Author Archives: vinaire

I am originally from India. I am settled in United States since 1969. I love mathematics, philosophy and clarity in thinking.

PM: The Laws

August 11, 2025 – 6:02 PM

Reference: Postulate Mechanics

The following key words and definitions act as stable data that introduce the very first postulate and the laws of Postulate Mechanics. For all key words, please see PM: Glossary.

NOTE: “PM” is the abbreviation for Postulate Mechanics. The content of this subject is open to further refinement and update as long as they comply with the postulate of ONENESS.

VEDIC RELIGIONS
In the ancient Vedic religions ((Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, etc.) there is the concept of Unknowable (Brahma) that functions as the reference point for all things that are knowable. The knowable appears as the universe; whereas, the Unknowable cannot be talked about, since it is unknowable.

ABRAHAMIC RELIGIONS
The Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) there is the concept of Cause or Creator (God) that has created the physical world, and has infused it with life. The created appears as the universe; whereas, the God appears as the all-knowing entity.

DICHOTOMY
It is observed that all other dichotomies, such as, “Creator-created,” “Cause-effect,” “Spiritual-physical” are included in the dichotomy “Unknowable-knowable” in the sense that both aspects of the former dichotomies are knowable. Please note that all dichotomies may be represented as two opposite ends of a scale. The concept of Unknowable is found exclusively in the Vedic religions.

UNKNOWABLE
Unknowable is beyond knowable. It is the Nirākār Brahman of the Vedas that is manifested through Māyā. It is Kant’s thing-in-itself that our senses interpret. We perceive the unknowable by making postulates about what could be there; and then reasoning from these postulates. Thus, the Unknowable serves as the reference point for all things that are knowable. This means all things knowable are related to each other like values on a scale. The only difference here is that there are infinite number of scales, which we call dimensions. This makes everything knowable to be continuous, consistent and harmonious in one way or another. It is this continuity, consistency and harmony that underlies all natural laws, whether physical or spiritual.

NOTE: When we make the postulates to “perceive the Unknowable,” we come to know only the postulates. The Unknowable remains unknowable.

CONSIDERATION
A consideration is a continuing Postulate.

NOTE: The following are the laws of Postulate Mechanics. Study these laws in the given sequence. As you study a law look up the key words indicated for that law in PM: Glossary. Carefully sort out any disagreement.

LAW OF POSTULATE MECHANICS # 1
Beyond what we know, there is much that we do not know. (see UNKNOWABLE)

LAW OF POSTULATE MECHANICS # 2
We know only what we can sense and perceive. (See SENSATION, PERCEPTION)

LAW OF POSTULATE MECHANICS # 3
We can perceive only that which is substantial enough to be sensed. (See SUBSTANCE)

LAW OF POSTULATE MECHANICS # 4
We perceive sensations only when they acquire meaning in association with postulates. (See POSTULATE)

LAW OF POSTULATE MECHANICS # 5
The accuracy of perception depends on the consistency among the underlying postulates. (See ONENESS)

LAW OF POSTULATE MECHANICS # 6
We know only what we have sensed, postulated and perceived. (See KNOWLEDGE)

LAW OF POSTULATE MECHANICS # 7
The knowable universe is the outcome of what we have sensed, postulated and perceived. (See KNOWABLE)

LAW OF POSTULATE MECHANICS # 8
All our spiritual and physical knowledge is part of this knowable universe. Nothing lies beyond it.

LAW OF POSTULATE MECHANICS # 9
The spiritual elements are perceived as thought. This includes postulates.

LAW OF POSTULATE MECHANICS # 10
The physical elements are perceived as radiation and matter.

LAW OF POSTULATE MECHANICS # 11
The knowable universe consists of an integration of both spiritual and physical elements.

LAW OF POSTULATE MECHANICS # 12
The knowable universe is a single Universe.

LAW OF POSTULATE MECHANICS # 13
This knowable Universe is differentiated only from the Unknowable.

LAW OF POSTULATE MECHANICS # 14
All experience is knowable. This includes experience that is supposedly difficult to describe. (See EXPERIENCE)

LAW OF POSTULATE MECHANICS # 15
The “experience of void” is a sense of emptiness. It is a sensation that is knowable.

NOTE: “Void” often refers to a space that is completely empty, lacking any contents or substance. For example, outer space can be described as a void. But outer space is empty only of matter; it is not empty of radiation or thought.

LAW OF POSTULATE MECHANICS # 16
Space may not contain matter or radiation, but it will always contain thought. (See SPACE)

LAW OF POSTULATE MECHANICS # 17
Time is a duration relative to the infinite duration (eternity, or no change) of a “black hole.” (See TIME)

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Posted in Postulate Mechanics | Comments (4)

Glossary: Buddhism

August 5, 2025 – 10:33 AM

Reference: Postulate Mechanics

This glossary is a compilation of definitions that are referenced in Postulate Mechanics on the subject of Buddhism.

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Glossary

—A—

ABSOLUTE TRUTH
The Absolute Truth is that there is nothing absolute in the world, that everything is relative, conditioned and impermanent, and that there is no unchanging, everlasting, absolute substance like Self, Soul, or Ātman within or without. There is no unmoving mover behind the movement. It is only movement. In other words there is no thinker behind the thought. If you remove the thought, there is no thinker to be found. 

AGGREGATE OF CONSCIOUSNESS
Consciousness is a reaction or response which has one of the six faculties (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and mind) as its basis, and one of the six corresponding external phenomena (visible form, sound, odour, taste, tangible things and mind-objects, i.e., an idea or thought) as its object. For instance, visual consciousness has the eye as its basis and a visible form as its object. Mental consciousness has the mind as its basis and a mental object, i.e., an idea or thought as its object. So consciousness is connected with other faculties. Thus, like sensation, perception and volition, consciousness also is of six kinds, in relation to six internal faculties and corresponding six external objects.

AGGREGATE OF MATTER
In this term ‘Aggregate of Matter’ are included the traditional Four Great Elements (cattari mahabhutani), namely, solidity, fluidity, heat and motion. It also includes sense-organs of six kinds, i.e., the faculties of eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and mind, and their corresponding objects in the external world, i.e., visible form, sound, odor, taste, tangible things and mind-objects (dharmayatana) of thoughts, ideas or conceptions. ; and one mental sense-organ, i.e., the faculty mind, and its corresponding  Thus, the material form or body-mind system, and all physical and mental phenomena, both internal and external, is included in the Aggregate of Matter. 

