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- ItemA critical evaluation of the social philosophy in early Buddhism(University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, 2016-07-28) Rev. Chullanaga, GodamuneIntroduction The following books attempt to prove that Buddhism is an anti-social religion: Religions of India - By Max Weber (New York -1958), Central Philosophy of Buddhism - By T.R.V. Murti (London -1960), The Sleep walkers - By Arthur Koestler (Hutchinson – 1959), The Bodhisatva Doctrine of Buddhist Sanskrit Literature - By Har Dayal, (New Delhi - 1978). These authors represent early Buddhist thought as a teaching emphasizing personal salvation alone without any regard for social welfare. They assert that the attainment of Arahanthood is self-centric encouraging the individual to mind his own salvation alone leaving aside the rest of suffering humanity. Thus early Buddhist thought according to them has ignored service to the needy. To them Buddhism is devoid of any social dimension whatsoever. Max Weber in his "Religions of India" Weber says in relation to early Buddhism: "Salvation is an absolutely personal performance of the self- reliant individual. No one and particularly no social community can help him. The specific character of all genuine mysticism is here carried to its maximum......" 1 According to him Buddhism does not offer any relevance to daily life. It speaks of something beyond our experience. It is a religion to be practiced individually. Tirupattur Ramaseshayyer Venkatachala Murti in his "Central Philosophy of Buddhism" says "The ideal of the Arhat is the highest stage of the Hinayana system........... Again, the Arahant rests satisfied with achieving his own private salvation. He is not necessarily and actively interested in the welfare of others. The ideal of the Arahant smacks of selfishness; and there is even a lurking fear that the world would take hold of him if he tarried here too long..........." 2 Likewise all four of them have described Buddhism as an anti-social, selfish, mystical and socially sterile religion. Max Weber was responsible for the popularization of this interpretation of early Buddhism. He has utilized the terms “mystical” and “asocial” to describe the nature of Buddhism and to state that there is no collective endeavor recognized in Buddhism. According to them, Buddhism teaches its followers to escape from society and that there is no social progress in a society where Buddhism is practiced. The objective of this paper is to cite canonical commentaries and contemporary social facts to show that Buddhism is a social philosophy. Methodology This study will be based on early Buddhist scripture. Discussion The allegation that Buddhism is a religion with no socially important grounding can be easily refuted by focusing on the teaching which are directly connected to various basic social aspects such as the: 1. Three-fold meritorious deeds practiced by the laity– Dāna (giving), Sīla (virtue) and Bhāvanā (Meditation) 2. Four-fold modes of excellent life- Cattāro brahmavihārā - Mettā (Lovingkindness), Karunā (Compassion), Muditā (Altruistic Joy) and Upekkhā (Equanimity) 3. Ten meritorious deeds- Dasapunññakiriyāni 4. Ten perfections- Dasapāramitā 5. Ten principles to be practised by the king- Dasa Rāja Dhamma 6. Three-fold meritorious deeds- Alobha, Adosa, Amoha These teachings clearly point out that Buddhism has a social dimension. Justice is not done to Buddhism by denying this obvious fact. No one can claim that Dāna (giving) for example, has no social benefits. The emphasis given to Dāna in the teachings mentioned above tells us that Buddhism functions in a well-knit society. This is further collaborated by the teachings of ten meritorious deed and ten principles of kingship. This contradicts the anti-social allegations against Buddhism. It should be mentioned here that the predicament of humanity is diagnosed in Buddhism as a consequence of social corruption and malpractices. A person’s position can be better only when social evils are eradicated. The lesson of Buddhism is that the individual alone is not responsible for his or her problems. Society contributes so much to the problem. This is extensively discussed in the Aggañña Sutta and Cakkavatti Sīhanāda Sutta of the Dīgha Nikāya. It is quite strange that the scholars like Weber have not paid enough attention to these discourses. Similarly there is enough evidence in the Pāli canon to formulate a Buddhist concept of economics. The Buddha has preached to reshape man’s attitude towards environment. The Buddha has endeavoured to create a crime free society. To inculcate norms and values the Buddha not only devoted his entire life but also encouraged his enlightened followers to do the same. Isn't this enough to say that Buddhism has its own social Philosophy? In the pancasila or five precepts, it is quite clear that there are some resolutions taken by an individual in order to abstain from actions harmful to society and the individual, and the person is exhorted to cultivate certain virtues simultaneously for the benefit of society. For example a person abstains from killing while laying aside all the weapons of destruction (Nihita Daṇḍdo Nihita Sattho). And he who is compassionate (Dayāpanno) becomes merciful towards all living beings (sabbapāṇabhūta hitānukampi viharati). Similarly a person, while professing to abstain from steeling, satisfies himself with only what is given (Dinnādāyī) and enjoys what is given (Dinnapāṭi Kaṅkhī). Conclusion In this way, these precepts also lead one to develop one’s own character in relation to society. Hence these 5 precepts characterize the most fundamental socialization process in Buddhism. Resorting to meritorious acts one accumulates merits, the impact of which is to be realized not only in the next life but in this life as well. As all these topics have varying degrees of social implications, we can understand that the allegation that Buddhism is a religion with no concern for society can be easily rejected through critical examination.
