Introduction

Abstract

The brain sciences, psychology and philosophy adopt different approaches to understanding the individual mind and, in the process, explore how an individual can attain better health. All the three disciplines thus correlate health with experiential transformation and the nature of the self. Experiential transformation entails a functional transformation (of the body and the mind), accompanied by changes in the sets of values and beliefs that one holds. This implies that, by any method, “experience” is complex even to conceptualize, let alone understand from the viewpoint of any one single discipline. An attempt to understand “experience”, be it a simple physical pain of the pinprick or a deeper sense of sanctity, thus demands an inclusive path that considers the person and the environment as a whole. The nature of one’s thoughts, body practices and psychological traits such as hope for betterment, change and transcendence from the tangible to the intangible, to a great extent, narrates the nature of consciousness that underlies personal experiences.