ABSTRACT
Time in Hinduism is considered to be cyclical, rather than linear. Hindu concepts of time revolve around the periodic and infinite repetition of the creation and dissolution of the universe. Drawing a circle around social order, moral order, and divine order, dharma links the concepts of karma, samsara, and moksha. Samsara is accepted in all Hindu philosophical systems of thought, with the singular exception of the Carvaka school of Indian materialism that denies the existence of a soul. The Hindu doctrine of karma is both a psychology and philosophy of action. The attainment of moksha is the paramartha, or highest goal of Hinduism. Another reason moksha cannot be understood within psychoanalysis is because, as a theory, psychoanalysis rejects the Cartesian mind–body dualism required to admit the presence of a “Soul” or “Self” in as much as the Hindu understands it; that is, as separate from matter. The notion of time in Hinduism, while fascinating, is overwhelming and frightening.
