Tuesday, September 27, 2005
I Have to Edit this Psychology Paper ....Edited
I am so damn tired I feel drunk and I must put in another labor intensive day at work and school tomorrow!!!! But here I am at 11:30pm finishing the first and most rough draft of my psyc essay due next week ( and I have to be up by 5am.) I might have to turn it in early due to my Journalism class visiting the Rocky Mountain News. I’m sure there is more spelling and grammatical errors in this than there are republicans in Texas but this is just one of those good ole’ metric steps in the right dye-rection. This essay was written based off the article I read called:
Buddhist and Psychological Perspectives on Emotions and Well-Being
Paul Ekman, Richard J. Davidson, Matthieu Ricard, and B. Alan Wallace
It is unknown what benefits of studying Buddhist thought could have on the insights of psychology. Much of the Indo-Tibetan Buddhist practice revolves around the perspective of understanding the nature of reality. Their practices have been cultivated, for over 1000 years, to reach a state called “sukha” which induces non-afflictive happiness. In Western society, it was believed that emotions and intelligence were two separate cognitive states. Current scientific research has shown that any part of the brain which is receptive in conveying emotion is also linked to intellectual activity. Buddhist thought seemed to understand this concept from the beginning because it did not have separate terms for the word emotion and thinking. This represents the idea that there is no difference between thinking and emotion. Whereas, Aristotle believed that no emotion was bad as long as it was used in the proper context. Buddhism makes distinctions about what emotions are afflictive to human nature and impeding to reaching sukha. Three hindering emotions are craving, hatred and delusion. In our society, a craving is not considered harmful unless it is compulsive. It has been shown that, in people engaging in activities of their compulsive desire, a natural chemical called dopamine is released into the brain. This raises the question, how does a person’s brain that has had a compulsive desire react to such stimulus after undergoing Buddhist practice? In Buddhism, hatred is considered to be a toxin in the pursuit of non-afflicted happiness. In western society hatred is not always considered to be a bad thing. If someone goes through something extremely dramatic, like the murder of a loved one, that form of hatred is accepted by our culture but the prolonged manifestation of this emotion could affect a person’s long term metal health. In western culture, it is common to accept a violent temper as a person’s
nature. This sort of temperament fosters a belief that a person is a completely separate entity from other people. Buddhists believe that the nature of a person is dynamic and ever-changing and has an important effect on a person’s surrounding environment. Thus, the studying of Buddhist thought could aid in a person’s realization of his interdependence with his environment. The study of Buddhism could contribute to physiological studies. Buddhism’s practices also differ from psychology by not limiting its methods to the purely sick of the culture. Unlike psychology, Buddhism is not only occupied with regulating emotions of a considered faulty trait therefore it has practices that could aid in anyone achieving a better understanding of his emotions. The training involved in reaching sukha is decades long; such a cumulative practice in understanding human thought could shed more insights into the way psychology can have a long lasting effect on all people (Ekman, Davidson, Ricard, & Wallace, 2005) .
This article was a concisely written general introduction of how the knowledge of Indo-Tibetan Buddhism can affect psychological research. The authors utilized many sources in substantiating their point of view. In fact, the article was inspired by the authors’ meeting with, perhaps one of the most important resources on Tibetan Buddhism, the Dalai Lama himself. It seemed that the point of this article was to spark a general interest in how western society could benefit from learning Buddhist practices. Although, this tenant is one that could be elaborated on for many pages, the authors did a good job finding two compelling main points. First, they introduced sukha which is the concept of reaching enduring happiness. Second, the authors discuss afflictive and non-afflictive emotional traits which they thoroughly developed with two sets of elaborations. The first elaboration was “The Buddhist View” and the other gave research directions on how these ideas could be tested. This paper was written clearly because ideas that would not normally be found in our culture such as sukha and duhkha were well defined (Ekmanet al., 2005) .
