authors systematically marshal evidence for a variety of psychological phenomena that are extremely difficult, and in some cases clearly impossible, to account for in conventional physicalist terms. Topics addressed include phenomena of extreme psychophysical influence, memory, psychological automatisms and secondary personality, near-death experiences and allied phenomena, genius-level creativity, and 'mystical' states of consciousness both spontaneous and drug-induced. The authors further show that these rogue phenomena are more readily accommodated by an alternative 'transmission' or 'filter' theory of mind/brain relations advanced over a century ago by a largely forgotten genius, F. W. H. Myers, and developed further by his friend and colleague William James. This theory, moreover, ratifies the commonsense conception of human beings as causally effective conscious agents, and is fully compatible with leading-edge physics and neuroscience. The book should command the attention of all open-minded persons concerned with the still-unsolved mysteries of the mind.

This book provides clear and sometimes surprising answers to why gratitude is important to living well. The science of gratitude has shown much growth in the last ten years, and there is now sufficient evidence to suggest that gratitude is one of the most important components of the good life. Both correlational and experimental studies have provided support for the theory that gratitude enhances well-being. After providing a lucid understanding of gratitude, this volume explores the many aspects of well-being that are associated with gratitude. Moreover, experimental work has now provided promising evidence to suggest that gratitude actually causes enhancements in happiness. If gratitude promotes human flourishing, how does it do so? This issue is addressed in the second section of the book by exploring the mechanisms that might explain the gratitude/well-being relationship. This book provides an up to date account of gratitude research and suggested interesting paths for future research, all while providing a theory of gratitude that helps make this information more understandable. This book is very valuable to gratitude investigators, as well as all who are interested in pursuing this line of research, students and scholars of emotion and well-being and instructors of positive psychology courses and seminars.

One of the foremost spokesmen for the Third Force movement in psychology, Abraham H. Maslow here articulates one of his prominent theses: the "religious" experience is a rightful subject for scientific investigation and speculation and, conversely, the "scientific community" will see its work enhanced by acknowledging and studying the species-wide need for spiritual expression which, in so many forms, is at the heart of "peak-experiences" reached by healthy, fully functioning people.

Andrews argues for a pluralistic folk psychology that employs different kinds of practices and different kinds of cognitive tools (including personality trait attribution, stereotype activation, inductive reasoning about past behavior, and generalization from self) that are involved in our folk psychological practices.

A guide to well-being from the renowned social psychologist and New York Times–bestselling author of The Art of Loving and Escape from Freedom. Though laptops, smartphones, and TVs have in many ways made life more convenient, they have also disconnected us from the real world. Days are spent going from screen to machine, machine to screen. In The Art of Being, renowned humanist philosopher and psychoanalyst Erich Fromm draws from sources as varied as Sigmund Freud, Buddha, and Karl Marx to find a new, centered path to self-knowledge and well-being. In order to truly live, Fromm argues, we must first understand our purpose, and the places where we lost it. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Erich Fromm including rare images and never-before-seen documents from the author’s estate.

One of the founders of humanistic psychology, Abraham Maslow spent a lifetime developing theories that shaped not only psychology but counseling, education, social work, theology, marketing, and management as well. Indicative of his influence, Maslow's ideas on human behavior and motivation have become a part of public consciousness. At the time of his death 25 years ago, he left a vast collection of articles, essays, and letters intended for publication. Now, noted Maslow biographer Edward Hoffman has compiled the most compelling of these writings into one volume. In an array of letters, working papers, lectures, and journal entries. Maslow shares his thoughts on topics that range from self-actualization and well-being to American politics and organizational management. Hoffman provides helpful introductions to Maslow's life and work, as well as to each writing, and a handy glossary of terms used by Maslow. This valuable collection of papers also includes a foreword by Colin Wilson. Both scholars and students of personality, counseling, and humanistic psychology - as well as management, education, and social work - will discover new insights into Abraham Maslow's influential work through this important book.