Showing posts with label "spiritual practice". Show all posts
Showing posts with label "spiritual practice". Show all posts

2022/04/13

Contemplative Practices in Action: Spirituality, Meditation, and Health: Plante Ph.D., Thomas G.

Contemplative Practices in Action Spirituality Meditation and Health



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Contemplative Practices in Action Spirituality Meditation and Health

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Contemplative Practices in Action: Spirituality, Meditation, and Health: Plante Ph.D., Thomas G.: 9780313382567: Amazon.com: Books

Contemplative Practices in Action: Spirituality, Meditation, and Health 
Illustrated Edition
by Thomas G. Plante Ph.D. (Editor)
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Contemplative practices, from meditation to Zen, are growing in popularity as methods to inspire physical and mental health. 
Contemplative Practices in Action: Spirituality, Meditation, and Health offers readers an introduction to these practices and the ways they can be used in the service of well being, wisdom, healing, and stress reduction.

Bringing together various traditions from the East and West, this thought-provoking work summarizes the history of each practice, highlights classic and emerging research proving its power, and details how each practice is performed. Expert authors offer step-by-step approaches to practice methods including 
  • the 8-Point Program of Passage Meditation, 
  • Centering Prayer, 
  • mindful stress management, 
  • mantram meditation, 
  • energizing meditation, 
  • yoga, and 
  • Zen. 

Beneficial practices from Christian, Buddhist, Jewish, Hindu, and Islamic religions are also featured. Vignettes illustrate each of the practices, while the contributors explain how and why they are effective in facing challenges as varied as the loss of a partner or child, job loss, chronic pain or disease, or psychological disorders.


Editorial Reviews
Review
"Recommended. Lower-level undergraduates and above; general readers."

―
Choice


"Overall, I highly recommend this book to practitioners and researchers alike. Practitioners will appreciate the details with which the practices are discussed, while researchers will benefit from the endnotes and the brief discussions of the current state of research for each system. This book is also well-written, cohesively integrated, and a rich source of wisdom for those interested in the intersection of contemplative practices and the fostering of personal well-being."

―
Practical Matters



"Thomas Plante, a psychologist who is deeply invested in exploring these issues as the director of the Spirituality and Health Institute of Santa Clara University, has gathered together a noteworthy group of contributors to this volume. . . . This book serves as a useful introduction to a range of practices and contemplative traditions for both practitioners and researchers. 

Even those familiar with selected contemplative traditions should find distinctive perspectives and valuable material. . . . 
It begins to address a notable gap in the contemporary literature on both meditation and spirituality and does so in ways that should be valuable for practitioners or researchers in the area of cancer care, despite that not being an explicit focus of the volume. . . . 
an invaluable resource for anyone wishing to better understand how the historic traditions of contemplative practice, in the service of cultivating personal growth and well-being."

―
Psycho-Oncology



"In a time full of sensory and information overload, this is a welcome book."

―
PsycCRITIQUES



"In an overall assessment it is a wonderful book, and is capable of transforming the life of the reader in making life more meaningful, purposeful and joyful, and herein lies the real worth of the book."

―
Journal of Psychosocial Research

Review

"This is a rare if not precious jewel in the universe of books on spirituality: Rare in focusing on specific spiritual practices with a scientific perspective and precious in offering practices from many religious traditions, all linked in some way to health and well-being. In the 20th century, western cultures in effect abandoned the traditional link of spiritual practices with overall health for a restrictive biomedical model of disease. In doing so the role of positive emotions (e.g., love, faith, hope) in health was greatly hampered. These emotions are proving to be the lifeblood of spirituality. Scratch a spiritual practice and you'll find a positive emotion or two.

Significantly , this book also makes the point that spirituality and religion are not the same thing: spirituality is not theology. The book also dovetails with an expanding view of human experience and consciousness as seen through the lens of neuroscience, ethology and psychology. This book's most significant overall point may be that regular spiritual practices can make substantial differences in how we think, feel and act, especially when we make decisions influencing our relationship with the Divine around and within."

