,Contents
Preface
Foreword
About the Editors and Contributors
Part 1 Theoretical Perspectives
1. Indian Perspectives and Positive Psychology
Kiran Kumar K. Salagame
2. Progress in Positive Psychology: Some Reflections from India
Jitendra K. Singh
3. Virtues and Well-being
Surendra Kumar Sia
4. Character Strengths and Health
Amrita Yadava
5. Happiness and Quality of Life
Hardeep Lal Joshi
6. An Analytical Model of Happiness
Akbar Husain and Shahin Zehra
Part 2 Applications in Work, Health and Well-being
7. Psychological Capital as a Catalyst to Positive Organizations
Papri Nath and Rabindra Kumar Pradhan
8. Positive Social Support and Flourishing Relationships
Suvashisa Rana and Meena Hariharan
9. Positive Work–Family Interface
N. K. Chadha and Vandana Gambhir
10. Mindfulness Meditation: The Essential Stress-buster in Military Life Context
Nilanjana Sanyal
11. Resilience: Relevance to Military Context
Rajbir Singh and Lokesh Gupta
,12. Stress and Resilience Capacity of Students: A Burning Public Health Issue
Sibnath Deb, Aneesh Kumar and Anjali Gireesan
13. Applied Positive Psychology: Enabling Communities to Thrive
Nov Rattan Sharma
14. Positive Psychology in Suicide Prevention
Archana, Vijay Parkash and Updesh Kumar
PART I
Theoretical Perspectives
CHAPTER 1
Indian Perspectives and Positive Psychology
Kiran Kumar K. Salagame
University of Mysore, Karnataka
Abstract: Indian traditions, ‘Vedic’ and ‘non-Vedic’, have extensively dealt with issues of
human happiness and well-being which are the core themes of contemporary positive psychology.
Since the Indian traditions understand human nature and also the nature of the universe in a more
integrated fashion as experienced from a state of consciousness that transcends the space–time
dichotomy, their perspective on the nature of reality emerges from a higher state of awareness
which is beyond voluntary consciousness and their understanding of the subject matter has greater
depth and breadth as compared to that of contemporary perspectives. Though there are differences
in these traditions, they converge on the point that there is more to reality than what meets the eye.
Among the many aspects discussed about the nature of reality, consciousness, human nature, life,
death and so on, the issues of happiness and well-being takes the centre stage, because it is
observed that ultimately everyone is concerned with them. While in the Vedic tradition, happiness
is approached directly as a state that is intrinsic to human nature itself as in Sat-Chit-Ānanda,
Buddhist tradition discusses about it indirectly by focusing on suffering. These two primary
approaches have led to two major perspectives on the nature of well-being and associated practices
to reach the goal. In view of this, we are justified in speaking of Indian perspectives on positive
psychology.
, Indian Perspectives and Positive Psychology
Positive psychology rings a bell in the Indian psyche of familiarity. Happiness and well-being
brings to mind so many words, like ārogya, sukha, samtosha, tripti, tushti, harsha, ullāsa,
swāsthya, ānanda and so on (Salagame, 2006c). Similarly, altruism, courage,
forgiveness, gratitude, spirituality, transcendence, wisdom and so on brings up to mind many
familiar terms niswārtha, dhairya, kshama shīla, krtajňata, ādhyātma, prajňa and others.
When I read some of the initial research studies related to the limitations of wealth, sensory
pleasure and exclusive pursuit of individuality, independence and autonomy to the neglect of
relationships; about the need for development of family bond; about how satisfying it was for
Seligman and his wife to allow their children in their infancy and early childhood to sleep with
them in their bedroom sacrificing their sense of freedom; how breast feeding is psychologically
very important; and many such findings (Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi, 2000; Seligman, 2002).
