What Is New?

4 March 2018

The main addition this year is a consolidated page for resources for integral Indian psychology, and a companion page for the book Indian Psychology, an experiential approach by Neeltje Huppes.

There are also several new pages and hundreds of small corrections to Infinity in a Drop.

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April 2017

To say that the "What is new?" page has not been maintained very actively is somewhat of an understatement, and much new material has been added to the site that has not been recorded here. Most noteworthy are perhaps the blogs and some new chapters of "Infinity in a Drop". Recent examples of the latter are Concepts of consciousness and An ongoing evolution of consciousness.

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27 August 2016

Most of the new material on the IPI-website has to do with teaching Indian Psychology.

There is one page on how Indian Psychology is being taught in India and another one on how IP is being taught in IPI

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1 July 2015

The most interesting addition is the Infinity in a Drop outline. This is the outline for the course on Integral Indian Psychology, which is part of this year's 8-months course Indian Psychology. The idea is that in due time most items will be linked to actual texts. A few sample links have already been made.

Please have a look.

1 January 2015

A number of small tweeks have been made to the IPI website to make it more touch-screen friendly.

A separate page has been added to highlight some of our articles about education.

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19 April, 2014

The following articles have been added to the IPI website:

1. Basu, Srila (2007). Journey of a Teacher.
2. Bhawuk, Dharm P. S. (2005). A model of self, work, and spirituality from the Bhagavad-Gita: Implications for self-efficacy, goal setting, and global psychology.

This chapter offers an indigenous method to derive a model from the Bhagavad-Gita to show how our physical self is related to social self and work. It highlights how intentional work leads to an entrenched development of social self whereas an indifference towards the fruits of our actions leads us towards our real self. Further, the implications of the model on self-efficacy and goal setting are discussed, together with the possibility of indigenous psychology developing into a global psychology.

3. Cornelissen, R. M. Matthijs (1998/2005). Self and personality in Sri Aurobindo's yoga: An overview of his terminology.

An overview of the terms Sri Aurobindo uses to explain the different parts and planes of our nature.

4. Cornelissen, R. M. Matthijs (2005). Psychology: Five major Indian contributions.

This article discusses the five major contributions which the Indian tradition can make to psychology, and then focusses on six passive and six active aspects of consciousness as conceptualized by Sri Aurobindo.

5. Cornelissen, R. M. Matthijs (2011). Beyond the mask: An exploration of human identity based on the work of Sri Aurobindo.

After a quick attempt at placing "Indian Psychology" within the context of mainstream academic psychology, the first half of this article discusses the methods that Indian psychology uses to explore our human sense of identity. The second half offers some of its salient findings, regarding both, our surface nature and our innermost Self.

6. Cornelissen, R. M. Matthijs (2014). A few slides.

This article is an annotated list of PDF files with Keynote slides on issues like: types of knowledge; methodology & epistemology; consciousness; the structure of the personality; etc.

7. Kishore, K. (2011). Women's identity in psychological theory and the Indian cultural context.

This paper attempts to examine some of the predominant theories within psychological discourse on women's identity that are centred around either the ground plan of the body or around relational models of connectedness, interdependence and ethics of responsibility. The paper calls for an approach that looks at the construction of gender as a product of particular cultural circumstances and gender relations as endlessly adaptable and inventive. It also suggests that any study of women's identity in the Indian cultural context must deconstruct the singular monolithic notion of womanhood and explore the aspects of women's identity as coloured by differences of caste, class, region, generation, etc.

8. Malik, Pravir (2002). The Flowering of Arvind Eye Care System.
9. Salagame, Kiran Kumar (2010). Indian indigenous concepts and perspectives: Developments and future possibilities.
10. Singh, Kundan (2014). Laying the Foundations for Indian psychology.

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4 February, 2014

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4 February, 2014

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18 February, 2013

The following articles have been added to the IPI website:

1. Dalal, Ajit K. (1999). Health beliefs and coping with a chronic illness.

This paper examines the relationship between cultural beliefs about illness and psychological adjustment to a chronic disease. It argues for an integrated health care system combining the strengths of traditional healing and biomedical practices.