--
Carl E. Thoresen, Ph.D, Professor Emeritus of Education, Psychology and Psychiatry/Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University

About the Author
Thomas G. Plante, PhD, ABPP, is professor of psychology and director of the Spirituality and Health Institute at Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA, and adjunct clinical professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA.
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Product details
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Praeger; Illustrated edition (July 15, 2010)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 261 pages



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Using this as one of the required text book for the course I teach: Mystical Traditions and Contemplative Practices.
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======

Contents

Foreword by Huston Smith vii
Preface ix Acknowledgments xi

Chapter 1 Introduction: Contemplative Practices in Action 1
Thomas G. Plante, Adi Raz, and Doug Oman

PART ONE: INTEGRATED CONTEMPLATIVEPRACTICE SYSTEMS 5

Chapter 2 Similarity in Diversity? Four Shared Functionsof Integrative Contemplative Practice Systems 7
Doug Oman

Chapter 3 Managing Stress Mindfully 17
Hooria Jazaieri and Shauna L. Shapiro

Chapter 4 Translating Spiritual Ideals into Daily Life: The Eight-Point Program of Passage Meditation 35
Tim Flinders, Doug Oman, Carol Flinders,and Diane Dreher
 
Chapter 5 Centering Prayer: A Method of Christian Meditation for Our Time 60
Jane K. Ferguson
===

Chapter 6 Mantram Repetition: A “Portable ContemplativePractice” for Modern Times 78
Jill E. Bormann

PART TWO: CONTEMPLATIVE TRADITIONS 101

Chapter 7 “The Eternal Is with Me, I Shall Not Fear”: 
JewishContemplative Practices and Well-Being 103
Zari Weiss and David Levy

Chapter 8 A Comprehensive Contemplative Approach from the Islamic Tradition 122
Aisha Hamdan

Chapter 9 The Path of Yoga 143
T. Anne Richards
 
Chapter 10 Zen and the Transformation of Emotionaland Physical Stress into Well-Being 159
Sarita Tamayo-Moraga and Darlene Cohen Roshi
 
PART THREE: CONTEMPLATIVE PRACTICES IN ACTION: APPLICATION 181

Chapter 11 The Impact of Meditation Practicesin the Daily Life of Silicon Valley Leaders 183
Andre L. Delbecq
Chapter 12 “Shaking the Blues Away”: Energizing SpiritualPractices for the Treatment of Chronic Pain 205
Amy B. Wachholtz and Michelle J. Pearce
Chapter 13 A Pilgrimage from Suffering to Solidarity: Walking the Path of Contemplative Practices 225
Gerdenio Manuel, SJ, and Martha E. Stortz
Chapter 14 Contemplative Practices in Action: Now What? 243
Thomas G. Plante and Adi Raz
Index 247 
About the Editor and Contributors 25


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2022/04/12

Huston Smith - Wikipedia

Huston Smith - Wikipedia

Huston Smith

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Huston Cummings Smith
Huston Smith.jpg
BornMay 31, 1919
Suzhou, China
DiedDecember 30, 2016 (aged 97)
Berkeley, California
Known forAuthor of The World's Religions
Spouse(s)Kendra Smith
Academic background
EducationCentral Methodist University (B.A.)
University of Chicago (Ph.D.)
Academic work
DisciplineReligious studies, philosophy
InstitutionsUniversity of Denver
Washington University in St. Louis
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Syracuse University
University of California, Berkeley
Websitehustonsmith.net

Huston Cummings Smith (May 31, 1919 – December 30, 2016) was a leading scholar of religious studies in the United States.[1][2] He was widely regarded as one of the world's most influential figures in religious studies.[1][2][3][4][5] He authored at least thirteen books on world's religions and philosophy, and his book The World's Religions (originally titled The Religions of Man) sold over three million copies as of 2017 and remains a popular introduction to comparative religion.[5][6][7][8]

Born and raised in Suzhou, China in a Methodist missionary family, Huston Smith moved back to the United States at the age of 17 and graduated from the University of Chicago in 1945 with a PhD in philosophy.[1][9] He spent the majority of his academic career as a professor at Washington University in St. Louis (1947-1958), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1958–1973) and Syracuse University (1973–1983).[1][9] In 1983, he retired from Syracuse and moved to Berkeley, California, where he was a visiting professor of religious studies at the University of California, Berkeley until his death.[1][9][10]

