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Namah Notes on counselling

non-physical. The phenomenal ‘I’ cannot be an ed. NY:Oxford University Press; 2007, p. 627.
isolated integer, it arises in the same matrix of
consciousness from where the bodily systems 2. May R. Contributions of Existential psycho-
and emotions arise. therapy in May R, Angel E, Ellenberger HF
(eds).Existence– A New Dimension in Psychiatry
Neurophysiologist, Sir John Eccles and and Psychology. NY: Clarion Paperback; 1967,
philosopher, Karl Popper accepted the pp. 42-3.
Descartes’ notion of ‘I’ not in a phenomenal
but in a fundamental sense.Descartes himself 3. Damasio, AR. Descartes’ Error— Emotion, Reason
had written, “this ‘I’ — that is the soul by which and the Human Brain. UK: Papermac Edition,
I am what I am — is entirely distinct from the 1996, p. 159.
body” and could survive the destruction of
the body. However he used the terms soul 4. Raphael F, Monk R (eds). The Great Philosophers.
(l’âme) and the mind (l’esprit) interchangeably, London: Phoenix; 2000, pp. 98-100.
leading to a confusion of terminologies and
concepts (12). 5. May R. Contributions of Existential Psycho-
therapy, p. 46.
The Etman in the Indian tradition is actually
indestructible and independent of the body 6. Ibid.
though it sanctions the bodily life and is
projected in the manifestation as a soul- 7. Ibid., p. 47.
principle.
8. Rama S. Perennial Psychology of the Bhaga-
It seems that the young lady whose dream- vad Gita.Allalabad: India Himalayan Institute;
experience is enumerated above had a 2014, p. 6.
momentary glimpse of the ego-surpassing
fourth-dimensional principle for her extra- 9. Sri Aurobindo. The Synthesis of Yoga. 5 ed.
th
ordinary ‘I-Am’ experience.In a world Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust:
besieged by boredom, meaninglessness and 1999, p. 216.
alienation, constructing the ‘I-Am’ experience
would be a valuable tool in psychotherapy. 10. Ibid., p. 274.

References 11. Ibid., p. 216.

1. Fulford KWM, Thornton T, Graham G. Oxford 12. Raphael F, Monk R (eds). The Great Philosophers,
Textbook of Philosophy and Psychiatry.Indian pp. 108-9.

Dr. Soumitra Basu, a practising psychiatrist and member of SAIIIHR, is the Director of a school of
psychology, Integral Yoga Psychology. He is also one of the editors of NAMAH.

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