Indian Psychology
An experiential approach
Neeltje Huppes

This book is aimed at undergraduate and postgraduate courses. It is an introduction with an experiential approach. This means that the students do not only become familiar with theoretical knowledge of Indian psychology but are also guided how to experience the concepts they study. This approach is accomplished by including, in each chapter, themes for discussion, experiential exercises and reflective practices. A methodology like this is based on the premise that for becoming a good psychologist it is essential to gain inner experience of theoretical concepts.

The book has four sections, while each section has four chapters.

Section One, Philosophical foundations of Indian psychology, and section Two, The structure of the human being, give a theoretical foundation. Section Three, Self-discovery and section Four, Self-perfection, open up a more practical exposure to the topics studied.

Each chapter has links to the world-wide web which give access to interesting articles and videos related to the content of the chapter at hand. The book is set up in such a way that the links to these articles and videos form an integral part of the study material of the book. All this extra material can be easily accessed through the "Internet Companion" page of this book on the IPI website. There is a link to this page below the contents.

CONTENTS

Section one — Philosophical foundations

1. A Progressive universe
2. Thoughts on Consciousness
3. The main philosophical systems of the Indian tradition
4. The concept of satchitananda and the urge for happiness

Section two — The structure of the human being

5. Planes of consciousness or gradations of substance
6. Who am I in the evolution?
7. Who am I — parts and planes
8. Who am I — the inner nature, the ego, the soul and the Spirit

Section three — Self-discovery

9. The three gunas — the three essential modes of nature
10. Self-observation
11. The vital — prana and the Mind — manas
12. The soul — antaratman

Section four — Self–perfection

13. The ego — ahamkara and individuality
14.  Dealing with difficulties
15.  Self-perfection — the process of conscious living
16.  A way of life

An overview of integral living

Appendix

• Fear
• Annotated bibliography of books
• A selection from the web pages of this book
• Glossary of words in Sanskrit
   

View the
        Internet companion to Indian Psychology: An experiential approach
        PDF version of Indian Psychology: An experiential approach