Challenging dimensions of Indian psychology

At present academic psychology in India is predominantly preoccupied with Western conceptualisations. This paper aims at exploring the challenging dimensions of Indian Psychology and raises several basic questions such as its nature, thrust, substance and relevance against the backdrop of the relationship between human psyche and society. The researcher examines three issues which need to be resolved in the quest of including Indian psychology in the curriculum of universities:

1. Since Indian Psychology stresses integrality rooted in consciousness which is the primary reality, how then to teach it since it cannot simply be done in an intellectual fashion like other disciplines. On resolving this we can address the issue of to whom, when and where to teach Indian Psychology.

2. Whether Indian Psychology should be taught like Physics, Mathematics etc., by introducing subject content from Vedic literature or its contents should be framed separately by experts to enable the learners to understand the inner spirit of the subject?

3. How to align the focus of Indian Psychology with globalisation of higher education as reflected in the contents of the curriculum of higher education?

An attempt is made to resolve these issues towards making Indian Psychology a viable discipline which will satisfy global aspirants, thus making a meaningful contribution at both national and international levels in furthering human understanding and knowledge.

Email the author: "Dr. Panch. Ramalingam" <panchramalingam@hotmail.com>