This book discusses the profound philosophy and practical psychology behind yoga, beyond its popular body-culture aspect. It pays particular attention to the psychological principles involved and their implications for the consummate understanding of human nature. It explores the psychological aspects of yoga theory and practice and discusses the aphorisms in Patanjali's treatise on Yoga with necessary commentary in current psychological terminology to make them intelligible to students of psychology and other interested readers. Importantly, the author draws out the implications of these aphorisms for future psychological study and research. The book discusses the author's concept of yoga of nonviolence which brings in Gandhian ideas into the framework of yoga. The author's own vast experience in creating interfaces of yoga research with practice also informs the discussions in this book.

This authoritative and topical book by an eminent academic like Professor Ramakr ishna Rao is of interest to scholars and students of diverse disciplines, including but not limited to psychology, philosophy and wellbeing research.

Autorentext

K. Ramakrishna Rao, PhD, is Chancellor of GITAM University, Visakhapatnam, India. He has studied at Andhra University, India and the University of Chicago, USA. He obtained PhD and D.Litt. degrees in philosophy and psychology, respectively from Andhra University and served as professor and Vice-Chancellor at Andhra University. During his long and illustrious career, he has worked at Duke University, USA and taught at the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and the California Institute of Human Science, Encinitas, CA. He also served as the Executive Director of the Foundation for Research on the Nature of Man (now known as the Rhine Research Center), in the USA. In the Government of Andhra Pradesh, India, Professor Rao served as the Advisor to Government on Higher Education and the Founder-Chairman of the Andhra Pradesh State Council of Higher Education. He was the Vice-Chairman of the Andhra Pradesh State Planning Board during 1994-95. More recently, he served as the Chairman of the Indian Council of Philosophical Research (2006-2012).

Professor Rao has published 20 books, around 50 book chapters and over 300 research papers in national and international journals. Several of his books have been published abroad and some translated into Japanese, German, Italian and Spanish. Among his recent books are Consciousness Studies: Cross-Cultural Perspectives (2002), Cognitive Anomalies, Consciousness and Yoga (2011), Gandhi and Applied Spirituality (2011), Cultivating Consciousness: An East-West Journey (2013), and Psychology in the Indian Tradition (coauthored with Anand C. Paranjpe, Springer 2016). Prof. Rao has received numerous academic awards like Fulbright and Rockefeller Foundation fellowships and honorary doctoral degrees by Andhra University, Nagarjuna University and Kakatiya University, India. The Government of India honored Prof. Ramakrishna Rao with the Padma Shri Award in 2011.

Inhalt

Chapter 1. Yoga as Samdhi.- Chapter 2. Yoga as Sdhan (Practice).- Chapter 3 Yogic Siddhis.- Chapter 4. Kaivalya: The Goal of Yoga .- Chapter 5. What is Meditation? -Chapter 6. Empirical Studies of Meditation.- Chapter 7. Metapsychology of Yoga.- Chapter 8. The TRILA (Trident) Model of the Person.- Chapter 9. Mahatma Gandhi: A Case Study in Indian Psychology.