My immediate gut reaction was that all these are very familiar to me as grandmothers’ wisdom in
my country! I felt so, because in our culture many of them have been spoken about in a matter of
fact way in folklore, in literature, in poetry and in religious and philosophical texts derived from
conventional wisdom. However, beyond this initial gut feeling, my academic and conceptual
response to these developments was to view the emergence of positive psychology as an emphasis
to move away from exclusive preoccupation with artha and kāma as goals of life; and as a shift in
focus, from the preoccupation of modern psychology with rajo guna and tamo guna towards
studying more of satva guna (Salagame, 2002a, 2002b, 2003).
In the last decade, more and more research findings have vindicated this view of mine. It appears
that much of Indian psychology is devoted to the development of satva guna and, hence, it is not
wrong to consider Indian psychology and positive psychology as ‘birds of the same feather that
flock together’ (Salagame, 2006b). I have discussed elsewhere, how we can understand the notion
of happiness and well-being from Indian perspectives, in terms of concepts like triguna,
panchokosha, purushārhta, preyas and shreyas, sukha and dukkha, swāsthya, etc., (Salagame,
2014).
Not only did the ancient Indian thinkers analyse the nature of happiness, well-being, etc.,
threadbare, but also did they find ways of achieving a sense of well-being that is sustainable and
termed it as ānanda and distinguished it from sukha which is conditioned by the spatio-temporal
limitations of life. That is why, in our country, spiritually realized persons have their names
suffixed or prefixed with ānanda, as in Swāmi Vivekānanda, Swāmi Shivānanda, Parmahamsa
Yogānanda, Mā Ānandamayi, Māta Amrtiānandamayi, and so on.1
Jane Henry (2013: 421) notes that Eastern mysticism ‘documents many different higher states of
consciousness which often leave the recipient in a state of joyful, perceptive, equanimity’. She
observes, ‘western notions of happiness tend to be associated with high arousal, whereas the
contentment and equanimity found in spiritual practice represent states of well-being associated
with lower arousal’ (ibid.). In her opinion psychologists ‘could usefully spend more time
examining different states of optimal experience and well-being; in particular, those associated
with low arousal such as contentment’ (ibid.). We seem to be shifting gears from low arousal to
Preface
Foreword
About the Editors and Contributors
Part 1 Theoretical Perspectives
1. Indian Perspectives and Positive Psychology
Kiran Kumar K. Salagame
2. Progress in Positive Psychology: Some Reflections from India
Jitendra K. Singh
3. Virtues and Well-being
Surendra Kumar Sia
4. Character Strengths and Health
Amrita Yadava
5. Happiness and Quality of Life
Hardeep Lal Joshi
6. An Analytical Model of Happiness
Akbar Husain and Shahin Zehra
Part 2 Applications in Work, Health and Well-being
7. Psychological Capital as a Catalyst to Positive Organizations
Papri Nath and Rabindra Kumar Pradhan
8. Positive Social Support and Flourishing Relationships
Suvashisa Rana and Meena Hariharan
9. Positive Work–Family Interface
N. K. Chadha and Vandana Gambhir
10. Mindfulness Meditation: The Essential Stress-buster in Military Life Context
Nilanjana Sanyal
11. Resilience: Relevance to Military Context
Rajbir Singh and Lokesh Gupta
,12. Stress and Resilience Capacity of Students: A Burning Public Health Issue
Sibnath Deb, Aneesh Kumar and Anjali Gireesan
13. Applied Positive Psychology: Enabling Communities to Thrive
Nov Rattan Sharma
14. Positive Psychology in Suicide Prevention
Archana, Vijay Parkash and Updesh Kumar
PART I
Theoretical Perspectives
CHAPTER 1
Indian Perspectives and Positive Psychology
Kiran Kumar K. Salagame
University of Mysore, Karnataka
Abstract: Indian traditions, ‘Vedic’ and ‘non-Vedic’, have extensively dealt with issues of
human happiness and well-being which are the core themes of contemporary positive psychology.
