Tibetan and Himalayan Library - THL

Description: In this chapter from the book Psychology and Buddhism: From Individual to Global Community, Buddhist scholar Richard P. Hayes looks at the Buddhist process toward transforming from a state of mind which tends toward harming oneself and others to one that is healing and able to benefit. He looks at the traditional Buddhist three-fold process of ethics, contemplation, and wisdom. Ethics provides a basis for contemplation by helping the individual avoid actions which may be a cause of gulit, shame, harm, and other obstacles to mental peace. During contemplation, the individual refines mental awareness and eventually applies this refined state of mind to the development of wisdom. Wisdom itself can be looked at as a three-fold process of (1) study, (2) reflection, and (3) cultivation. Through study, the individual learns about the stages of the path and their correct order etc. Reflection begins the process of deep internalization by questioning oneself and comparing oneself to one’s spiritual teachers. Cultivation is the process whereby one infuses in one’s state of being attitudes and insight conducive to fulfillment. This, in turn affects one’s way of acting and speaking so that one's behavior is spontaneously and naturally virtuous and beneficial to oneself and others. (Zach Rowinski 2005-01-02)