Revision sheet

This sheet gathers the main points of the unit for revision. It adds nothing new: every point comes from the page linked in its heading, with the same dates and the same attributions. If a point is unclear, go back to that page, where it is explained in full.

Before you begin

• psychologypsychologyLiterally: Greek psyche (soul, breath) + logos (study, account)Psychology is the study of mind and behaviour. Modern psychology mostly uses experiments and measurement to study how people think, feel and act.Indian link manovijnana (the modern Hindi word for psychology), or adhyatma vidya (the science of the self). Neither was a separate discipline in ancient India.Full entry in the glossaryClose studies how people perceive, think, remember, feel, decide and act, mostly with evidence that other researchers can check.
• Wundt's laboratory at Leipzig (1879) is often taken as the start of psychology as a separate science. Watson's behaviourismbehaviourismBehaviourism is a school of psychology that studies only observable behaviour, not the mind. It explains behaviour through learning from rewards, punishments and associations.Indian link samskara (habits built by repeated action) overlaps a little with learning theory, but Indian psychology rejects behaviourism's exclusion of consciousness.Full entry in the glossaryClose (1913) pushed consciousness out of psychology for several decades.
• Indian traditions of thought span about three thousand years, several languages and several religions: the VedasVedaवेदsay: vay-duhLiterally: knowledge; from vid-, to knowThe Vedas are the oldest sacred texts of India. They are hymns, ritual guides and teachings, first passed on by memory and recitation.Full entry in the glossaryClose, the UpanishadsUpanishadउपनिषद्Upaniṣadsay: u-puh-ni-shuhdLiterally: sitting down near (a teacher); upa + ni + sadThe Upanishads are philosophical texts at the end of the Vedas. They ask what the self is and how it relates to the whole of reality.Western link Sometimes compared to Plato's dialogues, because they teach through questions and conversation. The key difference: their aim is direct experience of the self, not only a sound argument.Full entry in the glossaryClose, the epics, the PuranasPuranaपुराणpurāṇasay: pu-raa-nuhLiterally: ancient; of old times (from purā, formerly)The Puranas are long Sanskrit texts of myths, legends and family histories of gods, heroes and saints. Tradition counts eighteen major ones. Most people know them through retelling.Western link Closest to a body of sacred myth and legend in any scripture tradition. The difference: the Puranas mix stories of creation, family histories, law and devotion, and were meant to be performed and retold.Full entry in the glossaryClose (from the 4th to 6th centuries CE), Buddhism, Jainism, the six astikaastikaआस्तिकāstikasay: aas-ti-kuhLiterally: one who says 'it is' (asti)Astika schools are the Indian philosophies that accept the authority of the Vedas. The usual six are Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Sankhya, Yoga, Mimamsa and Vedanta.Western link Often translated 'orthodox', but it is not the same as 'theist'. The test is acceptance of the Vedas, not belief in God.Full entry in the glossaryClose darshanasdarshanaदर्शनdarśanasay: duhr-shuh-nuhLiterally: seeing, view; from dṛś-, to seeDarshana means 'a way of seeing'. It is the usual word for a school of Indian philosophy, such as Sankhya, Yoga or Vedanta.Western link Close to 'philosophy' or 'school of thought'. The difference: a darshana is meant to be lived and practised, not only argued, and most aim at liberation.Full entry in the glossaryClose and specialist sciences such as AyurvedaAyurvedaआयुर्वेदĀyurvedasay: aa-yur-vay-duhLiterally: knowledge of life (āyus + veda)Ayurveda is India's traditional system of medicine. It treats body and mind together and aims to keep health in balance, not only to cure illness.Western link Close to holistic or biopsychosocial medicine. The key difference: its concepts (doshas, gunas) do not match Western physiology, and its care includes diet, daily routine and ethics.Full entry in the glossaryClose.
• Many textbook dates are traditional dates. Historians place the Rig VedaRig Vedaऋग्वेदṚgvedasay: rig-vay-duhLiterally: Veda of verses; ṛc, a verse of praiseThe Rig Veda is the oldest of the four Vedas. It is a collection of 1,028 hymns to gods and powers of nature, arranged in ten books.Full entry in the glossaryClose at c. 1500 to 1200 BCE, the early Upanishads at c. 700 to 500 BCE and the Yoga SutraYoga Sutraयोगसूत्रYogasūtrasay: yo-guh soo-truhLiterally: threads (aphorisms) on yogaThe Yoga Sutra is the classic text of the Yoga school, by Patanjali. In about 195 short lines it explains how to calm and master the mind.Western link Close to a manual of attention training and self-regulation. The key difference: its goal is the freedom of pure consciousness (purusha), not only better mental health.Full entry in the glossaryClose at the 1st to 2nd century CE.
• Most writing on Indian psychology draws on Hindu sources first, then Buddhist and Jain ones. "Indian" is not the same as "Hindu".
• Rao and Paranjpe separate Indian psychology from psychology in India, from the psychology of Indians, and from indigenous psychologyindigenous psychologyLiterally: Latin indigena, born in a placeIndigenous psychology is psychology that grows from a culture's own ideas, problems and ways of knowing, rather than being imported from elsewhere.Indian link Indian psychology is often called an indigenous psychology, but this is debated. Rao and Paranjpe say Indian psychology carries its own theory, while indigenous psychology is an approach that is neutral about theory.Full entry in the glossaryClose. Indian psychology is "theory-loaded"; indigenous psychology is "theory neutral".
• Rao (2008, p. 2): Indian psychology "is not the study of psychology of Indians". "Indian" names where the ideas came from.
• Rao's model: the person (jivajivaजीवjīvasay: jee-vuhLiterally: living being; from jīv-, to liveJiva means a living being: the individual self that has a body, a mind and a life story. It is the self as it lives in the world.Western link Close to 'person' or 'the embodied self' in psychology. The difference: the jiva is thought to continue across many lives.Full entry in the glossaryClose) is body, mind and consciousness. The mind is subtle matter. Consciousness is not physical and is "reflected" in the mind.
• Durganand SinhaDurganand SinhaIndian psychologist (1922 to 1998) at Allahabad. He led the call to 'indigenize' psychology in India, so that it fits Indian life and problems.Full entry in the glossaryClose disagreed: Indian thought should supply hypotheses for one universal psychology, tested scientifically. He warned against revivalism and "cosmetic indigenization".
• A working definition joins the book definitions: the systematic study of mind, consciousness, behaviour and human well-being, based on Indian philosophy and spiritual traditions. It is a summary, not a quotation.
• Features of mainstream psychology: objectivity, quantification and hypothesis testing, theory-building, correlation and generalisation. The charge that it "misses individual differences" is half true: experimental psychology treats them as "errors", but differential psychology measures them.
• Features of Indian psychology: Dalal's six, in his order (universal in scope; consciousness at the centre; concerned with everyday problems too, as in AyurvedaAyurvedaआयुर्वेदĀyurvedasay: aa-yur-vay-duhLiterally: knowledge of life (āyus + veda)Ayurveda is India's traditional system of medicine. It treats body and mind together and aims to keep health in balance, not only to cure illness.Western link Close to holistic or biopsychosocial medicine. The key difference: its concepts (doshas, gunas) do not match Western physiology, and its care includes diet, daily routine and ethics.Full entry in the glossaryClose; spiritual, not tied to one faith; experiential, with first-person and second-person methods; applied). Rao and Paranjpe add holistic ("biopsychosocial-spiritual") and "value-oriented", which the guide calls prospective, purposeful and prescriptive. The class adds several paths (jnanajnanaज्ञानjñānasay: gyaa-nuhLiterally: knowing, knowledge (jñā-, to know)Jnana means knowledge. In spiritual use it means freeing insight into the self, as in jnana yoga, the path of knowledge.Western link Close to 'cognition' in the broad sense, and to 'insight' in the spiritual sense. The difference: the highest jnana changes the knower, not only what the knower believes.Full entry in the glossaryClose, bhaktibhaktiभक्तिsay: bhuhk-tiLiterally: sharing, devotion (bhaj-, to share, to worship)Bhakti means loving devotion to God. Bhakti yoga, the path of devotion, is one of three main paths in the Bhagavad Gita, with action and knowledge.Western link Close to religious devotion, and to positive emotions such as love and gratitude in the psychology of religion. The difference: bhakti is a full path to liberation.Full entry in the glossaryClose, karma yogakarma yogaकर्मयोगkarmayogasay: kuhr-muh yo-guhLiterally: the yoga (discipline) of actionKarma yoga is the path of action: doing one's duty fully and well while giving up craving for its results. The Bhagavad Gita teaches it as a way to freedom.Western link Close to a focus on process rather than outcome, to intrinsic motivation and to flow, and to altruism when it serves others. The difference: flow is a passing, enjoyable state, while karma yoga is a lifelong attitude, held in dull or painful duty too, and aimed at liberation.Full entry in the glossaryClose), many disciplines, learning through ritual and story, sustainability and cultural continuity. Weak sides: theory "takes a backseat", the law books excluded Shudras, and most features describe only some schools.
• Goals. Mainstream psychology: describe, explain, predict, control. Indian psychology: self-knowledge, growth beyond normal, the purusharthaspurusharthaपुरुषार्थpuruṣārthasay: pu-ru-shaar-thuhLiterally: aim of a person (puruṣa + artha)The purusharthas are the four aims of human life: dharma (right living), artha (wealth and security), kama (pleasure and love) and moksha (liberation).Western link Close to models of human needs and goals, such as Maslow's hierarchy. The difference: the aims form a moral framework in which ethics guides the others, not a ladder of needs.Full entry in the glossaryClose as future aims, telling purushapurushaपुरुषpuruṣasay: pu-ru-shuhLiterally: person, manIn Sankhya and Yoga, purusha is pure consciousness: the silent witness that is aware but does not act. It is completely separate from mind and matter.Western link Close to 'pure consciousness' or the 'witness' in consciousness studies. Unlike Descartes' mind, purusha does not think; thinking belongs to matter.Full entry in the glossaryClose apart from prakritiprakritiप्रकृतिprakṛtisay: pruh-kri-tiLiterally: what is made first; original natureIn Sankhya, prakriti is nature: the single source of all matter and all mental activity. It is made of three qualities, the gunas.Western link Close to 'nature' or 'matter-energy'. The key difference: prakriti includes the mind, so thoughts and feelings are natural processes, not consciousness itself.Full entry in the glossaryClose (never their "union"), and a move from individual to universal values. It aims at "the mastery and transformation of oneself", not at "changes in others" (Cornelissen, Misra and Varma, 2014, p. xiv).

