Nalysis Essay. Buddhist and Psychological Perspectives on Emotions Essay

Nalysis . Buddhist and Psychological Perspectives on Emotions Well Being-Paul Ekman - Essay Example To retrieve the data, the researchers noticed changes in the biological activity of the Buddhist practitioners when they were emotional, the way they reacted to others’ emotions and the regulating power of their interactive styles. According to the researchers, would generate useful information regarding the extent to which humans can control their emotions through practice. The second section is entirely dedicated to the beliefs of the Buddhist practitioners. The third section discusses the findings of psychological studies that compliment the views of the Buddhist practitioners and the forth section draws a comparison between the two. The fifth section summarizes the findings and draws the conclusion. Such a division of the report makes it easy for the audience not only to study and understand the information, but also to remember it sequentially. The comparison made by the researchers between the Buddhists’ perspectives about emotion and the states of mind and the pe rspectives of the psychologists enables the audiences to compare religion with science. The textual analysis suggests that the Buddhists’ perspective on emotional happiness depends upon the extent to which the nature of reality has been rightly apprehended. Buddhist perspective largely draws on the eternal state of happiness or suffering instead of the temporal mood shifts that have conventionally remained the prime concern for a vast majority of the psychologists. Emotion as a word has not been recognized in any of the traditional languages of the Buddhists, though they have identified certain mental conditions which have the potential to cause harm both to the individual having them and through him to others. Buddhist practitioners consider certain behaviors afflictive in nature irrespective of their context unlike the Aristotelian ethics. The authors have identified three mind processes to support the Buddhists’ view. The first of them is craving which inculcates a desire for an individual to separate his/her self from the rest. Hatred is another affliction that motivates one to harm another. Thirdly, the sense of self is also an affliction because it encourages an individual to think of it as something permanent whereas it is constantly changing and evolving. Therefore, these toxins are deemed harmful for an individual by the Buddhists. Psychologists in comparison to the Buddhists consider emotions to be adaptive rather than good or bad. Psychology places emphasis upon the need to regulate the behavior for the better rather increasing inner consciousness. The authors should preferably have chosen the section headings first according to the Buddists’ perspective and then according to the psychologists’ perspective. Although the authors mention in the start that the section headings accord with the Buddhists’ and the psychologists’ perspective, yet there is little coordination between the headings. There are two head ings of â€Å"Buddhists’ view† in the report. The information contained in them should have been complied under the single heading of â€Å"Buddhists’ view† instead of two. The paper provides an in-sight into the Buddhists’ perspective of emotion and their preferred choices of the ways emotions should be dealt with. Of the two, the psychologists’ perspective sounds more realistic, logical and applicable to a wider audience while the Buddhists’ perspective sounds mythical, complicated and applicable to