Drawing parallelisms between science and spirituality, as well as eastern and western philosophies, Xlibris author Julián Laboy enlightens us with the complementary nature of diverse beliefs through his book From Tao to Psychology: An Introduction to the Bridge between East and West.
The Xlibris Blog is honored to feature one of Xlibris’ self-published gems recognized at the recently concluded Next Generation Indie Book Awards, the largest nonprofit awards for independent publishers to date. Julián, also an academic and research psychologist in Puerto Rico, is among the finalists in the multicultural non-fiction category.
We are different yet one
Communication is a very beautiful thing. There has been significant progress regarding mass communication between countries. And because we humans are made of so many different world views, we are also getting to know or at least try very hard to understand our different views, ideals and cultural values. My book, From Tao to Psychology: An Introduction to the Bridge between East and West, does just that. When I wrote it, I wanted to communicate a great potential for communication between Psychology as a Western scientific discipline and Taoism as an Eastern philosophy.
However, from the relationship that I wanted to build with the book, I learned a very important fact: From Tao to Psychology goes beyond Taoism and Psychology. We all can understand and learn from each other and that is because we are all built out of different experiences, contexts and circumstances, and neither are alike. Taoism emphasizes change, respect and getting the most out of every situation; Psychology emphasizes rigorous quests for knowledge and its applications regarding specific topics that concern the human mind-body. Both show us that we are all different, and both show us that because of that, we can all learn from each other through communication.
A new path to understanding Taoism
It is sad, however, that Taoism and Psychology have not had much communication over the years. I believe that we owe that to misinterpretations. It is easier to show the world our ideas, but that includes all kinds of ideas. Just as Psychology is a very broad term concerning very different and even opposing ideas, Taoism also had the same fate although in a lesser degree. When I first learned something about Taoism from psychologists, I saw a religion with very specific rituals. However, when digging deeper, I saw that in the Dao de Jing or the Chuang Tzu, I could paint a very different picture of Taoism as presented in Psychology textbooks taught to students in the Western world. That is why I decided to paint my picture of Taoism and write it to the world in an introductory manner.
As I said earlier, Taoism is all about understanding change, respecting everything in life and living and/or getting the most out of every situation. “Tao” has been defined as a “Way”, but “ways are many.” Again, Taoism emphasizes the different contexts, situations and circumstances that create us, and everyone can learn from its philosophy, not just the academic field of Psychology.
It is also very important to say that not every kind of psychologist will accept any merging with Taoism. Some would argue that Psychology as a scientific discipline searches for unchanging laws — the kind that Taoism opposes because of its philosophy of change. But that is not the type of Psychology that you will find in my book. Again, “ways are many.”
Keep visiting the Xlibris Blog for the next installment of Julián’s two-part blog and for more featured Xlibris authors.
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