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11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A great book about healers in India by a psychoanalyst, July 1, 2003
This review is from: Shamans, Mystics and Doctors: A Psychological Inquiry into India and its Healing Traditions (Paperback)
Kakar is an American-trained psychoanalyst who returns to India to explore shamanism and mysticism. Thus, he has the dual perspective of both an insider and and outsider. He has written an engrossing book which tells indepth stories of the lives and practices of Indian shamans, mystics and therapists. His fascinating narrative includes case studies of individual patients. For example, his discussion of Tantric and Kundalini yoga gives details beyond my wildest imagination. I found myself both disgusted at some of the descriptions and laughing at his own experience! I couldn't put the book down. The only drawback is his psychoanalytic perspective. He is a Freudian, and his own analysis of the healers and patients gets mighty boring and repetitive. One guru critiqued him for his perspective, and I tended to agree with her. I learned to skip these sections. Otherwise, this is a riveting book, although not one for people looking for New Age techniques. It is an accessible look at shamanism for those with a more serious interest in the subject.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting Perspective on Mental Health, October 12, 2010
This review is from: Shamans, Mystics and Doctors: A Psychological Inquiry into India and its Healing Traditions (Paperback)
Mental illness is a subject near and dear to my heart. I deal with mental illness at least once a month in the course of my job as a criminal defense lawyer. Some of my clients are what they call "dual diagnosis" which typically means substance abuse + mental illness. Of course I'm interested in different approaches to curing mental illness, from western psychiatry to eastern Shamanism. Here is a truth about this entire area: Anything works as long as the patient and the doctor share the same believe system. This means that the curative power, for all these practices, lies with the patient rather than the Doctor/Shaman/Wizard.
This is the central thesis of Sudhir Kakar's illuminating Shamans, Mystics and Doctors. Kakar is an Indian Psychotherapist who wrote a book about the curative practices of a variety of Indian traditions: Muslim and Hindu Shaman. Shamans is divided into several chapters, each of which profile a different Guru or discipline with an approach to treating mental illness.
Considering the depths that traditional Freud inspired Psychotherapy has reached since Kakar wrote this in the early 1980s, his medical Doctor psychiatric oriented appears almost as dated as the Muslim and Hindu shaman's who exorcise demons by name. However, Kakar is right on when it points out that ANY approach to healing and mental health can work so long as there are a healer and a patient who believe in the SAME THING.
Kakar also notes that the central experience held in common by all the various methods of Indian mental curing is the disassociation of the self- getting "outside" your self, how you do it doesn't matter, but it needs to be guided by someone else, you can't do it yourself.
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5 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Where is the fire?, December 7, 2003
This review is from: Shamans, Mystics and Doctors: A Psychological Inquiry into India and its Healing Traditions (Paperback)
If you are considering this book or others, such as The Shortest Journey (Unwin Paperbacks. ISBN 0-04-291018-8) / Kakar, Sudhir M.D. 1982, then please ignore the majority of the reviews here. Most are written by current members of the Quasi-Religious Group / Cult and as such as completely biased. Whilst you could argue that their intentions are good, I would definitely recommend reading up on the organisation before taking part or `experiencing' it's practices. There is a lot of information available on the web supporting and praising the group as the salvation of mankind, with it's leader Shri Mataji the second coming of Jesus or even as God. You should also be aware that also many accuse the Cult of many well publicised / documented scandals e.g. the child abuse, tax evasion etc. While members of the group would have you believe that those who criticise it are bitter, failed members, I am sure that you will have the common sense to realise that there always are at least two sides to every story. There is a lot of smoke billowing around this group and it's self proclaimed God. Where is the fire then?
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