- ItemThe effect of metta meditation and time of day on the cultivation of mindfulness and attainment of mental composure: a physiological parameters perspective(University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, 2016-07-28) Wijesiriwardana , R.; Ratnayaka, S.Introduction This abstract discusses a research study carried out to understand the effectiveness of metta meditation on improving mindfulness meditation (open monitoring). According to the canonical discourses, the Buddha mentions Brahma-Vihara practice, starting with metta meditation accompanied by mindfulness meditation as one of the most effective ways towards enlightenment. Over the years this method has sprouted variations such as tranquility wisdom insight meditation. The research study also examines whether early morning hours (3-7am -- just after waking up) are better suited for the attainment of mental composure. According to the canonical discourses, Siddhartha Gautama was enlightened during the early hours of a Vesak full moon day around 2500 years ago. In addition, according to Buddhist meditation schools’ general practices and the Vedic yogic practices (Brahma Muhurta), early hours are regarded as the time period most conducive to the cultivation of concentration. Further, most research on mindfulness-based meditation has focused attention on the object of meditation and the duration of meditation, together with the physiological and psychological parameters, but not considered the time of the day at which meditation takes place (Lutz, et al, 2008; Peng et al, 2004) . Even though experienced meditators may not have a preference on the time of day, for beginners selecting a time of day conducive to their mental composure becomes important. Methodology A group of beginner meditators who had completed a 10-day retreat were selected randomly and divided into four groups (3 persons per group) based on their habitual meditation patterns and were asked to participate in different combinations of meditative practice of metta and open morning practice, All four groups were instructed to conduct their meditation according to the Brahma-Vihara Metta meditation practice and Anapanasati meditation as their open monitoring meditation practice during the experiment. The first group conducted their metta meditation in the morning prior to open monitoring meditation. The second group conducted their open monitoring meditation in the morning without prior metta meditation. The third and fourth groups conducted their open monitoring meditation for a minimum of 2 hours per day in the day or night (at their convenience) but with metta meditation prior to the open monitoring meditation and without metta meditation respectively. In order to measure the progression of meditation by a coherent effect of physiological parameters, both qualitative and quantitative measuring metrics were used. After a 10 day retreat their ECG was monitored while they were undergoing open monitoring meditation. Progression of meditation was measured by using the relaxation response of heart rate (HR), heart rate variability (HRV), meditation depth index (MDI) and subjective qualitative data gathered by a questionnaire survey of the participants. Since progression of meditation depends on mental composure we assume that higher MDI is an indicator of higher mental composure. The ECG data collections were done until stable MDI values were obtained per participant in real time. Recent research studies have shown that the low frequency spectral density of the HRV data is an impartial and impersonal metric to measure the coherent effect of the progression of meditation (Wijesiriwardana, 2014; Lutz et al, 2008). Therefore we have monitored the HR of the meditators during the meditation by using a wireless PC based electro cardiogram (ECG) monitor. Then the HRV is estimated by using fast Fourier transformation and the normalized spectral density of the HRV was obtained. The MDI was then estimated by using the ultra-low and the low spectral powers of the HRV data. In addition, at the end of the meditation period, qualitative data (on items such as preferred time, length of meditation sitting etc) was collected based on a questionnaire. The data collected was analyzed using multivariate analysis. The independent variables are the time of the day (morning hours or not) and the metta meditation before open monitoring meditation or not, resembling two binary variables “T” and “M” respectively. The MDI can be considered as a linear function of T, M and combination of T and M (Equation 1). 𝑀𝐷𝐼 = 𝑓(𝑇, 𝑀) According to the multivariate formulation, this can be rewritten as, 𝑀𝐷𝐼 = 𝑎𝑇 + 𝑏𝑀 + 𝑐(𝑇 ∗ 𝑀) + 𝐷 where a, b, c are coefficients and D is a constant. Results & Discussion The results of the multivariate analysis are shown below. 𝑀𝐷𝐼 = 0.196𝑇 + 0.175𝑀 + 0.610(𝑇 ∗ 𝑀) + 0.0145 As can be seen, positive values were obtained for the coefficients a, b and c A positive correlation of both metta meditation (M) and morning meditation (T) towards improving MDI during open monitoring meditation is observed. This indicates that both factors contribute to better mental composure. In addition, it was observed that both morning hours of meditation (T) and metta meditation (M) together contributed more to improving the participants mental composure, rather than T or M alone (since c was the largest coefficient value observed). Also it was observed that the early morning hours (T) for the meditation contributes somewhat more towards improving MDI than the metta meditation (M) (since a>b). Conclusion Since this initial research showed promising results, a more comprehensive controlled experiment followup is needed to widen our understanding of these factors.
