Psychological thought in Eastern systems

Long before psychology became a laboratory science, Eastern traditions were already mapping the mind: the Gita analyses desire and duty, Buddhism dissects suffering and craving, Sufism charts the purification of the heart, and Integral Yoga seeks a transformation of consciousness itself. For example, the Gita's counsel to Arjuna is not abstract philosophy but a practical intervention for a mind paralysed by conflict. This chapter compares the four systems on self, suffering and change.