2. Priya, Kumar Ravi (2004). Survivors' suffering and healing amidst changing socioeconomic forces in two years of post-earthquake Kachchh.

This study provides an account of the socio-historically rooted healing of earthquake survivors over a period of two years in post-earthquake Kachchh. An ethnographic approach was adopted to incorporate the changing socioeconomic context and its impact on the suffering and healing process.

3. Varma, Suneet (2005). From the self to the Self: An exposition on personality based on the works of Sri Aurobindo.

The focus in this chapter is on the conceptualization of the person from Sri Aurobindo's perspective. The author demonstrates clear links with the larger Indian perspective which the author has been able to personally relate to, and differentiates Sri Aurobindo's perspective from some major schools of mainstream psychology, like Psychoanalysis, Behaviourism, Humanistic psychology and Transpersonal psychology (which comes closest to the Indian perspective).

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6 December, 2012

The following articles have been added to the IPI website:

1. Rangaswami, K. (2005). Psychotherapeutic concepts in the Atharva Veda.

This chapter enumerates methods developed in the Atharva Vedic Upanishads to develop personality and overcome mental sufferings, and have similar components as those in some contemporary psychotherapeutic methods. The Atharva Veda also suggests ideas about mind (manas), and its normal and abnormal nature.

2. Sharan, M. B. (2005). Understanding of human mind and behaviour: The missing link of intuitive experience.

This paper calls for Intuition as a method of psychology and suggests how intuitive mind can be developed for having intuitive experience.

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6 September, 2012

We have added at the top of all pages a "sharing button", which should make it easier to share IPI pages with others.

At the bottom of the page we have added a little globe which shows the whereabouts of the IPI family:
When you click on it, you are guided to a larger map showing the many different places from where people have visited our website (since 19 July 2012).

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24 September, 2011

The following articles have been added to the IPI website:

1. Cornelissen, R. M. Matthijs (2011) -- Are Schools Injurious to Health?**

Educational theories and policies tend to include noble and inspiring ideals regarding the "all-round development" of the students. The practice lives, however, rarely up to the intent. More often than not, the content of the curriculum and the manner in which it is transacted are such, that a negative effect on the healthy development of the students is almost inevitable. This chapter asks attention for some of these factors, and suggests that much could be gained, if we would be more open to what the Indian tradition can contribute to contemporary psychology.

2. Huppes, Neeltje (2011) -- Teaching Indian Psychology-Challenges and Prospects: An application-oriented paper**

This paper discusses some of the ways and means related to content and process of teaching Indian Psychology. It also addresses the question regarding how to give consciousness its rightful place when we bring Indian psychology back into the classroom

3. Huppes, Neeltje (2004) -- Psychic Education: A workbook based on the writings of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother**

This book was initially meant as a practical guide for teachers and trainees at Mirambika, the Free Progress unit of the Sri Aurobindo Education Society at New Delhi. Over time it has, however, proven invaluable for many others who are not directly involved in education, but who are serious about their spiritual growth, and who want to implement spirituality in their daily life and work.

4. Sibia, Anjum (2011) -- Life and learning at Mirambika: Towards evolving mind**

This article uses the ethnographic method to examine the teaching-learning process in Mirambika, a centre for learning based on Free Progress Education, as outlined by Sri Aurobindo and The Mother.

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16 August, 2011

The following articles have been added to the IPI website:

1. Cornelissen, R. M. Matthijs (2011) -- Types of knowledge and what they allow us to see: How our research methods affect the quality of our psychological understanding**
2. Krishnan, L., Varma, P., & Pandey, V. (2009) -- Reward and punishment allocation in the Indian culture**

Two scenario studies examined justice perceptions in Indian samples. It was suggested that subjects thought in terms of merit and need, instead of merit or need. Need and merit were rated as being similar in importance when deciding a fair punishment. Attention was drawn to several aspects of justice perception, especially those related to punishment.

3. Marwaha, Sonali Bhatt (2005) -- Living with poverty: Are psycho-spiritual dimensions the x-factor in family resilience? A proposed research agenda**

The chapter explores the sense of well-being, feelings of happiness and depression among the rural and urban poor. In the process, the extent and role of religious beliefs and practices in coping with poverty have been investigated.