- ItemDo romantic relationship breakups provide opportunities for personal growth?(University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, 2016-07-28) Dharmarathna, M. N. G. S. R.; Karunanayake, D. D. K. S.Introduction Relationships are central to human existence. It provides camaraderie, courtship and love. Although the romantic relationships are primary source of happiness and satisfaction the loss or breakup of a romantic relationship can be a significantly distressing event. The pain of lost love is so intense and it can shake a person’s beliefs about human interaction and relationships. The idea that significant positive changes can occur in persons who are confronted with challenges, suffering and loss was suggested by Calhoun, Tedeschi, Cann & Hanks (2010). For example, negative outcomes of a romantic relationship break up represent only half of the picture and it leaves the positive outcomes under explored. Although the loss can produce a negative impact on a person, a person also has the capability of confronting the loss and surviving it. It may also result in positive changes in a person’s life. The theoretical framework of the personal growth following romantic relationship breakup was discussed by Schaefer and Moo’s model of crisis and personal growth (Park, Cohen, & Murch, 1996), Janoff – Bulman’s model and Horowitz’s model (Herbert, 2006) . Most research in this area studies distress following a breakup. This study formulates a new approach to understanding relationship breakups, by focusing on possible positive changes, which reveal personal growth. The research findings can be used to help people rethink their reactions to breakups by identifying the personal strength within them. The research will also inform interventions in such cases. The primary objective of this study was to find whether romantic relationship breakups provide opportunities for personal growth. * In line with this main objective, following questions were developed. * What are factors that contribute to personal growth after a relationship break up? * How does gender interact with post break up growth? * What factors result in romantic relationship breakups? Methodology The study employed a qualitative research design utilizing semi- structured interviews including a list of open-ended questions based on the research topic. Using the purposive sampling technique a sample of 6 participants including 3 males and 3 females were drawn from the Faculty of Art, University of Peradeniya. The sample was selected from participants who had breakup of romantic relationship within last 18 months. Thematic analysis was used to examine data gathered from interviews. Results and Discussion The analysis extricated five themes, which were characteristics of the break up, personal strength, improved relationship with others, characteristics of the person’s environment and factors affecting the break up. The study revealed that romantic relationship break ups provide opportunities for personal growth. Findings showed that although persons experienced negative changes as a result of relationship breakups, as time passed it provided an opportunity to view life more, positively. According to the findings, factors that affected the process of breakup and the reaction to the breakup were personal distress, duration of the relationship and the initiator status. The distress following a breakup can vary from person to person and gender played a significant role. The causes affecting romantic relationship breakups were betrayal, family disapproval and mismatching ideas and desires of the two individuals. Findings indicated personal strength as a major component of personal growth following a romantic relationship breakup and it includes self-perception and coping strategies. Finally it was revealed that person’s environment had an strong impact on a person’s growth following a breakup and that a breakup allowed individuals to build better relationships with others. Conclusion The study suggests that romantic relationship breakups do provide opportunities for personal growth. It is important to identify the characteristics of the breakup in order to develop an insight about romantic relationship. Personal distress, duration of the relationship and the initiator status were found as the major characteristics that are significant to understand the breakup process and the reactions to breakup. Factors impacting breakups are betrayal, family disapproval and mismatching of desires and wishes. As per this study, the way people experience romantic relationship breakup differs from one another and gender difference is identified as prominent. Females tended to express more sadness and feeling of being betrayed by the partner and males developed anger rather than sadness. The growth following romantic relationship breakup is attainable with the acquisition of personal strength, social support and the possibility of forming a new relationship. While a number of research related to this area were conducted in other countries this study was an attempt to explore personal growth following romantic relationship breakup in Sri Lankan society.
