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The International Library of Psychology
HINDU PSYCHOLOGY
Founded by C. K. Ogden
The International Library of Psychology PSYCHOLOGY AND RELIGION In 6 Volumes I
Hindu Psychology
Akhilananda
II
Religious Conversion
de Sanctis
III
The Psychology of Religious Mysticism
Leuha
IV
Indian Psychology
Sinha
V
Isaac and Oedipus
Wellisch
VI
Man in his Relationships
Westmann
HINDU PSYCHOLOGY I t s M e a n i n g f o r t h e We s t
S WA M I A K H I L A N A N D A Introduction by Gordon W Allport
First published in 1948 by Routledge and Kegan Paul Ltd Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2001. © 1948 Swami Akhilananda All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. The publishers have made every effort to contact authors/copyright holders of the works reprinted in the International Library of Psychology. This has not been possible in every case, however, and we would welcome correspondence from those individuals/companies we have been unable to trace. These reprints are taken from original copies of each book. In many cases the condition of these originals is not perfect. The publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of these reprints, but wishes to point out that certain characteristics of the original copies will, of necessity, be apparent in reprints thereof. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Hindu Psychology ISBN 0415-21110-7 (Print Edition) Psychology and Religion: 6 Volumes ISBN 0415-21133-6 (Print Edition) The International Library of Psychology: 204 Volumes ISBN 0415-19132-7 (Print Edition) ISBN 0-203-00266-0 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0-203-17319-8 (Glassbook Format)
Table of Contents
I. II. III. IV. V.
VI. VII. VIII. IX. X. XI. XII. XIII. XIV.
INTRODUCTION by Gordon W. Allport FOREWORD by Edgar Sheffield Brightman PREFACE A SURVEY OF WESTERN AND HINDU PSYCHOLOGY COGNITION EMOTION THE SUBCONSCIOUS MIND WILL AND PERSONALITY Will Suggestion Hypnosis Personality MEDITATION EFFECT OF MEDITATION INTUITIVE INSIGHT EXTRASENSORY EXPERIENCES THE SUPERCONSCIOUS STATE METHODS OF SUPERCONSCIOUS EXPERIENCE CAN SUPERCONSCIOUS KNOWLEDGE BE IMPARTED? RELIGION AND PSYCHOTHERAPY PHILOSOPHY OF LIFE APPENDIX BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX
ix xi xv 1 21 37 54 78 78 88 91 96 102 126 135 142 150 171 190 199 209 225 229 233
Introduction IT IS inexcusable that we who think in the Western frame of thought should be as ignorant as we are of the frame of thought of the East. Year after year we have spent our time thinking exclusively in the thought forms of our own Western culture, in practicing or examining the tradition of our own religion, and in evolving our own Western theories of the mind. Few of us have spent even one day of our lives learning about the thought forms that control the minds of millions of our fellow men who adhere to the basic religion of Hinduism. Since in modern days we can no longer deny that all mankind lives in One World, such ignorance of our Eastern cousin’s mind is as dangerous as it is inexcusable. Does the excited psychology of action and behavior so characteristic of America treat adequately all the capacities of the human mind? Are the powers of meditation revealed through yoga illusory and slightly absurd? Is it conceivable that the energies released through mental disci