Bridging Buddhism and Western Psychology: Exploring Eastern Philosophy in Modern Practice
Xinna Cai
Lecture Notes in Education Psychology and Public Media January 15, 2025 DOI: 10.54254/2753-7048/2024.20421 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Buddhism |
| Key points | Argues that Buddhist principles—emptiness, mindfulness, conation, and loving-kindness and compassion—can enrich psychotherapeutic techniques and positive psychology, and identifies their existing use in psychodynamic therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, the Values in Action Survey, and compassion-focused practices to alleviate suffering and enhance therapeutic outcomes. |
Abstract
This paper explores the integration of Buddhist principles, cultivated over 2,500 years for enhancing mental well-being and treating psychological issues, with Western psychology. It builds a bridge between Buddhist conceptssuch as emptiness (nyat), mindfulness, conation (cetan), and loving-kindness and compassionand contemporary psychotherapeutic practices. Although clinical interest has predominantly centered on mindfulness meditation, recent research into the clinical utility of Buddhist-derived interventions (BDIs) has increasingly incorporated these additional principles. The paper examines how Buddhist concepts mentioned above can enrich psychotherapeutic techniques and positive psychology, alleviate psychological suffering, and enhance therapeutic outcomes. By incorporating these Buddhist principles, the paper aims to present clear and precise interpretations of key Buddhist concepts, exploring their existing application within clinical psychology practices. It finds (i) psychodynamic therapy utilizes the concept of emptiness and the notion of non-self to assist clients in releasing rigid self, (ii) Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) integrates mindfulness techniques to help restructure maladaptive thought patterns, (iii) the Values in Action (VIA) Survey, grounded in Positive Psychology, incorporates conation to uncover individuals' intrinsic motivations, (iv) compassion-focused practices such as compassion meditation and loving-kindness meditation emphasize applying compassion and loving-kindness to enhance emotional regulation
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 3
- Mechanisms of mindfulness Journal of Clinical Psychology December 29, 2005
- Mental balance and well-being: Building bridges between Buddhism and Western psychology. American Psychologist 2006
- Effect of compassion meditation on neuroendocrine, innate immune and behavioral responses to psychosocial stress. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2009