AGGREGATE OF MENTAL FORMATIONS
In this group are included all volitional activities both good and bad. What is generally known as karma (or kamma) comes under this group. Volition is ‘mental construction, mental activity. Its function is to direct the mind in the sphere of good, bad or neutral activities.’ Just like sensations and perceptions, volition is of six kinds, connected with the six internal faculties and the corresponding six objects (both physical and mental) in the external world. Sensations and perceptions are not volitional actions. They do not produce karmic effects. It is the only volitional actions- such as attention, will, determination, confidence, concentration, wisdom, energy, desire, repugnance or hate, ignorance, conceit, idea of self, etc.—that can produce karmic effects. There are 52 such mental activities which constitute the Aggregate of Mental Formation.

AGGREGATE OF PERCEPTIONS
Like sensations, perceptions also are of six kinds, in relation to six internal faculties and the corresponding six external objects. Like sensations, they are produced through the contact of our six faculties with the external world. It is the perception that recognize objects whether physical or mental. NOTE: This recognition comes from sensations acquiring meaning through postulates and previous experience to turn into perceptions.

AGGREGATE OF SENSATIONS
In this group are included all our sensation, pleasant or unpleasant or neutral, experienced through the contact of physical and mental organs with the external world. They are of six kinds: the sensations experienced through the contact of the eye with visible forms, ear with sounds, nose with odour, tongue with taste, body with tangible objects, and mind (which is the sixth faculty in Buddhist Philosophy) with mind-objects or thoughts or ideas. All our physical and mental sensations are included in this group.

ARAHANT
A Fully-Enlightened One. An Arahant is a person who has liberated himself from all defilements and impurities such as desire, hatred, ill-will, ignorance, pride, conceit, etc. He has attained the fourth or the highest and ultimate stage in the realization of Nirvana, and is full of wisdom, compassion and such pure and noble qualities. 

—B—

BUDDHISM
Almost all religions are built on faith—rather ‘blind’ faith it would seem. But in Buddhism emphasis is laid on ‘seeing’, knowing, understanding, and not on faith, or belief. Buddha puts emphasis on self-reliance but he warns against complete dependence on a particular system including Buddhism. Violence in any form, under any pretext whatsoever, is absolutely against the teaching of the Buddha.

BUDDHIST CEREMONIES
In Buddhist countries there are simple and beautiful customs and ceremonies on religious occasions. They have little to do with the real Path. But they have their value in satisfying certain religious emotions and the needs of those who are less advanced, and helping them gradually along the Path.

BUDDHIST MEDITATION
Buddhist meditation, ‘Vipassana’, does not mean escape from the daily activities of life; assuming a particular posture, like a statue in some cave or cell in a monastery, in some remote place cut off from society; and musing on, or being absorbed in, some kind of mystic or mysterious thought or trance. Vipassana aims at cleansing the mind of impurities and disturbances, such as lustful desires, hatred, ill-will, etc., and cultivating such qualities as awareness, the analytical faculty, confidence, etc., leading finally to the attainment of highest wisdom which sees the nature of things as they are. It is an analytical method based on mindfulness, awareness, vigilance, and observation.

Vipassana deals with four main areas: (1) the body, (2) feelings and sensations, (3) the mind, and (4) various moral and intellectual subjects. One of the most well-known, popular and practical examples of ‘meditation’ connected with the body is called ‘The Mindfulness or Awareness of in-and-out breathing’. It is for this ‘meditation’ only that a particular and definite posture is prescribed in the text. For other forms of ‘meditation’ you may sit, stand, walk, or lie down, as you like.

—C—

CONDITIONED GENESIS (Dependent Origination)
The Doctrine of Conditioned Genesis teaches that all phenomena arise out of interconnected causes and conditions, rather than independently or from a single first cause. The classic Buddhist formula states: “When this arises, that arises; when this ceases, that ceases.” This doctrine is foundational in Buddhism and underlies the concepts of impermanence, interdependence, and the absence of a permanent, independent self. It is commonly expressed in the analysis of the  sequence showing how ignorance leads to suffering through interconnected cause and effect, resulting in birth and rebirth. This is a cyclical process also known as Dependent Origination. (see TWELVE NIDANAS)

—D—

DHAMMA (Skt. Dharma)
The term dhamma is much wider than samkhara. There is no term in Buddhist terminology wider than dhamma. It includes not only the conditioned things and states, but also the non-conditioned, the Absolute, Nirvana. There is nothing in the universe or outside, good or bad, conditioned or non-conditioned, relative or absolute, which is not included in this term. All dhammas are without Self.  There is no Self, no Atman, not only in the Five Aggregates, but nowhere else too outside them or apart from them.

—E—

ETHICAL CONDUCT
In Ethical Conduct (Sila), based on love and compassion, are included three factors of the Noble Eightfold Path: namely, Right Speech, Right Action and Right Livelihood. It should be realized that the Buddhist ethical and moral conduct aims at promoting a happy and harmonious life both for the individual and for society. This moral conduct is considered as the indispensable foundation for all higher spiritual attainments. No spiritual development is possible without this moral basis.

—F—

FIRST NOBLE TRUTH (Dukkha)
The First Noble Truth is aberration (dukkha), the nature of life, its suffering, its sorrows and joys, its imperfection and unsatisfactoriness, its impermanence and insubstantiality. With regard to this, our function is to understand the five aggregates as a fact, clearly and completely (parinneyya). These five aggregates are:

  1. Aggregate of Matter (Rupakkhandha)
  2. Aggregate of Sensations (Vedanakkhandha)
  3. Aggregate of Perceptions (Sannakkhandha).
  4. Aggregate of Mental Formations (Samkharakkhandha)
  5. Aggregate of Consciousness (Vinnanakkhandha)

FIVE HINDRANCES
The Five Hindrances to the clear understanding of Truth are: 

  1. Lustful desires
  2. Ill-will, hatred or anger
  3. Physical and mental torpor and languor, 
  4. Restlessness and Worry, 
  5. Skeptical doubts 

There is no ‘sin’ in Buddhism. The root of all evil is ignorance and false views.

FOUR GREAT ELEMENTS
The “four great elements” (cattāro mahābhūtāni) are: 

  1. Earth (solidity): The quality of firmness, density, or the ground that supports things. 
  2. Water (fluidity): The quality of being liquid, cohesive, or flowing. 
  3. Fire (heat): The quality of temperature or the process of burning and transformation. 
  4. Air (mobility/wind): The quality of movement, motion, or the breath. 

These elements are seen as the substance forming the universe and its reality.

FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS
All the Four Noble Truths are found within ourselves. This also means that there is no external power that produces the arising and the cessation of aberration (dukkha). The Four Noble Truths are as follows:

  1. Aberration (Dukkha)
  2. The arising or origin of aberration (Samudaya)
  3. The cessation of aberration (Nirodha)
  4. The way leading to the cessation of aberration (Magga)

FOURTH NOBLE TRUTH
The Fourth Noble Truth is the Path leading to the realization of Nirvana. A mere knowledge of the Path, however complete, will not do. In this case, our function is to follow it and keep to it (bhavetabba).