4. Mohan, Deepa (2005) -- Spirituality: Its impact on health and well-being**

The chapter discusses the effect of spiritual and religious practices on human health and well-being. It reviews studies in the area of mental and physical health to suggest that health behaviour, and quality of social and family life are contingent on religious beliefs, rites and practices.

5. Mulla,R. Z., & Krishnan, R. V. (2008) -- Karma-yoga, the Indian work ideal, and its relationship with empathy**

The relationship of Karma-Yoga with the dimensions of empathy was explored. The results highlighted the differential impact of dimensions of empathy and Karma-yoga was found to be similar to altruism motivation in the Indian context.

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15 May, 2011

We have added a special web-page from where back-issues of IP News can be downloaded.
IP News is IPI's free, quarterly Newsletter,

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10 May, 2011

The following articles have been added to the IPI website:

1. Anand, J. (2004) -- Working through emotional pain: A narrative study of healing process**

The paper attempts to understand how people work through their emotional pain to arrive at self-transformation and healing. The study provides rich insights in the role of acknowledging one's vulnerabilities and emotional release in transcending life crises and attaining inner peace.

2. Gaur, Sunil D. (2005) -- Self in contemporary life: Challenges and possibilities**

In contrast to Western psychology which provides an outward-looking view focusing on the problems faced by man and their solutions, Indian psychology views such problems as related to deeper philosophical aspects of the human being and suggests an inward-looking approach to solve them. The quest for self and identity and the nature of self as "witness" provides the platform for psychological enquiry and research at different levels of existence, from biosocial to spiritual.

3. Kumar, S.K. Kiran (2002) -- Psychology of meditation: Theory and practice**

The article gives an overview of (mainly Western) research on and practical advice for the early stages of meditation in the context of modern life.

4. Miovic, Michael (2004) -- Sri Aurobindo and Transpersonal Psychology**

This article provides an overview of Sri Aurobindo's psychological thought and system of Integral Yoga Psychology (IYP). Relevant biographical and historical background is introduced, and his influence on the development of transpersonal psychology reviewed. Using Sri Aurobindo's cosmology of consciousness as a framework for transpersonal experience, IYP's model of planes of consciousness and parts of the being is explained and illustrated with quotations from Sri Aurobindo's writings. Emphasis is placed on the psychic being (soul) and overhead planes of consciousness, as these are central to IYP's psycho-spiritual method of transforming the ego. Finally, implications for transpersonal development and transpersonal therapy are formulated, and some clinical applications given.

5. Paranjpe, Anand C. (2005) -- Building tall on solid foundations: Directions for indigenous personality research in India**

The chapter identifies the most fundamental concepts and insights from the Indian tradition in the field of personality and the self. Yoga and Advaita are further considered as ways of personality development and self-realization with a comment on possible types of research concerning traditional Indian forms of counselling.

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21 April, 2011

NEW!

We are happy to announce that finally both volumes of Foundations of Indian Psychology have come out.
This collection of 40 invaluable articles on Indian Psyhcology has been edited by Matthijs Cornelissen, Girishwar Misra and Suneet Varma.
It is published by Pearson Education, New Delhi.

For details, click here
(or on the picture of the cover).

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19 April, 2011

The following articles have been added to the IPI website:

1. Huppes, Neeltje (2005) -- The evolving soul, a key concept in Sri Aurobindo's work: Its ramifications for further development of human potential and Indian Psychology**

This chapter elucidates some of the deepest and highest horizons of mankind based on Sri Aurobindo's vision. He foresaw new possibilities of the human instrument and developed techniques for further development of human potential. The evolving soul or psychic being has an important function in this new development.

2. Kapur, P., & Misra, G. (2003) -- Image of self in the Sikh community: Continuity of the core and global presence**

This article explores the social, psychological and historical processes through which the Sikh community has categorised and differentiated itself from other communities to form a distinct self. The self-construal of the Sikh community is constituted by spiritual, heroic and aesthetic images. It has a core which shares certain religious, social and cultural attributes, and a unique blending of continuity and change has helped the indigenous and local Sikh community to have a global presence.

