Whenever I mention about Indian Psychology to anyone, the immediate response I encounter is, "India never had a concept of Psychology/Psychotherapy". To people who know Indic Traditions usually attribute Indian psychology to Yogasutras alone.
My contemplation over the years over this topic makes me question, a civilization which focussed on physical reality in terms of Yoga and Ayurveda and Spiritual reality with innumerable Shastras starting like Vedas, Upanishads and Puranas; how can it ignore the connecting link between the two : MIND?
Has Bhartiya civilization never focussed on Mind? Have we lost the concerned tradition like we have lost many Veda shakas? Or our focus has been different as compared to modern conventional psychology?
The earliest reference to mental health in written tradition is found in Atharva Veda which lists down 20 different mental afflictions. Acharya Sushruta in his famous treatise on Surgery, enlists 'A happy and contended mind' as a criteria for a healthy person. Needless to say Darshan shastras like Sankhya, Yoga, Vedanta (Bhagvad geeta is a part of Vedanta darshan) have discussed mind, its associated functions and personalities quite exhaustively. Ayurveda considers Bhuta vidya i.e treatment of Psychological afflictions as one of the 8 branches of Ayurvedic treatment modalities.
With prominent limbs of Indic civilization discussing mind in some form or the other, it can't be an ignored aspect in our tradition. Probably, our compulsive need to legitimise any of our knowledge systems based on its equivalence with modern Western knowledge is a problem!!
Let us explore the Indic mind traditions in the next few articles to dive deeper into this unexplored and yet important aspect of our civilization
Dr. Karan Mittal
MBBS, MA( Clinical Psychology, Sanskrit), MSc ( Counselling Psychology), PGDCH, DCHP.
Superb informative
ReplyDeleteVery nice
ReplyDeleteI heard in a podcast from a famous scientist that in few decades phycologist will be no more as they will find a pill to cure every mental ailment. Couldn't it be that we had other methods to do so too.
ReplyDeleteThere are two parts to it in my understanding... As medical science evolves, definitely better treatments will come up. But like germs become resistant to antibiotics, dont we see an increase in number and frequency of diseases as well?
DeleteThe second part in my understanding; is popping a pill an answer to all diseases? Don't we need to take an onus of our well-being?
Karan ji, I have studied Yoga with Yogacharya Krishnamacharya and Shri Desikachar for more than a decade and focused on "inner work". I have recently written a book- Antaranga Yoga- the foundation of Indian Psychology. Would love to dialogue with you; my phone number- +91 9840296363; please txt and we will find a good time to connect.
ReplyDeleteGood initiative Lookout forward to your articles .
ReplyDeleteNice
ReplyDeleteExcellent sir ,So Very Well explained /penned down
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