Ancient forms and the missing name

• Classical India had no subject called psychology and "no exact word for psychology in Sanskrit" (S. K. Ramachandra Rao, 1962, reported in Kiran Kumar, 2008, p. 25). The ideas were there; the name and the separate subject were not.
• Psychological ideas live in many sources: the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Bhagavad GitaBhagavad Gitaभगवद्गीताBhagavad Gītāsay: bhuh-guh-vuhd gee-taaLiterally: song of the Blessed LordThe Bhagavad Gita is a 700-verse dialogue inside the Mahabharata. Krishna advises the warrior Arjuna, who is in crisis before a battle.Western link Often read as a counselling text: a person in crisis talks with a guide. Unlike most Western therapy, the guide also gives moral and spiritual teaching.Full entry in the glossaryClose, Buddhist texts and the AbhidhammaAbhidhammaअभिधम्मsay: uh-bhi-dhuhm-muhLiterally: higher teaching; (teaching) about the dhammaThe Abhidhamma is the part of Buddhist scripture that analyses the mind in detail. It lists the mental states and factors that make up experience.Western link Close to a classification of mental states in cognitive psychology. The key difference: it is built from trained introspection in meditation and aims at ethical change and freedom from suffering.Full entry in the glossaryClose, Jain texts, SankhyaSankhyaसांख्यSāṃkhyasay: saang-khyuhLiterally: enumeration, countingSankhya explains everything with two realities: pure consciousness (purusha) and nature (prakriti). In Sankhya, the mind belongs to nature, not to consciousness.Western link Close to mind-body dualism, as in Descartes. The key difference: Sankhya puts the mind on the material side; only pure consciousness is separate.Full entry in the glossaryClose and YogaYogaयोगsay: yo-guhLiterally: joining, yoking; discipline; from yuj-, to yokeYoga is both a school of philosophy and a set of practices that train body, breath and mind. Its classic text is Patanjali's Yoga Sutra.Western link Often compared with mind-body or mindfulness-based interventions. The key difference: classical Yoga is a full ethical and spiritual path, not only a technique for health.Full entry in the glossaryClose, NyayaNyayaन्यायNyāyasay: nyaa-yuhLiterally: rule, method, standard; 'that into which a thing goes back' (ni + i-, to go)Nyaya is the Indian school of logic and of the theory of knowledge. It studies how we can know things correctly and how to argue well.Western link Close to logic and epistemology in Western philosophy. The differences: Nyaya also aims at liberation, and its inference always includes an example from experience.Full entry in the glossaryClose, MimamsaMimamsaमीमांसाMīmāṃsāsay: mee-maam-saaLiterally: desire to reflect; inquiryMimamsa is the school that interprets the Vedas, mainly their rules for ritual and duty (dharma). Its founding text is Jaimini's Mimamsa Sutra.Western link Close to hermeneutics, the theory of interpretation, applied to sacred rules. It also resembles legal reasoning about how to read a law.Full entry in the glossaryClose, the Charaka SamhitaCharaka SamhitaचरकसंहिताCarakasaṃhitāsay: chuh-ruh-kuh suhm-hi-taaLiterally: the compendium of CarakaThe Charaka Samhita is the oldest major text of Ayurveda. It covers health, disease and treatment, and it has much to say about the mind.Western link Comparable to the Hippocratic writings of Greek medicine as a founding medical text. It differs in giving a full place to the mind and to ethics in health.Full entry in the glossaryClose and the NatyashastraNatyashastraनाट्यशास्त्रNāṭyaśāstrasay: naat-yuh-shaas-truhLiterally: treatise on dramaThe Natyashastra is an ancient book on drama, dance and music, credited to Bharata. It contains an early theory of emotion called rasa.Western link Close to theories of basic emotions and of audience response in drama. The key difference: rasa is a shared, aesthetic emotion that is enjoyed, not a private reaction.Full entry in the glossaryClose.
• The Katha Upanishad's chariot pictures self-control: the senses are horses, manasmanasमनस्say: muh-nuhsLiterally: mind; from man-, to thinkManas is the everyday mind. It receives what the senses bring, links it together, and wavers between options. It is a tool of the self, not the self.Western link Close to 'mind' as a processor of sensory input, or to attention and working memory. The key difference: manas is not conscious by itself; the self gives it awareness.Full entry in the glossaryClose the reins, buddhibuddhiबुद्धिsay: bud-dhiLiterally: awakening, understanding; from budh-, to wake, to knowBuddhi is the intellect: the part of the mind that decides, judges and understands. In Sankhya it is the first and finest product of nature.Western link Close to 'intellect' or to the executive functions of decision and judgement. The key difference: in Sankhya, buddhi is material and only seems conscious because it reflects purusha.Full entry in the glossaryClose the driver, and the self the master riding in the chariot.
• The Gita (2.62 to 2.63) traces a chain from dwelling on an object to attachment, desire, anger, confusion, loss of memory, loss of judgement and ruin.
• The inner instrument (antahkaranaantahkaranaअन्तःकरणantaḥkaraṇasay: uhn-tuh-kuh-ruh-nuhLiterally: inner instrument (antar + karaṇa)Antahkarana is the 'inner instrument': the mind seen as a set of functions. It usually includes manas (mind), buddhi (intellect) and ahamkara (I-maker).Western link Close to the 'mental apparatus' or the cognitive system in psychology. The key difference: it is an instrument that consciousness uses, not consciousness itself.Full entry in the glossaryClose) works in three steps: coordination by manas (sankalpasankalpaसङ्कल्पsaṅkalpasay: suhn-kuhl-puhLiterally: putting together; conception; resolveSankalpa, in the theory of mind, is the work of manas: putting what the senses bring together into a definite idea. In everyday use it also means a firm resolve.Western link Close to integration and differentiation in perception and thinking. The difference: manas does this work without being conscious itself.Full entry in the glossaryClose), appropriation by ahamkaraahamkaraअहंकारahaṃkārasay: uh-huhng-kaa-ruhLiterally: I-maker (aham, I + kāra, maker)Ahamkara is the 'I-maker': the function that makes us feel 'I am this body and mind, and these things are mine'. In daily Hindi it means pride.Western link Often translated 'ego'. Freud's ego manages between drives and reality; ahamkara is the sense of 'I' and 'mine' that wrongly identifies with body and mind.Full entry in the glossaryClose, which relates it to "I" (abhimanaabhimanaअभिमानabhimānasay: uh-bhi-maa-nuhLiterally: self-assertion; the thought "this is mine"; prideAbhimana is the work of ahamkara: claiming experience as "I" and "mine". In everyday Hindi, abhiman also means pride.Western link Close to self-reference and ego-involvement. The difference: Indian schools treat this claiming as a root of attachment and suffering, to be loosened, not strengthened.Full entry in the glossaryClose), and decision by buddhi (adhyavasayaadhyavasayaअध्यवसायadhyavasāyasay: uh-dhyuh-vuh-saa-yuhLiterally: ascertainment; settled determinationAdhyavasaya is the work of buddhi: settling what something is and deciding what to do about it. It is the last of the three steps of the inner instrument.Western link Close to judgement and decision-making in cognitive psychology. The difference: buddhi is a kind of subtle matter and is not conscious by itself; it only reflects consciousness.Full entry in the glossaryClose). chittachittaचित्तcittasay: chit-tuhLiterally: that which is noticed; mind (cit-, to perceive)Chitta is the whole field of the mind in Yoga, including thoughts, feelings and stored impressions. Yoga aims to calm its movements.Western link Close to 'the mind' as a whole, including the unconscious store of memories. The difference: chitta is still material; consciousness (purusha) gives it awareness.Full entry in the glossaryClose is the whole mind or its store of impressions. The steps can be "simultaneous as well as successive" (Sankhya Karika 30). In Sankhya, Yoga and VedantaVedantaवेदान्तVedāntasay: vay-daan-tuhLiterally: end of the VedaVedanta is the family of schools based on the Upanishads. They ask how the self (atman) relates to ultimate reality (Brahman).Western link Sometimes compared with idealist philosophy, which holds that mind or spirit is basic. The key difference: Vedanta claims this can be known by direct experience, not only by argument.Full entry in the glossaryClose the inner instrument is not conscious by itself.
• Bharata named eight lasting emotions and thirty-three passing ones. A rasarasaरसsay: ruh-suhLiterally: juice, essence, tasteThe emotional flavour that an audience enjoys in a play, poem or dance. In Bharata's theory each of eight basic emotions has its own rasa.Western link Close to theories of aesthetic emotion, and to the question of why tragedy pleases. The key difference: rasa is a shared, impersonal emotion that is savoured, not the private feeling itself.Full entry in the glossaryClose is an emotion as the audience shares and savours it.
• Five reasons for the missing name: the fields were never split; the aim was liberation; the mind was a means, not the goal; self-knowledge ranked highest; the ideas were scattered.
• The tradition's own words: vidyavidyaविद्याvidyāsay: vid-yaaLiterally: knowledge; from vid-, to knowVidya means knowledge or learning. In spiritual texts it often means true knowledge that frees a person, as opposed to ignorance (avidya).Western link Close to 'knowledge', or to 'science' in the broad old sense. The difference: the highest vidya is knowing by being, not knowing about something.Full entry in the glossaryClose, shastrashastraशास्त्रśāstrasay: shaas-truhLiterally: instruction, rule; from śās-, to teachA shastra is a systematic book or body of teaching on one subject, such as law, politics, medicine or drama.Western link Close to 'treatise', or to a 'science' in the old sense of an ordered field of knowledge. Many shastras mix description with rules for how one should act.Full entry in the glossaryClose, darshana, and above all adhyatma vidyaadhyatma vidyaअध्यात्मविद्याadhyātmavidyāsay: uhdh-yaat-muh vid-yaaLiterally: knowledge concerning the self (adhi + ātman)Adhyatma vidya is the knowledge or science of the inner self. Indian tradition treats it as the most basic of all sciences.Western link Close to a 'spiritual psychology' or a science of consciousness. The difference: mainstream psychology starts from behaviour and the brain; adhyatma vidya starts from the knower.Full entry in the glossaryClose, knowledge of the self. The Mundaka Upanishad ranks para vidyapara vidyaपरा विद्याparā vidyāsay: puh-raa vid-yaaLiterally: higher knowledgePara vidya is 'higher knowledge': direct knowledge of ultimate reality. It is gained in deep states of consciousness, not through the senses or reasoning.Western link Close to mystical or transcendent knowledge in the psychology of religion. Mainstream psychology does not accept it as a scientific method; Indian psychologists argue that it can be trained and checked.Full entry in the glossaryClose above apara vidyaapara vidyaअपरा विद्याaparā vidyāsay: uh-puh-raa vid-yaaLiterally: lower knowledgeApara vidya is 'lower knowledge': knowledge of the world gained through the senses, reasoning and study, including the sciences and even the Vedas.Western link Close to empirical and rational knowledge, the kind science works with. The difference: Indian thought sees it as true but limited, not as the only kind of knowledge.Full entry in the glossaryClose, which includes even the Vedas.
• The modern Hindi word manovijnanamanovijnanaमनोविज्ञानmanovijñānasay: muh-no-vig-yaa-nuhLiterally: knowledge (or consciousness) of the mind (manas + vijñāna)Manovijnana is the modern word for psychology in Hindi and many Indian languages. In old Buddhist texts it means 'mind-consciousness', a kind of awareness.Western link Closest Western term: 'psychology'. The word joins 'mind' with 'vijnana', which can mean both 'science' and 'consciousness'.Full entry in the glossaryClose reuses a Buddhist term for "mind-consciousness".
• English labels arrived with Rhys Davids (1914), Jadunath Sinha (1934, not 1933) and Akhilananda (1946). In Europe, too, psychology stayed inside philosophy until the late 1800s; psychologia appears in print in 1590.

