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This article suggests the contribution that Buddhist psychology can make to the development of new thinking and methodologies in the field of trauma work. It begins with an historical and conceptual review of the vicissitudes of spirituality and secularism as influences in the psychological management and treatment of sudden or radical change whether traumatic or constructive, noting that a more positive attitude toward spirituality now prevails than has been the case in earlier phases of modernity. It then goes on to look at the specific contribution that Buddhist psychology, particularly that associated with the Amidist school, can make, outlining its metaphysical structure and distinctive non-self-perspective and the consequences this has in terms of situation analysis and therapeutic approach. An outline is given of the Buddhist perspective upon repetition compulsion and this leads to a review of examples of a variety of therapeutic methods that have been developed. Finally, reference is made to the classification of Buddhist methods into sudden and gradual, and the relation between the former mode and the re-construal of trauma as opportunity.

Though the interface between Buddhism and cognitive science emerged during the last three decades of the 20th century, as far back as 1940, the Cambridge psychologist Robert H. Thouless commented on the relevance and importance of Buddhist psychology: ‘Across the gulf of twenty-five centuries we seem to hear in the voice of the Buddha the expression of an essentially modern mind’.1 The discourses of the Buddha are very rich in their use of psychological terminology and psychological analysis, but this facet of the doctrine was badly neglected until the pioneering work of C.A.F. Rhys Davids.2 Rune Johanson’s The Psychology of Nirvana3 has also emerged as an important contribution. An Introduction to Buddhist Psychology (de Silva, first published in 1979, 4th edition in 2005), performed a useful function for those teachers involved in developing courses on Buddhist psychology and for the large numbers of ‘general readers’, who were merely interested in the topic.4 As the traditional teaching of Buddhist philosophy widened, interest in Buddhist ethics and psychology had an important impact on the new curriculum. This book adds a new component to these widening interests in Buddhist psychology including Buddhist contributions to counselling issues, for which I draw from my experience in professional counselling as well as my research into counselling issues.

If psychology is viewed as the science of human mind, the Buddha could unarguably be termed as the finest depth psychologist humanity has seen. Not only did he penetrate deep into the hidden recesses of human mind and uncovered the machinations of the latent tendencies, he also found the way out of their stranglehold on mankind. As a compassionate teacher, he focused his entire teaching primarily on the later practical aspect. He often mentioned that he taught only two things: there is unhappiness (dukkha) and there is a way out of this unhappiness. The root cause of this unhappiness, he identified as the primeval ignorance avijja, which creates the notion of ‘I’ as an individual entity, the doer, the feeler and the thinker. This in turn gives rise to the concepts of ‘I and mine’, ‘thee and thine’ from which originate craving (raga) and aversion (dosa). The Buddha’s penetrative insight into the nature of human reality revealed that what we call ‘I’ or a ‘being’ is only a concatenation of the five impermanent aggregates, viz. the body, consciousness, intellect, feelings and volitional mental formations, which work interdependently, changing from moment to moment in accordance with the law of cause and effect. By a systematic cultivation of the mindfulness of these aggregates anyone can progressively uproot the ego and purify the mind by extinguishing this fire of defilements continuously burning within it. As the mind gets progressively purified, it awakens from the illusion of ‘personality’ and naturally abides in loving kindness (maitri), compassion (karuna), altruistic joy (mudita) and equanimity (upekkha) to increasing degree. ‘No I, No problems’, as one contemporary Master puts it.

Az iras attekintest ad a buddhista pszichologia tradicionalis irodalmanak nyugati recepciojarol, illetve egyes gondolatainak a nyugati pszichologiaval tortent osszehasonlito elemzeseiről. Ezt kovetően a nyugati es a buddhista pszichologia altalanos jellegzetessegeit veti egybe, hasonlosagaikat es kulonbsegeiket foglalja ossze. Ehhez kapcsolodoan a cikk a nyugati tudomanyossag es a buddhista szemlelet modszertani azonossagait es eltereseit targyalja, majd felhivja a figyelmet arra, hogy a buddhizmus modszertana a „tudomanyossag” kriteriumainak napjainkban zajlo paradigmavaltasi folyamataba illeszkedik. Az iras bemutatja a buddhizmus es a tudomany kapcsolatanak főbb pontjait, valamint azt, ahogyan a nyugati pszichologia es a buddhizmus kozotti dialogus utjan haladok Karen Horney, Carl Gustav Jung es Erich Fromm uttorő vallalkozasainak nyomdokaiban jarnak. A cikk ramutat tovabba arra, hogy a buddhista nezetek egyre szelesebb korű ismertseget kovetően e szemlelet bizonyos elemei az 1960-as evek vegere a trans...

