Thinking and Feeling: A Buddhist Perspective

The work ‘Thinking and Feeling’ edited by Robert C. Solomon may be considered as a landmark in the history of the philosophy of the emotions. The work also has assembled together some of the best minds in the Anglo American Traditions. The central focus in this work is to mediate between the physiological arousal theories of emotions and the cognitive appraisal theories of emotions. My article is an attempt to mediate from my Asian background and in specific terms using the Buddhist perspectives on emotion studies, to find answers, a subject on which I have worked over several decades. The Buddha has discouraged people in attempting to find ultimate answers to the body- mind relationships, but use pragmatic and practical perspectives for a two way interactionism. Thus, in the Buddhist analysis the mental and the cognitive, as well as bodily and the physiological are recognised, thus giving room for a holistic understanding of emotions concepts. In fact, Buddhism expects the body, feelings, perceptions, interpretations, and evaluations as facets of emotion concepts. The second point is the domination of the metaphor of reasons as the charioteer in managing unruly emotions in the West. But Buddhism introduces the factor of ‘mindfulness’ as an important ally in the management of emotions. My personal work in therapy and counselling has helped me to explore new dimensions for managing emotions through mindfulness practice.     

中国佛教团体与慈善公益事业研究评述

佛教在历史上是社会救助的重要力量之一。当代佛教团体对慈善公益事业更是不遗余力,取得了巨大成绩,佛教慈善研究因此备受关注。本文把学者相关成果梳理为佛教慈善思想,善书、功过格与慈善观念,寺院经济和古代佛教慈善,台湾佛教与社会福利,当代大陆宗教团体参与慈善事业等五个方面,并指出,基于跨学科的田野调查和综合分析,对佛教慈善组织以及宗教慈善的法律探讨乃是未来研究的一个重点。     

西方认知神经科学视域下的佛教禅修

禅修与正念日益成为西方学术界认知神经科学领域的研究热点,其多数重要发现都是以重视禅修实践的佛教僧侣为研究对象。本文首先从人物传记和社会风潮两个视角,勾勒佛教如何进入科学家的研究视野,之后阐述该领域开创性的实验,最终认为二者的结合,不仅是开创了一个新的研究领域,并且将促进对人类意识的科学研究。     

A Longitudinal Person-Centered Perspective on Positive and Negative Affect at Work

Abstract

This research examines how the direction and intensity of employee’s positive and negative affect at work combine within different profiles, and the relations between these profiles and theoretically-relevant predictors (psychological need satisfaction and supervisor autonomy support) and outcomes (work-family conflict, absenteeism, and turnover intentions). A total sample of 491 firefighters completed our measures initially, and 139 of those completed the same measures again four months later, allowing us to examine the stability of these affect profiles over time. Latent profile analyses and latent transition analyses revealed five identical profiles across the two measurements occasions: (1) Low Negative Affect Facilitators; (2) Moderately Low Positive Affect Incapacitators; (3) High Positive Affect Facilitators; (4) Very Low Positive Affect Incapacitators; and (5) Normative. Membership into Profiles 3, 4, and 5 was very stable over time. In contrast, Profiles 1 and 2 were associated with a highly unstable membership over time. The highest levels of work-family conflict, absenteeism, and turnover intentions were associated with the Very Low Positive Affect Incapacitators. In contrast, the lowest levels of turnover intentions were associated with the Low Negative Affect Facilitators and High Positive Affect Facilitators.     

Bullying at Work: A Psychoanalytic Perspective

The paper traces aspects of the history and development of work in this area. It places workplace bullying on a continuum which straddles workplace homicide, violence at work, sexual harassment and the harnessing of the aggressive instincts into effective work. Thought is given to the question of which behaviours should be considered to constitute workplace bullying. A recent example of bullying in restaurant kitchens is examined in more detail. The paper concludes by looking at issues around the responsibility of individuals and organizations to understand and manage bullying at work. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Work Motivation and Performance: A Social Identity Perspective

Work motivation and performance were analysed from the perspective of social identity theory and self-categorisation theory. Central in this analysis is the relation of organisational identification with the motivation to exert effort on behalf of the collective. A theoretical analysis as well as a review of empirical studies of the relationship of organisational identification with motivation and performance leads to the conclusion that identification is positively related to work motivation, task performance, and contextual performance to the extent that (a) social identity is salient, and (b) high performance is perceived to be in the group's or organisation's interest.     