How Indian psychology became a discipline

• Three starting dates, each right for a different event: 1905 (Seal's syllabus and laboratory), 1915 (Sengupta returns from Harvard), 1916 (the Department of Experimental Psychology at Calcutta).
• Early landmarks: the Indian Psychoanalytical Society (Bose, 1922), the Indian Psychological Association and the Mysore department (1924), the Indian Journal of Psychology (1926).
• Early Indian psychology copied the European model and treated its findings as "culture-free".
• Dalal: Indian psychologists "simultaneously lived in two different worlds without any significant overlap". "Double life" is the Foundations editors' phrase; "split in the personality" is Salagame's.
• After 1947 departments multiplied, but most research replicated Western studies. Sinha (1965): "a pale and insipid edition of American or British psychology". Nandy (1974): "dull and replicative".
• Sinha's four phases (1986): pre-Independence, post-Independence expansion, problem-oriented research, indigenization. The phases overlap; they are a way of organising the story.
• indigenizationindigenizationIndigenization is the process of making a discipline fit a local culture, either by building it from local ideas or by adapting imported theories and methods.Indian link no classical term. It is part of modern efforts to renew Indian psychology.Full entry in the glossaryClose means changing borrowed psychology so that it suits the country's culture (Sinha, 1994). From within starts from local concepts; from without adapts foreign theory.
• Sinha's pitfalls: cosmetic indigenization, the bandwagon, revivalismrevivalismPraising old ideas because they are old, and rejecting modern science. Durganand Sinha used the word for an uncritical return to ancient Indian texts.Compare Compare: separation in John Berry's model of acculturation, where a group keeps its own culture and rejects the other. Sinha applied Berry's model to systems of knowledge rather than to people.Full entry in the glossaryClose, an Indian against Western split, and cultural parallelism.
• The Pondicherry ManifestoPondicherry ManifestoA statement issued by 160 delegates at a conference in Pondicherry in 2002. It called on Indian universities to teach and research Indian psychology, and to write textbooks for it.Full entry in the glossaryClose (2002, not 2003) called for courses, research and textbooks in Indian psychology. The Handbook (2008) and Rao and Paranjpe (2016) followed.
• Policy: NEP 2020, the IKS Division (October 2020), and UGC guidelines (2023) encouraging at least five per cent of credits in IKS courses.
• Open debate: is Indian psychology an indigenous psychology, "indigenous and more", or one facet of indigenization?
• Six arguments for the need for Indian psychology: the shift toward social and cultural factors; etic versus emic; the conflict between psyche, culture and values (Sinha's 1969 study of young and old in Allahabad, published 1978); globalisation, which "means Westernization" (Pickering, 2011); the failure of imported theories; and the need for an alternative approach. The first five support indigenization in general; only the sixth argues for a separate school.

Philosophy and psychology

• Three branches of philosophy matter: metaphysicsmetaphysicsLiterally: Greek meta ta physika, 'after the Physics' (the books placed after Aristotle's Physics)Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that asks the most basic questions about reality, such as what exists, what causes what, and what a self is.Indian link darshana, a school's full view of reality.Full entry in the glossaryClose (what is real), epistemologyepistemologysay: i-pis-tuh-mol-uh-jeeLiterally: Greek episteme (knowledge) + logos (study)Epistemology is the study of knowledge: what it is, how we get it, and how we can tell true knowledge from false belief.Indian link pramana shastra, the study of the valid means of knowledge (pramanas).Full entry in the glossaryClose (how we know) and ethicsethicsLiterally: Greek ethos, character or customEthics is the branch of philosophy that asks how we should live and act: what is right, what is good, and why.Indian link dharma, which joins personal ethics with social duty and the order of the world.Full entry in the glossaryClose (how to live). Every psychology rests on answers to them.
• Western psychology left philosophy between Wundt (1879) and Watson (1913), who rejected introspectionintrospectionLiterally: Latin intro (within) + spicere (to look)Introspection means looking inward: observing and reporting one's own thoughts, feelings and sensations.Indian link svadhyaya (self-study) and the witness stance (sakshi) trained in meditation.Full entry in the glossaryClose because no one else can check it. Titchener tried to turn experience into observation; Rao and Paranjpe reply that in India "experience is an item for realization and not of observation".
• In India, religion, philosophy and psychology were never separated (Dalal, 2014, p. 20). Hiriyanna: every system "has its own psychology".
• A darshana is a "view". Indian philosophy began "under the pressure of a practical need" (Sinha, 1965): to understand and end dukkhadukkhaदुक्खsay: duk-khuhLiterally: uneasy, hard to bear (Sanskrit duḥkha: 'bad space'; opposite of sukha)Dukkha means suffering or unsatisfactoriness. In Buddhism, the first noble truth is that life as usually lived is marked by dukkha.Western link Close to 'suffering', 'distress' or 'dissatisfaction' in psychology. The difference: dukkha includes a quiet unease even in pleasant states, because they do not last.Full entry in the glossaryClose.
• mokshamokshaमोक्षmokṣasay: mok-shuhLiterally: release, freedom; from muc-, to freeMoksha means liberation: final freedom from the cycle of rebirth and from suffering. It is the highest of the four aims of life.Western link Close to 'salvation' in religion, or to 'self-transcendence' in transpersonal psychology. The difference: moksha is freedom through knowledge or insight, not a reward from outside.Full entry in the glossaryClose is liberation, the highest aim in most schools. soteriologysoteriologysay: so-teer-ee-ol-uh-jeeLiterally: Greek soteria (salvation) + logos (study)Soteriology is the study or teaching of salvation or liberation: how a person can be freed from suffering or from the cycle of rebirth.Indian link teaching about liberation (moksha, nirvana, kaivalya), the final aim of most darshanas.Full entry in the glossaryClose is a teaching about how to be set free. sadhanasadhanaसाधनाsādhanāsay: saa-dhuh-naaLiterally: means of accomplishing; from sādh-, to accomplishSadhana means steady spiritual practice: the daily discipline, such as meditation, prayer or study, that a person follows to grow toward a spiritual goal.Western link Close to 'deliberate practice', or to a structured training programme for the mind. The difference: its aim is spiritual change, not a measurable skill.Full entry in the glossaryClose joins theory to practice.
• Knowledge in this tradition "changes the knower" (Misra, 2014, p. 123).
• Rao and Paranjpe pull two ways: "a school of psychology and not a system of philosophy", yet "its philosophical preoccupation is its strength". They separate the discipline but keep the worldview.
• Three positions on metaphysics: set it aside and study effects (Rao, Braud); treat it as a hypothesis (Rao, Sedlmeier); reach it only by transforming the researcher (Kundan Singh, Cornelissen).
• Sat is truth that can never be falsified; satyam is truth "found to be true so far". Psychology deals in satyam.
• phenomenologyphenomenologysay: fi-nom-uh-nol-uh-jeeLiterally: Greek phainomenon (what appears) + logos (study)Phenomenology is the careful study of experience as it appears to the person who has it, before explaining it by causes or theories.Indian link anubhava (direct experience), and the yogic observation of the movements of the mind (vrittis).Full entry in the glossaryClose is the main Western tradition that takes first-person experience seriously.