Human beings have been asking themselves about the meaning of life and the significance of human life since ancient times. Medical care in cooperation with religion can save human's mind and body. Being burdened with a lot of social/cultural problems in the modern Japanese society, climacteric women who consult a doctor for symptoms of indefinite complaint have been increasing. One of the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama is “Seeing things as they really are” (“Nyojitsu-chiken” in Japanese). This means that seeing the reality as it is and is the way of thinking that “it is important to embrace the reality and live positively, instead of trying to do everything as one wants to and turning a blind eye to the reality.” Psychotherapy inclusive Buddhist psychology was performed in 16 climacteric women with undefined symptoms. Visual analog scale for subjective symptoms decreased significantly after 2–6 months of treatment (25.7 ± 10.2) from the baseline value (72.4 ± 12.8) (p

Five characteristics of Buddhist psychology are explained — Buddhist psychology as a psychological, phenomenological, pragmatic, empirical, and therapeutic system. This explanation facilitates the understanding of the importance of indigenous Buddhist psychology within current psychotherapy science., SFU Forschungsbulletin, Nr. 1 (2014): Ausgabe 1/2014

Today, the early stages of the Jamesian dream are being realised. Renowned Buddhist scholars have joined psychologists, cognitive scientists and neurologists in integrating the methodologies of Buddhism to a specific discipline, which, following Alan Wallace, may be described as ‘contemplative science’. This emerging framework has located both Buddhist psychology and counselling practices within this contemporary convergence of contemplative practices and the cognitive sciences. While I shall trace below these stages in the interface between Buddhism and cognitive science, Wallace feels that the cognitive sciences have yet to undergo a complete revolution, overcoming the domination of scientific materialism and devise rigorous and precise introspective methods for observing mental phenomena.3

Buddhist psychology has now gained some credence in the West and is starting to exert a growing influence both on various areas of medicine and well-established Western psychotherapies. We reviewed key texts of both the Eastern and Western Buddhist literature, with particular emphasis on recent well-established Western authors. The Buddhist concept of "selflessness" is often perceived by Westerners as a recommendation for the dissolution of their ego and its propelling forces in their competitive societies, instead of an invitation to dispel the artificial compactness of their "I." With the notions of "Self" and "No self" placed at the interface of Buddhist psychology and Western psychotherapies, this article: (i) attempts a description of the pros and cons of the two approaches and (ii) points at a probably greater therapeutic potential when the two work hand in hand rather than as antagonists. Some of the limitations resulting from such a joint approach will also be highlighted.

Buddhist psychology and philosophy have the potential of contributing to the cognitive behavioral conceptualization and treatment of psychopathology. In this article, the relevance of Buddhism to the treatment of clinical anxiety is presented. Metacognition is viewed as a concept that can bridge Buddhist and cognitive behavioral psychology. In addition to delineating Buddhist conceptions of cognition and cognitive functioning, practical applications, in the form of mindful attention, are outlined.

Buddhism is often portrayed as pro‐detachment and anti‐attachment, yet is this really true? If we examine love, we can see that attachment is always a part of love, and, in fact, without a deep att...

