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30 - Sri Ramaṇa Maharshi: A Case Study in Self-Realization
- from PART III - APPLICATIONS AND IMPLICATIONS
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- By Anand C. Paranjpe, Simon Fraser University in Canada
- Edited by K. Ramakrishna Rao, Chairman, Indian Council for Philosophical Research (ICPR), Anand Paranjpe, Chairman, Indian Council for Philosophical Research (ICPR), Ajit K. Dalal, Chairman, Indian Council for Philosophical Research (ICPR)
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- Book:
- Handbook of Indian Psychology
- Published by:
- Foundation Books
- Published online:
- 26 October 2011
- Print publication:
- 16 May 2008, pp 564-576
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- Chapter
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Summary
The purpose of this essay is to present a case study illustrating the attainment of self-realization in the life of a modern sage, Sri Ramaṇa Maharshi (1879–1950). To that end, the author shall briefly sketch the life history and teachings of Sri Ramaṇa Maharshi, whose approach is widely recognized as very closely following the Advaitic model of Self-realization in Śaṅkara's tradition. Insofar as the principles of Advaita are described in Paranjpe and Rao's chapter titled Psychology in the Advaita Vedānta in this Handbook, this chapter is expected to complement it by providing a concrete instance of how those principles may manifest in real life. It is hoped that the discussion here will show how Advaita Vedānta is not simply an abstract system of philosophy involving idle speculation, but a practical philosophy of life, involving a form of applied psychology that can effectively guide a person's self-realization.
I would like to clarify at the outset that the approach to case study adopted here is inspired by Erik Erikson's (1962; 1969) psycho-historical studies of the biographies of Martin Luther and Mahatma Gandhi, but with a difference. The main difference is that, while Erikson uses his extension of the Freudian model to examine life histories portrayed in biographical sources, I have tried to examine the life history of Sri Ramaṇa primarily, although not exclusively, in light of his own teachings. Given the background of the Eriksonian approach that inspired this study, the relevance of Erikson's theory of identity formation is crucial here. For, as I have tried to show elsewhere (Paranjpe, 1998), there is a good deal of complementarity between Eriksonian view of the search for identity and the Advaitc view of self-realization.
13 - Psychology in the Advaita Vedānta
- from PART I - SYSTEMS AND SCHOOLS
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- By Anand C. Paranjpe, Simon Fraser University in Canada, K. Ramakrishna Rao, Andhra University
- Edited by K. Ramakrishna Rao, Chairman, Indian Council for Philosophical Research (ICPR), Anand Paranjpe, Chairman, Indian Council for Philosophical Research (ICPR), Ajit K. Dalal, Chairman, Indian Council for Philosophical Research (ICPR)
-
- Book:
- Handbook of Indian Psychology
- Published by:
- Foundation Books
- Published online:
- 26 October 2011
- Print publication:
- 16 May 2008, pp 253-285
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- Chapter
- Export citation
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Summary
There is voluminous literature on Advaita Vedānta available at different levels of scholarship. Much of it, however, is basically philosophical with a sprinkling of psychology here and there. We believe that psychological issues are at the base of Advaita and in a significant sense constitute its core. In this chapter we are attempting to convey psychological concepts and methods of Advaita with a focus on the concerns of modern psychology, and present them in contemporary language and idiom. Also, wherever appropriate, we will try to build conceptual bridges across disciplinary and cultural divides, and attempt interpretations rather than mere translations.
The two topics at the very core of Advaita system are consciousness and the self. Centrality of consciousness in human condition is the defining characteristic of Indian psychology (Rao, 2004). They were also issues central to modern psychology as viewed by its founding fathers, Wilhelm Wundt in Germany and William James in America. However, with the advent of behaviourism, both these topics were virtually banished from psychology for decades. Such banishment turned out to be a relatively temporary aberration; both consciousness and self have returned to the re-drawn boundaries of psychology during the last few decades of the twentieth century. From a psychological point of view, there is more to Advaita than consciousness and self, since it offers a broad perspective on the nature of human beings, a perspective of the kind that modern psychologists call “theories of personality”. According to the Advaita, the person (jīva) is conceptualized as an individual who thinks, feels, and acts. As such, the individual is seen as being in possession of three fundamental capacities: cognition, emotion, and action.
10 - Yoga Psychology: Theory and Application
- from PART I - SYSTEMS AND SCHOOLS
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- By K. Ramakrishna Rao, Andhra University, Anand C. Paranjpe, Simon Fraser University in Canada
- Edited by K. Ramakrishna Rao, Chairman, Indian Council for Philosophical Research (ICPR), Anand Paranjpe, Chairman, Indian Council for Philosophical Research (ICPR), Ajit K. Dalal, Chairman, Indian Council for Philosophical Research (ICPR)
-
- Book:
- Handbook of Indian Psychology
- Published by:
- Foundation Books
- Published online:
- 26 October 2011
- Print publication:
- 16 May 2008, pp 186-216
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
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Summary
Yoga in its origin is a native Indian psycho-spiritual craft, used for personal transformation and to alleviate suffering in the human condition. In a sense, yoga is pan Indian in that it is not restricted to any particular religion or sect, region or location. While it is central to Brahmanism, Buddhists as well as Jainas have practised some kind of yoga. “Yoga constitutes a characteristic dimension of Indian Thought,” concludes Mircea Eliade (1969) in his influential book Yoga: Immortality and Freedom, “to such a point that wherever Indian religion and culture have made their way, we also find a more or less pure form of yoga” (p.359). There are good reasons to think that yoga is a pre-Aryan native Indian practice(s) that was later assimilated into the Vedic tradition (Narain, 1980). References to yoga practices date back to at least Upaniṣadic times. Explicit mention of yoga occurs in Maitrāyaṇī, Śvetāśvatara and Kaṭtha Upaniṣads among others. Yoga has now acquired pan human relevance going beyond the Indian community. For example, it is today a billion dollar business in the United States of America.
Etymologically, as is well-known, the word “yoga” is derived from the root “yuj,” which means “to bind” or “to yoke”. Inasmuch as there is ambiguity as to what precisely are the things to bind or unify, a wide variety of forms of yoga came into existence. Many of these are unsystematic and some are mystical and esoteric (Eliade, 1969). However, three levels of binding can be discerned from the practices. The first level is connecting the body and the mind.