stoicism buddhism
102344864
The Philosophical Foundations of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: Stoicism, Buddhism, Taoism, and Existentialism
In this study, we examine the philosophical bases of one of the leading clinical psychological methods of therapy for anxiety, anger, and depression, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) Although the broad philosophical bases of CBT include the philosophies of Heraclitus, Stoicism, Epicureanism, Hedonism, Buddhism, Taoism, Existentialism, yogic philosophy, Baruch Spinoza, and Immanuel Kant (Ellis, 1997 p.5) our intent is to trace this method back to its philosophical roots in the Stoic, Buddhist, Taoist, and Existentialist philosophical traditions. We focus on these four schools of thought given that Ellis references Epictetus as the primary influence for his development of CBT. Taoism and Buddhism both are helpful to explain the process metaphysics that underlies the problems with categorizations that often lead us to become emotionally disturbed. Existentialism emphasizes choice and responsibility as possibilities for living an authentic life.We begin by discussing the tenets of CBT, and then we expand on the philosophical traditions that ground this approach. Given that CBT has had a clinically measured positive effect on the psychological well being of individuals (Antonuccio, Danton and DeNelsky 1995; Dobson 1989; Robinson, Berman and Neimeyer 1990) it becomes important to study the philosophical foundations on which this therapy is based.Cognitive Behavioral TherapyExtensive research supports CBT as an effective non pharmaceutical treatment for mood disorders, and we focus on the works of key scholars in CBT, Albert Ellis (1956; 1958; [1988]1990; 2007) and David Burns [1980] 1999; 2009) Ellis, an originator of what has come to be known as CBT, ultimately named his particular approach, Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy (REBT) He proposed an "ABC" model of cognitive behavioral disturbance (e.g. Ellis, [1988] 1990:52 7) marked by dysfunctional moods that diminished life satisfaction and happiness. In his theoretical model, the letter "A" stands for an activating event, "B" refers to a belief system, and "C" stands for the consequences of A through B. Although activating events cannot be changed, a change in the perception of A causes a change of B, and this, in turn, results in a change in consequences, that is, of C. The moods of individuals, then, the C's in the ABC model, can be transformed from dysfunctional affects such as depression, to functional ones such as moderate sadness, through a change in how activating events are perceived. A schema of Ellis' ABC theory of cognitive disturbance is as follows:Individuals' beliefs concerning the events they experience, the "B" in the model, can be considered their philosophical approach to life conditions. Ellis (1997; 2007) attributed his ABC model primarily to Stoic philosophy and to the Stoics, Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius in particular, although as we indicate in this study, there are other philosophical schools of thought that influenced CBT as well. According to Epictetus [125 C.E. 1991) it is not what happens to individuals, but rather how individuals perceive what happens to them, that determines their affect. Epictetus states, "Men are disturbed not by the things which happen, but by their opinions about the things."Ellis (2007) summarized his findings by stating that there are three fundamental sources of cognitive disturbance which he labeled "IB's" or "irrational beliefs," beliefs that caused individuals to react in dysfunctional ways to events in their lives. These three are: 1) "I must be successful," 2) "Others must treat me well" and 3) "Conditions under which I live must be agreeable to me." The "musts" are emphasized here because Ellis believed that simple concern does not lead to dysfunctionality among individuals. A "must" belief, on the other hand, does lead to psychological disturbance.It follows then, that according to Ellis, one of the main, if not the main, cause of human misery is grandiosity, that is, our taking ourselves too seriously.
