Buddhist Perspective Research Articles

Visits to Sacred Places from Buddhist Perspective

Visits to Sacred Places from Buddhist Perspective

Animal Suffering from a Buddhist Perspective: A Reinterpretation of the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path

Animal Suffering from a Buddhist Perspective: A Reinterpretation of the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path

Advocacy for a Buddhist approach to dementia care

ABSTRACT Despite the extensive literature on Christian and Muslim perspectives on dementia care, there has been an absence of scholarly research on dementia care from a Buddhist perspective. What appears to be largely missing from this discourse is the potential of incorporating traditional Buddhist beliefs and practices as part of a comprehensive approach to contemplative, spiritual caregiving for people living with dementia. A multi-faith approach to dementia care is necessary to truly appreciate the diverse spiritual/religious needs of individuals with this condition. Contemplative care informed by Buddhist ethics, beliefs, and practices is an approach that deserves further exploration. For chaplains and healthcare professionals who identify themselves as Buddhists, it is important to develop care strategies that are congruent with their spiritual and cultural beliefs to effectively support the well-being of individuals living with dementia.

Mindful Parenting and Gratitude to Parents: A Guideline from Buddhist Perspective

Mindful Parenting and Gratitude to Parents: A Guideline from Buddhist Perspective

It is not just ‘the opposite of jealousy’: a Buddhist perspective on the emotion of compersion in consensually non-monogamous relationships

Compersion is an affective state commonly discussed in the context of consensually non-monogamous relationships. It is typically described as a positive emotional reaction to one’s partner’s enjoying time and/or intimacy with another person, sort of ‘the opposite of jealousy’. Recent years have seen an increased interest in this seemingly startling emotion. Part of what makes understanding compersion so difficult is the mononormative expectations of our culture. We suggest that a non-Western, in particular Buddhist, perspective might be more helpful to understand that love and/or intimacy need not be an affair between two people only. We approach compersion through a Buddhist lens based on the ‘four immeasurables’, i.e. non-egocentric states that Buddhists take to promote well-being, and their ‘near enemies’, i.e. states which are easily conflated with them, but egocentric and harmful. Our goal is not to formulate a definition of compersion, nor to raise a normative bar for anyone who feels compersion, but to describe important facets of it that stand out more clearly against a Buddhist background than they might otherwise do. Such an approach not only enriches our understanding of compersion but contributes to people’s flourishing in all kinds of relationships and shows that non-monogamous relationships might be compatible with some forms of Buddhist practice.

Mindful Encounters: A Buddhist Revisitation of Daniel J. Siegel’s Mind Definition

The mind holds crucial significance in Buddhism that encompasses a distinct understanding. While Daniel Siegel defines the “mind” as an embodied and relational process responsible for regulating energy and information flow, this article evaluates it from the Buddhist perspective. Here, I conduct a succinct analysis of this definition, suggesting potential modifications from a Buddhist perspective. Though Buddhism may recognize the mind’s role in regulating the flow of energy and information during dynamic interactions between individuals and their natural and social surroundings, as proposed by Siegel, it also acknowledges the intricate process of forming karmic imprints. Within this framework, I propose revisiting Siegel’s definition through the lens of Buddhist karma theory and steering towards a middle way of comprehending our mind, concluding that this revision not only enhances completeness but also practicality for mindfulness exercises.

Awakening from within: an exploration of self-healing through Buddhist approach

ABSTRACT This paper explores the transformative power of the Buddhist perspective in self-healing, rooted in the Four Noble Truths and the Eight-Fold Path. It emphasizes recognizing pain and self-stigma as essential milestones, highlighting compassion’s role in alleviating suffering and fostering resilience. The study underscores the significance of spiritual practices for self-regulation, enabling the identification and transformation of suffering. By integrating these principles and techniques, individuals can embark on a transformative journey of self-discovery and liberation from suffering. Offering pragmatic guidance, this study serves as a valuable resource for those seeking purposeful paths to self-healing and holistic well-being.

Depersonalization, Meditation, and the Experience of (No-)Self

This paper aims to contribute to an integrated understanding of what goes missing in adverse meditation experiences and in cases of depersonalization disorder. Depersonalization disorder is characterized by distressing alterations in, and sometimes the complete disappearance of, the 'I'-sense. This paper examines the nature of the 'I'-sense and what it means to lose it from a Buddhist perspective. We argue for a nihilist position that the loss of the sense of self arises from misidentifications of the psychophysical complex with non-self elements, such as memories, thoughts, or body movements. Drawing from meditation experiences and depersonalization symptoms, we propose that the sense of self is not a static entity given in experience but fluctuates between various senses of self (and no-self) depending on circumstances. This pluralistic understanding of the various senses of self offers a more nuanced understanding of symptoms in depersonalization disorder and adverse effects of meditation practices.

