Handbook of Indian Psychology

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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. Contents
Contributing Authors
Preface
Prologue: Introducing Indian Psychology
Indian Thought and Tradition: A Psychohistorical Perspective

PART I - SYSTEMS AND SCHOOLS
1. Jaina Psychology
2. The Foundations of Early Buddhist Psychology
3. Varieties of Cognition in Early Buddhism
4. A Buddhist Theory of Unconscious Mind ( Alaya-Vijana )
5. Indian Buddhist Theories of Persons
6. Buddhist Psychology: A Western Interpretation
7. Transpersonal Psychology in the Bhagavad-Gita : Reflections on Consciousness, Meditation, Work and Love
8. Yoga Psychology: Theory and Application
9. Patajali Yoga and Siddhis : Their Relevance to Parapsychological Theory and Research
1.Yoga Psychology and the Samkhya Metaphysic
11. Psychology in the Advaita Vedanta
12. The Nyaya-Vaisesika Theory of Perceiving the World of our Experience
13. Psychological Theories and Practices in Ayurveda

PART II - TOPICS AND THEMES
14. Indian Theories of Perception: An Inter-School Dialogue from Buddhist Perspective
15. Indian Psychology of Motivation
16. Personality in Indian Psychology
17. Giving as a Theme in the Indian Psychology of Values
18. The Making of a Creative Poet: Insights from Indian Aestheticians
19. Anchoring Cognition, Emotion and Behavior in Desire: A Model from the Bhagavad-Gita
2. Consciousness
21. Freedom from Knowledge

PART III - APPLICATIONS AND IMPLICATIONS
22. Therapeutic Psychology and Indian Yoga
23. Towards an Indian Organizational Psychology
24. Research on Indian Concepts of Psychology: Major Challenges and Perspectives for Future Action
25. Meditative Traditions and Contemporary Psychology
26. Consciousness Evolution of the Buddha until He Attained Satori
27. William James on Pure Experience and Samadhi in Samkhya Yoga
28. Sri Ramana Maharshi: A Case Study in Self-Realization
29. Altered States of Consciousness and the Spiritual Traditions: The Proposal for the Creation of State-Specific Sciences

Pronunciation and Transliteration of Sanskrit Alphabet
Glossary of Sanskrit Terms
Index


Author/Editor Details
Edited by: K. Ramakrishna Rao , Chairman, Indian Council for Philosophical Research (ICPR)
Edited by: Anand Paranjpe , Emeritus Professor, Psychology, Simon Fraser University, Canada
Edited by: Ajit K. Dalal , Professor, Psychology, University of Allahabad