Contemporary Education Models based on Ancient Indian Systems

 

The educational system formulated by Mahatma Gandhi Nai-Talim (New Education) 

Nai-Talim (New Education) is a well-formulated wholistic approach to education which Mahatma Gandhi would be the right scheme to ensure the overall development of individuals and society as a whole. He has published a detailed account of this system in his newspaper ‘Harijan’ in the year 1937. It is a system which was systematically developed based on experiments from 1904 with the intention of creating the best opportunities within the neighborhoods of an individual. . The Nai-Talim system of education focuses on the development of body, mind, and spirit which can ensure the complete development of the personality of every student. Nai-Talim is based on four basic principles 

1. Education or learning in the mother tongue along with vocational training and Work,
2. Vocational training and work should be linked with the most useful vocational needs of the locality, 
3. Learning should be linked with vocational work
4. Work should be socially useful and productive needed for living. 

This approach of work-centric education with technology accessible locally is the fundamental approach of Nai Talim. It is technically a mass education approach because the core focus is on socially useful work, and it was expected to be an effective model for our education system as a whole. 

The principle formulation of Nai-Talim focuses on three elements of education - learning, work, and locally available technology which are linked by a repetitive process of Education, work, and using Technology in a cyclic manner, which can lead to Socially Useful and Productive Work (SUPW). In this formulation, Education is learning through working and using technology for creating Socially useful productive systems, in which quality is embedded due to output of work (products and services) being socially useful and helpful which in turn results in 

• raising the productivity of all those involved in using these products and services
• Work is assumed to be wholesome, having routine, rest, progress, and pleasure all integrated into working and usage of technology 
• Technology is either empowering and/or non-exploitative of people and nature,. Technology should offer wholesome work, but should not convert a human being into or as a part of the machine when the work is carried out, virtually degrading the creative nature in them. It should also not pollute or degrade the nature around. 

This is the Nai or newness aspect that is involved in the process of working, giving freedom and autonomy to the learner for choosing and creating new processes and results associated with their work 

The other vital concept of Nai Talim, is Samavaya (Sama –equal and vaya / vyaya- expenditure) maintaining the balance of expenditure in Learning and Social Development. Here there is an emphasis on both learning and development to be simultaneously undergone and used as required for Socially useful productive systems. The demands of Socially useful productive systems makes a person capable of getting into or out of a situation using existing resources with the use of his learning and development fitting into each other, which intern leads to the development of higher levels of processes and results. In this system after every cycle of operation, there is a scope for innovation that becomes new / Nai. This can lead to, continuous striving for excellence, which is the obligation of every Indian citizen and particularly of teachers and students. Since Samavaya incorporates a looping process of reforming, this model of education is embedded with continuous developing and striving for excelling in performance. 

Nai Talim is a value-based, mass-based education system that prevents the restrictive class approach. Eventually, a class of talented persons may get selected by their superior performance. But it does not set limitations on anyone else and every learner and worker has an equal and open opportunity to develop his/her innate talents. 

Nai Talim is a system that ensures Life-long Learning and development. The goal is to design and develop a system in which personal and social performance could be enhanced by giving autonomy to the learner and his learning which can result in wholesome work and making work creative and innovative. This Gandhian approach in education is “learning for life, learning from life and learning throughout life” where a strong link is created in education with yoga, industry and cooperative working (yoga, udyoga, and sahayoga) It is a way for learning, working, developing, transforming continuously and rising on higher cultural and innovation levels of modernity and post-modernity.

 

RABINDRANATH TAGORE’S PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION

Tagore's vision of the education system that was deemed essential to the then population was one that aimed at promoting international co-operation and creating people who have the ability to reach out to the world. At the same time, it gave high importance to focus on one's own roots and immediate surroundings but also provides avenues for connecting to various cultures of the larger world. It also gave a lot of importance to make learning a pleasurable experience and customizing it according to the personality of the child. The curriculum also focused on connecting to nature with the classes being held in natural surroundings. The schedule of the classes was also flexible in nature to enable necessary changes in the timings according to the weather. In the same manner, special attention was given to occurrences that happen as a part of natural phenomena and also celebrating seasonal festivals.

Tagore established his own institution which was known as Santiniketan in the year 1901. Santiniketan has its own identity of being the first institution of its type in the field of modern education at the time when the whole country had started showing interest in the European model of education. This institution was unique in its own way because the students were not confined to classes even though a formal learning environment was present in the institution. According to Tagore, the great task of the institution was to provide adequate resources to educate the mind and all the senses through various activities. 

The four fundamental principles in Tagore’s educational philosophy are

1.    Naturalism

2.    Humanism

3.    Internationalism

4.    idealism. 

According to Tagore the education becomes effective only when it is imparted in natural surroundings. He believed that this approach can help in developing the learner’s contact with nature and that nature can teach a person more than any institution. It can also ensure adequate physical activity for the learner. So he felt that every Educational institution should realize the importance of this fact and inculcate co-curricular activities in their curriculum to a great extent

He believed that all the children have a powerful subconscious mind which can gather energy and knowledge from the surrounding environment. He despised the children being catered with artificial bookish knowledge alone. He believed that giving children freedom of expression can only help the child develop the real and relevant knowledge which can help in the spontaneous overflow of our deeper nature of the person and also help him to develop spiritual insight. 