Biological, socio-cultural and indigenous perspectives

• None of the course books uses this three-part framing. It is the syllabus's own. The nearest sources are the Foundations editors' physical, social and spiritual dimensions, and Sinha's 1994 argument about where indigenization is needed.
• Biological: what body and brain contribute. Indian content includes the three doshasdoshaदोषdoṣasay: do-shuhLiterally: fault, defectIn Ayurveda, the doshas are three bodily forces: vata, pitta and kapha. Health is their balance; illness comes when they are out of balance.Western link Loosely close to the four humours of ancient Greek medicine, or to temperament types. The difference: doshas are not part of modern physiology, and self-report dosha questionnaires still need validation.Full entry in the glossaryClose, the three gunasgunaगुणguṇasay: gu-nuhLiterally: strand, thread; qualityThe gunas are the three qualities that make up nature and mind: sattva (clarity), rajas (activity) and tamas (inertia). Their mix shapes personality.Western link Close to trait or temperament models of personality, such as the Big Five. The difference: the gunas also describe matter, and their balance can change with practice.Full entry in the glossaryClose and pranapranaप्राणprāṇasay: praa-nuhLiterally: breath, life (pra + an-, to breathe)Prana is breath and life energy. Yoga and Ayurveda say it moves through the body in five main currents and links body and mind.Western link Close to 'vital energy' in older Western ideas, or to breathing and autonomic regulation in physiology. Modern science has no measure for prana as such.Full entry in the glossaryClose.
• Rao: the mind is "material but subtle", and brain studies are "insufficient to give us a complete understanding of human nature".
• Indian biological research since the 1950s includes yogis in the laboratory (Anand, Chhina and Singh, 1961), yoga as treatment, and dosha and guna scales. No clear brain signature of meditation has been found.
• Socio-cultural: what family, caste, class, ecology and culture contribute. desh-kala-patradesh-kala-patraदेश-काल-पात्रdeśa-kāla-pātrasay: day-shuh kaa-luh paa-truhLiterally: place, time and person (literally 'vessel')Place, time and person: the three things Hindu tradition says you must know before you can judge an action as right or wrong.Western link Close to Kurt Lewin's idea that behaviour depends on the person and the situation together. The difference: desh-kala-patra adds time, and it is used to judge whether an act is right, not only to explain it.Full entry in the glossaryClose: judge an act by place, time and person.
• cross-cultural psychologycross-cultural psychologyCross-cultural psychology compares people from different cultures to find which psychological patterns are universal and which differ.Indian link no classical term.Full entry in the glossaryClose tests theories across cultures; cultural psychologycultural psychologyCultural psychology studies how culture and mind shape each other. It holds that people's thinking and feeling cannot be understood apart from their cultural setting.Indian link the context-sensitive view of dharma, in which right action depends on place, time and person.Full entry in the glossaryClose studies culture and mind as making each other.
• Sinha's ecology of deprivation (1982) adds caste to the layers of a child's environment. Indian research finds individualism and collectivism side by side (Sinha and Tripathi, 1994).
• Dalal's studies: patients often explain illness by karma and God's will, but with "no consistent linkages" to adjustment (Dalal, 2000).
• Indigenous: start from a culture's own concepts. Key terms: emic and eticemic and eticsay: ee-mik, e-tikLiterally: from the linguistics terms 'phonemic' and 'phonetic'An emic approach studies a culture from the inside, using its own concepts. An etic approach studies it from the outside, using concepts meant to fit all cultures.Indian link studying a darshana on its own terms (emic) versus comparing it with Western psychology (etic).Full entry in the glossaryClose, imposed etic, derived etic, universalismuniversalismUniversalism is the view that basic psychological processes are the same in all people, so theories found in one culture should hold everywhere.Indian link the self (atman) as the same in all beings, and sadharana dharma, the duties common to all people.Full entry in the glossaryClose.
• Example: Pande and Naidu's non-attachment scale (1992). Manickam's five attitudes, such as "import-manufacture" and "India-made foreign", name its pitfalls.
• Sinha (1994): biological areas rarely need indigenization; social, clinical and organisational areas need it most.

The scientific-paradigm debate

• empiricismempiricismLiterally: Greek empeiria, experienceEmpiricism is the view that knowledge comes from experience, mainly through the senses, and that claims must be tested against observation.Indian link perception (pratyaksha) as a means of knowledge. Charvaka is the Indian school closest to strict empiricism.Full entry in the glossaryClose: knowledge comes from experience. positivismpositivismLiterally: Latin positivus, laid down, givenPositivism is the view that real knowledge comes only from observation and measurement, as in the natural sciences. Claims that cannot be tested are set aside as meaningless.Indian link the Charvaka view that only perception is valid. Most Indian schools reject this and also accept inference, testimony and yogic insight.Full entry in the glossaryClose: only observation and measurement give knowledge. falsifiabilityfalsifiabilityLiterally: Latin falsus, falseFalsifiability means a claim could, in principle, be shown false by evidence. Karl Popper proposed it as the test that separates science from non-science.Indian link none exactly. Indian debate (vada) tested claims against counter-examples, and Nyaya lists types of faulty reasoning (hetvabhasa).Full entry in the glossaryClose (Popper): a scientific claim says what evidence could prove it wrong.
• materialismmaterialismMaterialism, or physicalism, is the view that only matter and physical forces are real. On this view, the mind is a product of the brain.Indian link Charvaka (Lokayata) materialism. Sankhya partly agrees, because it treats the mind as material, but it adds purusha.Full entry in the glossaryClose is an assumption about what exists, not a finding.
• Kuhn (1962): a paradigmparadigmsay: pa-ruh-daimLiterally: Greek paradeigma, pattern, exampleA paradigm is the shared set of assumptions, methods and model problems that a scientific community works within, often without questioning them.Indian link darshana, a whole 'view' with its own assumptions and methods.Full entry in the glossaryClose is a shared framework; science moves through normal science, anomalies, crisis and revolution. Psychology has many schools, so Kuhn's model fits it badly.
• Lakatos: rival research programmesresearch programmeImre Lakatos's term for a line of research with a protected 'hard core' of basic assumptions and an outer 'protective belt' of hypotheses that are tested and changed.Indian link a darshana, a school with fixed core assumptions and many arguments built around them.Full entry in the glossaryClose, each with a protected hard core and a testable protective belt. Rao and Paranjpe use this idea themselves.
• Most Indian psychology writers use "paradigm" to mean worldview.
• The Foundations editors describe mainstream psychology's "strong physicalist bias, an absolute faith in the ordinary waking consciousness and a total reliance on objective methods". Both sides of their contrast are simplified.
• Pramanaspramanaप्रमाणpramāṇasay: pruh-maa-nuhLiterally: means of right knowledge; measure (pra + mā-, to measure)A pramana is a valid means of knowledge: a reliable way to know that something is true, such as perception or inference.Western link Close to a 'source of knowledge' in epistemology. Indian lists include testimony and, in some schools, yogic perception, which Western science does not count.Full entry in the glossaryClose are valid means of knowing: perception, inference and testimony are the most common.
• Methods of knowing in the tradition: direct experience (anubhavaanubhavaअनुभवsay: uh-nu-bhuh-vuhLiterally: direct experienceAnubhava means direct personal experience. In Vedanta it is the experience that completes study, and Shankara placed it above tradition: no scripture can make fire cool.Western link Close to what William James called 'knowledge of acquaintance': knowing a thing by meeting it, not by being told about it. Also close to first-person experience in phenomenology. The difference: in Vedanta the highest anubhava is said to change the knower.Full entry in the glossaryClose) as the test, self-study (svadhyayasvadhyayaस्वाध्यायsvādhyāyasay: svaa-dhyaa-yuhLiterally: one's own study; recitation (sva + adhyāya)Svadhyaya means self-study: study of sacred texts, and reflection on oneself in their light. It is one of the five niyamas of Yoga.Western link Close to reflective practice, journaling and introspection. The difference: the reflection is guided by sacred texts and aims at spiritual growth.Full entry in the glossaryClose), and Advaita's three steps, shravana, manana, nididhyasanashravana, manana, nididhyasanaश्रवण, मनन, निदिध्यासनśravaṇa, manana, nididhyāsanasay: shruh-vuh-nuh, muh-nuh-nuh, ni-di-dhyaa-suh-nuhLiterally: hearing, reflecting, deep meditationThree stages of learning in the Upanishads and Vedanta: hearing the teaching, thinking it through, and meditating on it until it is realised.Western link Like moving from a lecture, to discussion and critical thinking, to practice that changes you. The difference: the last stage is said to change the learner's being, not only their knowledge.Full entry in the glossaryClose: hearing, reflecting until every doubt is answered, and contemplation. Reflection uses tarkatarkaतर्कsay: tuhr-kuhLiterally: reasoning, suppositionTarka means reasoning. In Indian logic it tests a supposition by following it until it meets a contradiction, and it helps inference by clearing doubt.Western link Close to reductio ad absurdum and to testing a hypothesis by its consequences. The difference: tarka proves nothing alone; it serves an inference or a teaching already received.Full entry in the glossaryClose, reasoning that tests a supposition until it meets a contradiction.
• yogi pratyakshayogi pratyakshaयोगिप्रत्यक्षyogipratyakṣasay: yo-gi pruh-tyuhk-shuhLiterally: perception of a yogiYogi pratyaksha is the direct perception that several Indian schools say advanced meditators gain: knowing things that the ordinary senses cannot reach.Western link Nearest to the trained perception of experts, and to William James's 'noetic quality' of mystical states, which feel like knowledge. The difference: yogi pratyaksha claims to reach objects outside the senses altogether.Full entry in the glossaryClose is the claim of perception beyond the senses. Subjective validity, "true for the person who experiences it", counts experience as evidence, but conviction is not proof. svatah pramanyasvatah pramanyaस्वतःप्रामाण्यsvataḥ-prāmāṇyasay: svuh-tuh praa-maan-yuhLiterally: validity from itselfSvatah pramanya is the view that knowledge is valid by itself, from the very conditions that produce it. Its opposite, paratah pramanya, says knowledge needs outside checking.Western link No exact Western match. Science works more like paratah pramanya: a result counts only after others have checked it.Full entry in the glossaryClose holds that knowledge is valid by itself; science works more like the opposite view, that knowledge needs outside checking.
• The case for: Rao ("science in its less restricted sense"), Sedlmeier's testable hypotheses, Braud, Cornelissen's "reliable subjectivity", Kundan Singh, Tart.
• Inside critics: Sinha on revivalism, Manickam, Rao and Paranjpe on "chest beating", Sedlmeier on falsification. Outside critics: Sharf (1995), King (1999), Nanda (2003), Bhatia (2002), Van Dam and colleagues (2018).
• Evidence: moderate benefits of meditation for some outcomes (Sedlmeier and colleagues, 2012; Goyal and colleagues, 2014). The research does not test the metaphysics.
• parapsychologyparapsychologyLiterally: Greek para, beside or beyondParapsychology studies claimed abilities that seem to go beyond the known senses and body, such as extrasensory perception (ESP). These claimed effects are called 'psi'.Indian link siddhi, the special powers described in the Yoga Sutras.Full entry in the glossaryClose is the most contested claim. Report it as a claim, not a finding.
• Sort claims into practices, concepts and metaphysics. The first two can be tested; the third is not tested by current research.

