While early Western scholarship often portrayed Buddhism as a rational philosophy emphasizing individual meditation and ethical discipline, contemporary research increasingly recognizes vocal practices including sutta recitation, paritta chanting, mantra repetition, and devotional invocation as crucial vehicles for transmitting doctrine, cultivating virtues, regulating mental states, and...
Western Buddhist scholarship and scientific psychology both emerged during the late Victorian era. Buddhism and scientific psychology have exerted mutual influences on each other since psychology’s inception. The Background and Context section of this entry explores how and why psychologists became interested in Buddhism, Buddhism’s history and core tenets, and Buddhism’s influence on...
Artificial intelligence (AI) has moved from being an external instrument to an environment that increasingly mediates attention, interpretation, and judgment. In religious life, this shift is not merely practical; it is structural. It reconfigures how religious experience is organized, how authority is distributed, and how religious subjectivity is formed. This article examines these...
The non-self (anatta) concept is a distinctive and psychologically vital teaching in Buddhist philosophy. Scholars and psychotherapists working in mindfulness interventions draw on various Buddhist teachings and practices in clinical settings, and many empirical studies demonstrate their effectiveness. This study aimed to investigate the significance of integrating the non-self concept into...
This paper explores the Buddhist concept of Brahmavihāra as a fundamental framework for comprehending and developing human values. The four sublime states—mettā (loving-kindness), karuṇā (compassion), muditā (sympathetic delight), and upekkhā (equanimity)—represent, in my opinion, not only moral principles but also a thorough philosophical framework that incorporates moral behaviour,...
This study aims to examine the potential contributions of the similarities between sufism and Japanese Buddhism to the culture of coexistence among communities with different beliefs. The article is based on the central premise that the commonalities between these two religious traditions can strengthen an environment of tolerance and dialogue. It is hoped that this study will offer an original...
This article examines the conceptions of spiritual purification and moral education in Islamic Sufism and Japanese Buddhism (particularly the Zen school) from a comparative perspective. The central research question addressed is: How do these two traditions, rooted in distinct cultural and metaphysical foundations, converge and diverge in terms of their pedagogical methods and aims?...
This article examines the ways in which Chan (Zen) Buddhist thought shaped the technical systems, ethical orientation, and pedagogical practices of Shaolin martial arts. Tracing the historical emergence of Shaolin gongfu within the broader evolution of Chinese Buddhism—from its Indian origins through its Sinicization and the ascendancy of Chan—the study highlights how meditation, moral...
The Trúc Lâm Zen School represents a distinctive case of an indigenous Zen lineage that has undergone systematic revival and institutional consolidation in the contemporary period. Originating in medieval Southeast Asia and revitalized in the late twentieth century, the tradition has re-emerged as a meditation-centered movement emphasizing disciplined cultivation, ethical self-regulation, and...
Buddhist meditations have become a prominent subject in modern science, often approached with respect and reverence. However, this study reveals controversial aspects of research on Buddhist meditations, which lead to a uniform portrayal of these practices as a panacea. The study reveals the historical background of Buddhist meditation research and points out where the overly positive image of...