According to Tagore Education should enable the mind to find out that ultimate truth which frees a person from the bondage of materialistic pleasures. It should help the person to understand the value of love and the inner self. It should also help a person to overcome the value he attaches to wealth and power. In this process, education enlightens a person about the value of divine wealth realization of truth. The aim of education should be to develop the perfection of human beings by dispelling ignorance by ushering in the light of knowledge. It should enable a person to lead a complete life with respect to all factors associated with one’s life which includes economic, intellectual, aesthetic, social, and spiritual.

Tagore also insisted education should happen in an environment that inspires people to be creative and it is important to promote creative activities among students. There should be a scope for all kinds of intellectual exploration which is constructive in nature. Teaching must be integrated with cultural, spiritual, intellectual, aesthetic, economic, and social factors that are relevant to the environment that a student belongs to and at the same time provide knowledge about the wider world with regard to all these components. True education should help a person to realize at every step how the training and knowledge has a direct connection with a person’s surroundings.

The aims of this institution established by Tagore:

1. Self-realization: Tagore felt that Spirituality is the source of humanism. So he believed that the way a person manifests his personality depends upon the self-realization and knowledge of spirituality that a person develops.
2. Intellectual Development: For Tagore intellectual development is judged by, to what extent a person can maintain the alertness of his mind, has the ability to think freely, Generating creative ideas, and maintaining his curiosity to explore. He felt that real intellectual development can happen only when a child adopts his own way of learning and feels the freedom to express their thoughts and ideas which can lead to wholistic development.
3. Physical development: He also insisted that physical education which includes yoga, game and sports should be an integral part of education because this can only help the child to develop a sound and healthy physique.
4. Love for Humanity: Tagore also felt that one of the important objectives of education should be to create a proper understanding of the universal brotherhood beyond all the limitations and borders which may or may not be tangent ones. He felt that an effective Education is the one that makes people realize the concept of equality and cohesion.
5. Freedom: He believed that education is the process that actually develops a human into what he should be. So he insisted on exploring the innate power that exists within a human being. He also felt that the processes should not be imposed on a person, but a process that is liberal and the one that provides the utmost freedom for development should be adopted for learning.
6. Co-relation of objects: He also emphasized the need for human beings to develop a cordial relationship with nature since he believed that a peaceful world can exist only if such a relationship is established between human beings and nature 
7. Mother-tongue, as the medium of instruction: He also insisted that the mother tongue should be the medium of instructions because he believed that a person can express himself freely and comfortably only when he communicates in his mother tongue.
8. Moral and spiritual development: he also felt that real education is the one that develops moral values. The methods he adopted for promoting moral values were to encourage selfless acts, develop co-operation among the groups, inspire the tendency to share, and also develop a sense of fellow-feeling among students.
9. Social Development: Tagore also believed that the development of individuals should be integrated with social development. The success of education can be understood on the basis of to what extent it contributes to social development and developing a sense of brotherhood among everyone in the society.

 

Tagore also believed that one of the major objective aims of education is to prepare the individual to serve the nation. According to him, education represents human regeneration, cultural identity, developing harmony, and intellectualism. The main role of Educational institutions should be to build on the power of free thinking and imagination in an individual which can help them to become a self-sustained building block of human society and a creative platform for the nation as a whole

 

AUROBINDO’S AIMS OF EDUCATION

           Shri Aurobindo opinion about an effective educational system is that it should be in accordance with the needs of an individual’s real modern life. He felt that Education should be able to create dynamic nature in a person which will help him to manage different situations that arise due to the complexity of the modern era. Physical development and spirituality should also be an integral part of the educational system. Physical development also includes physical purity because without physical purity spiritual development is not possible. According to him, spiritual development can only happen with appropriate physical development and physical purification.

Education should also train a person to uses all his senses hearing, speaking, listening, touching, smelling, and tasting, effectively. It should also focus on developing memory, thinking, reasoning, imagination, and discrimination in a child. Education should ensure that all these mental cognitive factors are developed fully and harmoniously. The development of morality is the other important role of education. Shri Aurobindo was of the view that without adequate moral and emotional development if mental cognitive development alone happens then it can lead to harmful consequences. Education should enable a child to show extreme love, sympathy, and consideration for all living beings.

Education also has the role of developing conscience in a person. Conscience according to Shri Aurobindo has four levels, chitta, manas, intelligence, and knowledge, and can be developed only with the assistance of the right teacher. One of the important roles of education is to promote spiritual development. Every human being according to Shri Aurobindo has fragments of innate divinity and education should help in developing it to the maximum extent possible. 

 

Curriculum  

According to Shri Aurobindo Curriculum should be designed in such a way as to make a child find interesting. It should include all those subjects which help in promoting mental and spiritual development. It should also motivate children towards attaining knowledge of the whole world. It should have contents that can foster creativity and constructive capacities in an individual 

 

Teacher-student relationship

According to Shri Aurobindo, the basic guiding principle of true teaching is that nothing can be taught. The Role of the teacher should function as a helper or guide and not as an instructor or task-master. A teacher should adopt suggestions as the method of imparting knowledge and not try to impose their own ideas on the students. The teacher should not try to train the pupil’s mind. Instead, they should only show the student how can use the instruments of knowledge to perfection and help, encourage him in the process. The role of the teacher is not to impart knowledge to the student but to shows him the process and source of acquiring knowledge for himself. The role of the teacher is not to unveil the knowledge that is within a student but to show him where the knowledge is available and how it can be brought to the surface by a systematic approach 

 

School

According to Shri Aurobindo Education should aim at modifying the school curriculum in such a way that it maximizes the learning modalities, help the child to achieve his potentiality at his own pace and level, and also devote some time to discover himself. He opposed the method of maintaining uniformity of prescribed courses and the nature of teaching, which the traditional schools are engaged in. The major objective of the type of schooling visualized by Shri Aurobindo is to bridge the gap between the child’s life at school and that at home.