—G—

—H—

HINAYANA
Hinayana, which means “lesser vehicle,” is a pejorative name given by the followers of Mahayana Buddhism to the more conservative schools of early Buddhism. 

—I—

ILLUSION
Illusion continues as long as things are not seen as they are. This continuation of illusion is the continuation of aberration (tanha, ‘thirst’ or mental formation).

—J—

—K—

KARMA
Karma is the principle of cause and effect, where intentional actions, thoughts, and words create corresponding consequences. It’s not a system of rewards and punishments, but rather a natural law like gravity, where positive actions lead to positive outcomes, and negative actions lead to negative outcomes. Karma means only ‘volitional action’, not all action. karma never means its effect; its effect is known as the ‘fruit’ or the ‘result’ of karma. The essential effect of karma is its continuation. An Arahant, though he acts, does not accumulate karma, because he is free from the inflexibility of self. Ultimately, Buddhist practice aims to break free from the cycle of karma and rebirth.

—L—

—M—

MAHAYANA
Mahayana, which means “great vehicle,” is one of the two major traditions of Buddhism, now practiced in a variety of forms especially in China, Tibet, Japan, and Korea. The tradition emerged around the 1st century AD and is typically concerned with altruistically oriented spiritual practice as embodied in the ideal of the bodhisattva.

MENTAL DISCIPLINE
Mental Discipline includes three other factors of the Eightfold Path: namely, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness (or Attentiveness) and Right Concentration. Thus the mind is trained and disciplined and developed.

—N—

NIRVANA
Nirvana is the ‘extinction of Thirst’. It is the ‘cessation of becoming’. Nirvana is no annihilation of self, because there is no self to annihilate. If at all, it is the annihilation of the illusion, of the false idea of self. Nirvana can be attained in this life. A person who has attained Nirvana knows that any sensation he experiences is impermanent, that it does not bind him. He knows that all those sensations will be pacified with the dissolution of the body, just as the flame of a lamp goes out when oil and wick give out. Buddha says: ‘O bhikkhus, I say that the destruction of defilement and impurities is (meant) for a person who knows and who sees, and not for a person who does not know and does not see.’ To see things as they are without illusion or ignorance is the extinction of craving ‘thirst’ and the cessation of aberration, which is Nirvana. There is nothing more after Nirvana. This is the Ultimate.

The ultimate state of self is attaining Nirvana and maintaining it. The traditional meaning of Nirvana is, ”the extinction of individual passion, hatred, and delusion… a transcendent state in which there is neither suffering, desire, nor sense of individuality, and the subject is released from the effects of karma.” Scientifically, Nirvana is attained when all anomalies relating to beingness are resolved. A person can be young and alive when this happens, and live long afterwards. Such a beingness has its attention totally extroverted. Its attention is now on resolving anomalies in its environment on a universal scale. It is a misconception to think that, in Nirvana, one merges with the rest of the universe and loses one’s self. 

NIRVANAHOOD
He who has realized the Truth, Nirvana, is the happiest being in the world. He is free from all ‘complexes’ and obsessions, the worries and troubles that torment others. His mental health is perfect. He does not repent the past, nor does he brood over the future. He lives fully in the present. Therefore he appreciates and enjoys things in the purest sense without self-projections. He is joyful, exultant, enjoying the pure life, his faculties pleased, free from anxiety, serene and peaceful. As he is free from selfish desire, hatred, ignorance, conceit, pride, and all such ‘defilements’, he is pure and gentle, full of universal love, compassion, kindness, sympathy, understanding and tolerance. His service to others is of the purest, for he has no thought of self. He gains nothing, accumulates nothing, not even anything spiritual, because he is free from the illusion of Self, and the ‘thirst’ for becoming.

NOBLE EIGHTFOLD PATH

  1. Right Understanding (Samma ditthi),
  2. Right Thought (Samma sankappa),
  3. Right Speech (Samma vaca),
  4. Right Action (Samma kammanta),
  5. Right Livelihood (Samma ajiva),
  6. Right Effort (Samma vayama),
  7. Right Mindfulness (Samma sati),
  8. Right Concentration (Samma samadhi). 

These eight factors are to be developed more or less simultaneously, as far as possible according to the capacity of each individual. They are all linked together and each helps the cultivation of the others. It is a way of life to be followed, practiced and developed by each individual. It is self-discipline in body, word and mind, self-development and self-purification. It has nothing to do with belief, prayer, worship or ceremony. In that sense, it has nothing which may popularly be called ‘religious’. It is a Path leading to the realization of Ultimate Reality, to complete freedom, happiness and peace through moral, spiritual and intellectual perfection.

—O—

—P—

—Q—

—R—

REBIRTH
Rebirth is the continuation of mental formation from a form in this moment to another form in the next moment. The so-called being is a mental formation. When the form of physical body is no longer functioning, the being takes on another form. A man who dies here and reborn elsewhere is neither the same person, nor another. It is the continuity of the same series. The last thought-moment of this life conditions the first thought-moment in the so-called next life.

RIGHT ACTION
Right Action aims at promoting moral, honorable and peaceful conduct. It admonishes us that we should abstain from destroying life, from stealing, from dishonest dealings, from illegitimate sexual intercourse, and that we should also help others to lead a peaceful and honorable life in the right way.

RIGHT CONCENTRATION
Right Concentration leads to the four stages of Dhyana, generally called trance or meditative contemplation. In the first stage of Dhyana, passionate desires and certain unwholesome thoughts like sensuous lust, ill-will, languor, worry, restlessness, and skeptical doubt are discarded, and feeling of joy and happiness are maintained, along with certain mental activities. In the second stage, all intellectual activities are suppressed, tranquility and ‘one-pointedness’ of mind developed, and the feelings of joy and happiness are still retained. In the third stage, the feeling of joy, which is an active sensation, also disappears, while the disposition of happiness still remains in addition to mindful equanimity. In the fourth stage of Dhyana, all sensations, even of happiness and unhappiness, of joy and sorrow, disappear, only pure equanimity and awareness remaining.

RIGHT EFFORT
Right Effort is the energetic will (1) to prevent evil and unwholesome states of mind from arising, and (2) to get rid of such evil and unwholesome states that have already arisen within a man, and also (3) to produce, to cause to arise, good and wholesome states of mind not yet arisen, and (4) to develop and bring to perfection the good and wholesome states of mind already present in man.

RIGHT LIVELIHOOD
Right Livelihood means that one should abstain from making one’s living through a profession that brings harm to others, such as trading in arms and lethal weapons, intoxicating drinks, poisons, killing animals, cheating, etc., and should live by a profession which is honorable, blameless and innocent of harm to others. One can clearly see here that Buddhism is strongly opposed to any kind of war, when it lays down that trade in arms and lethal weapons is an evil and unjust means of livelihood. However, Buddhism is not against having a strong defense.