Kim Diaz Edward Murguia
211945316
The desire and emotional theory of stoicism and early buddhism
Journal of Eastern Asia Buddhism and Culture
Chanhyu Lee
226840298
The Resemblances of the Concept of Love in Theravada Buddhist Philosophy and Stoicism: A Comparative Study
In Theravada Buddhist Philosophy, love exists as psychological activities that can be called by many names such as Sineha or romantic love, Karma or erotic love, Pema or family love, Metta or compassionate love etc. Variety of love is also categorized into lower kinds and higher kinds of love. Lower kind of love refers to those psychological activities that demand possession of the objects that we love while higher kinds refers to psychological activities that extends goodness to others. However, love, as well as everything, is governed by the Law of Impermanence, meaning that it occurs, comes into being and then cease to be. The highest form of love in Buddhism is, presumably, called Chanta (the will) or the love of dharma which is the highest truth and the wisdom to be free from all attachments. Similarly, the Stoic philosophers (c.300 B.C. c. 300 A.D. try to live their lives according to their ideal state of happiness (Eudaimonia) by avoiding the emotions such as desire, pain, grief, fear and passion. The Stoics hold that such feelings are caused by false judgements and that the wiseman who had attained moral and intellectual perfection would not undertake them. The later stoic philosophers such as Seneca and Epictetus, emphasize the doctrine that the wiseman is entirely resilient to misfortune and that virtue is satisfactory condition for happiness. Thus, passionate or romantic love is an unnecessary condition for human to attain happiness. In this research paper, the researcher attempts to identify the commonalities in the concept of love of two ancient school of thoughts, one from the western and the other from the eastern part of the world. The result will support at the international level, the expansion of knowledge in the field of philosophy of love.
Anawat Bunnag
144565932
The meaning of detachment in Daoism, Buddhism, and Stoicism
Ki duk, illustrates the issues about detachment addressed in this essay. Virtually the whole film takes place in a tiny Buddhist monastery floating on a tree lined lake. As the film begins in summer, a monk is shown raising a young boy, his protege. The lessons the monk teaches the boy about his relationship to others concern childish cruelty to a fish, a snake, and a frog. No other people enter the picture until the boy grows into a teen ager and a young woman comes to the monastery to recover from illness. He discovers his sensuality and passion for her, but when his master discovers their relationship, she is sent away and he is warned about forming attachments. The boy leaves the monastery to pursue the girl, and, unable to control his passion in the face of disappointment, kills her. Years later, the boy, now a sobered and repentant man, returns to the monastery, his master dead, but now ready to take the place his Master had intended for him. The movie ends in spring again, the monk taking on the raising of a young boy. Many will see the film as embodying universal themes about the cycle of tragic desire and the possibility of redemption. Buddhists might take it as con firmation of the suffering wrought by desire. However, the film also can evoke skeptical questions about Buddhist advocacy of detachment. The fact that the young man was overwhelmed by passion is no surprise, given his isolation, ex cept for the monk, from other human beings. Nor is it a surprise that his ac tions in the outside world led to disaster. Raised as he was, the boy lacked any ability to navigate in the human world of relationships, any ability to recover from romantic disappointment or to moderate his rage. Buddhism, or one ex
David B Wong
55356435
Moral Practice in Late Stoicism and Buddhist Meditation
I argue in this essay that Stoic philosophers in the late Greco Roman period utilized philosophical exercises and spiritual technologies similar in form to a meditative exercise currently practiced in Buddhism. I begin with an in depth discussion of moral development in the late Stoa, focusing particularly on their theories of cosmopolitanism and oikeiosis. These theoretical commitments, I argue, necessitated the adoption of exercises and practices designed to guide practitioners toward the goal of universal moral concern. Using insights gained from Buddhist practice, I identify passages in Stoic texts that call for and prescribe moral exercise. While much work in comparative philosophy compares the content of diverse philosophical theories, the form that these theories take can also be compared. Stoic philosophy was viewed as a "way of life" by many ancient philosophers, and thus their philosophical views share several formal characteristics with Buddhist religious practices. The primary good realized by this comparison, I conclude, is to outline the ways in which Greco Roman philosophies can be enriched by reading these theories in light of the lived, practical traditions that characterize Buddhist thought.
Michael Goerger
225609717
Fenomenologia clinica de los siete pecados capitales
The theme of deadly sins has been present in various forms, both in philosophical thought or in eastern and western religious traditions: Stoicism, Buddhism or Christianity among them. Here they are considered from a contemporary psychological perspective in their most common clinical expressions.