Discipline

According to Shri Aurobindo, a free learning environment is essential for children since it can only help them to gain more and more knowledge through their own efforts. A restrained and compulsory environment that is forced on children can stunt their growth and natural development. Aurobindo also propagated the concept of self-discipline which he believed is the cure for ill-defined discipline.

Life Skills Essential for Effective living – The Thirukural Model

 

Introduction       

           Thirukural is an ancient Tamil scripture written by Thivalluvar in the third Sangam era which was around 300BC. This literature was unique in its own way because the verses were written as two-line couplets. Thiru means worshipful and Kural means couplets. Thirukural had been acknowledged as one of the literature which can be used for self and social development irrespective of the time period, nation, culture, or religion. It is termed as “ulaga pothumarai” which means common to everyone in the universe. Thirukural comprises of 1,330 couplets with 10 kural under each heading or athikaram which each athikaram dealing with various factors associated with human life skills, social or spiritual life. These athikarams are further grouped under three major areas – Aram, Porul, and Inbam. Aram deals with the ethical code of conduct which an individual is expected to follow in his personal and social life. Porul deals with ethics which should be followed in earning and spending money, political governance, military functioning, effective interpersonal relationships, ways of maintaining family, the importance of cultivation, farming, overcoming poverty, and identifying people with criminal tendencies. Inbham deals with all the aspects associated with love and romance 

             Thirukural is one of the few literary works that have survived over the past two thousand years in its complete and original form and it is considered relevant literature even in the present world. Thirukural is one of the most widely translated work. Till now it has been translated in 41 different languages. The content of Thirukural acts as a guide for human beings on how they should lead a moral and ethical life by which they become useful to the world. Unlike other works of literature of the ancient Indian era whose core focus was on spiritual life Thirukural dealt with how a person should live his life on earth while he is alive. According to Thirukural a person who leads an ideal life will be ranked on par with gods. Thirukural deals with essential factors related to a personal life which is permanent irrespective of the changes that occur in the social structure over a period of time.

Thirukural deals with the suffering experienced in an empathetic manner It does not consider human suffering to be illusory or trivial. It stresses the need to be compassionate and insightful while dealing with the suffering experienced by different sections of people. It also provides workable approaches in issues that confront human beings in their day to day life such as the ones associated with family, social behavior, immoral life, consequences of lack of self-control, emotional turmoil, managing romantic relationships, and handling separation and grief. 

           The most important features of Thirukural are: 

1. It never mentions anything related to any specific religion 
2. It is universally applicable irrespective of the culture or social structure
3. The teachings transcend time. 

 

 Effective communication 

           There is a lot of emphasis in Thirukural on the approach by which every communication can be made effective. It advocates the use of simple comprehensible pleasant words and appropriate nonverbal communication which is in tune with the verbal communication for building an effective interpersonal relationship and positive feelings with in oneself 

           The appropriate words used in verbal communication should be the ones filled 

with tenderness and pass. Thirukural emphasizes the best gift a person can give is pleasant words along with a natural smile. The words used should be honest right from one's heart. According to Thirukural the identity of an effective personality is pleasantness in speech, flowing from the heart which is filled with cheerfulness, tolerance along with the expression of amiable friendly body language. The importance of appropriate gestures and body language which play a vital role in making verbal communication effective is also emphasized in the script. It has also explained how positive and pleasant words will help in preventing a person from slipping into a negative state of mind which in turn can lead to suffering. Thirukural states that many problems emerge due to the lack of control over the tongue meaning the words used and it stresses that everyone should have conscious control over the usage of the tongue. 

According to Thiruvalluvar communication which is dominant with humility and with words that are pleasing to others are the valuable ornaments of every human being which means that appealing and pleasant speech is the identity of a positive respectable personality. He also adds that communication should also be informative, which can be beneficial to others filled with righteousness and not just something, done with the only purpose of only pleasing others

 

 

Behavior and Action                 

Thirukural has also explained the importance of the right behavior and actions. it has explained the consequences of actions that are done in haste. So according to thirukkural, every action has to be carried out after analyzing the pros and cons and also contemplating the consequences before the proceedings are done. One should also evaluate and realize their own abilities before execution and repenting for any action done after it executed does not give worthwhile results.

Thiruvalluvar insists that every individual should take up the tasks after realizing his capacity and people should avoid overburdening themselves. He explains this by the verse in which he states that the axle of vehicles even if it is overloaded with peacock feathers the is a possibility the axle of the vehicle will even if the peacock feathers which, are very light in nature are loaded excessively. Equally one must contemplate the appropriate time of involvement in an activity. Any activity that is done at the right time and at the right place can assure the successful execution of the task and achieving the intended goals. The importance of the right place is explained by the verse which says while chariots however big and luxurious it is cannot travel in the ocean. Similarly, a ship however big it is cannot travel on the road. There is also information on the need for human beings to realize the effectiveness of life is based on the realizations about the role of righteousness, wealth, pleasure, and fear of life (death) before involving any actions. 

In the organizational behavior context, thirukural has explained how proper examination should be done before trust is developed in a person. At the same time, it also stresses the need to trust a person without giving room for doubts once the person is engaged in an assignment. Similarly one should make sure that the right person is chosen and engaged for the right task. Once a decision is taken that the chosen person can accomplish a task, by some specific means then the master should leave the responsibility of discharging the duty with the person.

