Thought-provoking, Hindu-focused mental health commentary.
A psychiatrist discusses his midlife embrace of Vedanta philosophy and related insights on depression, anxiety, and other subjects in this debut memoir and self-help guide.
Although Vasudev hails from a Hindu family, he says that “No one really talked about God or spirituality at home.” After an introductory chapter celebrating his current calmer and more joyful sense of self, he circles back to his past, detailing his childhood in India, which encompassed several family moves (his father was in the Indian Army) as well as many later challenges while he attended medical school, including dealing with its rites of passage, reminiscent of hazing. It was only in midlife, in 2013, that the Canada-based geriatric psychiatrist, despondent over his father’s recent death, went to a meditation class at the suggestion of his wife; he then read Paramhansa Yogananda’s 1946 book The Autobiography of a Yogi, and his life was transformed. Specifically, he became more open to the Hindu philosophy of Vedanta. Here, he breaks down key Vedanta precepts, including the different kinds of karma, and shares several parablelike stories drawn from various works, including the Bhagavad-Gita. He also dedicates chapters to depression, anxiety, psychosis, obsessions and compulsions, PTSD, and addictions; in them, he includes some of his patients’ stories and notes how Vedanta ideas, such as the power of deep breathing, may help address and manage mental health issues. He concludes by encouraging readers to embark on a spiritual journey to find their divine selves. Although Vasudev’s celebration of Eastern philosophy is certainly common to many midlife-awakening memoirs, he offers a rather unique blend here by not only highlighting traditional Hindu texts, but also sharing his experience and expertise as a psychiatrist. The result is an intriguing dive into the concept of self and a caring, relatable guide. At one point, for example, the author acknowledges that he’s had to learn to listen better to his patients, including a schizophrenic’s claim that “there is a spiritual reason for her experiences.” Vasudev is by no means comprehensive in his psychology discussion, but his book will serve as a springboard to many readers for further exploration.
Thought-provoking, Hindu-focused mental health commentary.Pub Date: April 28, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4602-8734-7
Page Count: 168
Publisher: FriesenPress
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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