Sudhir Kakar, India's foremost practitioner of psychoanalysis, has focused his career on infusing this preeminently Western discipline with ideas and views from the East. In "Mad and Divine", he takes on the separation of the spirit and the body favored by psychoanalysts, cautioning that a single-minded focus on the physical denies a person's wholeness. Similarly, Kakar argues, to focus on the spirit alone is to hold in contempt the body that makes us human. "Mad and Divine" looks at the interplay between spirit and psyche and the moments of creativity and transformation that occur when the spirit overcomes desire and narcissism. Kakar examines this relationship in religious rituals and healing traditions - both Eastern and Western - as well as in the lives of some extraordinary men: the mystic and guru Rajneesh, Gandhi, and the Buddhist saint Drukpa Kunley. Enriched with a novelist's felicity of language and an analyst's piercing insights and startling interpretations, "Mad and Divine" is a valuable addition to the literature on the integration of the spirit and psyche in the evolving psychology of the individual.

About the Author
Sudhir Kakar is a psychoanalyst and the author of many books, including The Analyst and the Mystic: Psychoanalytic Reflections on Religion and Mysticism; Intimate Relations: Exploring Indian Sexuality; and Shamans, Mystics and Doctors: A Psychological Inquiry into India and its Healing Traditions, all published by the University of Chicago Press.

Reviews
"Kakar, a great intellectual, psychoanalyst, and anthropologist, is one of the principal figures in contemporary Indian thought." - Le Monde "An elegant stylist." - New York Times "In the history of India's cultural awakening in the twentieth century... some books will stand out as seminal. Among these Sudhir Kakar's will certainly find a place." - Indian Book Chronicle"



Book Information
ISBN 9780226422879
Author Sudhir Kakar
Format Hardback
Page Count 192
Imprint University of Chicago Press
Publisher The University of Chicago Press
Weight(grams) 312g
Dimensions(mm) 21mm * 13mm * 2mm