Thirukkural explains the need for self-control and restricting oneself if they need to have a peaceful life. It is explained in a verse that depicts that human beings should function like a tortoise which controls all the five senses whenever it wants to. Discipline and decorum in their behavior are very essential for a human being and it should be given greater importance than life. The correctness of conduct is the source of virtue and inappropriateness in conduct can cause sorrow which can go on forever, is one of the core themes advocated by tirukkural in relation to behavior.

 

Education

The importance of education and how an education process should happen has been dealt, in an extensive manner in Tirukkural. It testifies that education is the core requirement for every individual to lead an ideal life with perfection. Subject Learning should happen without any flaws and it should be done in-depth. Education should focus on selective learning so that deep exploration of the subject can be done to understand the ultimate truth. The value of education should not be evaluated on the basis of knowledge s person processes but on the basis of how a person leads his life himself and to what extent his conduct is worthy of his education. It also states that the deeper a person learns the subject the better his understanding and knowledge utilization. It has been explained in the verse which states the deeper you dig a well the more the water generated.

            According to Tiruvalluvar illiteracy is a sin which is the cause of ignorance. Education and Knowledge acquired are the only factors that differentiate humans from animals. The importance of education is described by the verse which states only educated people have eyes, what others have in that place is just wounds. 

Listening was acknowledged as an important method of learning and acquiring knowledge as stated by tiruvalluvar. He states the importance of listening in the verse which states that the best wealth a person can possess is the capacity to listen and listening skills are the most important wealth. He feels that the messages received by listening are far more valuable and pleasurable than the pleasure we get from the taste of the best food we have. The culmination of education, listening, etc, should lead to the acquisition of knowledge which in turn should lead to wisdom. The ultimate goal of education is explained in the verse which states that the real education and wisdom is the tendency to explore the deeper truth in any information that a person receives by analysis and not just taking the information for granted based on the words they hear 

 

 

Personality development 

According to tirukural the real development of personality happens with education which should also lead to unlearning harmful behavior and attitudes. Personality development also happens by various activities which include the possession of knowledge, correcting mistakes once identified, seeking guidance from knowledgeable persons, avoiding people who are mean-minded, bringing about a change after realization of mistakes, having the right knowledge about one’s own abilities, knowing the right place and right time to act, getting clarity through enlightenment, engaging oneself in a way that leads to the realization of one’s own potential to the fullest, cherishing relationship with people who are close, maintaining memory, avoiding being sluggish in any activities, and developing the capacity to survive difficult situations 

 

Interpersonal relationship

Tirukural has also dealt with the process of developing and maintain effective interpersonal relationships. It describes how friendships should be created only after proper investigation and also the clarity one should have about whom they can consider as friends. It suggests that people should give up evil friendships which may cause suffering. He describes the role of familiarity in interpersonal, types of malicious friendships, unwanted friendship, stupidity in behavior among friends, ignorance which can cause conflicts, hostility, the power of hatred, understanding and acknowledging the efficiency of enemies, enmity within, and being careful while confronting people in power.

Tirukural also distinguishes between genuine friendship and unreal friendship. It states that the real Intimate friendship is one that is not affected by issues which is done on the basis of taking the right of long-standing intimacy

Tiruvalluvar also admires the greatness of cherishing good relationship with one’s own family members and relatives. He expresses it through the verse which states that even if a person loses all his property it is his relatives who will never let him down and will move with him with their accustomed kindness. 

 

Psychological Intervention, Education and training Models in Ancient Indian systems

Psychological Intervention, Education and Training Models in Ancient Indian systems

 

In India, from ancient times for almost all kinds of problems people use to take advice and counseling from spiritual masters. Spiritual masters have been playing the role of counselors and psychotherapists using philosophical principles to counsel the people. Hence most traditional and modern thinkers strongly suggest considering the Indian scriptures, such as Mahabharata, Ramayana, Yoga sutra, Bhagavatham, Panchatantra stories etc. as the resources which can be used as a source of knowledge as well as a model and in the psychological intervention process. Of all the scriptures available many great personalities and psychologists suggest Bhagavad-Gita as the scripture which is presented in a way which depicts a psychological intervention model and can be used as a counseling module as it is given in the form of interactive dialogues. The nature of interactions in Bhagwat gita is in the form of socratarian dialogues which depicts a cognitive restructuring approach adopted in the contemporary intervention models.    However, there are also some important differences between modern psychological and traditional philosophical/spiritual (Bhagavad-Gita) counseling as observed by some scholars.

The other important approach used in the ancient Indian system is that of yoga, especially Pathanjali’s ashtanga yoga. This form of yoga describes managing distress in individuals by adopting methods of intervention at various levels stage by stage. The eight levels which goes in a graded manner staring from developing social discipline, self-discipline followed by bettering the physical health by practicing asanas or balancing postures. The next stage is the one which involves relaxing and re-junivating oneself by practicing controlled breathing techniques, the pranayama. The four graded steps pratyahara,  Dharana, dhyana and samathi are intended to develop detachment from sensory distractions, developing concentration, focusing on inner self and attaining a state of bliss and permanent peace.