Chan, Garden, and Poetry: The Tidal Sounds in the Changshou Monastery Garden of Canton in the Qing Dynasty

The Caodong School (曹洞宗) advocates the integration of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism (三教會通) and interprets Chan through the I Ching (以易釋禪). During the transition from the Ming to the Qing Dynasty, there was extensive interaction and mobility between the Ming loyalists (遺民) and Chan monks. This accelerated the secularization of monks and promoted the construction of temple gardens, which were expressed and preserved through literary Chan poetry. This study explores the relationship between Buddhist concepts and garden construction through a specific case, the Changshou Monastery Garden (長壽寺花園) in Canton (now Guangzhou) during the Qing Dynasty. This study examines how the Chan master Shilian Dashan 石濂大汕 (1633–1705), who journeyed to Dang Trong (Cochinchina 廣南) to spread Buddhist teachings, shaped the design and layout of the temple garden, reflecting Buddhist ideals and Caodong principles. This study analyzes the changes in landscape at the Changshou Monastery Garden, according to “the sound of tides” (潮音) from a Buddhist perspective. It also reveals how Dashan, as both a monk and a literati, blended Chan and Chinese philosophy in making the garden. The cultural resonance of tides within religious and literati traditions furnishes novel insights and prospects for the development of garden spaces.

A Comparison of Human Life in Christian and Chinese Buddhist Bioethics

Bioethics provides a new perspective for the comparative study of Christianity and Chinese Buddhism. This paper provides a comprehensive comparison of the sources, states of existence, and fundamental principles and purposes of the Christian and Chinese Buddhist perspectives on human life, focusing specifically on the realm of bioethics. It places special emphasis on teachings about God’s creation and dependent origination, original sin and Buddhist causality, as well as love and compassion. Despite the significant geographic distance between Christianity and Chinese Buddhism, the dialogue highlights potential cultural differences and interpretations. It also demonstrates mutual acceptance and the process of redefining one’s own identity. Religious bioethics greatly benefits from a comprehensive study of various religions from around the world. It aims to encourage cross-cultural and interdisciplinary research on different religions globally. It promotes religious bioethics as a relevant field of study.

Incorporating Islamic Environmentalism in Approaches to Conservation in the Trans-Himalaya

Conservationists increasingly acknowledge the value of co-productive conservation efforts that incorporate the Indigenous perspective. In the Trans-Himalayan context, they have begun to incorporate the Buddhist perspective in recent interventions; yet, there is an omission of Islamic environmentalism in these conversations. This omission is even more glaring when one considers that Muslims make up a significant percentage of the Indigenous population of the Trans-Himalaya. A review of the literature reveals a considerable body of Islamic scholarship on sustainable resource management in extremely harsh climates. In fact, co-productive conservation efforts in collaboration with local Muslim communities elsewhere in the world have been very impactful. While scholarship on the history of Islam in the Trans-Himalaya is limited, historians agree that, rather than being forced upon a passive Indigenous population, the widespread adoption of Islam was an active choice by a population that had plenty of exposure to different ideas and belief systems via trade. Supplementing these findings with qualitative research at the grassroots level among the Dard-Shin Scheduled Tribe in the Trans-Himalaya, the authors find further evidence of the syncretic blending of Indigenous and Islamic beliefs, deployed in service of effective natural resource management. It is, thus, proposed that future conservation efforts in this region would be well advised to adopt a more expansive approach to the Indigenous perspective.

불교적 관점에서 본 분노조절 연구

The purpose of this paper is to find a way to control anger that becomes karma for a peaceful life of individuals rather than groups from the Buddhist perspective. This is not a sense of moral obligation, but an individual's free will which means loving oneself and liberating from oneself. Anger is a harmful mind. Anger belongs to anger among the three harmful minds from a Buddhist point of view. Anger is intended to be malicious. Malice stems from dissatisfaction. Therefore, the angry acts caused by the malice of dissatisfaction destroy both the life of an individual and the life of others. In a society that has to live in a group, the problem of anger is difficult to disappear in the past, present, and future. However, from a Buddhist point of view, I expect that if the suffering of anger is prevented and controlled in advance, I will be able to live an individual's peaceful life, which is the purpose of this paper. Therefore, in this study, we will first look at the mechanism of anger from a Buddhist perspective and then divide it into two ways to control it. The first is reflect on oneself from a preventive point of view, make a surrounding environment, and the other is to control it when anger occurs.

