Mind and Supermind

Astonishingly rich is the heritage of Indian psychology. Embodied in some of the betterknown, traditional philosophical systems, it convincingly spells out the rationale behind memory, recognition, emotions, instincts, reasoning, creativity, and myriad other mindrelated phenomena, which sofar remain baffling, unanswered questions in modern cognitive sciences, mechanistic psychology and their kindred disciplines. Mind and Supermind, for the first time, systematically unfolds Vedantic psychology in its larger effort not only to evolve an integrated perspective on mind, but also to synthesize ancient wisdom with contemporary sciences. A distinguished scholar of Sanskrit, philosophy and science, Professor Panda here reexplores the nature of mind, its Indian concept and how it compares with its Western worldview: religious, philosophical, psychological, and scientific. Thus elaborating the concepts of mind as set out in the Sankhya, Yoga, Tantra, Vedanta and other orthodox systems visavis (a) philosophical perspectives: from Plato and Aristotle to Wittgenstein and Strawson, (b) psychological viewpoints of William James, Freud, Jung, Watson and others, (c) theories of modern physiologists/physicists governing brain, mind, and artificial intelligence; the author builds a solid foundation for the superstructure of parapsychological phenomena. And also speculates about the possibilities for (individual) mind to link up with the Supermind, which, in Vedantic concept, is Brahman: fundamental Consciousness that illumines everything living and nonliving.Growing from years of Dr. Pandas indepth, analytical studies, the book is offered to discerning audiences in two parts: Indian Perspective (Volume 1) and Western Perspective (Volume 2), with relevant illustrative material.