Conceptions of Mind, Self, Suffering, and Transformation in Selected Traditions: Bhagavad Gita, Buddhism, Sufism, and Integral Yoga

Abstract

The present paper undertakes a systematic and scholarly examination of psychological thought embedded within four major Eastern philosophical and spiritual systems: the Bhagavad Gita, Buddhism (with particular emphasis on meditation & mental purification), Sufism (the mystical tradition of Islam), and Integral Yoga (as systematised by Sri Aurobindo & further developed by Mirra Alfassa, aka the Mother). Eastern psychological traditions, long predating the formal emergence of Western academic psychology in the nineteenth century, offer sophisticated and empirically grounded models of the mind, consciousness, affect, cognition, and behavioural transformation. These systems have increasingly attracted scholarly attention within transpersonal psychology, positive psychology, and clinical psychology for their theoretical depth and applied relevance. The paper explores the foundational concepts, models of the mind and self, theories of suffering and liberation, transformative practices, and implications for contemporary psychological science in each of these traditions. It further addresses convergences and divergences across traditions, their engagement with concepts such as ego, consciousness, emotion regulation, motivation, and mental health, and their relevance to modern therapeutic and educational contexts.