Manuel Villegas Besora
235809152
Essential Reading for Bioethicists in the Anthropocene Era.
The multiple emergencies of global heating require bioethicists to embrace the dormant, comprehensive bioethics legacy of Van Rensselaer Potter, moving beyond the current narrower focus of the field on medicine and health care. We recommend readings that expand the core literature of bioethics to address key environmental issues. These are Jessica Pierce and Andrew Jameton's The Ethics of Environmentally Responsible Health Care; Dale Jamieson's Reason in a Dark Time; and David Wallace Well's The Uninhabitable Earth. Because efforts to mitigate climate disasters are likely to be only partially successful, we also recommend the teachings of late Roman Stoicism and core texts of Buddhism, which provide ethical wisdom likely to be needed in the multiple crises of the Anthropocene.
The Hastings Center report
Larry R Churchill David P Schenck
44291
Increased Affluence Explains the Emergence of Ascetic Wisdoms and Moralizing Religions
BACKGROUND Between roughly 500 BCE and 300 BCE, three distinct regions, the Yangtze and Yellow River Valleys, the Eastern Mediterranean, and the Ganges Valley, saw the emergence of highly similar religious traditions with an unprecedented emphasis on self discipline and asceticism and with "otherworldly," often moralizing, doctrines, including Buddhism, Jainism, Brahmanism, Daoism, Second Temple Judaism, and Stoicism, with later offshoots, such as Christianity, Manichaeism, and Islam. This cultural convergence, often called the "Axial Age," presents a puzzle: why did this emerge at the same time as distinct moralizing religions, with highly similar features in different civilizations? The puzzle may be solved by quantitative historical evidence that demonstrates an exceptional uptake in energy capture (a proxy for general prosperity) just before the Axial Age in these three regions. RESULTS Statistical modeling confirms that economic development, not political complexity or population size, accounts for the timing of the Axial Age. CONCLUSIONS We discussed several possible causal pathways, including the development of literacy and urban life, and put forward the idea, inspired by life history theory, that absolute affluence would have impacted human motivation and reward systems, nudging people away from short term strategies (resource acquisition and coercive interactions) and promoting long term strategies (self control techniques and cooperative interactions)
Current Biology
Nicolas Baumard Alexandre Hyafil Ian Macgregor Morris Pascal Boyer
54213887
The Stoic Monastic: Taiwanese Buddhism and the Problem of Emotions
Abstract This paper explores the stoicism of Taiwanese monastics and argues that, in this context, emotions are believed to be dangerous in part because they interfere with spiritual cultivation. A stoic exterior further represents an inner state of calm and a lack of emotionality. Since women are believed to have more emotional problems than men, nuns in particular seek to control their emotions, in part by studying the example of monks. Women's emotions are contrasted with the trait of compassion, which is associated with men and thought to be selfless. Cultivating compassion is the focus of much of their spiritual practice and at the center of the vow taking ceremony, wherein they burn scars into their foreheads, signaling their compassion and willingness to endure the world's suffering, and also concretizing the abstract emotion of compassion through bodily pain.
Hillary Crane
158139733
Practices of Nontheistic Spirituality
For many people, spiritual practice is associated with one or another theistic religion. But this association is not inevitable. Both in the ancient and the modern worlds, teachers of certain wisdom traditions offered techniques of spiritual development that did not require belief in God or gods. In this chapter, I discuss the practices of 11 such traditions: 5 from India (Advaita Vedanta, Samkhya, Yoga, Jainism, and Buddhism) 2 from China (Confucianism and Daoism) and 4 from Greece (Cynicism, Epicureanism, Stoicism, and Scepticism) These traditions differ from one another in many respects, but all (1) are grounded in philosophies or worldviews in which the gods are absent or subordinate, (2) advocate nondevotional spiritual practices, and (3) offer a conception of the wise man or Sage. In contrast with practitioners of theistic religions, who often engage in sectarian conflict and violence, practitioners of nontheistic traditions tend to be concerned with individual development and thus avoid sectarian violence.
Peter Heehs