Rhetoric and the Reception Theory of Rationality in the Work of Two Buddhist Philosophers

Although rhetoric is not a category of ancient Indian philosophy, this paper argues that Śāntarakṣita and Kamalaśīla, 2 eighth-century Indian Buddhist philosophers, can nonetheless be seen to embrace a rhetorical conception of rationality. That is, while these thinkers are strong proponents of rational analysis and philosophical argumentation as tools for attaining certainty, they also uphold the contingent nature of all such processes. Drawing on the categories of the New Rhetoric, this paper argues that these Buddhist thinkers understand philosophical argumentation to be directed at a universal audience of rational beings, where this universal audience is not an actual audience but a rhetorical one constructed through the author’s particular and historically contingent conception of what counts as rational. A reception theory of rationality is one that holds that the rationality of an argument depends upon its acceptance by a rational audience. When philosophers recognize the historically contingent nature of what counts as rational, they can embrace a reception theory of rationality that neither reduces the rational to mere opinion nor restricts it to a single, absolute, and timeless standard.

马克斯·韦伯的佛教伦理观述评

马克斯·韦伯的佛教伦理观是其宗教社会学思想的重要组成部分,是服从于“新教伦理与资本主义精神”论题的一个反证。它指出了佛教伦理出世品格的一面及其印度文化根源,但与佛教的思想和现实并不完全相符,且隐含着韦伯推崇新教伦理的价值偏向。韦伯论题遭遇来自理论和实践的困境,是否意味着可从佛教中发掘某些缓解“现代化”危机的精神资源呢？     

图景与意象:佛教艺术视野下的“拈花微笑”

中国禅宗奉菩提达摩为东土初祖,而西天祖师可上溯至摩诃迦叶,据说当时在灵山法会上,大梵天王向释迦牟尼佛献上了一枝金色优钵罗花,世尊即拈花示众。众不解其意,皆默然无语。唯有大弟子摩诃迦叶心领神会,破颜微笑。世尊便将不立文字、教外别传的微妙法门传给摩诃迦叶。此便是被称为"禅门第一公案"的"拈花微笑"。在传说和相关记载中,"释迦拈花,迦叶微笑"一直被当作禅宗的开始。禅宗经典也确以"拈花微笑"为纲宗:"纲者,提挈众目之主脑;宗者,汇合万流之朝归。     

From Ethics to Aesthetics: A Reconsideration of Buddhist Monastic Rules in the Light of Michel Foucault's Work on Ethics

This article considers the recent debate over the nature of Buddhist ethics largely conducted by scholars who have argued in different ways that Buddhist ethics may be assimilated to or may correspond with different forms of western ethical theory.

I argue that the interpretation of Buddhist texts, and in particular the Vinaya, in light of western ethical theory creates misunderstanding. I argue that in each case of a supposed ethical dilemma, Buddhist ethics should be seen as empirical, since the ultimate point of reference for the choices involved in a proposed action lies in the purity and wholesomeness of each individual action.

My approach follows Foucault's argument for scepticism with regard to the notions of a universal nature or of a universal rationality. I argue that it is not instructive to read Buddhist texts against generalized standards. Rather, it is more productive to regard ethics as creating a space for the ethical, not in a normative sense but one arising from personal practice as related to individual circumstances.

At the same time, this article outlines the role of beauty and its role in ethical formation. I suggest that one interpretation of Theravada Buddhism has regarded beauty as a form of sensuous pleasure, which is seen as a danger for someone on the spiritual path. However, an alternative reading of such texts is more sympathetic to the educative role of beauty.     

从新教伦理再看传统佛教伦理的现代困境

大约100年前,中国的佛教改革家太虚和德国的社会学家马克斯·韦伯相继注意到了佛教和基督教两者与社会经济之间的亲疏关系,并对此予以了研究,但由于条件所限,研究工作均未能深入.之后近百年,东西方许多有识之士对造成佛教、佛教徒和佛教国家在适应资本主义经济生产方式方面长期落后的原因进行了探讨,这种探讨在现代社会尤其受人关注.本文通过对佛教和基督教信仰模式的对比,对形成二教经济差距的原因进行了尝试性的研究分析.     

