Buddhist Ethics for Improving Health and Well-Being during Pandemics Like COVID-19 with Special References to Modern Scientific Experiments
Pathompong Bodhiprasiddhinand
Religions April 26, 2024 DOI: 10.3390/rel15040511 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Buddhism |
| Keywords | Buddhism and health Buddhist medicine Covid-19 Immune system Well-being |
| Key points | Argues that Buddhist ethical practices, particularly the four bhāvanās, can improve health and well-being during pandemics like COVID-19. |
Abstract
The purpose of this research is to examine whether Buddhist ethics can improve the health and well-being of Buddhist practitioners during pandemics like COVID-19. It is hypothesized that diseases are part of suffering, and Buddhist teachings aim to eliminate the suffering of all beings. Buddhism also offers ethical codes of conduct for its practitioners to improve their health and well-being. So, the Buddha’s teaching or Buddhist ethics, when practiced seriously, should be able to improve one’s health, physically and mentally, enhancing the well-being of all Buddhist practitioners during the spread of all pandemics including COVID-19. The present study found that Buddhist ethical practices like the chanting of Buddhist suttas and the development of mindfulness, concentration/meditation, and insight (vipassanā) can improve both physical and mental health, which are important for dealing with any pandemic, tremendously. If the cores of Buddhist ethics (morality, meditation, and wisdom) are perfectly practiced, not only will one live with good physical and mental health but one also will be able to eliminate all the mental defilements that are the root causes of all illnesses and thus enter nibbāna, the state of mind that is beyond all sources of suffering including pandemics/epidemics. More specifically, this paper highlights a set of Buddhist practices, called four bhāvanās (types of development), that can be used to improve health and well-being during any pandemic.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on buddhism, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mental balance and well-being: Building bridges between Buddhism and Western psychology. | 2006 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Buddhist Modernism and the Rhetoric of Meditative Experience | 1995 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Buddhist and Psychological Perspectives on Emotions and Well-Being | 2005 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Too Early to Tell: The Potential Impact and Challenges—Ethical and Otherwise—Inherent in the Mainstreaming of Dharma in an Increasingly Dystopian World | 2017 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| From self to nonself: The Nonself Theory | 2016 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cites 22
- Mindfulness training as a clinical intervention: A conceptual and empirical review. Clinical Psychology Science and Practice 2003
- Alterations in Brain and Immune Function Produced by Mindfulness Meditation Psychosomatic Medicine July 1, 2003
- Meditation experience is associated with increased cortical thickness Neuroreport November 7, 2005
- Long-term meditators self-induce high-amplitude gamma synchrony during mental practice Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences November 8, 2004
- Cultivating mindfulness: effects on well‐being Journal of Clinical Psychology May 16, 2008
and 17 more in the library