experiencing the world from body to ĀTMAN 157
feeling of pressure or weight on the body in order to represent problems attri-
buted to the mind or emotion. Malayalam and Sanskritic terms for distress do
not evoke these senses. Malayalam idioms used by people I spoke to in Kerala
who were suff ering distress include: vishamam, which best translates as “sad-
ness,” kashtanngal, which means “troubles,” and dukham, which is best ren-
dered as “grief.” A greater knowledge of Malayalam etymology and a thorough
analysis of these words in their use in everyday discourse would be necessary,
however, to complete this comparison more accurately. In addition, while priv-
ileging mind over body is similar to valuing the intangible over the tangible,
the phenomenology in Kerala locates both mind and body on the lower, more
material and tangible end of the body-mind-bōdham-ātman continuum. Yet
both phenomenologies do have in common a denigration of the body.
Chapter 5 continues the focus on phenomenological features of health and
healing, but examines the more tangible realms of the person through an analysis
of the aesthetic experience of undergoing therapy. Although patients are most
concerned about the intangible parts of the person, given the choice between
several therapeutic options, they prefer a process of healing that more pleasantly,
or less abrasively, engages the tangible aspects of experience. Ātman does not
require austerities and physical suff ering to be realized, at least not in the realm
of healing. Meanwhile, it should be recalled that the mind/manas is partially tan-
gible, and a viscerally agreeable healing experience, ideally a “cooling” experience,
is for many a more appealing way to seek relief from mental distress.
Notes
- On locating the Other in time see Fabian (1983) and Augé (1999 [1994]).
- See Bordo (1993) and Gilbert (1997) on women’s bodies, Fishburn’s (1997) study
of the African-American body in literary narratives and Kleinman (1986) and
Scheper-Hughes (1992) on working class bodies. - Kleinman explained that so-called “mental” problems are somatically expressed
throughout most of the world:
Th e research literature indicates that depression and most other mental
illnesses, especially in non-Western societies and among rural, ethnic and
lower-class groups in the West, are associated preponderantly with physi-
cal complaints. (1986:52)Kleinman’s claim was supported by much research in cross-cultural psych-
iatry. A WHO-funded study found that a majority of psychiatric patients at pri-
mary health care facilities in “developing country” sites (India, Colombia, Sudan
and the Philippines) presented with physical complaints (Climent et al. 1980,