Since the Indian traditions understand human nature and also the nature of the universe in a more
integrated fashion as experienced from a state of consciousness that transcends the space–time
dichotomy, their perspective on the nature of reality emerges from a higher state of awareness
which is beyond voluntary consciousness and their understanding of the subject matter has greater
depth and breadth as compared to that of contemporary perspectives. Though there are differences
in these traditions, they converge on the point that there is more to reality than what meets the eye.
Among the many aspects discussed about the nature of reality, consciousness, human nature, life,
death and so on, the issues of happiness and well-being takes the centre stage, because it is
observed that ultimately everyone is concerned with them. While in the Vedic tradition, happiness
is approached directly as a state that is intrinsic to human nature itself as in Sat-Chit-Ānanda,
Buddhist tradition discusses about it indirectly by focusing on suffering. These two primary
approaches have led to two major perspectives on the nature of well-being and associated practices
to reach the goal. In view of this, we are justified in speaking of Indian perspectives on positive
psychology.
, Indian Perspectives and Positive Psychology
Positive psychology rings a bell in the Indian psyche of familiarity. Happiness and well-being
brings to mind so many words, like ārogya, sukha, samtosha, tripti, tushti, harsha, ullāsa,
swāsthya, ānanda and so on (Salagame, 2006c). Similarly, altruism, courage,
forgiveness, gratitude, spirituality, transcendence, wisdom and so on brings up to mind many
familiar terms niswārtha, dhairya, kshama shīla, krtajňata, ādhyātma, prajňa and others.
When I read some of the initial research studies related to the limitations of wealth, sensory
pleasure and exclusive pursuit of individuality, independence and autonomy to the neglect of
relationships; about the need for development of family bond; about how satisfying it was for
Seligman and his wife to allow their children in their infancy and early childhood to sleep with
them in their bedroom sacrificing their sense of freedom; how breast feeding is psychologically
very important; and many such findings (Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi, 2000; Seligman, 2002).
My immediate gut reaction was that all these are very familiar to me as grandmothers’ wisdom in
my country! I felt so, because in our culture many of them have been spoken about in a matter of
fact way in folklore, in literature, in poetry and in religious and philosophical texts derived from
conventional wisdom. However, beyond this initial gut feeling, my academic and conceptual
response to these developments was to view the emergence of positive psychology as an emphasis
to move away from exclusive preoccupation with artha and kāma as goals of life; and as a shift in
focus, from the preoccupation of modern psychology with rajo guna and tamo guna towards
studying more of satva guna (Salagame, 2002a, 2002b, 2003).
In the last decade, more and more research findings have vindicated this view of mine. It appears
that much of Indian psychology is devoted to the development of satva guna and, hence, it is not
wrong to consider Indian psychology and positive psychology as ‘birds of the same feather that
flock together’ (Salagame, 2006b). I have discussed elsewhere, how we can understand the notion
of happiness and well-being from Indian perspectives, in terms of concepts like triguna,
panchokosha, purushārhta, preyas and shreyas, sukha and dukkha, swāsthya, etc., (Salagame,
2014).
Not only did the ancient Indian thinkers analyse the nature of happiness, well-being, etc.,
threadbare, but also did they find ways of achieving a sense of well-being that is sustainable and
termed it as ānanda and distinguished it from sukha which is conditioned by the spatio-temporal
limitations of life. That is why, in our country, spiritually realized persons have their names
suffixed or prefixed with ānanda, as in Swāmi Vivekānanda, Swāmi Shivānanda, Parmahamsa
Yogānanda, Mā Ānandamayi, Māta Amrtiānandamayi, and so on.1
Jane Henry (2013: 421) notes that Eastern mysticism ‘documents many different higher states of
consciousness which often leave the recipient in a state of joyful, perceptive, equanimity’. She
observes, ‘western notions of happiness tend to be associated with high arousal, whereas the
contentment and equanimity found in spiritual practice represent states of well-being associated
with lower arousal’ (ibid.). In her opinion psychologists ‘could usefully spend more time
examining different states of optimal experience and well-being; in particular, those associated
with low arousal such as contentment’ (ibid.). We seem to be shifting gears from low arousal to
