While Indian academics and clinicians have been familiar with psychoanalysis for many decades, they have kept this Western model of the mind separate from the spiritual and philosophical traditions of their own country. The book begins by questioning the applicability of the psychoanalytic method to non-Western cultures. It then traces the history of the psychoanalytic movement in India from its onset while it emphasizes the intricate overlap between Indian existential and mystical traditions and psychoanalysis. The essays cover a wide range of subjects, including Tagore's poetry, Hindu-Muslim relations, Bollywood, the Bhagavad Gita, Indian diaspora women, the Radha-Krishna legend, the role of religion in India, the development of Gandhi's self, Buddhist theory, and more. --- from the publisher Praise: "This extraordinary book is both an academic achievement and a moving voyage along the literal and metaphorical Ganges River. . . It will help build new bridges between this rich multicultural country and the multilayered conceptualizations of psychoanalysis." - Claudio Laks Eizirik, President, International Psychoanalytic Association "An erudite interlocution between psychoanalysis and a splendid array of dramatis personae, phenomena, things, subcultures, and traditions of India. The contemporary Indians will become curious about a new relational posture. Far from being at the Guru's feet, they will now see him seated behind the couch. Western psychoanalysts will find deeply informative cultural corrections to their vision of psychoanalysis. Let me put it bluntly: Freud himself would have been tempted to take a dip in this Ganges!" - Ashok Nagpal, Director, The Center for Applied Psychoanalytic Studies, Delhi University
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