This article sparks an interest in eastern thought; it was concisely written and was well organized but I think that the authors falsely infer that Buddhism can be practiced. The authors’ premise in differentiating psychology from Buddhism by asserting that psychology’s main purpose is to treat the mentally ill while the pursuit of sukha is for the betterment of everyone was misleading (Ekman et al., 2005) . Comparing Buddhism with psychology is like the platitude of going to a restaurant and confusing the main dish for the menu. Buddhism is the nourishment which sates the eastern soul. Psychology is only a tool (a fork to better build my analogy) to aid in consuming the food that relinquishes the western soul. I know from my personal study of Buddhist thought that as there is not a direct translation for the word emotion from its founding culture into English, there is also not a separate word for religion as such. Buddhism is a way of life.
To directly compare psychology with eastern thought, I would say: Psychology is to the west as Koans are to the east. Koans are the conundrums used by Zen Buddhist masters to trip up their students and help them realize their spontaneous nature. An example of a common Koan is, “What is the sound of one had clapping?” These unusual and nonsensical questions are how a master pits his students’ nature against their logic and forces them into various incarnations of the “a-ha moment.” Only to exemplify how Buddhism is a way of life, a typical student undertakes its study for over 30 years. The Koan is only one of the tools used in those 30 years. In the west psychology is akin to Koans because it also perplexes a person with their troubling problems and helps them to realize the answers can be found within themselves. This form of treatment can also induce the “a-ha moment.” I agree with the authors’ point that typically psychology’s only purpose is to treat psychopathology and is not involved in other long term learning of skills (Ekman et al., 2005) .That point only proves my idea that psychology is a useful tool like the Koan. Psychology aids in giving a person certain problem solving skills but I wouldn’t find it feasible for it to metamorphosize into becoming a way of life.
Lastly, I don’t believe a person needs Indo-Tibetan Buddhism to reach a sukha like state of mind. I believe that there are people in our culture with a profound ability for self realization and observation that they are in an enlightened state. I also think they reached this state by living in a way which is uniquely their own. The authors did a good job of pointing out the existence of a lifestyle in which an enlightened state could be reached. They just didn’t see the forest for the trees by comparing the western tool of psychology with the eastern way of life.
References
I am so damn tired I feel drunk and I must put in another labor intensive day at work and school tomorrow!!!! But here I am at 11:30pm finishing the first and most rough draft of my psyc essay due next week ( and I have to be up by 5am.) I might have to turn it in early due to my Journalism class visiting the Rocky Mountain News. I’m sure there is more spelling and grammatical errors in this than there are republicans in Texas but this is just one of those good ole’ metric steps in the right dye-rection. This essay was written based off the article I read called:
Buddhist and Psychological Perspectives on Emotions and Well-Being
Paul Ekman, Richard J. Davidson, Matthieu Ricard, and B. Alan Wallace
It is unknown what benefits of studying Buddhist thought could have on the insights of psychology. Much of the Indo-Tibetan Buddhist practice revolves around the perspective of understanding the nature of reality. Their practices have been cultivated, for over 1000 years, to reach a state called “sukha” which induces non-afflictive happiness. In Western society, it was believed that emotions and intelligence were two separate cognitive states. Current scientific research has shown that any part of the brain which is receptive in conveying emotion is also linked to intellectual activity. Buddhist thought seemed to understand this concept from the beginning because it did not have separate terms for the word emotion and thinking. This represents the idea that there is no difference between thinking and emotion. Whereas, Aristotle believed that no emotion was bad as long as it was used in the proper context. Buddhism makes distinctions about what emotions are afflictive to human nature and impeding to reaching sukha. Three hindering emotions are craving, hatred and delusion. In our society, a craving is not considered harmful unless it is compulsive. It has been shown that, in people engaging in activities of their compulsive desire, a natural chemical called dopamine is released into the brain. This raises the question, how does a person’s brain that has had a compulsive desire react to such stimulus after undergoing Buddhist practice? In Buddhism, hatred is considered to be a toxin in the pursuit of non-afflicted happiness. In western society hatred is not always considered to be a bad thing. If someone goes through something extremely dramatic, like the murder of a loved one, that form of hatred is accepted by our culture but the prolonged manifestation of this emotion could affect a person’s long term metal health. In western culture, it is common to accept a violent temper as a person’s
nature. This sort of temperament fosters a belief that a person is a completely separate entity from other people. Buddhists believe that the nature of a person is dynamic and ever-changing and has an important effect on a person’s surrounding environment. Thus, the studying of Buddhist thought could aid in a person’s realization of his interdependence with his environment. The study of Buddhism could contribute to physiological studies. Buddhism’s practices also differ from psychology by not limiting its methods to the purely sick of the culture. Unlike psychology, Buddhism is not only occupied with regulating emotions of a considered faulty trait therefore it has practices that could aid in anyone achieving a better understanding of his emotions. The training involved in reaching sukha is decades long; such a cumulative practice in understanding human thought could shed more insights into the way psychology can have a long lasting effect on all people (Ekman, Davidson, Ricard, & Wallace, 2005) .
