Building more solid bridges between Buddhism and Western psychology.
Introducing the ways of cultivating mental balance, B. A. Wallace and S. L. Shapiro attempted to build bridges between Buddhism and psychology. Their systematic categorization of Buddhist teachings and extensive review of empirical support from Western psychology are valuable for future study. However, it remains a matter of concern that some more profound parts of Buddhist philosophy can be disregarded by focusing only on practical aspects of Buddhism within the context of mental health. In this comment, the authors briefly address four substantial themes to be considered: reality, identity, causality, and logicality. They suggest that the way to interpret Buddhism as techniques for well-being would certainly be viable in encouraging the study of Buddhist teachings in psychology. Yet, such attempts should not result in superficial imports and applications of Buddhist practices but give due weight to the deeper philosophical issues to build more solid bridges between Buddhism and psychology.
Sugamura
Genji
G
genji@fuji.waseda.jp
Haruki
Yutaka
Y
Koshikawa
Fusako
F
D002016:Buddhism; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D006801:Humans; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D011584:Psychology; D012069:Religion and Psychology; D019366:Western World