The Buddhist notion of "nonattachment" (release from mental fixations) is related to but distinguishable from the Western construct of attachment. Secure (or insecure) attachment is based on internal working models related to security (or insecurity), whereas nonattachment is based on insight into the constructed and impermanent nature of mental representations. Based on historical and contempo...

This article suggests that due to a restricted understanding of the nature and scope of ethical theory, particularism discounts prematurely the possibility of a metatheory of Buddhist ethics. The textual evidence presented in support of particularism is reconsidered and shown to be consistent with a metatheoretical reading. It is argued that writers who have adopted a particularist approach bas...

1 Division of Pulmonary Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Taipei Tzuchi Hospital, the Buddhist Tzuchi Medical Foundation. 2 Divisions of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital at Keelung, Keelung City, Taiwan. The School of Medicine, Tzu-Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan. Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, Taipei Tzuchi Hospital, t...

The scientific study of Buddhist meditation has proceeded without much attention to Buddhist literature that details the range of psychological and physiological changes thought to occur during meditation. This paper presents reports of various meditation-induced light experiences derived from American Buddhist practitioners. The reports of light experiences are classified into two main types: ...

This paper starts with a characterization of “consumerism” and the idea of “the consumer.” It then explores Buddhist attitudes on wealth and “Buddhist economics” before drawing on these to develop a critical assessment of consumerism as an ineffective and wasteful route to human happiness.

The Problem: There has been an explosion of content on the Web. In the very near future, images, video and virtual reality will be available on demand much as text is now. Somehow an interested user must be able to find the images or video of interest. For example a user may wish to scan a travel documentary for images of distinct locations and objects, like “Buddhist temples”, “Gothic cathedra...

Nineteenth-century American culture displays a remarkable diversity of attitudes toward Indian religion. While many authors and texts reflect the Orientalism posited by Edward Said, others violate the “exteriority” implied in the Orientalist stance. This variety in American treatments of Indian religion invites analysis using a more flexible critical framework such as Fred Dallmayr’s spectrum o...

This paper discusses Buddhist economics as a potential future for capitalism. In the 1970s, EF Schumacher proposed a form of Buddhist economics aimed at smallness, simplicity and non-violence. The major contribution of the present paper is to revise and update Schumacher’s and others’ work on Buddhist economics, first because of the changing spirit of capitalism from heavy to light capitalism a...