Letter # 53: "Food For Stomach And Soul."

Some years ago, a deeply religious but newly-separated woman consulted me for psychotherapy at my office in Richmond, BC, Canada. She was more distressed than depressed, as her estranged husband would not give her money. As she had no job, she didn't have enough money to buy sufficient food for her family. I took her into the coffee shop that I used to own at that time, next door to my office. I told her to take whatever food she wanted from the displays. When she heard this, her voice choked up. She couldn’t speak but shed tears of gratitude. After she took some bags of food, I also advised her to go to the local food bank. That was her psychotherapy for that day – to help her to get food. Mistakenly, we think of hunger as being restricted to foreign lands but hunger in Canada is not at all uncommon.
Once she got some help in obtaining food, I helped her overcome her negative thinking through a type of psychotherapy called “cognitive” therapy. This is a scientifically proven technique that works well in transforming a person’s negative thinking. Whether we suffer from anxiety or depression or not, we’re all prone to negative thinking. I’ve written a 25-page self-help booklet on how to overcome negative thinking. It's called “How To Transform Your Life By Changing Your Thoughts – A Do It Yourself Kit”. It's a workbook that's written in a style that any person could easily follow. The techniques shown in the booklet can take a person from anger, sadness and fear to a calmer state within the 50 minutes it takes to do an exercise. Anyone who’s literate in English at a Grade 8 level can follow the exercises in the booklet. In my opinion, sufferers of psychiatric disorders, or non-sufferers, and mental health professionals and their students would all find the booklet of value.
The profits from any sales of this booklet will go to the food bank. The aim of the booklet is to provide a "dual" nourishment - food for the stomach and for the soul. If you are interested in receiving the booklet, send a cheque for $25, which charge includes shipping and handling, to Dr. Jas Bhopal, 160B, 8279 Saba Road, Richmond BC V6Y 4B6 Canada.
Whether you decide to purchase the booklet or not, think about the message in Job 7 of the Holy Bible: “You gave no water to the weary, and you withheld food from the hungry …”


God Bless; Allah Hu Akbar; May The Forces Of The Universe Bring You Harmony; Hare Krishna; Radha-Swami; and Nanak Naam Chardi Kala Tere Bhane Sarbat Dha Bhalla.

I wish to express my gratitude for your comments, which inspire me to carry on writing. Please forgive my fallibilities in presenting this material. Also, feel free to send this message on to someone that you might think would like to receive it. If you do send it on, my only request of you is that you send it as it is, in its entirety, and to not alter or modify any of the text, references or authorship information. Thus you will help to give credit or liability to where they are properly due.
Jas Bhopal
Copyright© 2008"
"Practicing goodwill makes for a good life."
Tel: 604 273 6641 (also for fax on request)
http://jasbhopal.com/
References: "The Holy Bible" Online version; "The Koran" (As translated by SV Mir Ahmed Ali 2005 ISBN 0-9761870-0-0); "The Bhagavad Gita As it Is" by Srila Prabhupada (ISBN 0-89213-268-X); "I Am That" Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj ISBN 0-89386-022-0; The Dhammapada ISBN-10:1-84483-344-5; The Sacred Sukhmani ISBN 81-7205-098-4; Wikipedia.