Worldview

• A worldviewworldviewA worldview is a person's or a culture's basic picture of reality: what exists, what matters, and how life should be lived.Indian link darshana ('view'), and drishti (a view or outlook).Full entry in the glossaryClose is "a set of assumptions about physical and social reality that may have powerful effects on cognition and behavior" (Koltko-Rivera, 2004). ontologyontologysay: on-tol-uh-jeeLiterally: Greek on, ontos (being) + logos (study)Ontology is the study of what exists: what kinds of things are real, such as matter, mind or consciousness.Indian link tattva (a principle of reality), and the debates between the darshanas about what is real.Full entry in the glossaryClose is the study of what exists.
• "Indian thought is not monolithic" (Rao and Paranjpe, 2016). The textbooks lean on Advaita and Yoga.
• Shared themes: rtartaऋतṛtasay: ri-tuhLiterally: what moves in order; truth, orderRta is the Vedic idea of cosmic order: the law that keeps the seasons, the stars and right human conduct in harmony.Western link Close to 'natural law', or to the Greek idea of the cosmos as an ordered whole. The difference: rta joins physical, moral and ritual order in one idea.Full entry in the glossaryClose (cosmic order), dharmadharmaधर्मsay: dhuhr-muhLiterally: that which holds or supports; from dhṛ-, to holdDharma is the right way of living: duty, ethics, and the order that holds society and the world together. It depends partly on one's role and stage of life.Western link Close to 'ethics', 'duty' or 'moral order'. The difference: dharma joins personal ethics, social roles and cosmic law, and it depends on context.Full entry in the glossaryClose (what holds things together), karmakarmaकर्मsay: kuhr-muhLiterally: action, deed; from kṛ-, to doKarma means action, and also the result that every action brings back to the person who did it, in this life or a later one.Western link Close to moral causation, or 'you reap what you sow'. The difference: in most schools karma is an impersonal law that works across lives; theistic schools say God oversees it, but even there it is not a judge's verdict on a single life.Full entry in the glossaryClose (action and its results, which implies free will), samsarasamsaraसंसारsaṃsārasay: suhm-saa-ruhLiterally: wandering, flowing onSamsara is the cycle of birth, death and rebirth that beings go through, driven by karma. It can also mean worldly life in general.Western link Close to 'reincarnation' or 'transmigration'. Mainstream psychology does not accept rebirth; a few researchers, such as Ian Stevenson, studied reports of past lives.Full entry in the glossaryClose (rebirth), the four purusharthaspurusharthaपुरुषार्थpuruṣārthasay: pu-ru-shaar-thuhLiterally: aim of a person (puruṣa + artha)The purusharthas are the four aims of human life: dharma (right living), artha (wealth and security), kama (pleasure and love) and moksha (liberation).Western link Close to models of human needs and goals, such as Maslow's hierarchy. The difference: the aims form a moral framework in which ethics guides the others, not a ladder of needs.Full entry in the glossaryClose, suffering and release, consciousness at the centre, humans within nature, cyclic time, and pluralism.
• Contrasts between "the spiritual East and the material West" are simplifications. Each row of the comparison has a catch.
• Evidence: karma beliefs have mixed links with recovery; karma belief is "not reducible to" just-world belief (White, Norenzayan and Schaller, 2019); karmic thinking goes with beliefs that justify inequality (White and Willard, 2025); Ambedkar called it "the heartless law of karma".
• The claim that karma makes Indians fatalistic "has not yet been conclusively supported" (Sinha). Social position matters more than doctrine.