3. Kumar, S.K. Kiran (2008) -- Indian Thought and Tradition: A Psychohistorical Perspective**

This chapter examines the different meanings of "Indian psychology" and discusses the basic concepts and constructs to present a historical introduction.

4. Pandey, Namita (1992) -- Anasakti and health: A study of non-attachment**

This paper is a study of the indigenous concept of anasakti (non attachment) and its implications for health. The key features of anasakti are identified as effort orientation, emotional equipoise, and weak concern for external reward. The study empirically explored the relationship of anasakti with stress and strain. Results showed that Anasakti had a negative relationship with distress. Progressive detachment was recommended to reduce stress and lead to better performance.

5. Suneetha, K. (2005) -- Coping with incarceration: The role of yoga, meditation, and spirituality**

The chapter explores the role of religion on coping with the stresses of incarceration by prison inmates, and in bringing about a sense of well-being and happiness in their dismal existence. The efficacy of yoga, meditation and spiritual counselling have been further explored as life-transforming tools with the potential to bring about attitudinal and behavioural changes that render them less likely to return to the prison later.

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4 April, 2011

The following articles have been added to the IPI website:

1. Cornelissen, R. M. Matthijs (2006) -- Yoga as research tool: Towards rigorous research in the subjective domain**
2. Krishnan, Meenakshi. (2011) -- A Participant's view of the IPI introductory course in Indian psychology**

This article is written about the Introductory Course on Indian Psychology oraganized by IPI.

3. Kumar, Sanjay. (2011) -- Significance of workshop on Indian psychology: A participant's review**

This article is written about the Introductory Course on Indian Psychology oraganized by IPI.

4. Rao, K. Ramakrishna (2005) -- Scope and substance of Indian Psychology**

Indian psychology studies consciousness in its multifaceted manifestations and offers a set of practices which can be used in realizing truth and for the transformation of the human condition towards perfection.

5. Sharma, P. (2006) -- Science and spirituality: From impasse to innovation**

This paper addresses the split created between 'science and 'spirituality' within dominant academic discourse which is leading to inner chaos in the minds of modern youth.It has further highlighted the need to have a dialogue between scientists and spiritualists to bridge the split.

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15 March, 2011

We have added a special web-page on Teaching Indian Psychology.
It has the syllabi and recommended reading lists of IP courses offered at various Indian Universities,
as well as a section on how to do research in Indian Psychology.

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28 February, 2011

A new web-page has been added, meant for people who want to teach or study Indian Psychology in an academic setting. It is is called "Teaching Indian Psychology", and has the syllabuses and recommended reading lists for a number of courses on Indian Psychology that have come up in India during the last few years. It also has the contents pages of a few selected source-books on Indian Psychology. It is available from the "articles" menu.

The listing of articles by subject has a new option that lists only those articles of which the full text is available on the IPI website.
The listing of articles sorted by author has received a similar face-lift.

Some time earlier we added a simple way for people to register their email address with us. It is available on all the main pages of the IPI website.

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27 December, 2010

A list has been made of all texts on the IPI websites that are in one way or another related to integral yoga and integral psychology. The list is accessbile from the IPI website as the fourth item on the subject-wise listing, and from the saccs website as a separate page.

16 December, 2010

The "technology update" of the IPI and SACCS websites has been far more complicated than anticipated. Our sincere apologies for the many moments when the sites were not looking as they should! We hope the disruptions have been worth it.

The main addition has been the inclusion of the Thematic Index of Mothers Collected Works in the SACCS site. In its "Introduction page", you will find a short explanation why this is such an important resource for anyone interested in the psychological aspects of Sri Aurobindo's work.

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2 November, 2010

Over the last few weeks, the technology underlying the IPI website has been changed considerably. It will now be much easier to add new material to the site while maintaining a consistent style. The changes have also made it possible to install drop-down menus and to incorporate blogs.

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20 September, 2010

The following articles have been added to the IPI website:

1. Cornelissen, R. M. Matthijs (2007). In Defence of Rigorous Subjectivity

Article based on a keynote given at the Annual Conference of the Transpersonal Psychology Section of the BPS in 2007

2. Dalal, Ajit K. (2010). A journey back to the roots: Psychology in India

This chapter traces the history of pychology in India and discusses how it can be enriched by drawing from the classical Indian texts.