Panchatantra is storytelling model of intervention in which storytelling model is used in developing effective life skills, problem-solving and decision-making skills. The stories which are narrated with animals and birds as main characters, teach all the essential life skills in a simple and light-hearted manner. The core theme Panchatantra stories focus on the harmonious and methodical development of personality. It explains the process of building a lifestyle with security, prosperity, effective relationships, and learning which can help an individual to lead a life of contentment and happiness. It illustrates the need and methods by which ethical values, social order, and customary law can be upheld. At the same time, it also incorporates methods and medium through which dissent, protest, and reforms have to be articulated for intended results. The teachings of Panchatantra stories transcend time in its effectiveness in imparting life skills.

The other important model of intervention used in the ancient Indian system is the practice of meditation. Meditation is the process of concentering and exploring deeper into any issues to gain insight into the problems and also discover the ultimate truth. Meditation is also a process used to relax by detaching the mind from the problems which are the source of distress in people. Buddhist schools had propagated simpler methods of meditation which can provide immediate relief to emotional distress experienced. The two such effective models are Vipasana and Mindfulness. The mindfulness model is one of the most effective approaches used as a part of modern therapeutic interventions worldwide.

 

Vipasana

One of the oldest mediation model practiced by Buddhist school is Viapasana. Vipasana is a method of meditation propagated by the Buddhist school in which the practitioner train himself to develop an awareness of is happening around him as it happens. This approach involves passive unattached observation of the environment and events which is within his purview. From the unattached observation of what happens in the environment, the concentration is shifted inwards by which the person gets the awareness about his own thoughts and starts observing and feeling them in a neutral way. The state of maintaining focus is known as Samatha, a state in which the wandering mind is brought to a state of rest by which it develops focus on one particular point. This is a state in which the person who meditates focuses his mind upon some objects or chants or an image and excludes all other thoughts and perceptions from his consciousness When the mind reaches this state of Samatha a deep calmness is experienced in the mind and body. The result of practicing Samatha leads to a temporary state of ecstasy within oneself which is beautiful, delightful, meaningful, and alluring but lasts until the person ends the session.

 

 

This consistent practice of Vipasana leads to gaining insight into the illusion that disconnects him from reality and creates an ever-increasing awareness about the deeply hidden ways in which reality functions. The complete awareness about reality leads to liberation from worldly pleasures which is permanent even though it may take years of practice to attain the status.

Vipassana helps retraining the mind of a person by which he becomes totally aware of everything that is happening in his own perceptual universe, exactly the way it happens, exactly when it is happening by maintaining a total consistent awareness in the present time.

Vipassana is a method that helps developing mindfulness or awareness about the present. It is practiced systematically in a step-by-step manner over the years in which the person's attention is gradually directed towards an intense examination of some of the aspects associated with his own existence. The person is trained to observe his own life experience, which flows like a stream within himself more and moreover a period of time.

Vipassana is a gentle technique. It is an ancient methodological system of training the mind by using a set of exercises that are directed at becoming more and more aware of a person's own life experience. Vipassana involves attentive listening, mindful seeing, and careful testing. By practicing Vipassana a person learns to smell in an acute manner, to touch fully, and to really pay attention to the changes taking place in all his experiences. They also learn to listen to their own thoughts without being entangled in them. The objective of Vipassana practice is to understand the truth that nothing is permanent and the feelings of being dissatisfied or being selfless are in relation to occurrences.

Vipassana helps a person to experience the world in an entirely new way. Also, it helps the person to understand what is really happening to him, around you, and within him. It is a process of self-discovery in which a person does a participatory investigation by observing his own experiences while being a part of those experiences as they occur. Vipassana disowns the earlier learning, the existing knowledge, theories, and all prejudices and stereotypes. The focus is only trying to understand the true nature of life which includes experiencing the true status of being alive, apprehend the true and deepest qualities of life, by one’s own self rather than go by what other people say or teach about it. The success of Vipassana Practice is determined by how a person observes things objectively, as they are-flow and change moment to moment.

Mindfulness

Mindfulness is a state of being in the present. It involves getting fully engaged with whatever a person is doing or whatever happens at that moment, without any distraction or judgment. It is the state in which a person is aware of his thoughts and feelings without getting entangled in them. Mindfulness Training involves moment-to-moment awareness through meditation, which enables a person to build the skill of being mindful in every situation which he can then apply in his everyday life. By training in mindfulness, a person develops the tendency of not holding on to reactive thoughts and feelings, which is helpful especially in situations when the person faces challenging or difficult circumstances.

Mindfulness is the practice of maintaining a moment-by-moment awareness of our thoughts, feelings, physical sensations, and surrounding environment, in a gentle, nurturing manner. Mindfulness also involves acceptance. In mindfulness practice, a person practices himself to pay attention to his thoughts and feelings without judging them as being “right” or “wrong” in a given moment. Practicing mindfulness, help a person to focus his thoughts on what he is sensing at that moment rather than recalling the past or imagining the future.

The 3 major components of mindfulness

1.         Mindfulness involves the conscious and the deliberate direction of our attention.

2.         Mindful involves complete engagement with the present moment experience, the status of “here and now”.

3.         The main objective of Mindfulness is to pay attention to present experiences as they arise without judging or labeling them in any way.

Benefits of practicing mindfulness

1.         Improved Working Memory: Researches have shown that practicing mindfulness has been helpful in improving the working memory capacity primarily because the focus on the present leads to an increase in attention and concentration on the activities being done.

2.         Enhanced positive Emotions: Mindfulness has been found to be instrumental in lowering the negative emotions because it trains people to stop recalling failure and negative experiences of the past.

