Psychosomatics 45:274-275, June 2004
© 2004 The Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine
The Art of Serenity
By T. Byram Karasu, M.D., New York, Simon & Schuster, 2003, 243 pages, $24.00, ISBN 0-7432-2887-6
Joan S. Zofnass, D.S.W.
For this book, Dr. Karasu set himself the heroic goal of providing "the path to a joyful life in the best and worst of times." In just 224 pages, he quotes from well over 200 scholarly sources, ranging from the Bible and the Sufi mystics through Plato, Buddha, Shakespeare, and Thoreau to such present-day figures as Kubler Ross, Paul Tillich, and Rabbi Kushner to name but a few, as he outlines the way to an "extraordinary state of mind." I began this book just as I learned of one friend gravely injured and another friend widowed suddenly with three children under 6. Yes, reviewing the book came at a most propitious time for me, and I was eager to grasp the art of serenity.
The book is divided into three main sections: "The Way of Soul Is Love," "The Way of the Spirit Is Believing," and "The Way of God Is Believing and Loving." In the first section, we are introduced to the three components of love: love of others, of work, and of belonging. An underlying premise is that the key to coping with life's adversities "lie[s] in being a grown up, soulful and spiritual person" for those "who have not grown up cannot cultivate their souls and spirits, and therefore remain chronically susceptible to unhappiness." "The thing that everyone is yearning for ... joyful serenity ... can be opened only by a combination key involving both the soul and spirit. It involves the soul through love, the love of others, the love of work and the love of belonging. It involves the spirit of belonging, believing in the sacred, believing in unity, and believing in transformation, all cultivated in the belief in and love of God."
Through case vignettes we are introduced to individuals looking for love in all the wrong places. Dr. Karasu easily weaves philosophy and mythology in with complex psychoanalytic theories, reminding the reader of the multiple layers influencing behavior. The vignettes also highlight the essential value of work. "A person who is genuinely engaged in his work is not preoccupied with whether he is happy or not," with a maladaptive work pattern being seen as "a common example of the damaging of one's soul." Dr. Karasu notes the critical value of the family of origin, imparting to it the role of "establishing deep and wide roots [which] offers fertile ground to the soul." With the family as the "anchoring point," we connect and establish bonds with others. Quoting Emil Durkheim he emphasizes that the primary purpose of religion at its most rudimentary level was not to connect individuals with God but to put them in touch with each other, for without belonging, without this connectedness, the capacity for soulfulness becomes jeopardized. This first section is easy to comprehend and introduces the reader to some of the complexities of psychotherapeutic intervention.
The second section, "The Way of the Spirit Is Believing," continues to educate the reader as to the process of psychotherapy. Since the topic addressed is "Belief," I became more bogged down in some of the dogmatic positions taken which leave little room for "interpretation." "One does not have a choice with aging, but one has the choice of [emphasis mine] either suffering from it or enjoying its benefits" feels a bit too simplistic as are such statements as "suffering is the shadow of divine light, and its embedded divinity inspires the ultimate harmony" or "those who are impoverished in the spiritual world tend deep down to have a depressive disposition." I am also left questioning his belief that "if we're true believers then we won't suffer." Perhaps the more crucial question is which comes first, the chicken or egg—does chemical imbalance result in not believing or does not believing result in a chemical imbalance? While I found myself more critical of Dr. Karasu's positions in this part of the book, I could understand his effort to encourage looking beyond the self and found myself in agreement with his more general observations such as "what generates a spiritual activity is finding an embodiment of the inner self and giving out to the world." But is that really so different from any effort to encourage a narcissistic patient to move toward a worldview instead of always being about self?
The last section, "The Way of God Is Believing and Loving," continues to make leaps of faith without "showing us the way" to follow. Indeed, it is easy to say that "the man or woman who turns to God ... is replenished from a course beyond themselves, so they never run dry." The harder task is to explain how to get to that point. Similarly, when stating "if you believe in skies even without remotely comprehending them, you automatically believe in God," or "we are born with the knowledge of God. God is an imprinted knowledge that can be forbidden and denied but it cannot be erased," he is taking one further leap into the unbelievable for the nonbeliever.
The book is a good read with a vast amount of information on each page. Touching on so many issues, Dr. Karasu whets the reader's appetite for more depth but jumps instead to another sentence, another reference, another idea. Each author mentioned and each quote introduced could, in itself, be a topic for a chapter or indeed a lifetime of study. The tone is also confusing. Is the intended audience mental health professionals, afficionados of the history of religion or philosophy, or the lay reader? The explanations of basic concepts, such as the process of psychotherapy, suggest that he is aiming at a lay audience, but in other areas the concepts touched on would seem difficult for anyone without formal training.
I read the book twice. Although at times the author's dogmatic view made me feel alienated rather than opened up, I was left in awe of his familiarity with literature and his talent as a psychotherapist. I found myself rethinking the peace of mind I find on the water and in the woods as perhaps an embodiment of the inner self to which Dr. Karasu refers. However, serenity still awaits me, and I would have liked to have had a more user-friendly guide to the pursuit of this most elusive art.
FOOTNOTES
Dr. Zofnass is a psychotherapist in private practice with an interest in individuals coping with life-threatening illnesses.
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