- ItemUnderstanding personality correlates of differential responses to trauma: a study of cancer survivors(University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, 2016-07-28) Malkanthi , H. G. D.; Usoof, R.Introduction The American Psychological Association (APA) defines trauma as “an event or events that involve actual or threatened death or serious injury of self or others.” Similarly, Pearlman and Soakvitne (1995) defines trauma in Trauma and the Therapists as a “unique individual experience of an event or enduring conditions in which the individual’s ability to integrate his/ her emotional experience is overwhelmed”. In both definitions the focus is on the magnitude of the impact on the individual in terms of the threat the event / events pose(s) to his or her wellbeing. Research finds that there is considerable individual difference in how people react to such traumas. While the most widely studied of these responses is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), other responses such as resilience and Post Traumatic Growth (PTG) are also known to be possibilities. The scope of this paper is limited to a comparison between PTSD and PTG. This will be studied using a sample of cancer patients in palliative care. Being diagnosed with cancer has been found to be extremely traumatic because it poses a clear and direct existential threat. PTSD is characterized by the breakdown of psychological wellbeing, often portrayed in broken emotions, cognitions and sometimes as physical symptoms. DSM – IV diagnostic criteria include, re- experiencing symptoms, avoidance symptoms, numbing symptoms and arousal symptoms. For diagnosis, these symptoms have to be persist at least one month and during that one month, the individual should at least experience one re-experiencing symptom, three avoidance symptoms and two hyper arousal symptoms. PTG on the other hand is a positive psychological response that follows a traumatic event. PTG is evidenced by the following characteristics: Great appreciation of life and a change in sense of priority, warmer and more intimate relationship with others, greater sense of personal strength, recognition of new possibilities or paths of one’s life and spiritual development. (Hansenne, Reggers, Pinto, Karim, Ajamier, & Ansseau, 1999). However, research suggests that there are individual differences that play a role in whether a person progresses to PTSD or PTG after experience a trauma. The current study examines personality traits as a possible correlate of these differential reactions to traumatic events. The paper uses the Big – Five Model of personality to examine the relationship between personality and the likelihood of developing PTSD and PTG. The Big – Five Model categorizes personality traits in to the dimensions of Openness, Agreeableness, Extroversion, Neuroticism and Conscientiousness. Previous research has found that these dimensions are related to how persons process stress for example (e.g. Sutker, Davis, Uddo, &Ditta, 1991; Bramsen, Dirkzwager& Van - der, 2000; Lecic- Tosevski&Kalicanin, 1994). The study will examine how these five dimensions are related to the progression to PTSD or PTG after the trauma of being diagnosed with cancer, in a sample of cancer patients in palliative care. As a hypothesis it is predicted that higher levels of extraversion, openness and agreeableness will be associated with PTG, while higher levels neuroticism will be associated with PTSD. It is also predicted that lower levels of extraversion, openness and agreeableness will be associated with PTSD and lower levels of neuroticism will be associated with PTG. Methodology A sample of 60 cancer patients in palliative care at the Kandy General Hospital Cancer Home were selected using the convenience sampling method. The sample included 55% female and 45% male participants. While the sample had some ethnic and religious diversity, participants ranged between the ages 35 – 82 years. A questionnaire that consisted four sections was administered. The first section was a demographic questionnaire and then consecutively, they were given the Ten Item Personality Inventory (TIPI) (α = .69), The Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist-Civilian (PCL- C) (α = .74), and the Post Traumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI) (α = .79). The questionnaire was administered as a structured interview after respondents expressed their informed consent. In addition, specific arrangements were put in place to ensure that counseling services were available to participants during the duration and after the questionnaire were administered to ensure that they were not exposed to undue mental distress. Results and Discussion Table 1.Correlates of PTSD and PTG with Big-five factors < table > Agreeableness, openness to new experiences, extraversion, and neuroticism were negatively correlated with the experience of PTSD. Openness to new experiences, extraversion neuroticism and conscientiousness were positively correlated with the experience of PTG. Conclusion The analysis clearly points to a relationship between personality traits and PTSD and PTG responses, specifically the research results suggested that most of the personality traits of the Big five model were moderately negatively correlated with PTSD while strongly positively associated with PTG. In understanding the relationship between the three variables the sample size of this study, is fairly small and the sample had more subjects who experienced PTG than PTSD. However, this by no means is an all-encompassing study. Therefore, more studies are recommended in this area.
