[nilliraq]

I was just wondering everyones opinion on this. Whenever I read a teaching from the Buddha about the mind, such as 'Attachments', or being 'Mindful' of your thoughts, it makes me think about Psychology so often. And Buddhism is much older then Freud and the others. Anyone think we should start a movement naming Siddhartha as the Founding Father Of Psychology? The last was a joke...

[xanaxnewtrader]

i certainly concur fully with this sentiment. buddha taught his teachings & advice had one sole goal, namely, the unshakeable freedom of mind (from suffering). the buddha's place in world history & evolution still remains a mystery to most. buddha was not just the founder of an eastern religion



This holy life is led not for gain honour and fame, not for endowment of virtues, not for endowment of concentration and not for the endowment of knowledges & vision. It is for the unshakeable freedom of mind. This is the essence of the holy life, it is the heartwood and the end of the holy life.

Discourse on the Simile of the Heartwood

[intendepods]

I am liking you more and more, Element. You are very well knowledged in the Dharma. I only know what I know through Osmosis, sorta. Through reading a Sutta, and... I don't know, concluding my own opinion/understanding in my own words, in my mind? But to be honest, I haven't memorised a single one, nor could I properly point another in the right direction should a question arise.

And yes! Much more then just a religion.

[echocassidyde]

As someone who studies the cognitive sciences formally, I certainly see parallels between psychology and the Buddha's teachings. The obvious would be the origin and cessation of suffering, which the Buddha claimed to be the pinnacle of his teachings.

Simsapa Sutta (SN 56.31)

"And what have I taught? 'This is stress... This is the origination of stress... This is the cessation of stress... This is the path of practice leading to the cessation of stress': This is what I have taught. And why have I taught these things? Because they are connected with the goal, relate to the rudiments of the holy life, and lead to disenchantment, to dispassion, to cessation, to calm, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to Unbinding. This is why I have taught them.

"Therefore your duty is the contemplation, 'This is stress... This is the origination of stress... This is the cessation of stress.' Your duty is the contemplation, 'This is the path of practice leading to the cessation of stress.'"

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipit....031.than.html Buddhist teachings are also replete with social psychology. The very notion of kamma/karma is a reflection on one's conduct. One intends by acts of body, speech, and mind. Of these, mind is the most elusive.

Assutava Sutta (SN 12.61)

Just as a monkey, swinging through a forest wilderness, grabs a branch. Letting go of it, it grabs another branch. Letting go of that, it grabs another one. Letting go of that, it grabs another one. In the same way, what's called 'mind,' 'intellect,' or 'consciousness' by day and by night arises as one thing and ceases as another.

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipit....061.than.html
By way of the mind's habits, we imagine there to be some persistent entity called "me". The sense of self is a construct of the mind. This again overlaps with modern psychology.

Samanupassana Sutta (SN 22.47)

Now, there is the intellect, there are ideas (mental qualities), there is the property of ignorance. To an uninstructed run-of-the-mill person, touched by experience born of the contact of ignorance, there occur (the thoughts): 'I am,' 'I am thus,' 'I shall be,' 'I shall not be,' 'I shall be possessed of form,' 'I shall be formless,' 'I shall be percipient (conscious),' 'I shall be non-percipient,' or 'I shall be neither percipient nor non-percipient.'

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipit....047.than.html Much of the Buddha's teachings can be compared to the findings of cognitive psychology, a field I work within.

For instance, according to both the Buddha and cognitive researchers, consciousness cannot exist without an object or some content. The Buddha taught that there arises a new consciousness at each moment due to the interruption of contact. Only sustained contact produces sustained consciousness. For this reason, there can be no such thing as a disembodied consciousness. Consciousness requires an object to be conscious of. The various forms of phenomenal consciousness are eye-consciousness, ear-consciousness, nose-consciousness, tongue-consciousness, body-consciousness, and mind-consciousness. Dependent on an object of sight there arises eye-consciousness. Dependent on audible sounds there arises ear-consciousness. The nose is conscious of scents, the tongue of tastes, the body of tactile sensations, and the mind of thought formations. An interruption of consciousness, a separation of the eye from a visual form, causes that consciousness to perish and re-arise through contact with another visual form.

This is my understanding as a student of neuropsychology.



Abhaya

[Amirmsheesk]

Abhaya, do you agree that there can be none of that if it weren't for the complicated system of the human brain? I plan to go to college this fall hopefully, to learn Cognitive Analytic Therapy, preferably. I have no idea how that works, if I have to specialise in that later on or not.

[exchpaypaleg]

Abhaya, do you agree that there can be none of that if it weren't for the complicated system of the human brain?

I agree. The mind and its psychology arise out of a multitude of causes and conditions, one of which is the brain.

[casinobonuscxz]

I plan to go to college this fall hopefully, to learn Cognitive Analytic Therapy, preferably. I have no idea how that works, if I have to specialise in that later on or not.

Good luck in your educational endeavors! I'm currently an undergraduate student, preparing to commence a PhD program in fall 2013. The cognitive sciences are well-worth delving into!

[Kghyutgykim]

Good luck in your educational endeavors! I'm currently an undergraduate student, preparing to commence a PhD program in fall 2013. The cognitive sciences are well-worth delving into!

Thank you! And good luck to yourself. I'm glad to see more psychologists in the making.

[UriyVlasov]

Cognitive Analytic Therapy, preferably.

The CAT practitioner aims to work with the patient to identify procedural sequences; chains of events, thoughts, emotions and motivations that explain how a target problem (for example self-harm) is established and maintained.