3.         Heightened Metacognitive Awareness: Mindfulness practice has been found to increase the Metacognitive awareness ie "cognition about cognition", "thinking about thinking", "knowing about knowing", becoming "aware of one's awareness" and higher-order thinking skills

4.         Lower Levels of Anxiety: Various researches associated with the use of mindfulness practices for Managing anxiety have shown that the practice of mindfulness helps in decreasing all the symptoms associated with all types of anxiety disorders including Generalized anxiety disorder and social anxiety disorder (SAD).

5.         Increased self-esteem: Mindfulness practices help a person to understand himself with more clarity and also plays an effective role in helping him manage difficult situations it which in turn leads to the improvement of his self-esteem

6.         Reduced Emotional ‘Reactivity’: People practicing mindfulness have been found to become emotionally immune or have lesser emotional reactivity in emotionally upsetting situations, as they show a greater focus on the task at hand when they encounter such situations.

7.         Enhanced Visual Attention Processing: Those who practiced mindfulness meditation have been found to show greater Visual attention and perform better on tests of concentration, selective attention and more Since the training stimulates improvements in attention, awareness, and emotional balance

8.         Reduced Stress: Mindfulness training has also been linked to lower stress levels since it results in displaying greater positive states of mind, fewer post-traumatic avoidance symptoms, and decreased loss of interest in activities.

9.         Managing Physical Pain: There is also research that suggests mindfulness may have a role in helping to manage subjective pain and help patients improve their quality of life

Counseling and Psychological Intervention Models envisaged in Baghwat Gita

 

Baghwat Gita – An Introduction

 The major contribution to the field of psychology both in the form of knowledge about the thinking and behavioral patterns and methods of challenging their maladaptive patterns came from the Bhagavad gita which has eighteen chapters. The first six chapters are devoted to the explanation of “sat” or the existence aspect of reality. 

These chapters explain how feelings differentiate the function aspect of a man from a machine. These chapters also describe how feelings are concomitant with life and how these feelings undergo modifications from like to dislike, friendship to enmity, fulfillment to frustration, admiration to jealousy and support to the opposition, and vice versa. Positive expressions such as liking, friendship, fulfillment, admiration of others, and support are all the constructive aspects of feeling. Dislike enmity, frustration jealousy, and opposition are all the negative expressions that is the destructive aspects of feeling. According to gita the positive aspects of emotion promote growth and evolution while the negative ones retard.

        The next six chapters are devoted to how man has the inclination to move towards attaining “anandham brahmam” the supreme bliss where he reaches a status where nothing is important to him. Even though Bhagavad gita explains it as a person’s attraction towards god which happens through purification of emotions where human beings are not driven by need satisfaction approach, there is a lot of explanation about awareness, cognition and how the coexistence of emotions and cognition in a balanced manner add luster and brightness to human life. 

        To a very great extent, these explanations can be associated with various components of emotional intelligence, self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and social management. According to the Bhagavad gita, every living being is aware of its own existence and it is evident that this awareness is born out of cognition. There may be variation in the intensity of cognition and the difference between one life and other is the degree of cognition. 

        These six chapters try to explain the link between emotion and cognition. Cognitions, as it is in its raw form, are rigid like hard iron, and experience/expression of emotions is the process of melting it to become soft and gain luster. Gita states that when emotions get purified then cognition gets sharpened while impure emotions lead to confusion and internal conflicts which becomes the source of stress fear and anxiety. just like love and sympathy between two persons lead to a better understanding of each other and creates a sense of affinity and strengthening of relationship, the link between love and knowledge can strengthen the relationship on an individual with his internal “ self” which in turn leads to better knowledge and awareness about self and this awareness becomes the source of solutions to most of the problem encountered by an individual. According to gita intelligence, awareness, cognition, consciousness, and conscience are the same in a way that the latter is the evolution of the immediately preceding.

           The last six chapters describe the path of knowledge. These chapters describe how with increasing knowledge a person can proportionally increase identifying himself and his surroundings in a better and clearer manner which can lead him in the direction of achieving satisfaction and glory. The knowledge contributes to the purification of the faculty of understanding which includes intelligence, awareness, cognition, consciousness, and conscience until it reaches its culmination with the innate knowledge as a result of which perfection of the individual becomes perfect or in terms of Humanitarian psychology the humans drive to attain his ideal life gets completed. When completion of this process ends the need-based drive in person making him mentally controlled and balanced in all types of environment. These chapters also explain how this process can be overshadowed by lethargic attitude, disuse, negative emotions, and experiences, hampering the goal-directed behavior. These chapters also explain the need to overcome this shadowing and methods of doing it.

 The best and most effective contribution which has been to a very great extent relevant to modern psychology has been from the holy script baghwat gita which talks about increasing objectivity, transcending change by accepting it, and integrating it into the system for effective living.

                  

Counseling and Therapeutic approach of Bhagwat gita

           For a long time, baghvat gita has been projected more a directive counseling with its roots being present in the guru-chela model. It was also accepted as a process of directive counseling. But proper scrutiny of the way baghvat gita has been documented it gets more closely to the CBT model rather than a counseling one.

           The process is more on an interactive dialogue related to various aspects of the situational behavior attitude and emotions. The socratarian dialogue is clearly visible in the process. These socratarian dialogues were aimed at challenging the belief systems related to self, environment, and future that were present around.

