Table of Contents

List of Figures and Tables Acknowledgments Symbols and Notes on Sources Abbreviations Introduction THE IDEA OF RELIGIOUS THERAPEUTICS Religion and Medicine A Model of Religious Therapeutics Chapter One BODY AND PHILOSOPHIES OF HEALING Body in Western Philosophy of Medicine Presuppositions about the Body Descartes on Body and Medicine Body in the History of Western Medicine Iconoclastic Concepts of Body in Yoga, Tantra, and Ayurveda Traditional Indian Views of Person and Body Yoga's Use of the Body to Transcend Itself Tantra's Enlightenable Body Body as the Ground of Well-being in Ayurveda Chapter Two MEANINGS OF HEALTH IN AYURVEDA Inquiry into Health Determinants of Health Biological and Ecological Determinants Life, Development, and Longevity Equilibrium Adaptation Non-susceptibility Vitality, Endurance, and Relaxation Medical and Psychological Determinants Normality Freedom from Pain Wholeness and Integration Awareness and Mental Clarity Socio-cultural and Aesthetic Determinants Relationality Creativity Generativity Enjoyment Metaphysical and Religious Determinants Self-identity Freedom Ayurvedic Religious Therapeutics Chapter Three CLASSICAL YOGA AS A RELIGIOUS THERAPEUTIC Meanings and Forms of Yoga Meanings of 'Yoga' 85 Yoga in the Vedas, Upanisads, and Bhagavadgita Yoga in the Vedas Yoga in the Upanisads Yoga in the Bhagavadgita Traditions of Yoga Practice A Matrix of Classical Yoga as a Religious Therapeutic Metaphysical and Epistemic Foundations Yoga's Therapeutic Paradigm Yoga's Diagnosis of the Human Condition The Yogic Remedy Soteriology Self-realization by Healing the Af Value Theory and Ethics: Health and the Good in Yoga First Limb: Moral Self-restraints--Yama Second Limb: Moral Commitments--Niyama Physical Practice: The Soteriological Role of Body and Health in Yoga Third Limb: Postures--Asana Fourth Limb: Regulation of Vital Energy Through Breath--Pranayama Fifth Limb: Withdrawal of the Senses--Pratyahara Cultivation of Consciousness: The Polarity of Samadhi and Vyadhi (Illness) Sixth Limb: Concentration--Dharana Seventh Limb: Meditation--Dhyana Eighth Limb: Meditative Trance--Samadhi Liberation as Healing in Classical Yoga Healing and Yoga's Therapeutic Paradigm Wholeness and Holiness Identity and Freedom Chapter Four TANTRA AND AESTHETIC THERAPEUTICS Body and Tantric Yogas Features of Tantric Practice Sexuality in Tantra Kundalini Yoga Mantra Yoga Aesthetic Therapeutics in Tantra Therapeutic Elements of Tantra Sacred Music Sacred Music as a Religious Therapeutic How Is Sacred Music Therapeutic? Breath, Music, and Healing Body as Instrument of Sacred Music Elements of Healing in Sanskrit Chant Healing in Identi Sound as a Bridge Between Substantial and Non-substantial Being Conclusion COMMUNITY: RELATIONALITY IN RELIGIOUS THERAPEUTICS Notes Sources Indices Subject Index Sanskrit Terms Index of Names Sanskrit Texts

About the Author

Gregory P. Fields is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville.

Reviews

"This book renders the Indian traditions of Ayurveda, Yoga and Tantra with great vividness, in terms that Westerners can understand, yet without concealing the profound foreignness of Indian culture. The work is timely and important. Its massive scholarship presents a forceful case for recognizing the contemporary relevance of Indian religious therapeutics. ...fascinating and lucid." -- S. Cromwell Crawford, author of Dilemmas of Life and Death: Hindu Ethics in North American Context