Early life[edit]

On May 31, 1919, Huston Cummings Smith was born in Dzang Zok, Suzhou, China to Methodist missionaries and spent his first 17 years there. His first language was Mandarin Chinese, spoken with Suzhou dialect.[8]

Upon coming to the United States to complete his education, he received a B.A. from Central Methodist University in 1940 and a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Chicago in 1945.[9][11]

While at Chicago, he married Eleanor Wieman, the daughter of Henry Nelson Wieman, a professor at the University of Chicago Divinity School.[1][12] She later changed her name to Kendra.[13] They had three daughters, Karen, Gael, and Kimberly Smith.[1][14]

Academic career[edit]

Denver, St. Louis and MIT[edit]

Smith taught at the University of Denver from 1945 to 1947, and then at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri for the next 10 years.[1][9]

In 1958, Smith was appointed professor of philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he remained until 1973.[9] While there, he participated in experiments with psychedelics that professors Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert conducted at Harvard University. In 1964, during a trip to India, Smith stayed in a Gyuto Tibetan Buddhist monastery. During his visit he heard the monks chanting and realized that each individual was producing a chord, composed of a fundamental note and overtones. He returned to record the chanting in 1967 and asked acoustic engineers at MIT to analyze the sound.[15] They confirmed the finding, which is an example of overtone singing. Smith has called this the singular empirical discovery of his career. The recording was released as Music of Tibet (1967). Royalties from the album continue to support the Gyuto Tantric University.[16][17][18] Because of his belief in religion, however, Smith was mistrusted by his colleagues, leading MIT to prohibit him from teaching graduate students.[19]

Syracuse and Berkeley[edit]

In 1973, Smith moved to Syracuse University, where he was Thomas J. Watson Professor of Religion and Distinguished Adjunct Professor of Philosophy until he took emeritus status in 1983.[9] That year, Smith moved to Berkeley, California, where he remained a visiting professor of religious studies at the University of California, Berkeley until his death.[1][9][10]

Religious practice[edit]

During his career, Smith intensely studied Vedanta (studying under Swami Satprakashananda, founder of the St. Louis Vedanta Center), Zen Buddhism (studying under Goto Zuigan), and Sufism of Islam for more than ten years each.[20]

As a young man, Smith suddenly turned from traditional Methodist Christianity to mysticism, influenced by the writings of Gerald Heard and Aldous Huxley. In 1947, before moving from Denver to St. Louis, Smith set out to meet with then-famous author Gerald Heard. Heard responded to Smith's letter, inviting him to his Trabuco College (later donated as the Ramakrishna Monastery) in Trabuco Canyon, Southern California. Heard made arrangements to have Smith meet the prominent author Aldous Huxley, a highly respected novelist and commentator on modern society. Smith recounts in the 2010 documentary Huxley on Huxley meeting Huxley at his desert home.[21] Smith was told to look up Swami Satprakashananda of the Vedanta Society once he settled in St. Louis. So began Smith's experimentation with meditation and association with the Vedanta Society of the Ramakrishna order.[22] Smith developed an interest in the Traditionalist School formulated by René Guénon, Frithjof Schuon and Ananda Coomaraswamy. This interest became a continuing thread in all his writings.

Due to his connection with Heard and Huxley, Smith went on to meet Timothy Leary, Richard Alpert (Ram Dass), and others at the Center for Personality Research, where Leary was research professor. The group began experimenting with psychedelics and what Smith later called "empirical metaphysics".[23] The experience and history of the group are described in Smith's book Cleansing the Doors of Perception. During this period, Smith was also part of the Harvard Project, an attempt to raise spiritual awareness through entheogenic plants. During his tenure at Syracuse University, he was informed by leaders of the Onondaga tribe about the Native American religious traditions and practices, which resulted in an additional chapter in his book on the world's religions. In 1990 the Supreme Court ruled that the use of peyote as a religious sacrament by Native Americans was not protected under the US Constitution. Smith took up the cause as a noted religion scholar. With his help in 1994, Congress passed the American Indian Religious Freedom Act amendment, providing legislative protection to a religious practice that the Supreme Court had decided lacks constitutional protection.[24]

