The Positive Psychology of Buddhism and Yoga: Paths to A Mature Happiness

255 Pages·2000·1.5 MB·English

by  Marvin Levine

The Positive Psychology
of
Buddhism and Yoga
Paths to a Mature Happiness
With a Special Application to Handling Anger

The Positive Psychology
of
Buddhism and Yoga
Paths to a Mature Happiness
With a Special Application to Handling Anger
Marvin Levine
State University of New York at Stony Brook
LAWRENCE ERLBAUM ASSOCIATES, PUBLISHERS
Mahwah, New Jersey London
Portions of this text have been taken from Levine, Marvin,
EFFECTIVE PROBLEM SOLVING, 2/e ©1994, pp. 96-112.
Reprinted by permission of Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River,
New Jersey.
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2008.
“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
collection of thousands of eBooks please go to http://www.ebookstore.tandf.co.uk/.”
Copyright © 2000 by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in
any form, by photostat, microfilm, retrieval system, or any other
means, without prior written permission of the publisher.
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., Publishers
10 Industrial Avenue
Mahwah, NJ 07430
Cover design by Kathryn Houghtaling Lacey
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Levine, Marvin, 1928-
The positive psychology of Buddhism and yoga: paths to mature
happiness/Marvin Levine.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8058-3349-8 (cloth: alk. Paper)
ISBN 0-8058-3833-3 (pbk.: alk. paper)
1. Buddhism—Psychology. 2. Yoga—Psychology. 3. Spiritual
life—Psychology. 4. Maturation (Psychology)—Religious aspects.
5. Self-actualization (Psychology) I. Title.
BQ4570.P76+ 2000
294.3'01'9—dc21 00-022894
CIP
ISBN 1-4106-0566-3 Master e-book ISBN
This book is dedicated to those
who long ago abandoned their childhood beliefs
and are still trying to fill the emptiness.

Contents
Table of Anecdotes and Tales xiii
Foreword xv
Introduction xvii
Part I: Buddhism
1 King Ashoka's Question: What Is Your Secret? 3
A tale about the conversion of King Ashoka to
Buddhism
2 Maturity and Serenity 5
The Buddhist approach to attaining these ideals
3 The Story of Siddhartha 9
The life of Prince Siddhartha and his
transformation into the Buddha
4 The Hindu Context 15
The world in which the Buddha was raised; the
influential ideas
5 The Core of the Buddha’s Teachings 19
An overview of the Four Noble Truths; a
comparison to the modern scientific outlook
Contents viii
6 The Noble Truth of Dukkha (Suffering), Part 1: 23
Suffering and Transitoriness
The meaning of suffering; transitoriness and the
potentiality for suffering
7 The Noble Truth of Dukkha, Part 2: Caught in the 27
Causal Matrix
Dukkha as helplessness, as “caughtness” in a
matrix of forces; a comparison to the Western
concept of determinism
8 The Noble Truth of Tanha (Craving) 33
Cravings as the cause of suffering; the meaning of
cravings
9 The Noble Truth of Nirvana (Liberation), Part 1: 39
Conquer the Beasts Within
Cravings and their transformation; the Western
concept of reinforcement; detachment from goals
10 The Noble Truth of Nirvana, Part 2: The Nature of 45
Attachment
Attachment versus enjoyment; attachment versus
devotion
11 The Buddha: The Compassionate One 49
Some implications of the view expressed in the First
Three Noble Truths, particularly the necessity for
compassion; a comparison to clinical psychology
12 Supermaturity 55
The Buddhist ideals of living; a comparison to
Western ideals
13 Anatman Reconsidered: You Are Not Your Mind 61
The essential self (cf. Buddha-nature); a
comparison to the Western (Behaviorist) view
ix The Positive Psychology of Buddhism and Yoga
14 The Noble Truth of Magga (The Path), Part 1: 67
Wisdom and Ethics
The first five branches of the eight-foId path
15 The Noble Truth of Magga, Part 2: Mental 71
Discipline
Right Effort and Mindfulness; a variety of
meditative practices
Poetry Interlude No. 1: Transcending 77
Part II: Yoga
16 Yoga and Buddhism 81
At man as the distinguishing feature; various types
of Yoga
17 I Discover Hatha Yoga 85
How I came to the practice of Hatha Yoga;
breathing and postures; benefits of the practice
18 Savarasana 93
The particular benefits of Savarasana (the Dead-
Weight Pose); its relation to Transcendental
Meditation and to Benson ‘s Relaxation Response
19 The Yogic State, Part 1: Immersion 97
The “inner” practice of Hatha Yoga, of learning to
maintain focused attention; a comparison to
Western approaches
20 The Yogic State, Part 2: Transforming Judgment 105
Replacing pejorative and prideful judgments with a
more dispassionate assessment; Western attitudes
toward judgment