Mental balance and well-being: Building bridges between Buddhism and Western psychology.

Abstract

has focused primarily on the diagnosis and treatment of mental disease, and only recently has scientific attention turned to understanding and cultivating positive mental health (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). The Buddhist tradition, on the other hand, has concerned itself over the past 2,500 years with cultivating exceptional states of mental well-being as well as identifying and treating problems of the mind (Smith, 1991). Toward a DialogueAlthough the records of the Buddha's discourses and later commentarial literature within the Buddhist tradition do not elaborate on the theme of "mental health" as such, they do discuss the nature and causes of mental imbalances and techniques for achieving mental well-being. This article draws on centuries of Buddhist experiential and theoretical inquiry to show how a dialogue with Western psychology can be mutually enriching and particularly relevant to current psychological interest in exploring the nature of positive mental health.This article specifically focuses on Buddhism, because it is widely considered the most psychological of all spiritual traditions (Smith, 1991). Buddhism is fundamentally concerned with identifying the inner causes of human suffering, the possibility of freedom from suffering, and the means to realize such freedom. Unlike many religions, it does not begin with arousing faith in a supernatural being but rather with investigating the nature of human experience (Wallace, 1999(Wallace, , 2003. Buddhism presents a worldview that is thoroughly integrated with a discipline of experiential inquiry into the nature of the mind and related phenomena, and it includes empirical, analytical, and religious elements (Segall, 2003). Thus, it can be relevant to philosophical and psychological theory and practice because of its intensive exploration of the mind and its psychological methods to cultivate sustained well-being.To help open up collaborative dialogue between Buddhism and Western psychology, this article introduces a fourfold model of well-being, drawing from Buddhist teachings as well as Western psychology and research. We begin by introducing a definition of well-being, derived from core insights of the Buddha as well as current Western psychological theory and research. We then describe an innovative model of how to cultivate mental well-being, focusing on four types of mental balance: conative, attentional, cognitive, and affective. The model draws on traditional Buddhist theory as well as relevant Western psychological research to demonstrate how dialogue and empirical study can enrich both traditions. Nature and Types of BuddhismAlthough the Buddhist tradition stems from the teachings attributed to the historical Buddha, over the past 2,500 years it has become assimilated with a wide range of cultures throughout Asia, resulting in an equally wide range of sacred writings, theories, and practices. Broadly speaking, Buddhism is commonly classified in terms of Southeast Asian Theravada Buddhism, East Asian Mahayana Buddhism, and Indo-Tibetan Ma...

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