VARIATIONS IN THE CONTEMPLATION OF THE REPULSIVENESS OF FOOD, ĀHĀREPATIKŪLASAÑÑĀ: CANONICAL,THERAVĀDA,SARVĀSTIVĀDA AND MAHĀYĀNA FORMS

ABSTRACT

This article explores the changing treatment of a meditation practice, the contemplation of the repulsiveness of food, āhārepa?ikūlasaññā, from its presence in lists of saññā in canonical texts to its detailed explanation in post-canonical texts of the first millennium CE. We observe two main developments: the limitation in the benefits attributed to the practice within commentarial-period Theravada, and two entirely divergent branches in the way the practice is treated. In the Visuddhimagga of Theravada Buddhism, we see a somewhat practical approach that identifies the unpleasant aspects of the monk’s experience of seeking, eating, digesting and excreting food, and takes them as the focus of a 10-stage meditation practice. In the Sarvāstivāda texts, we see a conceptual aversion created by the association of specific food items with other items treated as impure within meditation practice. This articles explores all these divergences, drawing conclusions about what this says in terms of the understanding of food in these two branches.     

Sources of Psychological Pain and Suicidal Thoughts Among Homeless Adults

Homeless adults experience problems in multiple areas of their lives. It was hypothesized that adults who were troubled by problems in more areas of their lives would be more likely to report suicidal thoughts. The sample included 457 homeless men and women who resided in three emergency shelters. The number of sources of psychological pain, past suicide attempts, and being a man predicted current suicidal thoughts, but being diagnosed with a depressive disorder did not. Shelter workers should ask adults whether they have attempted suicide in the past and how troubled they are by each area of their lives.     

Clarifying the Role of Psychological Pain in the Risks of Suicidal Ideation and Suicidal Acts among Patients with Major Depressive Episodes

The role of psychological pain in the risk of suicide was explored using a three‐dimensional psychological pain model (pain arousal, painful feelings, pain avoidance). The sample consisted of 111 outpatients with major depressive episodes, including 28 individuals with suicidal histories. They completed the Chinese version of the Beck Scale for Suicide Ideation (BSI), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), the Psychache Scale, and the three‐dimensional Psychological Pain Scale (TDPPS). A structured clinical interview was conducted to assess the history of suicidal acts. Significant correlations were found among BDI, BSI, and TDPPS scores (p < .01). Stepwise regression analyses showed that only pain avoidance scores significantly predicted suicide ideation at one's worst point (β = .79, p < .001) and suicidal acts (β = .46, p < .001). Pain avoidance was also a better predictor of current suicidal ideation (β = .37, p = .001) than were BDI scores (β = .31, p < .01). Increased levels of pain avoidance during a major depressive episode may be a dominant component of the motivation for suicide. Future clinical assessments for populations at high risk of suicide should include measures of psychological pain to reduce the incidence of suicide.     

Learning in Community for STEM Undergraduates: Connecting a Learning Sciences and a Learning Humanities Approach in Higher Education

Abstract

Previous research demonstrates that social and interpersonal factors, more than academic preparation, affect decisions by under-represented students to stay in or to leave STEM fields. Yet, much of the theorizing about STEM learning in higher education begins with conceptual and epistemological dimensions. We make the case for a new theoretical framework, a learning humanities, that begins with relationships. From this relational starting point, we locate STEM knowers as actors in relationships who become answerable for their STEM knowledge and take wise actions from this place. We then use this framework to analyze learning for STEM undergraduates involved in the STUDIO: Build Our World program, an afterschool mentoring program for low-income, immigrant, and refugee youth of color. Drawing on narrative and ethnographic analyses of data from 12 focal mentors, we found that mentors developed 3 focal practices identified by Edwards, relational expertise, common knowledge, and relational agency through their efforts to create the best possible program for youth. This built mentors’ sense of answerability and a capacity for wise action within and outside of STUDIO. We argue that this theoretical stance provides new ways to conceptualize the nature, purpose, and outcomes of STEM learning for historically non-dominant STEM undergraduates’ learning.     

王重阳平等思想探析

全真道创始人王重阳,建立了以心性修炼为基础的道教内丹思想,力倡每个人都具有平等的心性本体,道性俱足,皆有成仙的可能.这一平等的思想体现在人与自然的关系上,就是万物平等,无有高下;体现在与其他教派的关系上,则是儒、释、道三家圆融平等;而在处世待人上,就要平等待人,不分人之贵贱高低,均须恭敬处之.本文试对这一思想的产生背景、内涵进行探析,进一步揭示其对于悟道、修道和传道的作用和影响.