Plunging Through the Clouds
Constructive Living Currents
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Description
Constructive Living brings together two psychotherapies—Morita and Naikan— and their associated lifeways. Both therapies were developed in this century, but their roots extend back hundreds of years in East Asian history. Morita was a professor of psychiatry at Jikei University School of Medicine in Tokyo. Yoshimoto was a successful businessman who retired to become a lay priest in Nara. Morita's method has it origins in Zen Buddhist psychology, and Yoshimoto's Naikan has its origins in Jodo Shinshu Buddhist psychology.
Neither of these systems requires that one believe in Buddhism or have faith in anything other than one's experience. They work as well for Christians and Moslems and Jews as for Buddhists. Both are built on the naturalistic observations of humans and careful introspection of their founders. Constructive Living isn't mystical or oriental, but practical and human.
David K. Reynolds directs the Constructive Living Center in Coos Bay, Oregon. He is the author of more than twenty books including Flowing Bridges, Quiet Waters: Japanese Psychotherapies, Morita and Naikan also published by SUNY Press.
Reviews
"In the genre of self-help books, I believe that Constructive Living books offer the most useful, practical, and effective advice on how to live life well. Plunging Through The Clouds provides an overview of Constructive Living as presented by many different individuals. Seeing Constructive Living being used in different settings demonstrates its broad applicability to the western world in which we live. "— Henry J. Kahn, M. D.