Smith was a practicing Christian who credited his faith to his missionary parents who had "instilled in me a Christianity that was able to withstand the dominating secular culture of modernity."[25]

Public activities[edit]

Television and film[edit]

While at Washington University, Smith was the host of two National Educational Television series (NET – the forerunner of PBS): The Religions of Man and Search for America.[26]

In 1996, Bill Moyers devoted a 5-part PBS special to Smith's life and work, "The Wisdom of Faith with Huston Smith". Smith has produced three series for public television: "The Religions of Man", "The Search for America", and (with Arthur Compton) "Science and Human Responsibility". His films on Hinduism, Tibetan Buddhism, and Sufism have all won awards at international film festivals.

  • The Wisdom of Faith with Huston Smith: A Bill Moyers Special: A Personal Philosophy, 1996, PBS, DVD
  • The Roots of Fundamentalism: A Conversation with Huston Smith and Phil Cousineau, 2006, GemsTone, DVD
  • Death and Transformation: The Personal Reflections of Huston Smith, 2007, Fons Vitae, DVD
  • The Arc of Life: Huston Smith on Life, Death & Beyond, 2012, GemsTone, DVD[27]

Community engagement[edit]

Brandon Williamscraig and Huston Smith conducted their first community dialogue at Epworth United Methodist Church in Berkeley, CA.

Throughout his career, Smith made himself available to the communities where he resided. Toward the end of his life, while living in Berkeley, California, he participated in the Pacific Coast Theological Society at the Graduate Theological Union. He also attended local churches, including Trinity United Methodist, First Congregational Church, and Epworth United Methodist. On the occasion of publishing Tales of Wonder, in 2009 he co-convened "community conversations" at Epworth, during which he responded to questions about his life and work.[28][29]

Awards and honors[edit]

For his lifelong commitment to bringing the world's religions together to promote understanding, social justice and peace, Smith received the Courage of Conscience Award from the Peace Abbey in Sherborn, Massachusetts.[30]

Smith was named to be one of the first recipients of the Order of Universal Interfaith and Universal Order of Sannyasa's Interfaith-Interspiritual Sage Award in January 2010. He received the award at his home on February 23, 2010.[31]

The Pacific Coast Theological Society celebrated "the lifetime of achievements of Professor Emeritus Huston Smith by considering the relationship between theology, mythology, and science" in a special session in 2012.[32] In 2015, the society presented Smith with their Codron Prize for The World's Religions.[33]

Legacy[edit]

Quotes[edit]

  • "If we take the world's enduring religions at their best, we discover the distilled wisdom of the human race."[34]
  • "Institutions are not pretty. Show me a pretty government. Healing is wonderful, but the American Medical Association? Learning is wonderful, but universities? The same is true for religion... religion is institutionalized spirituality."[35]
  • "The goal of spiritual life is not altered states, but altered traits."[36]: 97 

