The role of frequent personal religious practice in Buddhist teen religiosity

A quantitative study explored the relationship for teen Buddhists in Britain between the frequency of personal religious practice (PRP), affective religiosity (as measured by Thanissaro’s 24-item Scale of Attitude to Buddhism), individual differences in attitudes and Psychological Type (as measured by the Francis Psychological Type Scales). Those with frequent PRP (18% practising daily and 54% monthly) were more likely to want their children to grow up Buddhist and felt school was helping them prepare for life. Only daily PRP was associated with Buddhist worldview whereas less frequent PRP was associated with collectivist and traditionalist attitudes. Daily PRP was found to be positively linked with affective religiosity for heritage Buddhists, males, females and 17-to-20-year-olds, but linked with diminished affective religiosity for convert Buddhists. Daily PRP was associated with a Sensing preference in terms of Psychological Type, rather than psychoticism predicted by some previous meditation research.     

正念是什么——从正念内涵研究发展角度的思考

"正念是什么"是正念研究中的基本问题,也是长期困扰研究者的难题,造成此困境的重要原因是正念跨越了佛学与心理学两种语境。在正念内涵研究历程中,研究者们先后试图以"去神秘化"、"去语境化"及"整合化"来解决跨语境所造成的问题。本研究认为:正念为多维概念,其内涵的复杂性决定了研究者对正念的认识并非静态的判断,而是逐步成熟的过程;应深入整合佛学与心理学语境,以发展的视角看待正念。     

Have We Found the Holy Grail? Theory of Mind as a Unifying Construct

Theory of Mind (ToM) refers to a person’s ability to understand that another person has his or her own unique way of thinking and feeling. ToM is a well-known and rapidly expanding field of research in the neurosciences, cognitive, social sciences, evolution, and brain imaging. This review article expands ToM into areas where there has not yet been research. We propose that ToM could illuminate the relationship between religion/spirituality and health, and could provide the lingua franca for the hundreds of schools of psychotherapy. We discern two different kinds of spirituality: personal versus impersonal. Empathy is central to ToM research and is also central to mental health training and practice. ToM illuminates familiar topics in a new light. For example ToM reveals a close link between psychology and spirituality in self-efficacy and locus of control research.     

THINKING COMPARATIVELY ABOUT RELIGION AND WAR

In contrast to the period when the Journal of Religious Ethics began publishing, the study of religion in relation to war and connected issues has prospered in recent years. This article examines three collections of essays providing comparative perspectives on these topics, two recently authored studies of Buddhism and Islam in relation to war, and a compendious collection of texts on Western moral tradition concerning war, peace, and related issues from classical Greece and Rome to the present.     

What is Debate for? The Rationality of Tibetan Debates and the Role of Humor

In this essay, I examine the mode of operation and aim of debates in the Tibetan Buddhist traditions. I contrast the probative form of argument that was privileged by the Indian tradition to the more agonic practice favored by Tibetan scholastics. I also examine the rules that preside over this dialectical practice, which is seen by the Tibetan tradition as essential to a proper scholastic education. I argue, however, that the practice of debates cannot be reduced to this dialectical model, for it has an important performative aspect not easily encompassed by the rules. I examine this aspect of Tibetan debates, focusing particularly on the role of humor. I conclude with a few remarks on the type of rationality entailed by the importance of humor and of other rhetorical elements involved in Tibetan debates.

论易学史研究在易佛关系问题上的两个疏忽——兼谈太虚大师的易学思想

易学是中国学术史上的一大显学。学界对于易学史的研究已取得了相当的成就,但这一成就背后却还留存着一个遗憾．那就是我们的易学史研究疏忽了易佛关系这一大课题,这包括两个方面(一)我们没有研究在佛教传入中国的前期,为什么佛教在与儒学和道学相沟通的同时却不与易学相沟通;(二)我们没有重视宋明以后存在的大规模的易佛沟通现象。本文以素描的方式勾画出了一幅被学者们忽略了的易佛关系图,有理有据地对疏忽易佛关系的研究状态提出了警策,并以太虚大师的易学思想为例,说明了易佛关系是不应该被疏忽的。     

Indian Journey

What began as a trekking adventure becomes a search for spiritual “health” in the Buddhism of the Himalyan regions of India. The difficulties of Himalyan travel perhaps mirror the difficult ascent to the inner reaches of Buddhism. Freddy English is a free-lance writer and committed traveler. This journal is the second in a series, of which the first part appeared in our 45:4 issue.     

The Musings of a Family Therapist in Asia When COVID-19 Struck

In response to the COVID-19 crisis in Asia, a family therapist in Hong Kong shares her experiences and reflections, both personally and professionally from an Eastern lens. From a state of shock and immobilization to moments of contemplation, she highlights her struggle with being caught between her Eastern roots and Western training, which has become more salient in facing COVID-19. While the latter pulls her toward a more problem resolution stance, the former pulls her toward a more accepting position. As a result, her therapy is shaped in such a way that she tends to raise more questions instead of providing answers.     

FROM PRUDENCE TO MORALITY: A Case for the Morality of Some Forms of Nondualistic Mysticism

Several contemporary philosophers have charged that there is a conceptual tension between nondualistic types of mystical awareness—an awareness of some particular conception of the divine as an all‐pervasive unity within which there are no distinct substances—and the social character of morality. However, some nondualistic mystics have conceptualized enlightenment not only as being compatible with moral virtue—specifically, compassion and care—but as providing a foundation for it. I here offer a conceptual model for this grounding, at least according to Dōgen Zenji and Meister Eckhart. Briefly, the model suggests that some forms of nondualistic mystical awareness are accompanied by the mystics' prudential concerns extending to include the well‐being of “others” under their scope. Finally, utilizing this model, I suggest possible responses to two common arguments for the claim that nondualistic mysticism is essentially amoral.     

Where angels fear to tread: neurophenomenology and the matter of belief

The article explores Manuel Vásquez’ treatment of cultural neurophenomenology within the broader context of his non-reductionist methodology. By paying particular attention to the context of Tibetan Buddhist monks in disapora – the primary subjects of neurophenomenological research – it is suggested that Vásquez’ neurophenomenology is not as culturally mediated as he claims. His treatment may undermine his larger contention that politics shape both religious experience and the scholarly methodologies used to explore them.