Indian Philosophy has been developed by the civilizations of the Indian subcontinent. It is a system of thoughts and reflections, which include both orthodox systems such as Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Samkhya, Yoga, Purva-Mimamsa, and Vedanta schools of philosophy along with unorthodox systems such as Buddhism and Jainism. In the Sanskrit language, Indian philosophy is also called Darshanas, which means different traditions of philosophical thoughts of India. Indian thinkers consider Indian Philosophy as a practical discipline to improve human life.
Some of the popular and general characteristics of Indian Philosophy are as follows:
1) Indian philosophy focuses on spirituality. As per Indian Philosophy, man is perceived to be a spiritual being in nature. Man and the Universe are considered to be metaphysical in character and materialistic gains are never conceived to be the goal of human life.
2) Indian Philosophy forms the main relationship or link between philosophy and life. Every Indian Philosophy encourages human beings to know about the truth that sets them free. Indian Philosophy is not just gaining academic knowledge or theoretical knowledge. Indian philosophers think that philosophy is to find the truth and realize it. Indian philosophy is for life and has to be a way of living.
3) Indian philosophy is more about self-knowledge or Atma vidya. In the search for truth, a man takes the path of knowing his inner self rather than the external world.
4) Indian philosophy seeks the ideal state in life. It doesn’t disregard materialistic gains but in fact, goes a step beyond the materialistic aspects to seek the truth.
5) Indian philosophy uses intuition as a way to know the ultimate truth. Indian thinkers do not disregard intellectual knowledge or reasoning but consider that intuition, which means direct knowledge about knowing something is sufficient to know the ultimate truth.
6) Indian philosophy follows a holistic approach and looks at reality from a whole perspective. For example, values, ethics, religion, and metaphysics are related to each other and forms the absolute reality of a human being.
