This paper was presented at the
National Seminar on
Indian Psychology: Theories and Models
SVYASA, Bangalore,
December 26 - 28, 2007
 

Perspectives of belief systems on concept of self

Sonali Bhatt Marwaha — Institute for Human Science & Service, Visakhapatnam
Shanti V. Prasad — Andhra University, Visakhapatnam

Nearly everyone has a personal belief system, whether culturally acquired or acquired through the process of an informed personal choice, which guides their understanding of God, self and the world around them -- their physical and social reality. This belief, Weltanschauung, guides their behaviour and interaction with the world. As much as a worldview is extremely personal, its ramifications are seen in the way we understand and deal with the world, not only at an individual, relational level, but also as a society, and in terms of how we explore and try to understand the world. These philosophies or belief systems, present us with a diversity of ideas and concepts that form a basis of cultural psychologies. The Indian kaleidoscope contains within it many philosophies that need to be mined for the wealth of information that that they contain within them. Of the many systems present on the sub-continent, in this paper we explore the Jaina, Zoroastrian, Hindu, Buddhist, Islamic, and Sikh religio-philosophical systems for their percepts on the concept of self.

Email the author, Ms. Sonali Bhatt Marwaha, at sonalibm@gmail.com