Anasakti and health: A study of non-attachment - Indian Psychology ...

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’99DiscussionThe concept of anasakti in the spiritual lore means progressivedetachment of consciousness from the psycho-physical apparatus.Patanjali’s and Shankaracharya’s systems envisage five stages ofdevelopment of consciousness of one who is pursuing the spiritualgoal. These five stagesare termed &dquo;Panchakosha&dquo; or five sheathsSwami Ajay, 1976). The concept of(Swami Ram, Ballentine, &&dquo;panchakosha&dquo; has a logical consequence for psychology. Tounderstand the experience and behayiour of people in the fivedifferent &dquo;kosha&dquo;, different psychologiesare needed.Most people belong to the &dquo;manomayakosha&dquo; which is the middlelevel of the five hierarchical stages of development. The -&dquo;manomayakosha&dquo; refers to the mental level including the lowerand higher minds. The lower mind or &dquo;manas&dquo; serves to coordinatesensory input and motor output after the higher mind, the &dquo;buddhi&dquo;has adjudged the meaning of the incoming sensory informationand has decided on the course of action to be taken.The &dquo;manomayakosha&dquo; is a wide band. ThQse who are primarilyat the level of &dquo;manas&dquo; would exhibit impulsivity and a strongtendency to seek pleasure. Those who are primarily at the level of&dquo;buddhi&dquo; would be more discriminating. Therefore this &dquo;kosha~~~represents a stage of intellectually controlled emotionality; a stagewhere cognitive structures exert controlling influence on emotions.Modern psychological theories which have relevance within theframework of &dquo;manomayakosha&dquo; are cognitive theories of stress(Lazarus, 1975; Rosenbaum, 1988).One of the aims of this study was to demonstrate the possibilityof conceptual bridges between disparate paradigms. Therefore,the findings of this study will be interpreted in terms of the cognitivetheories of stress.Anisakti, Perceptionof Distress and StrainThe most significant finding which emerged from this studyconcerned the perception of distress in stressful life events. It wasfound that subjects high on anasakti did not significantly differfrom those low on anasakti in terms of the number of life eventsDownloaded from pds.sagepub.com by Ajit Dalal on April 4, 2011
100/which had occurred in their lives (SSS). When the number of eventswhich they had experienced was controlled, the average subjectiveperception of distress (ADR) was significantly lower for subjectswho were high on anasakti. The tendency to experience less distressin general, helped the more anasakti subjects to maintain superiorphysical and psychological health comparedon anasakti.Stress isto those who were lowa multi-dimensional concept which necessitates anof ;ts personal and environmental antecedents.understandingLazarus (1975) has emphasised the significance of threat appraisalsiri the perception of distress in negative life events. Anotherimportant facet of appraisal refers to the meaning which is assignedto those events. Negative life events can be more deleterious ifthey are perceived to be central to one’s existence, are consideredto be stable and are attributed to global causes (Metalsky,Halberstadt, & Abramson, 1987).These psychological interpretive mechanisms are crucial indetermining the emotional reactions to stressful life events.Depending upon whether the situation is interpreted as harmful,beneficial, threatening or challenging, an individual experiencespositive or negative emotions. The interpretation of a situation asinvolving harm or threat generates such affective states as anxiety,nervousness, tension and anger. The affective states, which maybe the most ubiquitous emotional reactions to situations which areappraised as stressful, interfere with cognitive functioning andwith coping (Schwarzer, 1984). Two mechanisms of interferencehave been emphasised. First, a motivational one in which attention isdiverted from the task at hand to more pressing emotional crisiswhich is perceived to be associated with a situation (Sch6npflug,1983), and second, a cognitiveone in which anxiety related thoughts,which may be unrelated to performance, are nurtured. If, however, asituation is interpreted as presenting challenges rather than threats,more positive emotions are experienced leading to effective coping.Folkman and Lazarus (1988) have suggested that on certainoccasions, focusing on the problem which is causing distress maylead to an improved emotional state. They refer to focusingon theproblem as planful problem solving. According to them, planfulproblem solving results in an improv ed person-environment relationleading to a favourable cognitive appraisal and, therefore, to amore positive emotional response.Downloaded from pds.sagepub.com by Ajit Dalal on April 4, 2011
Page 3 and 4: 90This study embodies transition of
Page 5 and 6: 92/The distinctive characteristics
Page 7 and 8: __94Method and ProcedureSampleThe d
Page 9 and 10: 96strain measure. Reverse scoringth
Page 11: 98/was perhaps a weak pointer towar
Page 15 and 16: 102/As stated earlier, anasakti ref
Page 17: 104SCHWARZER, R. (Ed.). (1984). The

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