[Buddha-l] Buddhism and Psychology research

[Dan Lusthaus]

Denizens,

How does current research in psychology dovetail with Buddhism? Here are two 
examples:

1. Here's a report on why/how vīrya (zeal, strength to accomplish) has a 
moral dimension, and feeds off its moralism, whether the vīrya is for good 
or bad (terrorists also have vīrya).

http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2010/04/strength-in-naughty-or-nice/

There is an entire complex of Buddhist psychological, pedagogical and 
edificational theories that are rooted in these ideas, such as those that 
think of the Buddha (or the Jains, i.e., Jina -- "victor," "conqueror" --  
per earlier discussions, the Licchavis, who highly esteemed their kṣatriya 
[warrior] heritage were early on major supporters of the Jains and Buddha) 
as Conquerors, Heroes, and thus encourage the bodhisattva to emulate this 
heroism. While the Vimalakīrti sūtra has remained popular and well-known, 
less well-known or remembered is the book which in olden times was 
considered its twin, the Śūraṅgama sūtra (all Chinese translators of the 
Vimalakīrti, until Xuanzang, also translated it -- not to be confused with 
the apocryphal Chinese composition of a similar name that remains a popular 
dhāraṇī text in E. Asia and Vietnam). Śūraṅgama -- a slightly unusual 
word -- is considered to mean something like Heroic Progress, Courageous 
Progress, the heroic path...

2. The philosophical conundrum -- tackled by Vasubandhu and Dharmakirti 
among others -- of how we know other minds.

http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2007/02/what-does-it-mean-to-have-a-mind-maybe-more-than-you-think/

Not sure anything here would surprise Dharmakirti.

Dan