This article was a concisely written general introduction of how the knowledge of Indo-Tibetan Buddhism can affect psychological research. The authors utilized many sources in substantiating their point of view. In fact, the article was inspired by the authors’ meeting with, perhaps one of the most important resources on Tibetan Buddhism, the Dalai Lama himself. It seemed that the point of this article was to spark a general interest in how western society could benefit from learning Buddhist practices. Although, this tenant is one that could be elaborated on for many pages, the authors did a good job finding two compelling main points. First, they introduced sukha which is the concept of reaching enduring happiness. Second, the authors discuss afflictive and non-afflictive emotional traits which they thoroughly developed with two sets of elaborations. The first elaboration was “The Buddhist View” and the other gave research directions on how these ideas could be tested. This paper was written clearly because ideas that would not normally be found in our culture such as sukha and duhkha were well defined (Ekmanet al., 2005) .
This article sparks an interest in eastern thought; it was concisely written and was well organized but I think that the authors falsely infer that Buddhism can be practiced. The authors’ premise in differentiating psychology from Buddhism by asserting that psychology’s main purpose is to treat the mentally ill while the pursuit of sukha is for the betterment of everyone was misleading (Ekman et al., 2005) . Comparing Buddhism with psychology is like the platitude of going to a restaurant and confusing the main dish for the menu. Buddhism is the nourishment which sates the eastern soul. Psychology is only a tool (a fork to better build my analogy) to aid in consuming the food that relinquishes the western soul. I know from my personal study of Buddhist thought that as there is not a direct translation for the word emotion from its founding culture into English, there is also not a separate word for religion as such. Buddhism is a way of life.
To directly compare psychology with eastern thought, I would say: Psychology is to the west as Koans are to the east. Koans are the conundrums used by Zen Buddhist masters to trip up their students and help them realize their spontaneous nature. An example of a common Koan is, “What is the sound of one had clapping?” These unusual and nonsensical questions are how a master pits his students’ nature against their logic and forces them into various incarnations of the “a-ha moment.” Only to exemplify how Buddhism is a way of life, a typical student undertakes its study for over 30 years. The Koan is only one of the tools used in those 30 years. In the west psychology is akin to Koans because it also perplexes a person with their troubling problems and helps them to realize the answers can be found within themselves. This form of treatment can also induce the “a-ha moment.” I agree with the authors’ point that typically psychology’s only purpose is to treat psychopathology and is not involved in other long term learning of skills (Ekman et al., 2005) .That point only proves my idea that psychology is a useful tool like the Koan. Psychology aids in giving a person certain problem solving skills but I wouldn’t find it feasible for it to metamorphosize into becoming a way of life.
Lastly, I don’t believe a person needs Indo-Tibetan Buddhism to reach a sukha like state of mind. I believe that there are people in our culture with a profound ability for self realization and observation that they are in an enlightened state. I also think they reached this state by living in a way which is uniquely their own. The authors did a good job of pointing out the existence of a lifestyle in which an enlightened state could be reached. They just didn’t see the forest for the trees by comparing the western tool of psychology with the eastern way of life.
References
Ekman, P. , Davidson, R. J. , Ricard, M . , & Wallace, B. A. (2005) . Buddhist and
Psychological Perspectives on Emotions and Well-Being. American
Psychological Society, 14, (2), 59-63.
# posted by Nick D @ 11:38 PM 