『네 사중주』에 표현된 시간과 불교의 찰나 생멸

Medieval scholastic philosopher Augustine’s proposition on the question of time is also the central theme expressed in Four Quartets. Regarding the consideration of time, there have been many pioneers’ opinions throughout the East and West and scholars studying Four Quartets in Korea. But their views did not seem to be unified. The concept of time in Four Quartets can be broadly classified into three categories. The first is the concept of time in which the beginning and the end are interconnected, and cyclical. Second, it is divided into the time of phenomenal life and the time of pursuing transcendence. Third, it is a timeless concept of an eternal present where past and future are merged and conquered. On the other hand, my personal view on time is that it is instantaneous changes between birth and death as discussed from Buddhist perspective. Since time is a product of human discernment and in reality exists only as an idea, it can be said to be an illusion, virtuality, ‘Nothingness.’ However, another arguement is a ‘Nothingness but Somethingness’ rather than a ‘Nothingness to Nothingness’. This is pretty similar to “The still point”, “Incarnation” of Four Quartets, ‘Nirvana Samatha’ of Buddhism, ‘Uncertainty principle’ of quantum mechanics and ‘Pure consciousness’ and ‘True self’ of seers. However, I think it is very difficult to accurately express the definition of time in language that is also a product of discernment.

Thudong Practices and Mindfulness A Qualitative Literature Review from the Buddhist Perspective

Thudong Practices and Mindfulness A Qualitative Literature Review from the Buddhist Perspective

Three Revisionary Implications of Buddhist Animal Ethics

Many accept the following three theses in animal ethics. First, although animal welfare should not be—or at least, need not be—our top moral priority, it is not a trivial one either. Second, if an animal is sentient, then it is a moral patient. Third, the extinction of an animal species is a tragic outcome that we have moral reason to prevent. I argue that a traditional (i.e., pre-modern) Buddhist perspective pushes against the first thesis and that a naturalized Buddhist perspective is inconsistent with the latter two.

Can AI do Spiritual Research? A Zen Buddhist Perspective

This article invigorates the ongoing conversation in the MSR field on the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in global consciousness and spiritual research. The author defines spiritual research in terms of basic philosophical and methodological characteristics. She then highlights specific features of Zen-informed spiritual research to illustrate what global consciousness means in Zen Buddhist ontology and why spiritual research is the type of research needed for achieving global consciousness. She suggests that AI cannot replace human agency in doing spiritual research, although AI tools may be used to augment the modeling and communication of spiritual research findings. Moreover, uncurbed application of AI tools in social sciences may perpetuate the dehumanizing tendency of functionalist research. Lastly (in an appendix), she provides a first-person narrative to demonstrate autoethnographic spiritual writing that accentuates the epistemological significance of mystical experiences, dreams and intuition, and the axiological value of human suffering and emotions as gateways to spiritual transformation.

Exploring Dāna practice through the Shikoku sacred pilgrimage journal

The purpose of this study is to examine the act of Dāna(practice of giving) occurring during the Shikoku pilgrimage through literature from a Buddhist perspective and to explore the changes in pilgrims through this act. The research questions are as follows: Firstly, through the travelogues of Shikoku pilgrimage participants, we aim to examine various Dāna practices taking place in Shikoku and explore the pilgrims' sentiments from a Buddhist perspective. Secondly, we seek to investigate the changes in pilgrims' minds induced by Dāna practices during the pilgrimage. The Shikoku pilgrimage narrative in this study is based on published books and officially serialized documents on the internet. The books referenced include works by Gyeongin Seon, Kim Hyo-seon, Choi Seong-hyun, Choi Sang-hee. Internet sources consulted include pilgrimage narratives by Kim Nam-hee, Park Ji-san, Choi Hyeon-gyeong. The various practice of giving (Dāna) in the Shikoku pilgrimage were classified into material giving (Jae-si), Dharma giving (Beop-si), and fearless giving (Muoe-si) from a Buddhist perspective. The cognitive, emotional, and behavioral changes of pilgrims through acts of giving were comprehensively organized. Through the research, the diverse acts of giving in the Shikoku pilgrimage, performed by givers, pilgrims, and the objects of giving, all embody the pure "selfless giving," characterized by kindness and a heart of blessing without conditions, deeply touching the hearts of pilgrims. This emotional response manifested in various forms, including feelings of strength, joy, happiness, gratitude, positivity, reassurance, gratitude for the fourfold assembly, profound emotional experiences that helped forget pain and relieve stress headaches. The psychological and emotional changes in these pilgrims not only stopped at their own happiness but also led to a reciprocal cycle of giving back to others. The transformation of pilgrims through the giving practice of the Shikoku pilgrimage is expected to contribute to creating a warm society with altruistic characteristics.

