The Origins Of Indian Psychology

A brilliant study examining the development of the ancient theoretical psychological thought in India, starting from the pre-Vedic period and its maturation up to the early Buddhist period. It outlines the concept of monism in the Vedas, the Vedic concept of afterlife, the Vedic concept of the human being, in terms of individual identity, vital faculties and the mental organs. It should be of enormous interest to the students of religious as well as modern psychology."Appropriate for undergraduate and graduate libraries" Choice

This book is a simple introduction to the history and various systems of Psychology. It provides a basic understanding of major systems and theories in psychology in a comprehensive way. It covers in detail the historiecal backgrounds taking plave before the emgergence of each system. As such, it provides a better understanding about the historical emergence of status of psychology and in beginning its separation from philosophical traditions. It covers a lucid discussion with emphasis on the antecednet forces of all the important system of psychology. Besides the traditional systems, it alos includes in separate chapters a discussion on the CONGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY, the EXISTENTIAL PSYCHOLOGY, the HUMANISTIC PSYCHOLOGY and the INTERNATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY. An overview of psychology in India has also been one of the salient features of the book. This will briefly introduce to teachers and students about what the Indian psychologists are doing.The book is an ideal text for undergraduate and post graduate course of psychology.

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.

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.

Psychological science is worldwide, but it originated earlier in some countries and regions than in others, and the course of development has differed among countries and regions. Psychology has also interacted with quite different cultural backgrounds in different regions of the world. The special issue of the International Journal of Psychology contains seven papers that treat the origins and development of psychology in most of the regions of the world. It includes countries and regions where psychology has a long history and has attained major status and also developing countries where psychology is more recent and is less well established. It includes papers on countries of European culture and also countries where psychology interacts with the background of Asian and Latin American cultures. The authors of the papers, all well known internationally, are all present or past members of the Executive Committee of the International Union of Psychological Science and so are well acquainted with world psychology and psychology in countries besides their own. All of the authors have done research in other countries than their own and so can place the development of psychology in their own regions within the context of world psychology. These contributions show both the common features of psychological science around the world and also the special problems and special opportunities of psychology in different regional and cultural settings.