Date: December 21, 2021
Venue: Online
For this month’s insightful conversation, we focus on an educator’s experience of working with college students on Indian approach to psychology, or what she calls as Psychology of the Self. Dr. Aditi Kaul works at Auro University, Surat, which is inspired by the ideals and teachings of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. She shares with us some keen insights on several aspects, including self-preparation and influence of the teacher, constant conscious deconditioning on the part of the teacher and the student, and self-exploration as a valid pedagogical approach.
Teacher’s Presence and Preparation
We begin with a brief background of Dr. Aditi’s own deep immersion in Integral approach to psychology based on the works of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. She mentions that in many ways her real learning of psychology actually began after her formal education in psychology ended. This is indicative of the fact that the discipline of psychology in mainstream higher education in India, even at the doctoral level, is still deeply embedded in the western-rational-behavioural schools of psychology.
The time spent exploring the vast ocean of Indian psychology, and particularly the Integral approach to Indian psychology, became the foundation for all the work Dr. Aditi presently does as an educator. This was not a mere academic or intellectual study. It involved working on herself, exploring her own subjective ‘selves’ in the light of the integral psychological framework developed from the writings of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. This is the real work of an educator — to constantly grow into her own understanding of the self so that her conscious presence and influence can effectively facilitate students’ self-exploration.
A key point Dr. Aditi Kaul brings up is concerning how a teacher holds the space in a classroom. The idea is to make students feel comfortable so they participate in self-exploratory exercises which require them to face some of their emotions and feelings which they would have otherwise just ignored or even suppressed.
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About Our Guest:
Dr. Aditi Kaul refers to herself as “psychology enthusiast exploring life through the lens of Integral Yoga.” She lives by the statement “Conscious living is a full-time job” and believes in self-observation as a method to connect with our deeper self and discover our place in the world. In 2015, after completing her PhD in Psychology, Dr. Kaul attended a two-semester course on Indian Integral Psychology at Puducherry which inspired her to work towards building approaches to psychology based on life-affirming spirituality. Since then, she has been working towards bringing the ancient Indian wisdom of self-knowledge to the field of psychology and developing ways to facilitate Integral way of living.
Currently, she is teaching Integral Psychology and Sri Aurobindo Studies in the capacity of Visiting faculty at Auro University, Surat, and conducts online courses focused on dialogue-based inquiry and self- exploration.