3. Dalal, Ajit K. (2010). Folk wisdom and traditional healing practices: Some lessons for modern psychotherapies.

This chapter explores the characteristic features of traditional healing practices and attempts to decipher the ways in which they work. The purpose is to draw parallels between folk practices and modern psychotherapies and identify learning opportunities from ancient wisdom.

4. Dalal, Ajit K. (2006). Social interventions to moderate discriminatory attitudes: The case of the physically challenged in India

Disability attitudes are the major barriers in improving life conditions of physically challenged in developing countries. In this article, some social interventions aimed at changing the disability attitudes of rural people in India are discussed.

5. Dalal, Ajit K. (2006). Psychosocial Interventions for Community Development

The chapter argues that it is a major challenge for the Government, bureaucrats, activists and social scientists to prepare viable community development programmes. The psycho-social barriers to community participation have been discussed and ways are suggested to facilitate it.

6. Dalal, Ajit K. (2005). Integrating Traditional Services within Primary Health Care

This paper critically reviews the current status of primary health care services in India. The paper argues that traditional health services which have existed for thousands of years and have wide acceptance and application throughout India need to be rejuvenated and integrated within the existing health care programmes.

7. Dalal, Ajit K. & Biswas, G. (2009). Self-construal among healthy and chronically sick women

The nature of self-construal was qualitatively explored among healthy and chronically sick women. The narrative analysis of their life scripts focused on the role of health and life circumstances in shaping their self-construal. It was found that most of these women construed their selves in terms of their role relationships.

8. Dalal, Ajit K. & Cornelissen, M. (2010). Sri Aurobindo: A Yogi and a Poet

The chapter discusses the biography of an eminent Indian yogi and a poet, Sri Aurobindo. It also throws light on his creative genius as evident in his writings, particularly in his classic work, Savitri.

9. Dalal, Ajit K. & Misra, G. (2010). The core and context of Indian psychology

This article makes an effort to conceptualize and situate the emerging field of Indian psychology(IP) in the disciplinary matrix. The meaning, scope, critical features and misconceptions about IP have been articulated.

10. Dalal, Ajit K. & Misra, G. (2006). Psychology of health and well-being: Some emerging perspectives

This paper tries to offer an overview of the salient developments in the area of health psychology by critically examining the concepts and research evidence. The key aspects of Ayurveda and the contemporary health scenario in the Indian context is presented. A comprehensive model of health consisting of three components, i.e., restoration, maintenance and promotion is presented.

11. Dalal, Ajit K. & Misra, G. (2002). Social psychology in India: Evolution and emerging trends

The chapter deals with growth and expansion of social psychology in India. It illuminates how western social psychology went through the process of indgenization in India.

12. Dalal, Ajit K. & Singh, A.K. (1992). The role of causal and recovery beliefs in the psychological adjustment to a chronic disease

This paper attempts to study psychological adjustment of hospital patients seeking treatment for tuberculosis using the attributional theoretical approach. They examined patients' perceptions of their disease, its causes and the factors which may be responsible for recovery. The findings highlighted the importance of cultural factors in shaping patients' perception of the causes and recovery. They revealed the extent to which metaphysical concerns shape the construction of illness in India, and also explain why patients seek alternative healing systems.

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5 January, 2010

The following articles have been added to the IPI website:

• Auluck, Shanti (2007). Psychology in need of paradigm change

The article is a general introduction to Indian Psychology. It discusses the various implications it has in the current field of psychology.

• Choudry, Anuradha (2004). The Legend of the Angirasa Rishis and the Lost Cows

The article bases itself on the psycho-spiritual interpretation of the Vedas as given by Sri Aurobindo. It examines in particular the famous Vedic legend of the Angirasa Rishis and the lost cows.

• Dalal, A. S. (2004). Sri Aurobindo on Cosmic Consciousness: An Integral View

The article mainly focuses on the theme of cosmic consciousness as presented by Sri Aurobindo in his writings.

