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"Mindfulness gets thrown around all the time, but what does that actually mean in practice?"
Published in Lacie White, Palliative Care Nursing as Mindfulness, 2022
My positioning in regard to spirituality also affects this research. Since 2005, I have been drawn into the study of Eastern thought and practice, most specifically Advaita Vedanta (non-dual perspectives on experience). I have also spent time with, and studied the spiritual teachings of, Mata Amritanandamayi (affectionately known as ‘Amma’) who teaches that her religion is one of “love and compassion.” Therefore, while I do not identify as Buddhist, it is important to explain why I frequently draw on Buddhist teachings within this text. In part, I do this because many discussions related to mindfulness in the literature are brought forward by researchers, scholars and practitioners who do identify as Buddhist. Even then, the perspectives are widely diverse. For our purposes within this inquiry, conceptualizations of Buddhism that have religious connotations (e.g. theistic orientations and concepts of death and rebirth) are not discussed. Some speculate that, in Western society, Buddhism has been well received because of its nontheistic approach (Bruce & Davies, 2005), and has been described as a Buddhist psychology, a philosophy, or a science of mind. Regardless of one’s spiritual and religious orientation, individuals can, through direct experience, come to understand knowledge espoused within Buddhist teachings (Anālayo, 2003).
Ayurveda and COVID-19
Published in Srijan Goswami, Chiranjeeb Dey, COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2, 2022
Vedanta is the philosophical foundation of the Vedas and is found in the Upanishads, at the end of each of the Vedas. According to the Upanishads, the universe is a constantly changing and evolving algorithm. The formula of an algorithm is: Data + Program = Changed Data. In the universal algorithm, Data is known as Prakruti and the Program is known as Purusha. The universe is Prakruti that is Data changing according to a Program that is Purusha.
Erwin Schrödinger (1887–1961)
Published in Krishna Dronamraju, A Century of Geneticists, 2018
Quite early in his life, he was impressed with the basic conviction in Vedanta: “This unity of knowledge, feeling and choice are essentially eternal and unchangeable and numerically one in all men nay in all sensitive beings…. This life of yours that you are living is not merely a piece of the entire existence, but is in a certain sense the whole.
The Nexus of Social Progress and Economic Inequality: Implications for the Grand Challenges for Social Work
Published in Smith College Studies in Social Work, 2020
It has been hypothesized that the development of the notion of social progress in the 19th century represented a lynchpin in the formation of the notion of idea of the great chain of being (Lovejoy, 1934). The diversity of animate and inanimate forms, which was seen a key component of this idea, came to be supplemented with the notions of evolutionary change and social progress. It has been observed that it was therefore an “easy step to see progress in the succession of living things through time, or a “temporalizing” of the Great Chain. Thus, while a diversity of ideologies were developed during the 19th century, ranging from classic liberalism to Marxism, a common theme or meta-narrative in most of these schools of thought was that of social progress involving the ability of humanity to continually improve itself through scientific knowledge, technology, and trial and error. Although much of the development of the belief in social progress took place in the West, Eastern traditions have increasingly adopted such beliefs. According to Ta T’ung Shu, the Chinese Qing dynasty reformer, Kang Youwei, believed he found a model for reform and modernization, based on that nation’s ancient classics. In India, the Vedantic philosopher Vivekananda, sought to demonstrate that technological development was consistent with the eastern heritage (see Radice, 1998).
Hey Wait! I Just Thought of Something Else! Advaita and Clinical Hypnosis
Published in American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 2018
Jon K. Amundson, Marc W. Ross, Debra Campbell
Though the concept of yoga is well situated in western culture, its purview is associated mostly with Hatha or physical yoga. In fact, yoga extends far beyond this popular and effective physical practice. In Vedanta (Indian) philosophy, a variety of yoga systems exist. Each emphasizes various ways to resolve existential problems. In the Vedanta tradition, there exist several practices in addition to Hatha yoga, namely: Bhakti, Raja, and Karma, and, of specific interest to us, Jnana yoga. Each of these traditions seeks to highlight a student’s predisposition or personality. For instance, Bhakti yoga emphasizes devotion. Persons of romantic and emotive predisposition are presumed to be more inclined toward this form of yogic practice. Chanting, blissful adoration of devotional objects and related practices are associated with the Bhakti tradition. Karma yogic practice, alternately, emphasizes actions or good works for the benefit of others. Mental health practitioners for example may see their work as a form of Karma yoga (i.e., to lose one’s personal sense of self in service to another).