Review of: Han F. de Wit, Contemplative Psychology

Abstract

Han F. de W it?s Contemplative Psychology is a work fully deserving of the some times overused epithets "timely" and "pioneering."It is timely in the sense that it could not have been written even just twenty years ago, least of all by a specialist in academic psychology like de Wit, who is professor of theoretical psychology at Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam.The book became possible only with the growing understanding of Eastern contem plation among Western intellectuals and the concomitant broadening of academic psychol ogy that accompanied the humanistic and transpersonal trends recently seen in that field.That the work is a pioneering one is evident from the author's goal: to "establish a dialogue between contemplative psychology and academ ic psychology" (p.233).I know of no other study that has taken up this chal lenge, although Ken W il b e r recently moved in this direction when he advo cated the "hermeneutical reading of authentic texts" on what he calls the "superconscious stages" ( 1984， p. 125).A review of this length obviously cannot do full justice to the many chal lenges offered by this book, so I shall attempt first to indicate something of its unique approach and then give a short presentation of its contents.In view of the novelty of de W it's undertaking, it is not surprising that he feels obliged to define the nature of his endeavor in several different ways.Taken together, these definitions provide us with a relatively clear picture of his goals.O n page 3 the author says that he wants "to suggest a frame work... in which a full-fledged contemplative psychology may be developed.