RIGHT MINDFULNESS
Right Mindfulness(or Attentiveness) is to be diligently aware, mindful and attentive with regard to (1) the activities of the body (kaya), (2) sensations or feelings (vedana), (3) the activities of the mind (citta) and (4) ideas, thoughts, conception and things (dhamma). The practice of concentration on breathing (anapanasati) is one of the well-known exercise, connected with the body, for mental development. There are several other ways of developing attentiveness in relation to the body—as modes of meditation. With regard to sensations and feelings, one should be clearly aware of all forms of feelings and sensations, pleasant, unpleasant and neutral, of how they appear and disappear within oneself. Concerning the activities of mind, one should be aware whether one’s mind is lustful or not, given to hatred or not, deluded or not, distracted or concentrated, etc. In this way one should be aware of all movements of mind, how they arise and disappear. As regards ideas, thoughts, conceptions and things, one should know their nature, how they appear and disappear, how they are developed, how they are suppressed, and destroyed, and so on.

RIGHT SPEECH
Right speech means abstention (1) from telling lies, (2) from backbiting and slander and talk that may bring about hatred, enmity, disunity and disharmony among individuals or groups of people, (3) from harsh, rude, impolite, malicious and abusive language, and (4) from idle, useless and foolish babble and gossip. When one abstains from these forms of wrong and harmful speech one naturally has to speak the truth, has to use words that are friendly and benevolent, pleasant and gentle, meaningful and useful. One should not speak carelessly: speech should be at the right time and place. If one cannot say something useful, one should keep ‘noble silence’.

RIGHT THOUGHT
Right Thought denotes the thoughts of selfless renunciation or detachment, thoughts of love and thoughts of non-violence, which are extended to all beings. It is very interesting and important to note here that thoughts of selfless detachment, love and non-violence are grouped on the side of wisdom. This clearly shows that true wisdom is endowed with these noble qualities, and that all thoughts of selfish desire, ill-will, hatred and violence are the result of a lack of wisdom—in all spheres of life whether individual, social, or political.

RIGHT UNDERSTANDING
Right Understanding is the understanding of things as they are, and it is the Four Noble Truths that explain things as they really are. Right Understanding therefore is ultimately reduced to the understanding of the Four Noble Truths. This understanding is the highest wisdom which sees the Ultimate Reality. According to Buddhism there are two sorts of understanding: What we generally call understanding is knowledge, an accumulated memory, an intellectual grasping of a subject according to certain given data. This is called ‘knowing accordingly’ (anubodha). It is not very deep. Real deep understanding is called ‘penetration’ (pativedha), seeing a thing in its true nature, without name and label. This penetration is possible only when the mind is free from all impurities and is fully developed through meditation.

—S—

SAMSARA
Samsara refers to the beginningless cycle of birth, death, and rebirth, characterized by suffering and unsatisfactoriness. It’s a continuous process of transmigration, driven by karma (actions and their consequences) and ignorance. Samsara is not just a concept of repeated lives, but also a description of the repetitive patterns of our daily experiences, where we often find ourselves stuck in negative cycles of emotion and behavior. Traditional Buddhist cosmology depicts Samsara as a wheel with six psychological states of being: hell, fixations, animals, humans, jealous gods, and heavenly beings. 

SAMKHARA (Skt. Samskara)
Saṅkhāra literally means “that which has been put together” or “co-doing,” referring broadly to things that are formed or constructed from multiple conditions. The term samkhara denotes all conditioned or compounded things, including all the Five Aggregates. It has different connotations in different contexts. For example, Samkhara in the list of the Five Aggregates means ‘Mental Formations’ or ‘Mental Activities’ producing karmic effects. 

SECOND NOBLE TRUTH (Tanha)
The Second Noble Truth is the Origin of Dukkha, which is desire, ‘thirst’, accompanied by all other passions, defilements and impurities (tanha). This craving fuels aberration and prevents liberation from the cycle of samsara. Buddhism identifies three main types of craving: 

  1. Craving for sensual pleasure: Desire for enjoyable sensations and experiences. 
  2. Craving for existence: The desire to be, to continue, to exist, often linked to a sense of self. 
  3. Craving for non-existence: The desire to be free from suffering, to cease to be, or to escape pain. 

A mere understanding of this fact is not sufficient. Here our function is to discard it, to eliminate, to destroy and eradicate it (pahatabba). 

SELF
Tanha has at its centre the false idea of self arising out of ignorance. A self is nothing but a combination of physical and mental forces or energies. All economic, political and social problems are rooted in this selfish ‘thirst’. It is the will, or volition of self. NOTE: The beingness has a sense of its coordination from a single control point. This single control point comes from oneness of postulates. It represents the sense of self. It is represented by “I” (being). Problem arises when this oneness of postulates is disturbed resulting in a desire (tanha) that is irrational.

—T—

THIRD NOBLE TRUTH
The Third Noble Truth is the cessation of aberration, Nirvana, the Absolute Truth, the Ultimate Reality. Here our function is to realize it (sacchikatabba). 

THREE DISCIPLINES
For a man to be perfect there are two qualities that he should develop equally: compassion (karuna) on one side, and wisdom (panna) on the other. Here compassion represents love, charity, kindness, tolerance and such noble qualities on the emotional side, or qualities of the heart, while wisdom would stand for the intellectual side or the qualities of the mind. For this a man must develop the following three disciplines.

(a) Ethical Conduct (Silo)
(b) Mental Discipline (Samadhi)
(c) Wisdom (Panna)

THERAVADA
Theravada, which means “the way of the elders,” is one of the two main schools of Buddhism. Its adherents consider Theravada to be the most authoritative branch because they believe their teachings come directly from the historical Buddha.

TWELVE NIDANAS (Links)
The twelve Nidanas represent the cyclical process of Dependent Origination as follows:

  1. Through ignorance are conditioned volitional actions (karma-formations). 
  2. Through volitional action is conditioned consciousness. 
  3. Through consciousness are conditioned mental and physical phenomena.
  4. Through mental and physical phenomena are conditioned the six faculties.
  5. Through the six faculties is conditioned (sensorial and mental ) contact.
  6. Through (sensorial and mental) contact is conditioned sensation.
  7. Through sensation is conditioned desire, ‘thirst’.
  8. Through desire (‘thirst’) is conditioned clinging.
  9. Through clinging is conditioned the process of becoming.
  10. Through the process of becoming is conditioned birth.
  11. Through birth are conditioned decay, death, lamentaion, pain, etc.

—U—

—V—

VAJRAYANA
Vajrayana Buddhism, also known as Tantric Buddhism or Esoteric Buddhism, is a branch of Buddhism that emphasizes accelerated paths to enlightenment through esoteric practices and rituals. It’s often considered a more advanced and transformative path within the broader Mahayana tradition. It incorporates tantric techniques and rituals, such as mantras (sacred sounds), mudras (hand gestures), mandalas (spiritual diagrams), and deity visualization, to transform ordinary experiences into paths toward enlightenment.