           The whole script is divided into eighteen chapters with the first chapter explaining the setting in which Arjuna (Client) became incapacitated and the next seventeen chapters dealing with a specific issue related to the individual's perception, cognition, and behavior. In other words, it is a systematic cognitive-behavioral intervention with seventeen sessions elaborating on various ideas that aid cognitive restructuring. The vital areas dealing which was directed at changing the attitude, behavior, and personality are

1. The strong and virile alone are fit for a life of great consequence

2. Strength natures life, weakness wears it away

3. Potency drives away diseases, incapacity aggravates it

4. Virtue and righteousness are the outcome of strength, vice and wickedness have their origin in weakness

5. Cowardice creates crookedness, it is feeble who resort to foul play

6. Action born in manliness leads to freedom and its opposite to bondage

7. Strength and sense of achievement are identical

           The whole transformation was described to be brought about as a slow steady perceptible mental evolution.

           Bagawat gita has been described as an event when Arjuna (Client) was confused and preoccupied with self-defeating thoughts when the Kurukshetra war between Kauravas and Pandavas was about to start. The activating event was the Arjuna (Client) (Client) witnessing the army in an organized framework with most of his close relatives in the opposite group. Immediately he starts feeling that he cannot fight these people (the belief system). Arjuna (Client) also started dreading the consequences of his actions and starts feeling sick and incapacitated. So he drops his bow(c- consequences). The type of sudden, negative thought that Arjuna (Client) had in this situation is the “Negative automatic thought” in CBT. (An “automatic thought” is a sudden thought, often unrecognized by an individual, which leads to a negative emotional or behavioral response.)

           According to cognitive theory, individuals develop cognitive schemas that affect how they evaluate and make meaning of internal and external stimuli. Schemas are influenced by experiences and can be thought of as filters through which a person perceives situations. Problems arise when a person develop depressive or anxious schemas that lead to overly negative, pessimistic, or fearful views about oneself, the world, or the future. This was the real experience of Arjuna (Client) in the battle filed

           Arjuna (Client)'s a distorted way of interpreting the situation primarily based on his immediate situational emotions, lead to overly extreme interpretations, as well as a tendency to focus on negative pieces of information. It was in these conditions Arjuna (Client) failed to realize his goals and also the purpose of his presence on the battlefield. Arjuna (Client)’s core belief that he was the person responsible for the war and for winning the war typically lay dormant in the background until activated by stressful and context-relevant events. These activated the core belief made him interpret the events and gave rise to automatic thoughts that are consistent with them.

           Arjuna (Client)’s harbored these negative core beliefs which were rigid leading to extreme automatic thoughts in the situation which demanded action, with an internal attributional style in which he excessively started attributed blame to internal versus external factors. These made him react with strong intentions to leave the place.

           This avoidance behavior was also an obstructing that prevented Arjuna from using his rational reasoning abilities to disprove his belief, receive satisfaction from engaging in activities in which he had the mastery, and enjoy the pleasure of doing it. It was essential to break the vicious thought–belief cycle and make Arjuna (Client) understand how to change extreme cognitions, so that he can do things which he was supposed to do in that situation, thereby engaging in rewarding activities by which the self-defeating thoughts are weakened and new self-affirming thoughts and beliefs are strengthened.

           It was when Krishna felt that Arjuna had been emotionally carried away and succumbed to this negative belief systems, he acted just like Cognitive-behavioral therapists to work closely with Arjuna (Client) to develop more realistic and flexible thinking styles and methods of information processing, including learning how to identify, challenge, and modify maladaptive automatic thoughts and core beliefs. The whole of Gita which proceeds as interactive dialogue shows how the constellation of interacting components that contributed to Arjuna (Client)’s current problems was conceptualized and created conditions for identifying key situations, automatic thoughts, and their associated meanings, emotions, and behaviors thus paving way for a change in perception cognition and attitude.

           But just like any individual when Arjuna (Client) still could not get over the inertia and initiate actions just like the way in which severely anxious or depressed patients respond. The initial focus of lord Krishna was on bringing about some behavioral change in the form of activity that can provide immediate relief from the incapacitating emotional distress, increase the energy levels, and instill confidence in the therapeutic process, before extensively working on changing deep-rooted thoughts and beliefs. The turn of events depicts how Krishna (Therapist) made Arjuna (Client) act, by creating a strong thought that he was destined to act and whatever he does is just his role for which he was born, and Krishna as the Holy Spirit is the ultimate decision-maker of who does what and how things should proceed thereby reliving Arjuna of his guilt. But this step at the end makes baghwat gita look more like philosophical literature rather than an effective intervention model which is very closely related to the current model of CBT

           If the situation had been perceived just as a conflict within Arjuna (Client) whether to fight or retreat, then Krishna (Therapist) could have given an immediate solution based on his own decisions on how Arjuna (Client) should act at this juncture. But instead, Krishna (Therapist) understanding the distress tried to enlighten Arjuna (Client) with a systematic approach which involves education (psychoeducation), cleared understanding of perceptual modalities and deeper analysis of core belief system to bring about a comprehensive change in personality has been adopted which clearly simulates a therapeutic intervention which has the structure of cognitive behavior model. The profound ideas in Bhagavad gita allow themselves to be approached, applied, and verified from different angles of vision which makes it a universally applicable model.

Lord Krishna initially tries to motivate Arjuna, by describing the glories of a warrior and dishonor associated with non-participation, perhaps a motivational strategy used by the charioteer in those times. But when he noticed that his approach of using general motivational strategies is not yielding the intended change in arjuna’s behavior, Lord Krishna starts delivering the Gita discourse. This helps Arjuna to identify his negative thought process, challenge them by a deeper analysis of the situation, happenings, and reactions of Arjuna, and prepares him for action; a process similar to the sequential steps adopted while administering CBT.

