Psychology & Buddhism.pdf

Buddhist Empowerment 181
The most important implication of this teaching is that we do not exist alone.
The meaning of our lives and our happiness arises through our interconnectedness
with those around us, our community, and the world. This realization, of the interdependent
nature of our existence, is expected to naturally foster a sense of responsibility
and appreciation for others, which is manifested in altruistic behavior.
Thus, the bodhisattva imperative, based on the rationale of dependent
origination and expressed through a committed practice for the development of
oneself and others, is the overarching goal of Nichiren Buddhists. With this
imperative as a guiding mission, SGI members develop a deep sense of commitment
to themselves and to their relationships with others in all spheres of life. It
is this kind of strong commitment to self and others that, according to Kobasa,
provides the motivational drive that buffers the harmful effects of stress.
Parallels to Control. A belief in internal locus of control lies at the very core of
the Buddhist philosophy of life. This parallel is well illustrated by the doctrines
of the oneness of life and its environment (Jpn. eshofuni) and karma.
Eshofuni explains the relationship between human life and its environment.
Westerners typically see the world as divided into two parts: everything from the
skin inward we call self, and everything outside the skin we call not self. Thus,
we divide the world into self and objective environment. In Buddhist terms, eho
or the objective environment, and shoho or the living subject, are contracted into
esho, which means life and its environment. Buddhism teaches that these two
exist in a relationship offuni, which means they are two but not two.
Most of us readily understand that individuals and their environment are two
separate entities, which means we see the distinction between them. We also
understand how closely interrelated they are. An example is psychology’s findings
of the bi-directional influences that operate in parent-infant bonding, where
the responsively of each influences the receptivity of the other and the quality of
the attachment that develops between them. Yet, no matter how closely interwoven
these mutual influences are, traditional Western thought holds that living
beings and their environments still belong to the realm of two separate entities.
However, Buddhism teaches that there is a realm in which the private world of
self and external reality are “not two” but are one and the same; a dimension of
human life that is one with the entire cosmos itself. This dimension Buddhism
calls the true aspect of all phenomena - the ultimate truth of life that is the
Buddha nature or the Mystic Law (Seikyo Times, 1988, p. 18).
The implications of the oneness of self and environment are profound.
Because the individual and the environment are fundamentally one, whatever
internal life condition the individual manifests will be simultaneously manifested
in his or her environment. For example, persons whose basic life tendency is characterized
by hellish suffering will bring forth anguish and misery in their surroundings,
whereas persons with a basic altruistic state will enjoy protection and