VOLITION
Volition is part of the mental formation called self. Therefore, it is same as karma. When self is rigidly directing the actions, the effects of a volitional action will continue to manifest themselves.

VOLITIONAL ACTION
A volitional action is an action taken by an individual based on his own will and conscious decision-making. It’s the capacity to choose and initiate actions intentionally, involving conscious control and purposeful striving. Essentially, it’s the difference between doing something because you chose to versus doing something out of habit or external compulsion. Volitional actions result in Saṅkhāra.

—W—

WISDOM
The remaining two factors, namely Right Thought and Right Understanding go to constitute Wisdom.

—X—

—Y—

—Z—

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Psychology Timeline (19th century CE)

July 31, 2025 – 5:13 PM

Reference: SC: Psychology

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19th century

1800s

  • c. 1800 – Franz Joseph Gall developed cranioscopy, the measurement of the skull to determine psychological characteristics, which was later renamed phrenology; it is now discredited.
  • 1807 – Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel published Phenomenology of Spirit (Mind), which describes his thesis-antithesis-synthesis dialectical method, according to which knowledge pushes forwards to greater certainty, and ultimately towards knowledge of the noumenal world.
  • 1808 – Johann Christian Reil coined the term “psychiatry”.

1810s

1820s

1840s

1850s

1860s

1870s

1880s

1890s

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SC: Psychology

July 29, 2025 – 7:06 AM

Reference: The Book of Subject Clearing

The following summaries and definitions are an effort to understand the fundamentals of Psychology using the approach of Subject Clearing (SC).

To find a word simply use search (CTRL-F). For original definitions in this subject please consult APA Dictionary of Psychology, or other texts available on Psychology. If you feel that some basic term should be included here, then please let me know.

Research using Perplexity AI has been very helpful in preparing these summaries.

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Psychology in Ancient Civilizations

The ancient world developed remarkably sophisticated frameworks for understanding the mind and mental illness, with significant variations between Eastern and Western traditions, yet surprising commonalities in their evolution from supernatural to naturalistic explanations.

  1. Vedic India: The Integration of Spirit, Mind, and Body
  2. Ancient China: The Harmonious Flow of Qi and Spirit
  3. Buddhism: The Phenomenology of Mental Defilement
  4. Ancient Greece: From Divine Madness to Brain Disease
  5. Ancient Rome: Clinical Psychiatry and Humane Treatment
  6. Synthesis: Common Patterns and Divergent Paths
  7. Psychology Timeline West (Ancient history – BCE)
  8. Psychology Timeline East (Ancient history – BCE)

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Psychology During First Mellenium

The first millennium of the Common Era witnessed profound transformations in how human societies conceptualized and addressed mental illness. This period saw the gradual divergence of Western and Eastern approaches, shaped by distinct philosophical traditions, religious frameworks, and medical paradigms. While the West experienced an oscillation between naturalistic Greco-Roman medicine and Christian supernatural interpretations, the East developed sophisticated psychological systems rooted in Ayurvedic holism, Buddhist cognitive therapy, and eventually, the revolutionary medical humanism of the Islamic Golden Age.

  1. The Western Trajectory (1st–10th century CE)
  2. The Eastern Trajectory (1st–10th century CE)
  3. The Islamic Revolution (1st–10th century CE)
  4. Comparative Analysis (1st–10th century CE)
  5. Psychology Timeline West (1st–10th century CE)
  6. Psychology Timeline East (1st–10th century CE)

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Psychology During Second Mellenium

11th – 18 Century CE

The period from the 11th to 18th centuries CE witnessed divergent yet interconnected trajectories in psychological thought across civilizations. Western psychology evolved from medieval scholasticism through Renaissance humanism to Enlightenment empiricism, gradually shifting from theological frameworks toward naturalistic observation. Concurrently, Eastern traditions—particularly Islamic, Indian, and Chinese—developed sophisticated holistic models emphasizing the integration of mind, body, and spirit. Islamic scholars synthesized Greek philosophy with Qur’anic principles, Indian thinkers refined yogic and Vedantic conceptions of consciousness, and Chinese philosophers integrated Confucian, Taoist, and Buddhist insights. By the 18th century, Western psychology had laid groundwork for scientific methodology while Eastern approaches maintained comprehensive wellness paradigms that modern psychology would later rediscover.

  1. Western Psychological Development (11-18th century)
  2. Eastern Psychological Development (11-18th century)
  3. Comparative Analysis (11-18th century)
  4. Psychology Timeline (11th–18th century)

Modern Period

  1. Psychology Timeline (Modern Period)

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Subject Clearing

PSYCHE
Psyche literally means “breath” that refers to the state of living. In the state of living an inherent power of spirit is regulated by the mind, and  manifested by the body. What distinguishes the concept of psyche from narrower terms like “mind” or “brain” is its resistance to purely mechanistic or reductionist interpretation. The psyche, in its full philosophical meaning, encompasses the mysterious dimension of human experience—the subjective, the qualitative, the meaningful, the spiritual—that cannot be fully captured by neuro-scientific description of neural mechanisms alone.

PSYCHOLOGY
Psychology is the scientific or objective study of the psyche. It is actually the study of thoughts, feelings, and behavior and how these processes are affected by the environment, physical states, and mental states. The Western psychology focuses on individual organisms. The Eastern psychology focuses on universal consciousness.

WILHELM WUNDT
Wilhelm Wundt (1832 – 1930) is known as the “Founder of Modern Psychology” and the “Father of Experimental Psychology”. He established the first laboratory in the world that was dedicated to Experimental Psychology, particularly investigations on the senses and perceptions. Wundt used the method of Introspection to investigate psychological phenomena. This involved the subject’s observation and reporting of his own inner thoughts and sensations, and was very difficult to master. Although Wundt’s theories and methods fell out of favor in the 1920’s, his greatest contribution was to demonstrate that psychology could become a true science.

STRUCTURALISM
Structuralism was a school of thought that sought to identify the components (structure) of the mind—the mind was considered the key element to psychology at this point. Structuralists believed that the way to learn about the brain and its functions was to break the mind down into its most basic elements. They believed, the whole is equal to the sum of the parts. Wilhelm Wundt, who is considered the pioneer Structuralist, set up the very first psychological laboratory in 1879. He used a technique called introspection to try to understand the conscious mind.

INTROSPECTION
Introspection is the process of “looking inward” and examining one’s self and one’s own actions in order to gain insight. This was a central component to the early days of psychology. Wundt and other psychologists had people introspect and then report on their feelings, thoughts, etc.

