Towards Enlightenment: Taixu’s Interpretation of Buddhist Psychology
Chinese intellectuals started to engage in Buddhist psychology in the early 20th century, a time when Western culture was greatly influencing the country. Taixu criticized Western psychology and proposed his Buddhist psychology. He proposed a tripartite psychology based on Buddhist doctrine: psychol...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
MDPI
2024
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| In: |
Religions
Year: 2024, Volume: 15, Issue: 7 |
| Further subjects: | B
Taixu 太虛
B Buddhism for human life ( rensheng fojiao 人生佛教) B Buddhist psychology B Behaviorism |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | Chinese intellectuals started to engage in Buddhist psychology in the early 20th century, a time when Western culture was greatly influencing the country. Taixu criticized Western psychology and proposed his Buddhist psychology. He proposed a tripartite psychology based on Buddhist doctrine: psychology on affection (qing 情); psychology on reflection (xiang 想); and psychology on wisdom (zhi 智). Perceiving Western psychology as lacking in both theoretical depth and breadth, he specifically criticized behaviorism. He integrated the interpretation of “sense faculties” (indriya) from the Śūraṅgama Sūtra, thereby reconstructing an Ideal Behavioral Science, a philosophical system that centers on behavior and encompasses all aspects of life. This paper argues that Taixu’s critique of Western psychology and his construction of Buddhist psychology responded to the ideological trends of his era. In Taixu’s conceptual system, Buddhist psychology was part of his theory on “Buddhism for human life” (rensheng fojiao 人生佛教), serving not only to explain the psychological state of human but also to guide cultivation and lead people to enlightenment, bearing practical significance. Taixu’s study of worldly knowledge, including psychology, attempts to comprehensively construct a modern Buddhist system that integrates Buddhist Dharma and secular learning. |
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| ISSN: | 2077-1444 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Religions
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.3390/rel15070833 |