The Study of Internal States in Theory and Practice- A Perspective from Indian Psychology

About the Book From remote antiquity India has been the home of Yoga, which from a certain point of view is nothing but applied psychology. Most of the classical and modern schools of Indian philosophy have attempted to expound their views based on a critical rationality and have also designed elaborate meditative practices. so that their assertions with regard to the human mind and consciousness. could be directly experienced. In other words what experiment is to science, experience IS to Indian philosophy. In this innovative book we have attempted to present this treasure trove of knowledge as a 'psychology' . that is a universal discipline based on rational principles whose conclusions can be cross validated by means of meditative insight. A special feature of the book is thus the close coupling between theory and an elaborate description of associated meditative practices. As the Indian Seers foretold. grave crisis would grip human affairs unless certain modes of self understanding were not actively pursued and a purely materialist conception of life and mind were generally adopted. The world wide corruption and rapid depletion of natural resources, the impending mass extinction on the planet, the vagaries of the climate, the proliferation of toxic creeds and terrorist activities, the burgeoning political and economic disharmony· all indicate a rapidly escalating global crisis. The key, pivotal and central player in this situation is the human mind and consciousness. In such a scenario it would be wise to heed the wise and mature counsels of the Indian Seers concerning the human mind to understand ourselves and the troubling times in which we live. This reappraisal of human consciousness in the light of Indian wisdom and psychology is perhaps one our best means to resolve a deeply troubling and disconcerting future.

About the Author Rahul Banerjee IS Professor at the Crystallography and Molecular Biology Division, Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, Kolkata. His research interests include macromolecular protein structures, biological computation and drug development specifically for leishmaniasis. He is also interested in meditative to study consciousness found in classical and modern Indian philosophical systems, including their practical applications in therapy. He has about 30 publications in the area of biophysics and has authored or edited three books related to studies in consciousness.

Pritha Mukhopadhyay is Professor at the Department of Psychology, University of Calcutta. She received J.Willia, Fulbright fellowship for her postdoctoral research. She is a gold medalist of the University of Calcutta at the post graduation level. Her research interest is in psychophysiology and neuropsychology. She is the coordinator of the UGC-funded Center for Potential for Excellence in Particular Area (CPEPA) and is carrying out research in quantitative EEG and brain training programme. She has received several research projects from UGC, AICTE, DST, ICSSR. She has around 66 publications to her credit and has authored 18 book chapters and one edited and authored book and one book in the area of counseling in Bengali.

Amita Chatterjee is Professor Emerita, Department of Philosophy and School of Cognitive Science, Jadavpur University, Kolkata. She was Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Indian Council of Philosophical Research, ICPR and Springer till 2017, Second Vice President (2016-19), Division of Logic, Methodology, Philosophy of Science and Technology, International Union of History and Philosophy of Science Technology and National Fellow for 2012-2014, Indian Council of Philosophical Research, New Delhi.

Preface This book looks at the study of the human mind from a completely Indian perspective. Can such an approach be called 'scientific', an 'Indian Psychology' as it were? Perhaps, the answer is both a yes and a no. Centuries before Newton the study of physics was included within the curriculum of natural philosophy.

Subsequent to Kepler, Galileo and Newton physical science broke away from natural philosophy and was deemed to be established on a sure and independent foundation based on definite rational principles, universally confirmed by experimental observation. In other words, order to qualify as a 'science', any science, the scope of the subject must be based upon universally acknowledged principles which can be verified by observation and experiment.

In contrast the realm of philosophy perhaps belongs to the formative period of any subject when there is discussion and argument between contending and contradictory proposals. At the very least, we can place two conflicting philosophical theories next to each other and discuss their relative merits and demerits. As one of our colleagues remarked with a shrug of his shoulders, 'In philosophy, you can say whatever you please.' But such an approach obviously does not apply for a scientific discipline. In a scientific discipline if there are conflicting theories or hypotheses pertaining to any phenomena it simply means that the matter is yet to be properly understood or a proper experiment is awaited which will adjudicate between conflicting and competing theories (or probably reject them all). In other words, contradictory accounts for the same phenomenon are not permissible for a Science. There has to be a coherent logical thread running through the science or sciences which will bind and explain phenomena by a minimum set of experimentally validated rational principles.

Richard Feynman, the great physicist, once remarked that if all knowledge of physics were to disappear and only the notion of the atom retained, then it would be possible to recover the maximum portions of the lost knowledge in the shortest possible time. The conception and the reality of the atomic constitution of matter runs like a thread through enormous vistas of physics, chemistry and modern structural biology, which provides coherence • and unity in the account of apparently diverse phenomena, Can we find such a thread in the Indian accounts of the mind? Perhaps there is such a thread to build a science- an 'Indian psychology'; though obviously there is neither any consensus l(amongst scholars) nor even any definite proposal or set of proposals on the table. What currently exist are different schools of Indian philosophy with at least superficially different assumptions and accounts of the human psyche. However, despite differing philosophies there are some universal modes of meditative practices shared by most of the schools. For example, all the classical schools of meditation (from the Buddha, Jaina, Vedanta, Sankhya - Yoga, Tantra) manipulate the breath in some form or the other to tranquilize and concentrate the mind. But when it. comes to a natural principle or set of principles which will run like. a thread through the nascent and emerging science of Indian Psychology - the matter is not all simple.

Introduction In this book on 'Indian psychology' we will familiarize ourselves with some basic notions with regard to the nature of the mind which historically arose in the Indian subcontinent.

Although these ideas and their related meditative practices arose in India, their primary motivation was to provide universal means to promote human happiness. It was recognized that since human suffering or the possibility of suffering was universal, the remedy should also. be universal. In the pages of this book there will be several discussions with regard to the Indian understanding of the 'mind', yet at no stage will you be asked to believe blindly or dogmatically accept some set of beliefs. The operative principle adopted throughout will be to 'come and see'. If you cannot directly 'see' the truth of an assertion there does not seem to be much point in accepting it. But it must be admitted that the 'seeing' will require certain forms of specialized training which will take time and effort to master. Although many of these psychological practices have historically been the preserve of religious houses we would like to present them as essentially human principles which can be directly seen, understood and validated by all" regardless of religious affiliation, gender, race or political opinion. In order for a discipline to be accepted as a 'science' there must be an appeal to universal rational principles and validation procedures accessible to all. Having said that, it must be dearly understood that thoughts, whether rational or not, actually constitute only a very small part of the totality of our mental life and to be limited to thoughts is merely to condemn ourselves to voluntary ignorance with respect to the vast spectrum of mental phenomena. You will soon see that the psychological procedures described in this book, not only instructs you how to think correctly but also attempts to take you beyond thoughts. In order for your study to be truly fruitful it is essential that you practice at least some the psychological procedures, along with studying the material provided in the book.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages