{"id":205,"date":"2013-04-14T08:36:27","date_gmt":"2013-04-14T03:06:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ipi.org.in\/blogs\/?p=205"},"modified":"2013-04-14T08:48:43","modified_gmt":"2013-04-14T03:18:43","slug":"instrumental-and-essential-use-of-indian-psychology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ipi.org.in\/blogs\/instrumental-and-essential-use-of-indian-psychology\/","title":{"rendered":"Two ways of applying Indian Psychology"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are two distinct ways in which Indian Psychology can be applied; there is a gradient between these two approaches, and many mixed forms are possible, but conceptually it is useful to distinguish them. The first could be called instrumental<\/em> or pragmatic<\/em>, the second essential<\/em> or paradigmatic<\/em>.<\/p>\n

In the first approach, decontextualised ideas and techniques from the Indian tradition are used as adjuncts to existing ways of dealing with human beings that are standard within the present global civilization. Typical examples are the way yoga-asanas<\/em> are used as fitness exercises that increase physical beauty and lower blood pressure; the rebranding of meditation as a relaxation response that helps to cope with the stresses of corporate life; and the use of vipassana<\/em> as a stabilizing adjunct to psychotherapy. All these are, no doubt, for the good, but one cannot help but feel that they miss out on the essence, on the most beautiful, and in the end most important core of the Indian tradition.<\/p>\n

Of the second, the essential or paradigmatic use of the Indian tradition, it is much more difficult to find good examples. One could perhaps think of the philosophical stance of some post-Newtonian physicists like Erwin Schr\u00f6dinger, the educational experiments based on the work of Krishnamurti and Sri Aurobindo and, of course, certain developments in Transpersonal Psychology.<\/p>\n

For those who try to apply the theoretical core of the Indian tradition to their psychology practice in fields like education, psychotherapy, counselling, inner growth and self-help, it is useful to make one further distinction. This is the distinction between approaches that emphasize the outer, instrumental nature[1]<\/a> , and those that focus on finding the Self. There is natural tendency to start with changing one\u2019s outer nature, and in strongly structured paths like that of Patanjali, an extensive list of social and outward practices are mentioned as first steps that need to be taken up seriously before one can safely embark on the higher and more inwardly oriented steps of yoga. The reason for this sequence is that a certain harmonisation of the outer nature, even if not essential for finding the Self, is still likely to make the inner quest more safe and secure. But the argument should not be taken too far. It is true that too early, too exclusive a quest for the Self can lead to what the Americans call \u201cspiritual by-passing\u201d. But it is also true that too early and too exclusive a stress on outer perfection, if it succeeds at all, tends to lead to hypocrisy and to a hard to break spiritual ego. If it fails, it is likely to lead to endless and completely unnecessary frustration. The fact of the matter is, that a real and lasting change of one\u2019s nature is only possible once one has found a safe haven in one\u2019s eternal Self. It is not for nothing that in the Puranic stories, the devas<\/em>, the divine powers of the mind, only win their eternal battle with the asuras<\/em>, the darker sides of human nature, once they have acquired knowledge of the Self. On a more mundane level, this is the inner reason that mindfulness helps in CBT: even a little stepping back, moving just a tiny bit closer to one\u2019s eternal Self, helps to face one\u2019s inner demons more effectively.<\/p>\n

It is a subtle balance and one of many areas where Buddha\u2019s middle path may offer the safest option.<\/p>\n

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  1. The term \u201cinstrumental nature\u201d is based on the idea that we are not so much clever animals that may or may not have a soul, but that we are souls who may or may not have a body and mind. In other words, in our essence we are a conscious, eternal and immutable Self; in our na\u00efve, unregenerate state we tend to identify with our body-mind; but as we develop we can learn to identify with our eternal Self, and then use our body-mind as an instrument to manifest ourselves in the socio-physical world. \u00a0\u21a9<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    There are two distinct ways in which Indian Psychology can be applied; there is a gradient between these two approaches, and many mixed forms are possible, but conceptually it is useful to distinguish them. The first could be called instrumental or pragmatic, the second essential or paradigmatic. In the first approach, decontextualised ideas and techniques […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0},"categories":[11,42],"tags":[],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ipi.org.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ipi.org.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ipi.org.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ipi.org.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ipi.org.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=205"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.ipi.org.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":214,"href":"https:\/\/www.ipi.org.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205\/revisions\/214"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ipi.org.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ipi.org.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ipi.org.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}