Give me the childrearing practice, and I will give you the culture: The Developmental Psychology of Hindu Freedom and Illusion

Among the many concepts associated with Hindu religious traditions are the central ones of maya (illusion) and moksha (freedom). Hindu practitioners seek freedom from illusion. How might we account for this? St. Ignatius of Loyola suggested that if one were to give him a child for seven years, then he would give them the man. This paper proposes that the explanation for illusion and freedom in the Hindu world reflects Hindu childrearing practices. Psychological anthropology characterizes these practices as pediatric. Pediatric childrearing practices reflect the reality of infectious disease ecologies, a reality consistent with the disease profile of South Asia. Pediatric childrearing practices nurture insecure-anxious attachment styles. These styles are conducive to adaptive, collectivist societies, themselves antipathogenic in nature. Psychologically, insecure-anxious attachment styles lead to a basic mistrust in the world. The Hindu concepts of freedom (moksha) from illusion (maya) reflect the adaptive realities of Hindu childrearing practices.