Psychology & Buddhism.pdf

220 Kathleen H. Dockett and Doris North-Schulte
(4)
(5)
defilement of thoughts, deriving from mistaken views or values; and
defilement of life span, the distortion of life itself, which leads to a disordered
and shortened life span.
The Chinese Buddhist teacher T’ien-t’ai (538–597) explained this theory as follows:
First, the human spirit is polluted with the “defilement of desires” – specifically
greed, violence and ignorance of the true nature of life – together with misplaced
values that are described as the “defilement of thought.” It becomes polluted with
violence, greed and egoism, as well as extreme ideas such as fundamentalism. This
impact is collectively known as the “defilement of living beings.” If each level of
human society – the family, local society, the nation or the state – comes under the
sway of these negative influences, this will be passed on over generations and
continue into the future, becoming the “defilement of life span.” At this stage, historical
grudges and violence become embedded in the depths of the consciousness
of a people or country. If this negative cycle continues, humanity as a whole will fall
prey to the “defilement of the age.”
Elements of all five of the defilements can be seen in the ethnic conflicts of
today. “Ignorance of the true nature of life” signifies the failure of human beings
to understand our true identity, the spiritual equality of all life, and the mutual
interdependence of all life. “Misplaced values” include attachment to transient
identities of ethnicity and nationality as though they are permanent. “Historical
grudges and violence in the consciousness of a people” (also identified by Staub
[1998, 2001] as a factor that instigates group violence) are exemplified in the longstanding
intergenerational conflicts of Northern Ireland, Rwanda, Afghanistan, and
the Israel-Palestine states. Finally, the defilement of the life span is reflected in outright
genocide, mass killings, and lesser violence that Staub (2001) notes have
become widespread in the second half of the 20th Century, and show evidence of
escalation in the 21st Century.
Attachment to Difference
The very process of enculturation and social identity formation is a breeding
ground for disharmony between ethnic groups because it encourages attachment
to difference. In the process of social identity formation (Turner as cited in Myers,
1999), we classify people into categories, identify with our own in-group, and
compare our group with other groups, with a favorable bias toward our own
group. Enculturation processes can lead to ethnocentrism or the belief that one’s
own culture is superior. It can also predispose one group to scapegoating others
(where one group is blamed for some difficult condition of life), stereotyping
and demonizing others, and discriminatory behavior. In Rwanda for example,
“in-group bias was the cause of the murder of half the minority Tutsi population
and the huge refugee movements when the Hutus were defeated” (Myers, 1999,
p. 354).