Foundations And Applications Of Indian Psychology

Venturing into the widely under-explored area of Indian Psychology, this book provides coverage of the origins, scope and development in this area. The twenty-six essays in this book cover a broad spectrum of topics in Psychology and link mainstream topics that are taught in General Psychology with Indian thought. It has several renowned contributors who have covered Indian psychology's links with Yoga, Buddhism, Ayurveda, Veda and Sufi traditions. The book covers some of the most important areas that have emerged in modern psychology and will be of great value to students and teachers alike.

The first volume had laid the groundwork for a new study in psychology based on the fascinating theoretical and conceptual insights that Indian thought offers. Carrying forward the endeavour to broaden the view of its readers,

Foundations of Indian Psychology Volume 1: Concepts and Theories goes beyond merely tracing the history of Indian thought. It demonstrates how ideas and practices from Vedic, Sufi, Buddhist and Yogic traditions can be used to tackle issues in contemporary psychology. With its contribution to theory building and application, it gives a new direction to psychology as it is studied today. The first book in a two-volume series, it will be of interest to students, scholars of psychology, philosophy and religion as well as the general reader.

Indian psychology is a distinct psychological tradition rooted in the native Indian ethos. It manifests in the multitude of practices prevailing in the Indian subcontinent for centuries. Unlike the mainstream psychology, Indian psychology is not overwhelmingly materialist-reductionist in character. It goes beyond the conventional third-person forms of observation to include the study of first-person phenomena such as subjective experience in its various manifestations and associated cognitive phenomena. It does not exclude the investigation of extraordinary states of consciousness and exceptional human abilities. The quintessence of Indian nature is its synthetic stance that results in a magical bridging of dichotomies such as natural and supernatural, secular and sacred, and transactional and transcendental. The result is a psychology that is practical, positive, holistic and inclusive. The Handbook of Indian Psychology is an attempt to explore the concepts, methods and models of psychology systematically from the above perspective. The Handbook is the result of the collective efforts of more than thirty leading international scholars with interdisciplinary backgrounds. In thirty-one chapters, the authors depict the nuances of classical Indian thought, discuss their relevance to contemporary concerns, and draw out the implications and applications for teaching, research and practice of psychology.

The first volume had laid the groundwork for a new study in psychology based on the fascinating theoretical and conceptual insights that Indian thought offers. Carrying forward the endeavour to broaden the view of its readers,