Perspectives on reality

• Astika means accepting the Vedas, not believing in God. Classical Sankhya is astika and has no God.
• Advaita: one reality, BrahmanBrahmanब्रह्मन्brahmansay: bruh-hmuhnLiterally: the vast; from bṛh-, to grow, expandBrahman is the ultimate reality in Vedanta: the one source and ground of everything. It is often described as being, consciousness and bliss.Western link Close to 'the Absolute' in Western philosophy, or to God in mystical theology. The difference: in Advaita, Brahman is not separate from the self that seeks it.Full entry in the glossaryClose; the self (atmanatmanआत्मन्ātmansay: aat-muhnLiterally: self; in early use also 'breath'Atman means the self: the deepest 'I' behind body and mind. In Vedanta it is pure consciousness and is one with Brahman.Western link Close to 'self' or 'soul'. The key difference: Western psychology studies the self as a set of thoughts and traits; atman is the conscious witness of them.Full entry in the glossaryClose) is Brahman; mayamayaमायाmāyāsay: maa-yaaLiterally: measuring or creative power; magic, illusionMaya is the power that makes one reality appear as a world of many separate things. It is often translated 'illusion', which is only part of its meaning.Western link Close to the gap between appearance and reality, as in Plato's cave. The difference: the world is not unreal in daily life; it is only not the final truth.Full entry in the glossaryClose explains how one appears as many; reality has levels.
• Sankhya: two realities, purushapurushaपुरुषpuruṣasay: pu-ru-shuhLiterally: person, manIn Sankhya and Yoga, purusha is pure consciousness: the silent witness that is aware but does not act. It is completely separate from mind and matter.Western link Close to 'pure consciousness' or the 'witness' in consciousness studies. Unlike Descartes' mind, purusha does not think; thinking belongs to matter.Full entry in the glossaryClose and prakritiprakritiप्रकृतिprakṛtisay: pruh-kri-tiLiterally: what is made first; original natureIn Sankhya, prakriti is nature: the single source of all matter and all mental activity. It is made of three qualities, the gunas.Western link Close to 'nature' or 'matter-energy'. The key difference: prakriti includes the mind, so thoughts and feelings are natural processes, not consciousness itself.Full entry in the glossaryClose. The mind is on the material side, so this is not Descartes' dualism.
• Nyaya-VaisheshikaVaisheshikaवैशेषिकVaiśeṣikasay: vai-shay-shi-kuhLiterally: concerned with particulars (viśeṣa)Vaisheshika is the school that sorts everything that exists into basic categories. It taught that physical things are made of tiny atoms.Western link Close to Greek atomism and to Aristotle's list of categories. Unlike Greek atomism, it counts selves and minds as separate substances.Full entry in the glossaryClose: a real world of many things. Buddhism: no lasting self (anattaanattaअनत्ताanattāsay: uh-nuht-taaLiterally: not-self (Sanskrit an + ātman)Anatta is the Buddhist teaching of 'no-self': there is no lasting, unchanging self behind our experiences. A person is a changing process.Western link Close to David Hume's 'bundle' view of the self, and to modern views of the self as something the brain constructs. The difference: anatta is meant to be seen in meditation, and seeing it frees from suffering.Full entry in the glossaryClose). Jainism: living souls and non-living matter, and anekantavadaanekantavadaअनेकान्तवादanekāntavādasay: uh-nay-kaan-tuh-vaa-duhLiterally: doctrine of not-one-sidednessAnekantavada is the Jain teaching that reality has many sides. Any single view captures only part of the truth.Western link Close to perspectivism, the idea that knowledge depends on standpoint. Unlike strong relativism, Jains hold that there is one reality, seen from many sides.Full entry in the glossaryClose. CharvakaCharvakaचार्वाकCārvākasay: chaar-vaa-kuhLiterally: uncertain (one guess is 'sweet-tongued', caru + vac); the other name, Lokayata, means 'directed at the world' (loka + ayata)Charvaka, also called Lokayata, is India's materialist school. It held that only matter is real and that perception is the only sure way of knowing.Western link Close to materialism and empiricism in Western philosophy. Like modern physicalism, it explains the mind as a product of the body.Full entry in the glossaryClose: matter only, as its critics report it.
• prakritiprakritiप्रकृतिprakṛtisay: pruh-kri-tiLiterally: what is made first; original natureIn Sankhya, prakriti is nature: the single source of all matter and all mental activity. It is made of three qualities, the gunas.Western link Close to 'nature' or 'matter-energy'. The key difference: prakriti includes the mind, so thoughts and feelings are natural processes, not consciousness itself.Full entry in the glossaryClose works through the three gunasgunaगुणguṇasay: gu-nuhLiterally: strand, thread; qualityThe gunas are the three qualities that make up nature and mind: sattva (clarity), rajas (activity) and tamas (inertia). Their mix shapes personality.Western link Close to trait or temperament models of personality, such as the Big Five. The difference: the gunas also describe matter, and their balance can change with practice.Full entry in the glossaryClose: sattvasattvaसत्त्वsay: suht-tvuhLiterally: being-ness; from sat, beingSattva is the guna of clarity, lightness and calm. A sattvic mind is clear, peaceful and ready for knowledge.Western link Close to emotional stability and openness in trait models, or to a calm, focused state. Unlike a trait, sattva is also a quality of foods and actions.Full entry in the glossaryClose illuminates, rajasrajasरजस्say: ruh-juhsLiterally: dust, haze; the coloured or dim spaceRajas is the guna of activity, passion and restlessness. It drives desire, effort and change, and too much of it brings agitation.Western link Close to high arousal, drive or impulsivity. The difference: rajas is one part of a three-way balance, not a single scale.Full entry in the glossaryClose moves, tamastamasतमस्say: tuh-muhsLiterally: darknessTamas is the guna of heaviness, dullness and inertia. It brings sleep, confusion and resistance to change.Western link Close to low arousal, inertia, or the lethargy seen in depression. The difference: tamas is also a quality of matter and of food.Full entry in the glossaryClose restrains (Sankhya Karika 12), and they never work alone: they "function together ... for a purpose" (verse 13). "Operating system of prakriti" is a modern analogy. Do not write "union of prakriti and purusha": liberation comes from telling them apart.
• The Mandukya Upanishad adds a fourth state, turiyaturiyaतुरीयturīyasay: tu-ree-yuhLiterally: the fourthTuriya is 'the fourth' state of consciousness, beyond waking, dreaming and deep sleep. It is pure awareness, present behind the other three.Western link Close to 'pure consciousness' or 'minimal phenomenal experience' in consciousness research. The difference: turiya is said to be the true self, not a brain state.Full entry in the glossaryClose, to waking, dream and deep sleep. The Taittiriya describes five layers, the pancha koshapancha koshaपञ्चकोशpañcakośasay: puhn-chuh ko-shuhLiterally: five sheathsPancha kosha means the five sheaths of the person: body, breath, mind, understanding and bliss. Each is subtler than the one before.Western link Close to holistic or biopsychosocial models of the person. The difference: it adds a layer of bliss and places the true self beyond all five.Full entry in the glossaryClose; Bhawuk notes the model has no social self.

