About the Book
25 year documentation of the lives of sadhus & sanyasis by an agnostic psychiatrist & epidemiologist RL Kapur
This book is from meticulously documented notes by RL Kapur who was one of very few Indians to have worked on and published a monograph on psychiatric epidemiology. He was head of Department of psychiatry at NIMHANS from 1976 to 83. The book is the result of 25 years of remote high-altitude Himalayan treks and one month stays with ascetics with the sole purpose of exploring narratives on mans search for meaning and if a blissful state that is claimed to exist, really does? Towards this purpose he tries to address four question
(1) Can people really change?
(2) Is spirituality helpful to different kinds of people?
(3) What if we looked at the holy people of India – sadhus & sanyasis – and follow their lives for three decades?
(4) What about schizophrenics choosing a life of renunciation and withdrawal as a safe space?
If you practice psychology in the community setting in India, this book is a must.
Book Review : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGgL8gcDWrc
Description
by RL Kapur (2009) (Malavika Kapur, Dorothy Buglass)
