To reduce terrorism and extremism, we need an understanding of culture, religion and how those interact with our individual moral choices. This is the focus of a complimentary book I’d like to send you for consideration of a review, and inspiration for a remarkable documentary touching on 2000 years of interfaith harmony and intra-faith transformations in a small corner of India. The lessons from it promote peace and happiness from individual to global levels.
Link to the documentary The World’s Most Enlightening Region here: https://vimeo.com/144007123 or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lumfQ130Tws
Unlocking Answers To Terrorism And Extremism In The World’s Most Enlightening Region
Birmingham, AL, December 23, 2015 – During this season intended to celebrate harmony and joy, the world is faced with increasing violence and fear. Dr. N.S. Xavier, psychiatrist, author and producer, turns to his birthplace for hope and inspiration in finding personal fulfillment and promoting global peace. His recent documentary, The World’s Most Enlightening Region, premiered at the 2015 conference of the Parliament of the World’s Religions in Salt Lake City.
World conflict and extremism are often connected with religion and culture; this documentary is about a great and enlightening exception. A region in Kerala, India, Xavier’s childhood home, has a history of ongoing harmony of Hinduism, Christianity and Judaism from the first century A.D. and Islam from the 7th century. In this small corner of the world, each of these religions also has shown peaceful resolution of more or less extremist tendencies within itself. The lessons from this unique example can promote peace and happiness at various levels from individual to global, Xavier explains.
“The inner parrot of social programming often deviates greatly from the inner voice of conscience,” he continues. “The secret of harmony is living by one’s conscience. Religious extremism is frequently the result of following the inner parrot which contradicts conscience. The clinical, social and historical examples I give promote insights to help people reach harmony and happiness at individual to global levels.”
The documentary explores in depth the ideas Xavier began to develop in his 2007 book, Fulfilling Heart and Soul. “There is a difference between the real conscience and the socially programmed judging part, the superego,” he says. “This distinction is crucial; it’s possible to fulfill human need with the guidance of conscience, but the superego or inner parrot can wreak havoc in the process if its influence is overlooked.”
It received endorsements from Nobel Laureate President Oscar Arias, Dr. Deepak Chopra, Fr. Richard Rohr, Prof. K.L.S. Rao, Dr. Arthur Freeman, Bishop John Shelby Spong and many other prominent people. The book was later published with some additional materials under the title Fulfillment Using Real Conscience.
N. S. Xavier was born in 1945 in Kerala, India. He grew up in the Syro-Malabar Catholic community of Kerala which traces its Christian origin to conversion by Jesus’ disciple St. Thomas. After medical education in India, he received psychiatric training at the University of Virginia before moving to Birmingham, Alabama in 1979, where he has spent more than thirty years in private practice.
Xavier published his first book, The Two Faces of Religion, about the healthy and unhealthy sides of religions in the U.S. in 1987. Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel called it “challenging and provocative.” The Holy Region, his second book,was published in India in 2003.
Xavier has given presentations in various national and international forums including the Parliament of Worlds’ Religions in Australia in 2009. He has lectured at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) on addictions, spirituality and medicine and the role of conscience in promoting peace. He was on a forum with Tushar Gandhi, the Mahatma’s great grandson, at UAB discussing the Gandhian Path to Global Progress.
For more information, please visit: www.nsxavier.com
Fulfillment Using Real Conscience
Available at http://www.amazon.com/Fulfillment-Using-Real-Conscience-Psychological/dp/1438967284
ISBN-13: 978-1438967288
$16.95
###
About The Most Enlightening Region of the World:
Dr. Babu Joseph, former Vice Chancellor, Cochin University, India: “an awe-inspiring superb creation.”
Dr. Arthur Freeman III, former psychiatry Chairman and Dean, LSU Medical School: “A beautiful and inspiring film of love and hope.”
What people say about Fulfillment Using Real Conscience:
Deepak Chopra, MD, bestselling author and speaker: “…a very practical guide for anyone interested in self-empowerment through psychological and spiritual evolution.”
Richard Rohr, Catholic priest, bestselling author and speaker: “The clarifications Xavier makes in this book are absolutely essential if we are going to move religion to a an adult plane.”
Oscar Arias, 1987 Nobel Peace Laureate: “…without a doubt, peace must be built from the inside out….we can truly vanquish prejudice, hate and violence from our society only when we vanquish them within our own hearts. Dr. Xavier’s clear and accessible book provides valuable tools in that effort and in the pursuit of empathy, harmony and hope.”
K.L.S. Rao, Chief Editor, Encyclopedia of Hinduism “…refreshing, lucid, timely and enormously relevant for this century.”
John Shelby Spong, Episcopal Bishop, author and speaker: “A sensitive, compelling and exacting book…Dr. Xavier speaks to the heart and the mind.”
Fr. Richard M. Gula, Professor of Moral Theology, Graduate Theological Union, Berkley: “The interdisciplinary character of this book offers helpful insights for us in the process of becoming whole and holy.”
James Redfield, author, The Celestine Prophecy: “…a broad and comprehensive look to a path that can make you whole.”
