Psychology & Buddhism.pdf

Mahayana Principles of Integration 235
the Mahayana Sutras and especially the Lotus Sutra which teaches respect of
difference, by performing bodhisattva deeds, with a developed consciousness of
the true self, the eternity of life, and the interdependence of life over time and
space, individuals would become hopeful, self-empowered citizens who would
actively work to create peaceful societies. Imbued with a feeling of control over
their lives, these individuals would feel compelled to actively engage in creating
cultures of peace for themselves and all of humanity. A life based on Mahayana
Buddhist principles could provide the individual with a profound sense of
purpose and meaning to the activities of life. These Mahayana principles
teach the transcendence of difference based on an inner knowledge and wisdom,
not a transformation of difference to fit anyone else’s distorted illusions. When
these approaches become accepted as “common sense” in society, then harmony
and creative coexistence in our global human society will be natural and
inevitable.
The most important implication of these Mahayana principles of integration
is that we as human beings can create and sustain peaceful societies, but it begins
with our own individual internalized peaceful change based on the knowledge of
who we truly are. These principles teach us that we do not exist alone. Our difference
is a natural part of our existence and is needed to help us create meaning
and value in our lives as well as to live up to our potential as compassionate
human beings. Human happiness arises through our interconnectedness with
those around us and with our environment.
Some scholars (Chappell, 1999b; Kimmel, 1999) have argued that Buddhist
compassion and caring is not enough. It does not address the special problems of
organized society’s structural violence, social oppression, and environmental
degradation. While we concur that legal safeguards are a necessary condition for
creating the context for peace, the challenge as history has shown time and again
is that we cannot legislate change in the minds and hearts of the people. Thus, this
chapter contends that the integration of these basic Mahayana Buddhist principles
into our global consciousness provides a beginning for a new way of thinking
about the self and the other that would eventually address the global issues and
lead to local, national, and global peace.
Author’s Note
Portions of this paper were presented in the symposium, Healing for the Millennium II: Buddhist
Applications to Social Problems, at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association
Convention, Washington, DC, August 4–8, 2000. We wish to express our appreciation to Guy
McCloskey and Greg Martin for their generosity of time and wisdom in commenting of earlier
versions of this chapter.