In addition to the cognitive distortion of catastrophizing about the future which was dominating the thought process in Arjuna, he experiences guilt and exhibits several other cognitive distortions. To help Arjuna overcome the conflicts within himself and dilemma on whether to act, Lord Krishna explains that the distress he is in is transitory and emphasizes the importance of having an undistorted view of the world similar to a view that is free of cognitive distortions. This is also comparable to psychoeducation provided by a therapist to an anxious person, where the therapist explains the transitory nature of anxiety, followed by an explanation of the role of cognitive distortions contributing to the symptoms. Lord Krishna also addresses the cognitive distortion of personalization, as Arjuna unfairly holds himself responsible for the destruction. He clarifies to Arjuna that hat all actions occur due to a natural course of events and an individual who perceives himself to be cause for such actions is deluded. Lord Krishna further addresses the conflicts and guilt in the mind of Arjuna by explaining the concept of the Atman being eternal, and that Arjuna will not terminate the enemies by destroying their worldly bodies, thereby relieving him of the guilt of being responsible for the earthly demise of his loved and respected ones who were the part of the enemies’ army

Later, Lord Krishna addresses the avoidance behavior in Arjuna by imparting the knowledge of Karma, perhaps the most important concept of the Gita. The Karma yoga as stated in the gita is unique whereby it is explained as actions being carried out without emotional attachment and without expectation of fruits, rewards, or consequences. Gita encourages action but discourages any attachment on the part of the individual with the result expected of the action done. The core theme is that being detached from the consequence helps an individual in alleviating the possible distress or guilt associated with his action. This teaching of gita challenges the negative belief system that one should not retaliate against family, however evil they might be, which helps in removing a considerable dilemma that Arjuna was experiencing due to this false belief. The focus on involving is actions that are believed to be useful in addressing the ego defense mechanism of avoidance is emphasized in several chapters of the Gita. The Gita states that a person attains perfection by his actions and not by mere renunciation. It further adds that a man who withdraws from action is not following the right path for renunciation. Lord Krishna discourages dwelling on imaginary results which is on par with the cognitive distortion of jumping to conclusions. The Gita also recommends the use of relaxation via controlled breathing (pranayama) and meditation, as aids towards alleviating anxiety and achieving harmony within oneself which can be taken as being on par with principles of reciprocal inhibition and use of relaxation which are usually adopted by cognitive behavior therapy as a part of their therapeutic intervention. With several similarities between the process of CBT and the Gita discourse, it can be clearly stated the approach of gita is very similar to CBT practices and the content and methods explained in this scripture can be used to promote insight into one's own distorted thinking and motivate the person to bring about behavioral change.

 

Psychodynamic Psychotherapy                                 

The Psychoanalytical School and psychodynamic model of therapy focus on the conflict within oneself between the Id and the superego and problems arise when the ego is unable to maintain the balance between these two factors of personality. The id is a requirement of sensory-based pleasures that is associated with the individual self and the Super ego is the values that guide a person which is the part of the universal self. The internal dissonance related to acting out based on external requirements creates distress. By striking the compromise between the requirements associated with ID and the dissonance associated with Superego the Ego promotes adaptation. Whenever the Ego is unable to settle the conflict then the use of ego defense mechanism is used to avoid distress. 

The teaching of the Gitas focuses on the successful resolution of conflicts faced by Arjuna within himself between some of the features of the three gunas i.e., tamasic, Rajas, Satwic states. These states can be broadly taken on par with id, ego, and superego. Of the three gunas, Tamas also depicts qualities of self-centeredness and lack of regard for consequences, which also has similarities to the Id. Satwic qualities manifest as good thought, altruistic action, and relationships, the qualities manifested by SuperEgo state and Rajas depicts goal-directed action with an expectation of reward which has similarities to ego state. Similar to Freudian psychodynamic psychotherapy, the three gunas are involved in a continuous struggle for supremacy that results in symptoms of anxiety. But the teachings of Gita is directed at achieving a higher state associated with the universal self than just harnessing the Satwic qualities. It directs human beings to rise above the influence of the three gunas and attaining the superior state of being unperturbed by having a mind that is steady, at peace, and in a state of bliss.

The Gita states that senses (indriyas) produce attractions, which in turn lead to desire and a lust for possession which is the prime qualities of the ID state of mind. The Drive within a person to satisfy these desires leads to the development of traits such as lust (kaam), anger (krodh), greed (lobh ), unquenchable attachment (moh), and Inflated Self-esteem leading to self-glorification (ahankar) which are all a part of tamasic nature. The Gita describes hate and lust to be a part individual's malicious nature, which can be compared with the Freudian hierarchy of the id. But gita strongly emphasizes that the mind is superior than the power of the senses which can be compared to theories describing the interaction between the ego and the superego. Gita states that the restless activities of the senses make the mind unstable and the passions associated with sensory desires generate confusion of the mind making the person lose his abilities for reasoning and also lose focus on his duties and responsibilities, which may culminate in self-destruction. 

The goal of Psychoanalytical Psychotherapy is to gain insight into the conflict and reduce the same. The Gita and the Upanishads highlight this goal as well by stating that the achievement of “true knowledge of self is the status of attaining salvation.”

What has been made popular as the comprehensive statement of Bhagavad gita is “do your duties, without the expectation of its outcome”. But people who have understood baghwat gita clearly can only comprehend that the core message of Bhagavad gita is “ find pleasure in your actions rather than its results which can only make you function consistently and sustain the goal-directed behavior