• Mohanty, Bindu (2007). Auroville: Towards a Spiritualized Society based on Integral Yoga

The paper seeks to present preliminary findings from a qualitative research project -- an interpretive inquiry -- that explores how spiritual ideals held by individuals inform the social psychology of Auroville, a growing international town of 1,800 people from over forty countries.

• Pandey, Alok (2009). Consciousness based approach: An overview

The article focuses on a consciousness-based approach towards health and healing. According to the author an illness is essentially an inner disequilibrium and that the healer's task is primarily to help the pateint regain the inner and the outer balance.

• Pandey, Ashish (2009). Spiritual Climate of Business Organizations

A well-developed research paper on the importance of spirituality in management: its role and relevance. As the author states, "the major thesis of this research is that spirituality of employees is reflected in work climate" and this in turn leads to a positive affect of the employees' service to the customers.

• Rao, Mrinalini (2007). The Wave yearns to be Water: Cultural practices in the Indian tradition to invoke wholeness

The article takes a deeper look into Hinduism and the various psychological implications it has on the modern practitioner.

• Wadhwa, Toolika (2007). Beyond the Prison Walls: Reforming through Silence

The article, based on a study done in Tihar Jail, focuses on how experiential meditation in Vipassana helps the inmates to attain peace of mind, deal with their emotions related to crime and reconstruct their identities. It presents the beliefs, experiences and practices of these inmates.

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31 August, 2009

Since three years, Vladimir Yatsenko gives wonderful weekly classes at IPI on the psychological aspects of the Rig Veda.

We have started putting the annotated translations of the concerned slokas on a special web-page. To ensure the proper rendering of Devnagri and diacritics, these texts are posted as PDF files. Dependent on your browser they can either be downloaded or read inside the browser itself.

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22 January, 2008

0ver 120 abstracts of papers presented at the National Seminar on Indian Psychology: Theories and Models have been posted on the web at http://ipi.org.in/texts/nsip/nsip-syn.php . They have also been integrated with the topics and authors pages of the ipi website.

All pages directly related to the Integral Yoga of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother have been shifted to the website of the Sri Aurobindo Centre for Consciousness Studies, http://saccs.org.in. The texts of two booklets on Integral Psychology have been added to this same website. They can be found here.

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23 September, 2007

The names of all directories and webpages have been made lowercase. This may cause temporary inconvenience, as uppercase links from other websites may not function anymore, but it should improve its functioning in the long run.

The website of the Sri Aurobindo Centre for Consciousness Studies, which had not been maintained for a long time, has now been integrated fully with the website of the Indian Psychology Institute.

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10 September, 2007

A few new events, links, and papers plus many small corrections is all the news there is.

Do have a look at the National Seminar on Indian Psychology on the events page. It will be held from 26 to 28 December 2007 at Bangalore.

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8 January, 2007

A whole new section has been added, called, By the Way.
It is meant for the young -- in spirit, not necessarily in years -- and contains short essays, stories and poems related to Indian Psychology in its widest sense.

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29 December, 2006

29 more full papers have been uploaded. They can be accessed through the topics page, and through the Authors page.

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5 November, 2006

The date of the Indian Psychology Conference, organised by the Psychology Department of Delhi University, has been changed to 27-29 January, 2007. Please see the events page. It will now be held in New-Delhi, at the Sri Aurobindo Ashram - Delhi Branch

Some new links have been added to the Links page

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12 June, 2006

A new page has been added with texts by Sri Aurobindo and the Mother on Integral Yoga.

Please see the announcement of the Indian Psychology Conference in Naintal, India
October 27-30, 2006 on the events page.

Numerous small improvements have been made throughout the site.

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21 May, 2006

The texts are now also listed subject-wise on the topics page.

The first PhD and Mphil studies have been added to the IP research page.

A new page has been added with Inspirations.

The Home page has been expanded into 5 separate pages

The looks of the site have been improved by a more systematic use of templates and styles.

A beginning has been made with adding below the texts the email addresses of the authors, so that they can be contacted more easily.

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23 March, 2006

A few new links and a membership form have been added.

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12 February, 2006

Right now everything on this website is new!

For regular email updates on the developments at IPI, subscribe to the IPI-Newsletter!

For information, please write an email