WILLIAM JAMES
William James (1842 – 1910) was a psychologist and philosopher, and was recognized for writing the Principles of Psychology, which is considered to be a monumental work in the history of psychology. James is known for the James-Lange Theory of Emotion, according to which, an emotion is simply the mind’s interpretation of certain physiological processes that occur as a response to certain stimuli. For example, when exposed to a stimulus such as a bear, our nervous system reacts with an increased heart rate, a rush of adrenaline, or muscle tension, and our perception of those changes is what is referred to as emotion of fear. He introduced concepts like the “stream of consciousness,” emphasizing the mind’s continuous, dynamic flow.

FUNCTIONALISM
Functionalism was the psychological school of thought pioneered by William James, that followed Structuralism. It moved away from focusing on the structure of the mind to looking at the purpose of consciousness and how it is related to behavior. It asked how mental processes help organisms adapt, survive, and solve problems in their environment. Functionalists studied the utility of traits like memory, emotions, and decision-making aiding adaptation and leading to practical applications in education and behaviorism. 

STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS
William James’s “stream of consciousness” (introduced in The Principles of Psychology, 1890) describes the human mind as a continuously flowing, indivisible, and ever-changing process rather than a collection of disjointed thoughts. It emphasizes that consciousness is personal, selective, and always in flux, blending past and present experiences. 

SIGMUND FREUD
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) is known as the Father of Psychoanalysis, a method for treating psychological pathology by means of dialogue between the patient and the psychoanalyst. One of Freud’s most important contributions is the idea that the unconscious mind holds the key to understanding conscious thoughts and behavior, and the role that dreams play in unlocking what is hidden or repressed beneath conscious awareness. Freud is also known for proposing a theory of personality based on the Stages of Psychosexual Development. Freud also developed the model of the psyche composed of the Id, Ego, and Superego. Although many people find Freud’s ideas controversial, he was one of the most influential figures in the entire field of psychology.

PSYCHOANALYSIS
In 1900, Sigmund Freud fundamentally altered psychology’s trajectory through his theory of psychoanalysis, detailed in The Interpretation of Dreams. Freud introduced the revolutionary concept of the unconscious mind—the proposition that mental processes and drives operating outside conscious awareness significantly shape behavior, emotions, and personality. One of his most common techniques to bring these thoughts to the consciousness was the use of free association. While many of Freud’s specific theories are viewed skeptically today, his influence on twentieth-century thought across psychology, psychiatry, art, literature, and popular culture remains undeniable.

FREE ASSOCIATION
Free association is a fundamental psychoanalytic technique, where patients express thoughts, feelings, and images as they come to mind without self-censorship. For example, say whatever comes to your mind when I say the word “marriage”. Don’t limit or try to evaluate your responses, just say everything that pops into your head. The person relaxes and says whatever comes to mind, no matter how trivial or embarrassing. It acts as a tool to uncover unconscious thoughts, identify unresolved emotional conflicts, and facilitate psychological, emotional release. 

BEHAVIORISM
Emerging in the early twentieth century, behaviorism represented a dramatic departure from both consciousness-focused and psychoanalytic approaches. Pioneered by figures such as Ivan Pavlov, John B. Watson, and B. F. Skinner, behaviorism rejected investigation of internal mental states as unscientific, focusing exclusively on observable behavior and how it could be shaped through learning, conditioning, and reinforcement. Behaviorism made psychology more rigorously experimental and predictive, though its methodological conservatism limited understanding of cognition. It assumes that behavior is either a reflex evoked by a certain stimuli in the environment, or a consequence of that individual’s history. Although behaviorists generally accept the important role of heredity in determining behavior, they focus primarily on environmental events.

BEHAVIOR
Behavior is the range of actions and mannerisms made by individuals, organisms, systems or artificial entities in some environment. These systems can include other systems or organisms as well as the inanimate physical environment. It is the computed response of the system or organism to various stimuli or inputs, whether internal or external, conscious or subconscious, overt or covert, and voluntary or involuntary. This means that all behavior is the result or either unthinking reaction, or a thinking response (or a mixture of the two), to something in the environment.

COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
During the 1960s, cognitive psychology emerged as a major perspective, influenced by advances in information theory and the work of psychologists like Jean Piaget and Albert Bandura. This perspective shifted focus to mental processes—memory, thinking, problem-solving, language, and decision-making—demonstrating that internal cognitive processes could be studied scientifically through creative experimental design. Cognitive psychology has grown substantially, providing the theoretical foundation for evidence-based treatments like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), which targets the interplay between thoughts, emotions, and behavior.

COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL THERAPY (CBT)
CBT focuses on challenging and changing cognitive distortions (such as thoughts, beliefs, and attitudes) and their associated behaviors to improve emotional regulation and develop personal coping strategies that target solving current problems. The key cognitive therapy question is, “What was going through your mind just then?” Other questions are: “Is there overgeneralization?” “Is there some alternative explanation?” “Is there a logic to that?” When the person looks at the automatic thoughts arising from his thought structure, he starts to get better. 

COGNITION
Cognition is the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses. It encompasses all aspects of intellectual functions and processes such as: perception, attention, thought, imagination, intelligence, the formation of knowledge, memory and working memory, judgment and evaluation, reasoning and computation, problem-solving and decision-making, comprehension and production of language. Cognitive processes use existing knowledge and discover new knowledge.

BIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE
The biological perspective in psychology explains behavior, thoughts, and emotions through physical, physiological, and genetic mechanisms. It focuses on how brain structures, neurotransmitters, nervous system functioning, and genetics shape human actions and mental health, often using scientific methods like brain imaging to understand these processes. Contemporary research demonstrates that neuroscience and psychology work synergistically: understanding neural mechanisms has revolutionized clinical psychology by clarifying the biological bases of psychiatric disorders and facilitating development of more effective treatments.

NERVOUS SYSTEM
The nervous system is a complex system of nerves which allows you to register touch, move, breathe, feel and think. The nervous system includes your brain, spinal cord, and the nerves that travel throughout your body. It acts like the switchboard of the body.

EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY
Evolutionary psychology is a field that studies how the mind and behavior are shaped by natural selection, with the goal of understanding the “ultimate” causes of psychological traits. It operates on the principle that the brain is a set of information-processing machines, or adaptations, that evolved to solve problems of survival and reproduction faced by our hunter-gatherer ancestors. This framework explains why certain psychological characteristics and behavioral tendencies persist across human populations.

HUMANISTIC PSYCHOLOGY
This is the psychological perspective popularized by Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow (hierarchy of needs) that emphasizes the human capacity for choice and growth. The overriding assumption is that humans have free will and are not simply fated to behave in specific ways or are zombies blindly reacting to their environments. So, the Humanists stated that the subject matter or psychology (what psychology should focus on) is the human subjective experience of the world—how humans experience things, why they experience things, etc.

POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
Positive Psychology is a relatively new branch of applied psychology started in 1998 by Martin Seligman and Mikhaly Csikszentmihalyi. This field  “seeks to nurture genius and talent” rather than focusing solely on the treatment of mental illness as a means of making human existence more rewarding and fulfilling. The founders of this movement do not intend to replace traditional psychology, but to expand it through the encouragement of positive traits, relationships and institutions.

SOCIOCULTURAL PERSPECTIVE
The sociocultural perspective in psychology emphasizes that human behavior, thoughts, and development are profoundly shaped by social interactions, cultural norms, values, language, and shared beliefs, moving beyond individual cognition to see people as products of their environment, with Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky’s theories (like the Zone of Proximal Development and scaffolding) being foundational, highlighting how learning occurs through guidance from “more knowledgeable others” within a cultural context, with applications in education, mental health, and understanding diverse experiences. 

PURE (THEORETICAL) PSYCHOLOGY
Pure (Theoretical) Psychology encompasses foundational areas establishing general principles:

  • General Psychology: Investigates fundamental psychological principles through the study of normal adult human behavior
  • Abnormal Psychology: Describes and explains aberrant behavior, examining causes, symptoms, syndromes, and treatments of behavioral pathology
  • Developmental Psychology: Studies how individuals grow, change, and develop across the lifespan from infancy through old age
  • Social Psychology: Examines how social contexts, group dynamics, relationships, and cultural factors influence cognition and behavior
  • Personality Psychology: Investigates individual differences in stable patterns of thought, emotion, and behavior
  • Cognitive Psychology: Studies mental processes enabling thinking, memory, language, decision-making, and problem-solving

APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY
Applied Psychology translates theoretical knowledge into practical interventions addressing real-world challenges:

  • Clinical Psychology: Assesses, diagnoses, and treats mental health disorders through evidence-based therapeutic techniques including CBT, psychoanalysis, and mindfulness interventions.
  • Counseling Psychology: Focuses on helping individuals navigate life transitions, relationship challenges, and personal development, emphasizing growth and resilience rather than pathology remediation.
  • Industrial-Organizational (I/O) Psychology: Applies psychological principles to improve workplace productivity, employee satisfaction, leadership development, and organizational culture.
  • Forensic Psychology: Applies psychology to the legal system, including criminal profiling, assessment of defendant mental state, and expert testimony in legal proceedings.
  • Educational Psychology: Addresses student learning, academic performance, and social-emotional development within educational settings.
  • Health Psychology: Examines relationships between psychological factors and physical health, addressing stress, behavior change, and chronic disease management.
  • Sports Psychology: Helps athletes optimize performance and develop mental resilience.

The discipline encompasses many additional specialized areas, including environmental psychology, military psychology, media psychology, organizational consulting, and emerging fields at the intersection of psychology and technology.

CONTEMPORARY RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Modern psychology rests upon rigorous adherence to the scientific method—a systematic process of observation, hypothesis formation, experimentation, data analysis, and theory refinement. This methodological commitment distinguishes contemporary psychology from earlier philosophical speculation about mind and conduct.

Psychologists employ diverse research designs appropriate to their questions:

  • Experimental Research: Manipulates one or more independent variables while measuring effects on dependent variables, enabling causal inference but requiring careful control of confounding factors.
  • Correlational Research: Examines relationships between variables without experimental manipulation, useful for identifying associations but limiting causal conclusions.
  • Descriptive Research: Systematically observes and documents behavior in natural settings or through surveys, providing rich contextual understanding without causal claims.
  • Qualitative Methods: Conduct in-depth interviews and analysis of verbal/narrative data to develop hermeneutic understanding of human experience and motivation.

These methodologies employ both quantitative approaches (statistical analysis of numerical data) and qualitative techniques (thematic analysis of narrative material), with researchers selecting methods aligned to their specific research questions.

The scientific method’s application in psychology addresses fundamental epistemological challenges: many phenomena of psychological interest—consciousness, emotion, motivation, personality—are subjective and cannot be directly observed externally. Psychologists overcome this limitation through behavioral observations, self-report measures, physiological recordings, and neuro-imaging, collectively generating empirical evidence that validates or falsifies theoretical propositions.

INTEGRATION WITH NEUROSCIENCE
Contemporary psychology increasingly integrates neuroscientific findings, reflecting recognition that mental processes emerge from—and cannot be fully understood apart from—neural mechanisms. Advances in neuroimaging have revolutionized understanding of psychiatric illness, enabling comparison of brain structure and function between healthy individuals and those with mental disorders, thereby clarifying neurobiological bases of pathology and guiding treatment development. This integration demonstrates embodied cognition: visualization of activities activates neural regions as though the activity were occurring, explaining how mental practice improves performance and how observational learning operates through mirror neurons that fire when we observe others’ behavior. This neuropsychological understanding has profound implications: cognitive practice literally reshapes brain organization through neuroplasticity, providing neuroscientific basis for why psychological interventions—from deliberate practice to cognitive therapy—produce lasting behavioral and cognitive change. (See Biological Perspective above.)

CONTEMPORARY APPLICATIONS AND SOCIAL IMPACT
Psychology’s applied fields directly impact daily life across multiple domains. Clinical psychology addresses mental health through evidence-based treatment of anxiety, depression, trauma, and personality disorders. Counseling psychology helps individuals navigate career transitions, relationship challenges, and personal development. I/O psychology shapes workplace culture, employee engagement, and organizational effectiveness, influencing the professional lives of billions of workers. Forensic psychology contributes to criminal justice through behavioral profiling and risk assessment. Health psychology influences public health through understanding stress physiology and promoting behavior change for chronic disease prevention.

Emerging technological integration represents contemporary psychology’s frontier. Teletherapy expands mental health treatment access; mobile applications and wearable devices enable continuous monitoring of psychological and physiological variables; artificial intelligence-driven therapeutic tools provide interventions for vulnerable populations; behavioral analytics extract psychological insights from digital activity patterns; and computational modeling tests theoretical predictions at unprecedented scale and precision.

CONTEMPORARY PERSPECTIVES AND CHALLENGES
Modern psychology is fundamentally pluralistic. Few contemporary psychologists identify rigidly with single theoretical schools; instead, most integrate insights from multiple perspectives while specializing in particular domains. This theoretical eclecticism reflects recognition that human behavior emerges from biological, cognitive, emotional, social, and cultural factors operating simultaneously—no single perspective captures complete truth.

Psychology maintains fundamental commitment to understanding behavior for three complementary purposes: description (characterizing what occurs), prediction (forecasting future behavior under specified conditions), and intervention (modifying behavior to improve human welfare). This tripartite mission—simultaneously scientific and applied—positions psychology as uniquely positioned to address complex societal challenges requiring integration of biological mechanism, individual psychology, social dynamics, and cultural context.