Publications[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e f g h i Martin, Douglas; Hevesi, Dennis (2017-01-01). "Huston Smith, Author of 'The World's Religions,' Dies at 97". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-03-15.
  2. ^ Jump up to:a b Rourke, Mary. "Huston Smith, pioneering teacher of world religions, dies at 97". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2019-03-15.
  3. ^ John Blake. "Huston Smith's painful spiritual odyssey". CNN. Retrieved 2019-03-15.
  4. ^ The Way Things Are. University of California Press. 2003.
  5. ^ Jump up to:a b Bill, Williams (July 27, 2009). "Religion scholar stresses events over emotions". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2009-08-06.
  6. ^ "Huston Smith, Author of 'The World's Religions,' Dies at 97". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  7. ^ "Review of PBS Bill Moyers' interview of Huston Smith" Archived 2013-01-11 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ Jump up to:a b "Knowing Huston Smith". The Interfaith Observer. Retrieved 2019-03-15.
  9. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e f g h "Huston Smith Papers An inventory of his papers at the Syracuse University Archives". library.syr.edu. Retrieved 2019-03-15.
  10. ^ Jump up to:a b Siow, Fionce; Staff (2017-01-05). "UC Berkeley visiting professor of religious studies Huston Smith dies at 97". The Daily Californian. University of California, Berkeley. Retrieved 2019-03-15.
  11. ^ Smith, Huston; Why Religion Matters, Harper-Collins: San Francisco, 2001.
  12. ^ "Henry Nelson Wieman". uudb.org. Retrieved 2019-03-15.
  13. ^ "Huston Smith, pioneering teacher of world religions, dies at 97". Los Angeles Times. 2017-01-05. Retrieved 2019-11-19.
  14. ^ "Huston Smith Homepage". www.hustonsmith.net. Retrieved 2019-03-16.
  15. ^ Huston Smith telling story of recording on YouTube
  16. ^ Allmusic.com listing
  17. ^ NPR story of recording and MIT analysis
  18. ^ Official Website of Recording
  19. ^ Smith, Huston (2012-03-26). The Huston Smith Reader. University of California Press. ISBN 9780520952355.
  20. ^ "Huston Smith: About the Author: HarperCollins Publishers". www.harpercollins.com. Archived from the original on 2012-08-07.
  21. ^ "Huxley on Huxley". Dir. Mary Ann Braubach. Cinedigm, 2010. DVD. Archived from the original on 2014-11-08. Retrieved 2013-08-05. {{cite web}}: External link in |others= (help)
  22. ^ "Description by Smith of meeting Heard". Geraldheard.com. Retrieved 2010-11-16.
  23. ^ Ralph Metzner (2005-04-18). "The Ecstatic Adventure – Chapter 5". Psychedelic-library.org. Retrieved 2010-11-16.
  24. ^ Review of One Nation Under God
  25. ^ Smith, Huston (2005). The Soul of Christianity: Restoring the Great Tradition. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco. "Acknowledgments" p. 167. ISBN 978-0-06-079478-1.
  26. ^ "Biography of Smith". Harpercollins.com. Retrieved 2010-11-16.
  27. ^ Official Website
  28. ^ Huston Smith and Brandon Williamscraig July 5, 2009 Introduction
  29. ^ ABC - Conversations with Huston Smith
  30. ^ "The Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Recipients List". Peaceabbey.org. 2005-11-20. Archived from the original on 2009-02-14. Retrieved 2010-11-16.
  31. ^ "OUnI Ordination and Sage Award". Ouni.org. Archived from the original on 2011-07-27. Retrieved 2010-11-16.
  32. ^ http://www.pcts.org/meetings/2012/Spring.html
  33. ^ Brandon Williamscraig accepts the Codron Prize for Huston Smith
  34. ^ Sinclair Community College Archived 2012-05-10 at the Wayback Machine
  35. ^ Mother Jones, November/December 1997.
  36. ^ Huston Smith (2003/1992). "Encountering God". In Huston Smith, Phil Cousineau (2003). The Way Things Are: Conversations With Huston Smith on the Spiritual Life. University of California Press. ISBN 0520238168, ISBN 9780520238169
  37. ^ "Browse Books at HarperCollins Publishers". Harpercollins.com. 2010-03-24. Retrieved 2010-11-16.
  38. ^ Smith, Huston. "Forgotten Truth: The Common Vision of the World's Religions by Huston Smith". Harpercollins.com. Retrieved 2010-11-16.
  39. ^ Smith, Huston. "The Illustrated World's Religions: A Guide to Our Wisdom Traditions by Huston Smith". Harpercollins.com. Retrieved 2010-11-16.
  40. ^ "Council on Spiritual Practices – Cleansing the Doors of Perception". Csp.org. Retrieved 2010-11-16.
  41. ^ Smith, Huston. "Why Religion Matters: The Fate of the Human Spirit in an Age of Disbelief by Huston Smith". Harpercollins.com. Retrieved 2010-11-16.
  42. ^ Smith, Huston. "Islam: A Concise Introduction by Huston Smith". Harpercollins.com. Retrieved 2010-11-16.
  43. ^ Smith, Huston; Philip Novak. "Buddhism: A Concise Introduction". HarperCollins. Retrieved 2010-11-16.
  44. ^ Smith, Huston. "The Soul of Christianity: Restoring the Great Tradition by Huston Smith". Harpercollins.com. Retrieved 2010-11-16.

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