Q.3. Buddhist psychology:
Buddhist psychology contains a highly systematized psychological account of human behavior and mind. The practice of Buddhism, as a religion and a way of life, involves much in terms of psychological change.
The ultimate religious goal of the arahant state both reflects upon and requires major psychological changes. The path towards the achievement of this goal, the Noble Eightfold Path, involves steps which can only be described as psychological (e.g., right thought, right understanding). As the goal is attainable essentially through one's own efforts, it is not surprising that Buddhism has much to say about one's thinking and behavior.
Buddhist psychology can be found fully in the following sources:
1. The original Buddhist canon which was put together soon after the Buddha's death and committed to writing in the first century B.C.;
2. The early Pali commentaries on the canon that were in their present form by the end of the fifth century A.D.; and
3. Other Pali texts of the same period which are best described as expository and interpretive works.
From an applied perspective, Buddhist meditation techniques may be seen as an instrument for achieving certain psychological benefits. Primarily, meditation would have a role as a stress-reduction strategy, comparable to the more modern techniques of relaxation.
Buddhist psychology is prescientific, but it is so only in the narrow sense, in that it developed prior to modern Western science. It offers clearly testable hypotheses and therefore can be brought within the realm of scientific inquiry.
Buddhist psychology can potentially make a contribution to modern scientific psychology without compromising its basic stance or that of the latter.