Issues and Challenges in Integrating Modern Psychology with Indian Thought

Abstract

The views expressed by Sinha (J Humanistic Psychol 5(1):17, 1965) were radical and ahead of time. He had emphasized the immense value of Indian knowledge systems and their potential to enrich academic psychology as a whole. The chief focus was that Western psychology has failed in addressing existential issues about the meaning of life—Who am I—Where have I come from—Where will I go after I leave the body (dehanta). Indian thought, on the other hand, has engaged with these questions for millennia and provided convincing answers. Western psychology has evaded these questions because of the delimitation of methodological concerns of the so-called scientific methodology rooted in logical positivism. Sinha emphasized that Indian concepts and constructs can also be examined/studied empirically to establish their validity. However, the methodology of verification will differ from the Western modes of verification. Indian knowledge systems are based on direct first-hand experience (darshana), and modes of verifiability have been delineated. The inclusion of Indian psychology (IP) in mainstream psychology will go a long way in creating a true psychology which is universal. By way of an afterword, similar concerns were highlighted by Indra Sen in the 1930s. Recently, over the last two decades, a movement has gathered momentum in India by leading psychologists, to bring IP to a global platform.