天台佛学评议

本文从天台佛学的形成和发展、天台佛学的基本特征、天台佛学的终极关怀、天台佛学的正统王朝观念、天台佛学的历史评价五个方面,比较全面地阐述了中国佛教天台宗的思想学说、理论体系、仪规制度,以及该宗与他宗的关系、对他宗思想的影响,并提出对该宗的具体评价意见。     

The Engineering Undergraduate Experience: A Qualitative Perspective

College experience is central to the life of adolescents. Apart from academic tasks, identity development is an important feature of this developmental stage. This paper reports two studies. One study illustrates the qualitative aspects of the college experience. The second study investigates factors affecting the academic performance of undergraduate engineering students. Time management and its links with college experience and academic performance are explored in this paper. The formation of identity emerges as an overarching concept.     

Questions in the Making: A Review Essay on Zen and Buddhist Ethics in the Context of Buddhist and Comparative Ethics

In reviewing four works from the 1990s—monographs by Christopher Ives and Phillip Olson on Zen Buddhist ethics, Damien Keown's treatment of Indian Buddhist ethics, and an edited collection on Buddhism and human rights—this article examines recent scholarship on Zen Buddhist ethics in light of issues of Buddhist and comparative ethics. Its highlights selected themes in the notional and real encounter of Zen Buddhism with Western thought and culture as presented in the reviewed works and identifies issues and problems for further consideration, in particular, problems of comparative and cross-cultural understanding and the articulation and redefinition of Zen Buddhist tradition.     

A Critical Examination of the Demand-Control-Support Model from a Work Psychological Perspective

The most striking development in modern work organizations is the changing nature of work itself and its increased mental and emotional workload. Since the early sixties, many attempts have been made to gain more insight into the particular relationship between work-related psychosocial risks and employee health by means of theoretical models. One of these models is the Demand-Control-Support (DCS) Model. The DCS Model distinguishes itself from other work stress models by its simplicity and the extent to which it has gained a paradigmatic function in research in the field of work and health. The aim of the current paper is to examine its theoretical and empirical status from a work psychological perspective. Studies into the DCS Model can roughly be divided into (1) epidemiological studies, (2) cross-sectional, homogenous, or heterogenous studies, (3) psychophysiological studies, and (4) intervention studies. It is concluded that (1) epidemiological studies offer the most support for the DCS Model, (2) its interaction hypothesis is not often supported, and (3) examples of carefully examined evaluations of interventions are rather scarce. Furthermore, nine critical comments on the model are discussed. In conclusion, although there are various relevant comments on the model, the core structure of the model still holds. Directions for future research are depicted.     

社会工作立法比较与我国的社会工作立法

不少国家与地区的社会工作立法都建立起社会工作职业准入、执业注册、名衔使用规制和强制后续教育等法制,其制度价值在于保障社会工作服务的品质、维护社会工作师的职业声誉、促进社会工作的生存和可持续发展。我国现有持证社会工作人才和财政投入虽远远不能满足社会对社会工作服务的需求,但在社会工作服务市场起步之际采取以保障社会工作服务品质为导向、以注册社会工作师名衔使用规制为中心的社会工作师法立法模式,对引导和规范社会工作服务市场,保证社会工作服务品质,维护社会工作职业声誉和社会工作服务对象权益,促进我国社会工作可持续发展具有重要意义。     

Cities, Migrant Incorporation, and Ethnicity: A Network Perspective on Boundary Work

In this article, I am interested in the different types of boundaries emerging in a city characterized by a highly diverse population. The analysis of the personal social networks of 250 inhabitants of a small Swiss City—different types of migrants as well as non-migrants—supplemented by data from qualitative interviews brings to light the important categories for the creation of boundaries and the place of ethnicity among them. The inhabitant’s network structures display specific network boundaries that are translated into symbolic and also social boundaries: four different clusters emerge among the population, pointing to their stratified social positioning in this city. Hereby an interplay of nationality, education, local establishment, mobility type, “race,” and religion are the most important structuring factors. It becomes clear that the common ideas of assimilation cannot grasp the complexity of the “categorical game” at place in this city when it comes to migrant’s incorporation.     

深入学习贯彻全国宗教工作会议精神 奋力开创新时代佛教事业新局面

2021年12月3日至4日,全国宗教工作会议在北京召开。习近平总书记出席会议,并发表重要讲话。习总书记的重要讲话全面总结了宗教工作的成绩经验,深入分析了宗教工作面临的形势任务,系统阐述了新时代宗教工作的新思想、新理念、新战略,明确了坚持我国宗教中国化方向、做好新时代宗教工作的指导思想、战略目标、重点任务和政策举措,是指导新时代宗教工作的纲领性文献。