The psychoanalytic unconscious and Buddhist unconscious (alaya-consciousness)

The unconscious is a central concept in psychoanalysis, and alaya-consciousness is a central concept in Buddhism. Although the unconscious is not a dominate concept in Western philosophy and psychology, there is a great deal of correspondence between the unconscious in psychoanalysis and alaya-consciousness in Buddhism. Psychoanalysis and Buddhism agree that the conscious is only a small part of the human mind, and that the vast majority of it is not the conscious. The compatibility of the unconscious in psychoanalysis and alaya-consciousness in Buddhism provides an important way to localise psychoanalysis in China. The Buddhist theory of alaya-consciousness is deeper and more systematic than the psychoanalytic theory of the unconscious, and this difference also provides the possibility of improving theory and technology of psychoanalysis from a Buddhist perspective. In addition, the integration of Buddhism and psychoanalysis is an important way to modernise Buddhism.

자애(Metta)명상과 ADHD 청소년의 또래 관계 개선에 관한 연관성 연구

This paper is a study that revealed that Metta meditation helps improve peer relationships among young people with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). I hope that young people living with ADHD symptoms can recognize differences in viewpoints of people around them with a negative perspective, recognize differences for themselves through psychological and emotional stability by combining medication and Buddhist meditation to solve external problems, and they will live a happy life as a member of society by improving their self-esteem and developing interpersonal skills by utilizing their strengths and weaknesses with people around them. 
 Its purpose is to find out how Buddhist meditation can influence healing in ADHD adolescents in relation to peer relationships. Countries, local communities, and private institutions are studying various methods and establishing new organizations to try to solve problems. But It seems difficult to find a fundamental solution. Therefore, this study aims to approach solutions for young people with ADHD through Buddhist meditation from a Buddhist perspective.
 In this article, I first examined the theoretical background of improving peer relationships and Metta meditation, and considered Metta meditation. We also discussed whether there is a possibility of improving peer relationships among young people with ADHD. Metta meditation is a literature review that reveals that emotional composure has the opposite effect of improving interpersonal skills due to excellent coping ability.
 Through this study, it has been revealed that adolescents with ADHD are immature in interaction in peer relationships due to lack of performance in social skills due to lack of attention deficit hyperactivity, and impulsiveness characteristics. Also, adolescents with they have difficulty controlling their emotions and have a tendency to be less responsive to questions than efficiently communicating information. On the other hand, it has been proven that charity meditation stimulates the right brain, activates parasympathetic nerves, increases endorphins in the brain, and is effective in improving peer relationships with positive emotions. Through Metta meditation, ADHD adolescents can look forward to the effect of developing personal resources and helping them resolve conflicts in relationships with peers or people around them by looking at their minds.

Early Buddhist perspectives on social memorialization

Social disasters are more than just accidents or technological disasters, they are defined as disasters stemming from a variety of causes that affect human life, property, and the stability of a country or society. These disasters can take many forms, including terrorism, crime, and violence, and have a profound impact on individuals and the public. How we respond after an event, especially how we treat victims, is crucial. In cases such as the 1989 Hillsborough stadium disaster in the United Kingdom and the 2022 Itaewon tragedy in South Korea, we see a lack of adequate and sufficient response, and the nature of the problem becomes an ideological conflict. This is the result of a misperception of reality and intentional distortion of the problem, which in turn leads to social conflict and increased costs. In Buddhism, these problems can be solved through compassion and right view. Resolution is about effectively healing the aftermath of a disaster and changing our consciousness to prevent it from happening again. When the social memorialization and healing of a disaster is done properly, our society can regain stability and the victims can return to their daily lives. In particular, we can effectively respond to social disasters through four immeasurable states of mind based on the Four Noble Truths.