Basic concepts and positive psychology

• The course sets eleven Indian concepts beside ideas from positive psychologypositive psychologyPositive psychology studies what makes life go well: happiness, strengths, meaning, gratitude and wellbeing, not only illness and problems.Indian link ananda (bliss), santosha (contentment) and anasakti. The difference: Indian traditions see lasting happiness as the nature of the self, not a mix of good conditions.Full entry in the glossaryClose. Rao and Paranjpe (2016) say the two fields "may learn from each other". A pair is a bridge for understanding, not an equation.
• Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi introduced positive psychology in 2000. Seligman's PERMAPERMAPERMA is Martin Seligman's (2011) model of wellbeing. It has five elements: Positive emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning and Accomplishment.Indian link no single one. The class pairs sukha and ananda with positive emotion, karma yoga with engagement, bhakti and ahimsa with relationships, and dharma with meaning.Full entry in the glossaryClose model (2011): Positive emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning and Accomplishment.
• Indian concepts have several meanings and several source texts, so name the school or text. Research on yoga and meditation mostly measures Western outcomes, not "equanimity, compassion, wisdom and detachment" (Cornelissen, Misra and Varma, 2014).
• sukhasukhaसुखsay: su-khuhLiterally: "good space"; ease, pleasure (su, good + kha, space)Sukha means pleasure, ease or happiness, the opposite of duhkha (pain). Indian texts separate passing pleasure from deeper, lasting happiness.Western link Close to 'positive emotion' and hedonic wellbeing in positive psychology. The difference: Indian texts treat pleasure from objects as unstable and a source of attachment, not as good in itself.Full entry in the glossaryClose is ordinary pleasure or happiness; the Gita sorts it into sattvic, rajasic and tamasic kinds. anandaanandaआनन्दānandasay: aa-nuhn-duhLiterally: bliss, joyAnanda means bliss: a deep, lasting joy. In Vedanta it is not a passing feeling but the very nature of the true self and of Brahman.Western link Loosely close to eudaimonic wellbeing or a peak experience. The difference: ananda is said to be permanent and to belong to the self, while positive emotions come and go with their causes.Full entry in the glossaryClose is bliss: in Vedanta, the nature of the self, not a passing emotion.
• karma yogakarma yogaकर्मयोगkarmayogasay: kuhr-muh yo-guhLiterally: the yoga (discipline) of actionKarma yoga is the path of action: doing one's duty fully and well while giving up craving for its results. The Bhagavad Gita teaches it as a way to freedom.Western link Close to a focus on process rather than outcome, to intrinsic motivation and to flow, and to altruism when it serves others. The difference: flow is a passing, enjoyable state, while karma yoga is a lifelong attitude, held in dull or painful duty too, and aimed at liberation.Full entry in the glossaryClose is acting fully without craving results. It resembles flowflowFlow is the state of being fully absorbed in a challenging activity, when skill matches the challenge and self-consciousness fades. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (1990) named and studied it.Indian link karma yoga, and the steady flow of attention in dhyana. The difference: flow is a passing state, while karma yoga is a lifelong attitude toward all duty.Full entry in the glossaryClose, but flow is a passing state and karma yoga a lifelong attitude to duty. samatvasamatvaसमत्वsay: suh-muht-vuhLiterally: evenness, sameness (sama, even + -tva, -ness)Samatva means evenness of mind: staying the same in success and failure, pleasure and pain, praise and blame. The Bhagavad Gita (2.48) calls it yoga itself.Western link Close to equanimity as meditation researchers define it, and loosely to resilience and emotion regulation. The difference: resilience is recovery after setbacks, while samatva is evenness toward good and bad events alike, and comes from loosening the ego's stake in results.Full entry in the glossaryClose, evenness of mind (Gita 2.48), is evenness toward success as well as failure, which resilienceresilienceResilience is doing well, or recovering well, in spite of adversity such as loss, illness or trauma.Indian link samatva and the Gita's steady person (sthitaprajna). The difference: samatva is evenness toward good events as well as bad ones.Full entry in the glossaryClose is not.
• bhaktibhaktiभक्तिsay: bhuhk-tiLiterally: sharing, devotion (bhaj-, to share, to worship)Bhakti means loving devotion to God. Bhakti yoga, the path of devotion, is one of three main paths in the Bhagavad Gita, with action and knowledge.Western link Close to religious devotion, and to positive emotions such as love and gratitude in the psychology of religion. The difference: bhakti is a full path to liberation.Full entry in the glossaryClose is loving devotion; the Narada Bhakti SutraNarada Bhakti Sutraनारदभक्तिसूत्रNārada-bhakti-sūtrasay: naa-ruh-duh bhuhk-ti soo-truhLiterally: the threads (short sayings) on devotion, by NaradaThe Narada Bhakti Sutra is a short text of sayings that explains bhakti. Its second sutra defines devotion as the highest form of love, for God.Western link No close Western match. Psychologically it describes love, gratitude and surrender; in religion it resembles writings on selfless love for God.Full entry in the glossaryClose calls it "the highest form of love", and its summit is self-offering (atmanivedanaatmanivedanaआत्मनिवेदनātmanivedanasay: aat-muh-ni-vay-duh-nuhLiterally: offering of the self (atman, self + nivedana, offering)Atmanivedana means offering oneself wholly to God, so that the ego dissolves. It is the last and highest of the nine forms of devotion.Western link No close match in mainstream psychology. The nearest idea is 'surrender to God' as studied in the psychology of religion.Full entry in the glossaryClose). It treats reason as useful but not enough.
• vairagyavairagyaवैराग्यvairāgyasay: vai-raag-yuhLiterally: absence of passion; loss of colour (vi + rāga)Vairagya is dispassion: freedom from craving for worldly pleasures and results. With practice (abhyasa), it is one of the two main supports of Yoga.Western link Close to non-attachment, and to reduced craving in addiction and mindfulness research. The difference: vairagya grows from insight into what lasts, not from suppression.Full entry in the glossaryClose has a lower kind (Yoga SutraYoga Sutraयोगसूत्रYogasūtrasay: yo-guh soo-truhLiterally: threads (aphorisms) on yogaThe Yoga Sutra is the classic text of the Yoga school, by Patanjali. In about 195 short lines it explains how to calm and master the mind.Western link Close to a manual of attention training and self-regulation. The key difference: its goal is the freedom of pure consciousness (purusha), not only better mental health.Full entry in the glossaryClose 1.15, in four stages) and a higher kind (1.16). smashana vairagyasmashana vairagyaश्मशानवैराग्यśmaśāna-vairāgyasay: shmuh-shaa-nuh vai-raag-yuhLiterally: cremation-ground dispassion (shmashana, cremation ground)Smashana vairagya is the brief detachment people feel at a funeral, when life suddenly seems empty. It soon fades, so the tradition does not trust it.Western link No close Western match. Terror management theory studies how reminders of death change people for a short time, but it finds stronger defence of one's worldview, not detachment.Full entry in the glossaryClose, the passing detachment felt at a funeral, is not real vairagya.
• Advaita reads aham brahmasmiaham brahmasmiअहं ब्रह्मास्मिahaṃ brahmāsmisay: uh-huhm bruh-maas-miLiterally: I am Brahman (aham, I + brahma, Brahman + asmi, am)'Aham brahmasmi' means 'I am Brahman'. It is one of the four great sentences of the Upanishads, which Advaita Vedanta reads as the identity of the self with ultimate reality.Western link Sometimes compared with Maslow's self-transcendence. The difference: self-actualisation develops personal potential, and self-transcendence is an experience or a motive, while aham brahmasmi claims identity with ultimate reality.Full entry in the glossaryClose as identity with Brahman; Dvaita VedantaDvaita Vedantaद्वैत वेदान्तDvaita Vedāntasay: dvai-tuh vay-daan-tuhLiterally: dualist Vedanta (dvaita, two-ness)Dvaita Vedanta is the dualist school of Vedanta founded by Madhva. It holds that God, souls and the world are real and forever distinct.Western link Close to classical theism in Christianity, Judaism and Islam, where the creature never becomes the Creator. Its quarrel with Advaita is like the quarrel between theism and mystical monism. The difference: Dvaita keeps the Indian frame of karma and rebirth, and liberation means release from that cycle.Full entry in the glossaryClose (MadhvaMadhvaमध्वsay: muhdh-vuhIndian philosopher of the 13th century CE (dates usually given as 1238 to 1317), from South India, who founded Dvaita (dualist) Vedanta.Full entry in the glossaryClose) says the self and God are forever distinct. Neither equals Maslow's self-actualisation, which is about personal potential.

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