There is no descriptive science of the stream of consciousness in the literature of the social sciences, and as a result, we do not have an empirical understanding of the nature of the healthy human mind.This paper will:(1)demonstrate that an empirically valid theory of the healthy mind must be a theory that isderived from a descriptive science ofthe stream of consciousness (2) present the rationale and methodology for doing interviews with a specific group ofTibetan lamas who have been using meditation for over ten and a half centuries todevelop a descriptive science/if the streamofconsciousnessand (3) present briefexcerpts from some ofthe interviews I have been doing with these lamas. In these interviews, the lamas discuss their experiences of their own mind in meditation for the purpose of: (1) developing a descriptive science ofthe stream of consciousness and (2) using that descriptive science to discuss and describe the defining characteristics ofthe healthy human mind.

Buddhist psychology is increasingly informing psychotherapeutic practice in the western world. This article: (a) provides a general background to Buddhist tradition; (b) outlines the central tenets of Buddhist psychology, with particular emphasis on the practice of meditation; (c) provides an overview of research into the effects of Buddhist practice on the brain; (d) outlines the relationships between Buddhist psychology and existing forms of psychotherapy; (e) provides an overview of Buddhist approaches to specific psychiatric disorders and the psychological aspects of physical disorders; and (f) discusses the emergence of Buddhist psychotherapy in western societies and explores likely future developments. There is a need for further research into the neuroscientific correlates of Buddhist concepts of mind and the evidence-base for the use of specific techniques (e.g., meditation) in psychotherapeutic practice.

This paper gives an account of some of the major aspects of Buddhist psychology. The survey is confined to the texts of Early, or Theravada, Buddhism — that is, the canonical texts and their early Pali commentaries and related expository texts. The importance of psychological concepts in the philosophy and practice of Buddhism is highlighted. The problems inherent in the study of Buddhist psychology are discussed, including the problem of translation and interpretation. The paper then describes and analyzes several key Early Buddhist psychological notions including: basic drives that motivate behavior, perception and cognition, consciousness, personal development and enlightenment, meditation, and behavior change. The relationship between theory and practice in Buddhist psychology is commented on, with special reference to meditative techniques and other behavior change strategies. Finally, comments are made on the possible interaction between Buddhist and modern psychology.

The Art of Happiness - Teachings of Buddhist Psychology. Mirko Frýba. Translated by Michael H. Kohn. Shambhala, Boston and Shaftesbury 1989. xvi, 301 pp. US$15.95. (Original: Anleitung zum Glücklichsein. Verlag Hermann Bauer KG, Freiburg im Breisgau 1987)

During ancient times, when people were confronted with what we refer to as ‘behaviour disorders’ today, they sought assistance through witchcraft, demonology and diverse means of exorcising evil spirits and demons. Some of the developing religious systems absorbed a part of the rites and ceremonies connected with these healing rituals. There were others who rejected the theory of demonic possession and put forward the counter-theory that mental illness was due to the malfunction of the brain. But there was no clear scientific analysis of behaviour disorders until the beginning of the twentieth century.

There are three terms that are used in the early discourses which can explain the fundamental aspects of the psychological speculations of the Buddha. They are the fundamental aspects because hundreds of other psychological concepts in the early discourses can be brought under one or the other of these three categories. These three categories thus explain the entirety of original Buddhist psychology. They are thought ( citta ), mind ( mano ) and consciousness ( vinnana ). The Saṁyutta-nikāya contains two short discourses (2, 94–97) which outline the nature of these three psychological phenomena and the manner in which they should be treated in order to be free from the suffering associated with human life. They are also wrongly interpreted in order to justify some form of metaphysical idealism. Considering the enormous significance of these two discourses, we propose to begin our discussion with a complete translation of the first of these. Thus has been heard by me. Once the Fortunate One was living in Sāavatthi, at Jeta's garden, in the monastery of Anāthapiṇḍika. Then the Fortunate One addressed the monks: “Monks!” “Yes, Fortunate One,” responded the monks. The Fortunate One said thus: “Monks, an individualist without learning ( assutavā puthujjano ) should be disgusted with, dispassionate toward and released from this body made of the four great elements. What is the reason for this? Monks, seen is the accumulation, also the dissipation, also the grasping and also the abandoning of this body made of the four great elements. Therefore, therein an individualist without learning should be disgusted with, dispassionate toward and released from this body made of the four great elements. […]