- ItemImpacts of loving-kindness meditation (l km) on aggression and pro-social behaviors among middle school boys(University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, 2016-07-28) Sraman , C. S.; Dissanayake, G.Introduction The Pāli term Metta is defined as a strong and sincere wish for the happiness of all beings, without discrimination, that is free of selfish attachment. Loving-Kindness Meditation is one of forty meditations based in Buddhism, and is frequently practiced by Buddhists (and non – Buddhists, particularly in clinical setting). The Pāli Canon includes many discourses that explain Metta (Metta Bhāvana) in different illustrative ways addressing different individuals’ personality and capability to grasp it. Many studies have demonstrated that Loving-Kindness Meditation (LKM) promotes physical and psychosocial wellbeing in individuals (Fredrickson, Cohn, Coffey, Pek, & Finkel, 2008; Kearney, Malte, McManus, Martinez, Felleman, & Simpson, 2013; Sahar, Szsepsenwol, Zilcha-Mano, Haim, Zamir, Levi-Yeshuvi, & Levit-Binnum, 2014). However, no experimental studies have been conducted to examine the impacts of LKM on aggressions and pro-social behaviors. Therefore, the objective of the current study was to understand the affect of LKM on aggressive behavior and pro-social behaviors among middle school boys. This study attempts to understand if LKM reduces aggression in middle school boys and whether LKM increases pro-social behaviors in middle school boys. Methodology In this current research a Matched-Pairs Experimental Design was utilized. One hundred and seventy seven (N=177) eighth grade boys were selected from two Boys’ schools in the Kandy district. Out of those participants (N=177) ninety four participants (N= 94) were randomly selected for the experimental group. This study used two scales: the aggression scale- a self-report measure of aggressive behavior for young adolescents, developed by Orpinas, & Frankowski, (2001), and the revised pro-social tendencies measure (PTM-R) developed by Carlo, Hausmann, Christiansen, & Randall (2003). After receiving permission from the Zonal Director, informed consent was obtained from all participants and their parents before conducting this experimental study. Both schools’ experimental groups were exposed to a LKM intervention lasting four weeks which included fifteen to twenty minute sessions three times a week. The control group did not receive any intervention. Independent sample (between-subject) t-test analyses were utilized to examine the differences of aggressive behaviors and pro-social behaviors of the control group in comparison to the experimental group in pre-treatment and post-treatment. The differences of experimental group and control group along time 1 (pre-treatment) and time 2 (post-treatment) were examined using One Way Repeated Measure (within-subjects) ANOVA analysis. Results and Discussion Table.01. t-test statistic of pre test on aggression < table > Levene’s significant level (mean score on aggression in experimental and control groups were M=16.17 and M=17.24 respectively with p = .097) did not show significance difference between experimental group and control group before exposure to LKM intervention. Table.02. t-test statistic of post test on aggression < table > Levene’s p – value for the post test (mean score on aggression in experimental and control groups were M= 12.87 and M=16.71 respectively with p = .030), which meant the LKM intervention significantly reduced aggression among middle school boys. Table.03. Within subject ANOVA of experimental group on aggression < table > The within ANOVA analysis results suggested that, there is significant linear trend (F(1, 93)= 10.483, p= .002, partial η2 = .101) between LKM intervention and decreasing aggression across Time1 and Time 2. Pro-Social Behaviors Table. 04. Within subject ANOVA of experimental group on pro-social behavior < table> The results did not show significant linear trend (F(1, 93)= 274.090, p = .09, partial η2 = .03) on pro-social behaviors in the experimental group along time1 and time2. Consistent with hypotheses aggression in the experimental group was significantly reduced after exposure to the LKM intervention. Using independent sample t-test aggression scores of the experimental group were compared with that of the control group prior to LKM intervention (time 1) and after the LKM was over (time 2). The analysis does not show significant mean difference between experimental group and control group on aggression in the pre-test (Table. 01), but the analysis shows that there is significant reduction in aggressive behaviors among middle school boys after exposure to the LKM intervention (Table. 02). This result was triangulated using a One Way Repeated Measure (within- subjects) ANOVA analysis (Table. 03). Result obtained from One Way Repeated Measure (within-subjects) ANOVA analysis did not show a significant linear trend in differences in pro-social behaviors in the experimental group along time 1 (pre-treatment) and time 2 (post- treatment) (Table. 04) which contradicts the hypothesis on prosocial behavior. Conclusion LKM intervention significantly reduced aggression among experimental group, but it failed to show any significant impact on pro-social behaviors. The aggression scale measured the actual aggressive behaviors that had taken place during the past seven days, while Pro- social Behavior Scale measured attitudes of students. Hence, results for pro-social behaviors may not be indicative of individuals’ actual pro- social behaviors. Furthermore, the data collection in post-treatment happened during the year end examination process (after students finished writing an exam), hence contextual factors such as stress, wanting to leave school early etc. might have influenced the results of this experimental study.