Wikipedia CAT sounds a little like Buddha's practise of yonisomanasikara (wise reflection; adjusting thought to reality), as follows:

Monks, before my self-awakening, when I was still just an unawakened Bodhisatta, the thought occurred to me: 'Why don't I keep dividing my thinking into two sorts?'

I made thinking imbued with sensuality, thinking imbued with ill will & thinking imbued with harmfulness one sort and thinking imbued with renunciation, thinking imbued with non-ill will & thinking imbued with harmlessness another sort.

[When] thinking imbued with sensuality...ill-will...harmfulness... arose in me. I discerned that 'Thinking imbued with sensuality...ill-will...harmfulness... has arisen in me; and that leads to my own affliction or to the affliction of others or to the affliction of both. It obstructs discernment, promotes vexation & does not lead to peace (Nibbana).'

Just as in the last month of the Rains, in the autumn season when the crops are ripening, a cowherd would look after his cows: He would tap & poke & check & curb them with a stick on this side & that. Why is that? Because he foresees flogging or imprisonment or a fine or public censure arising from that [if he let his cows wander into the crops]. In the same way I foresaw in unskillful qualities drawbacks, degradation & defilement, and I foresaw in skillful qualities rewards related to renunciation & promoting cleansing.

***

[When] thinking imbued with renunciation...non ill-will...harmlessness ... arose in me. I discerned that 'Thinking imbued with renunciation...non ill-will...harmlessness ... has arisen in me; and that leads neither to my own affliction, nor to the affliction of others, nor to the affliction of both. It fosters discernment, promotes lack of vexation & leads to peace. If I were to think & ponder in line with that even for a night... even for a day... even for a day & night, I do not envision any danger that would come from it.'

Just as in the last month of the hot season, when all the crops have been gathered into the village, a cowherd would look after his cows: While resting under the shade of a tree or out in the open, he simply keeps himself mindful of 'those cows.' In the same way, I simply kept myself mindful of 'those mental qualities.'

Dvedhavitakka Sutta: Two Sorts of Thinking more additional techniques, refer to:

Vitakkasanthana Sutta: The Relaxation of Thoughts

The Five Mental Hindrances and Their Conquest

[zzbust]

Yes in many ways Buddhism is a psychology. However, in western psychology it seems as though it's psychologists studying others Buddhism is about studying the self.

[VtLe67WR]

I was just wondering everyones opinion on this. Whenever I read a teaching from the Buddha about the mind, such as 'Attachments', or being 'Mindful' of your thoughts, it makes me think about Psychology so often. And Buddhism is much older then Freud and the others. Anyone think we should start a movement naming Siddhartha as the Founding Father Of Psychology? The last was a joke...

Buddha is the founding Father of Dhamma which encompasses and superceedes Psychology, Cognitive science and the like.

Sorry just making a vital point.
Buddha was there first and is still in the lead.

/Victor

[Jadldqys]

Hi everyone,

Psychology originally meant: Study of the Soul not just a "Study of the mind"

I think that the defining of words is necessary here, first:

Psychology: 2 Greek words meaning: Psyche: Soul and Logos: Principle/Word/Governing mechanism
Psychology stems from the ancient Greek notion that people have bodies and souls and spirits or Soma, Pseehee, and Pnevma

Ancient Greek thought did and did not make a "person" out to be composed of Atoms or indivisible pieces or a duality: Body & Soul or a tripartite being: Body, Soul and Spirit. In other words, when we look back into the history of ancient Greek thought, various philosophies were being expounded upon.

Incidentally, ancient Greek thought influenced the Mahayana, as pointed out by Thomas Mcevilley's book "The Shape of Thought" due to Alexander the Great's and the successor kings influence and ancient Greek willingness to learn and explore.

So, The Buddha was not the founder of Psychology nor was he the founder of Dhamma, as the suttas point out previous Buddha's existed who did just that.

We have no record of who first discussed the human mind in a scientific fashion using the scientific method.

The Buddha taught Dhamma, whatever that originally was.

Thank you,
Stefos

[freddystone]

You guys took that way too seriously.

[yQvpyNt3]

My $.02 is that compared to western psychology, Buddhism make a diagnosis that is much more severe and proposes a cure that is much more radical.

[cewIdeatovace]

You guys took that way too seriously.

Hi,

To me this is a question with serious ramifications.

So I gave a serious answer, What did you expect sir? This is my understanding behind making a thread.

Thank you,
Stefos

[15Praxanant]

So delving into what the deep meaning of the word 'psychology' is, has anything, truly to do with this? Psychology, as the majority 'understands; it today, as the word has 'evolved' to be, is the study of the mind, a practice to end the mental sufferings of the person. Buddhism, essentially, is the study of the mind,a practice to end the mental sufferings of the person. There are no real ramifications here.

[VQdeochratis]

Buddhist practice can definitely be understood as a kind of applied psychology, but I don't think the Buddha "invented" psychology. As long as human beings have existed, there have been methods and techniques for understanding, optimizing and integrating our 'inner universe'.

The various 'shamanic' traditions from around the world, which pre-date the development of Buddhism by thousands of years, can also be understood as forms of healing the psyche. These traditions can still offer healing for people today. A good example of this is the documentary film 'Horse Boy', which focuses on Mongolian shamanism (Tengriism); here's the trailer for the film:

.

[EmxATW5m]

Abhaya, do you agree that there can be none of that if it weren't for the complicated system of the human brain? I plan to go to college this fall hopefully, to learn Cognitive Analytic Therapy, preferably. I have no idea how that works, if I have to specialise in that later on or not.

Pre Buddha I believe there was some smart dudes but Buddha seems to have developed the comprehensive system............................................ ...........................I practise R.E.T. quite similar to cognitive therapy

Good luck with your studies