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Psychology Timeline (11th–18th century CE)

July 29, 2025 – 6:50 AM

Reference: SC: Psychology

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11th–18th century

  • 1025 – In The Canon of Medicine, Avicenna described a number of conditions, including 
    hallucination, insomnia, mania, nightmare, melancholia, 
    dementia, epilepsy, paralysis, stroke, vertigo and tremor.
  • c. 1030 – Al-Biruni employed an experimental method in examining the concept of reaction time.
  • c. 1180 – 1245 Alexander of Hales
  • c. 1190 – 1249 William of Auvergne
  • c. 1200 – Maimonides wrote about neuropsychiatric disorders, and described rabies and belladonna intoxication.
  • 1215 – 1277 Peter Juliani taught in the medical faculty of the University of Siena, and wrote on medical, philosophical and psychological topics. He was personal physician to Pope Gregory X and later became archbishop and cardinal. He was elected pope under the name John XXI in 1276.
  • c. 1214 – 1294 Roger Bacon advocated for empirical methods and wrote on optics, visual perception, and linguistics.
  • 1221 – 1274 Bonaventure
  • 1193 – 1280 Albertus Magnus
  • 1225 – Thomas Aquinas
  • 1240 – Bartholomeus Anglicus published De Proprietatibus Rerum, which included a dissertation on the brain, recognizing that mental disorders can have a physical or psychological cause.
  • 1247 – Bethlehem Royal Hospital in Bishopsgate outside the wall of London, one of the most famous old psychiatric hospitals was founded as a priory of the Order of St. Mary of Bethlem to collect alms for Crusaders; after the English government secularized it, it started admitting mental patients by 1377 (c. 1403), becoming known as Bedlam Hospital; in 1547 it was acquired by the City of London, operating until 1948; it is now part of the British NHS Foundation Trust.
  • 1266 – 1308 Duns Scotus
  • c. 1270 – Witelo wrote Perspectiva, a work on optics containing speculations on psychology, nearly discovering the subconscious.
  • 1295 – Lanfranc writes Science of Cirurgie
  • 1317 – 1340 William of Ockham, an English Franciscan friar and scholastic philosopher and theologian, is commonly known for Occam’s razor, the methodological principle that the simplest explanation is to be preferred. He also produced significant works on logic, physics, and theology, advancing his thoughts about intuitive and abstracted knowledge.
  • c. 1375 – English authorities regarded mental illness as demonic possession, treating it with exorcism and torture.
  • c. 1400 – Renaissance Humanism caused a reawakening of ancient knowledge of science and medicine.
  • 1433 – 1499 Marsilio Ficino was a renowned figure of the Italian Renaissance, a Neoplatonist humanist, a translator of Greek philosophical writing, and the most influential exponent of Platonism in Italy in the fifteenth century.
  • c. 1450 – The pendulum in Europe swings, bringing witch mania, causing thousands of women to be executed for witchcraft until the late 17th century.
  • 1590 – Scholastic philosopher Rudolph Goclenius coined the term “psychology”; though usually regarded as the origin of the term, there is evidence that it was used at least six decades earlier by Marko Marulić.
  • c. 1600 – 1625 Francis Bacon was an English philosopher, statesman, scientist, lawyer, jurist, author, and pioneer of the scientific method. His writings on psychological topics included the nature of knowledge and memory.
  • 1650 – René Descartes died, leaving Treatise of the World, containing his dualistic theory of reality, mind vs. matter.
  • 1672 – Thomas Willis published the anatomical treatise De Anima Brutorum, describing psychology in terms of brain function.
  • 1677 – Baruch Spinoza died, leaving Ethics, Demonstrated in Geometrical Order, Pt. 2 focusing on the human mind and body, disputing Descartes and arguing that they are one, and Pt. 3 attempting to show that moral concepts such as good and evil, virtue, and perfection have a basis in human psychology.
  • 1689 – John Locke published An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, which claims that the human mind is a Tabula Rasa at birth.
  • 1701 – Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz published the Law of Continuity, which he applied to psychology, becoming the first to postulate an unconscious mind; he also introduced the concept of threshold.
  • 1710 – George Berkeley published Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge, which claims that the outside world is composed solely of ideas.
  • 1732 – Christian Wolff published Psychologia Empirica, followed in 1734 by Psychologia Rationalis, popularizing the term “psychology”.
  • 1739 – David Hume published A Treatise of Human Nature, claiming that all contents of mind are solely built from sense experiences.
  • 1781 – Immanuel Kant published Critique of Pure Reason, rejecting Hume’s extreme empiricism and proposing that there is more to knowledge than bare sense experience, distinguishing between “a posteriori” and “a priori” knowledge, the former being derived from perception, hence occurring after perception, and the latter being a property of thought, independent of experience and existing before experience.
  • 1783 – Ferdinand Ueberwasser designated himself Professor of Empirical Psychology and Logic at the Old University of Münster; four years later, he published the comprehensive textbook Instructions for the regular study of empirical psychology for candidates of philosophy at the University of Münster which complemented his lectures on scientific psychology.
  • 1798 – Immanuel Kant proposed the first dimensional model of consistent individual differences by mapping the four Hippocrates‘ temperament types into dimensions of emotionality and energetic arousal. These two dimensions later became an essential part of all temperament and personality models.

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East

  • 1130–1200 CE – Zhu Xi and Neo‑Confucian mind
    Zhu Xi develops a li–qi framework where the xin (heart‑mind) unifies moral nature and emotions; cultivation of mind via investigation of things and meditation becomes the central Confucian psychological discipline.
  • 13th century CE – Japanese Zen consolidation
    By the 12th–13th centuries, Zen (Rinzai, Sōtō) is firmly established in Japan, propagating rigorous meditative disciplines (zazen, kōan practice) as methods for direct realization of mind‑nature.
  • 1308–1364 CE – Longchenpa and Dzogchen systematization
    Longchen Rabjam (Longchenpa) codifies Nyingma Dzogchen (“Great Perfection”) with a refined account of primordial awareness (rigpa), spontaneous presence, and the natural state, influencing all later Tibetan contemplative psychology.
  • 1357–1419 CE – Tsongkhapa and Gelug synthesis
    Je Tsongkhapa synthesizes Madhyamaka, Yogācāra, and pramāṇa into a graded path (Lamrim), emphasizing analytic meditation on emptiness intertwined with concentration training as the most reliable method for cognitive and affective transformation.
  • 1472–1529 CE – Wang Yangming’s moral psychology
    Wang Yangming advances the doctrine of the unity of knowing and acting and liangzhi (innate knowing), focusing on uncovering and correcting automatic thoughts and desires—a remarkably CBT‑like moral psychology within Neo‑Confucianism.

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