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Title: The Intuitive Buddhist

The Intuitive Buddhist

Psychological Type as a new hermeneutic of Buddhist diversity in the West

by Phra Nicholas Thanissaro (Author)
©2020 Monographs XVIII, 242 Pages
Education
Series: Religion, Education and Values, Volume 15

Summary

By examining teenage heritage and convert Buddhist communities in the West through the lens of Psychological Type, this book presents hard evidence from hundreds of self-identifying Buddhists in the UK, that the diversity of Buddhists, previously described in terms of ethnic dichotomy, is better explained in terms of Psychological Type preferences. By moving past biologically determined features such as ethnicity, the book represents a long overdue yardstick for the full spectrum of diversity within the Buddhist community – since Psychological Type preferences, such as the sliding scale of Intuition, give more predictive nuance and avoid orientalist prejudice. The book puts Buddhism on the map of Psychology of Religion by showing the statistical links between personality and more than twenty individual differences, including tendency to meditate or visit the temple. The hermeneutic of intra-Buddhist diversity described in this book, apart from providing a mirror of self-understanding for individual Buddhist practitioners, can be applied by anthropologists of Buddhism, Religious Education stakeholders and chaplains to ensure equality and objectivity in their work. Meanwhile, the book’s relatable ‘Type Compass’ style of graphic presentation represents a common ‘language’ for religious study that invites comparison between Buddhism and other faith traditions.

Table Of Contents

  • Cover
  • Title
  • Copyright
  • About the author
  • About the book
  • This eBook can be cited
  • Contents
  • List of Figures
  • List of Tables
  • List of Abbreviations
  • Chapter 1 How Diverse Is a Buddhist Congregation?
  • Chapter 2 Psychological Type and Individual Differences
  • Chapter 3 C. G. Jung, Psychological Type and Buddhism
  • Chapter 4 What Introversion and Extraversion Mean for Buddhists
  • Chapter 5 What Intuition and Sensing Preferences Mean for Buddhists
  • Chapter 6 What Feeling and Thinking Preferences Mean for Buddhists
  • Chapter 7 What Judging and Perceiving Preferences Mean for Buddhists
  • Chapter 8 Conclusion
  • Bibliography
  • Appendix A Research Methodology
  • Appendix B Tables for Chapters 4–8
  • Appendix C Glossary of Technical Terms and Names
  • Index
  • Series index

←vi | vii→

Figures

Figure 1. Worked example of how data is derived from a conventional SSRT

Figure 2. Worked example of a Type compass indicating skew towards Intuition

Figure 3. Worked example of a Type compass rose indicating skew towards INFJ

Figure 4. Worked example of a Type grid indicating skew towards IN

Figure 5. Type compass for horizontal collectivists

Figure 6. Type compass for ‘proper Buddhists’

Figure 7. Type compass for Buddhists who bowed to their parents

Figure 8. Type compass for Buddhists with higher self-esteem scores

Figure 9. Type compass for Buddhists from a lower socio-economic group

Figure 10. Type compass for Buddhists who ‘would not say they are happy’

Figure 11. Type compass for ‘stay-at-home’ Buddhists

Figure 12. Type compass for weekly temple attendance

Figure 13. Type compass for practising regular meditation

Figure 14. Type compass for having a Buddhist shrine at home

Figure 15. Type compass for vertical collectivists

Figure 16. Type compass for highly traditional Buddhists

Figure 17. Type compass for high mystical orientation (MOS-R)

Figure 18. Type compass for those who have had a Religious or Spiritual Experience

←vii | viii→

Figure 19. Type compass for female Buddhist teens

Figure 20. Type compass for Buddhist teens with an ambitious work ethic

Figure 21. Type compass for high-scoring Precept-scale Buddhists

Figure 22. Type compass for Buddhist self-identifiers

Figure 23. Type compass for late teen Buddhists

Figure 24. Type compass for Buddhists teens from a family that had experienced divorce

Figure 25. Type compass for Buddhists as compared with the religiously undifferentiated

Figure 26. Type compass for heritage Buddhists as compared with the religiously undifferentiated

Figure 27. Type compass for heritage Buddhists as compared with convert Buddhists

Figure 28. Type compass for convert Buddhists as compared with the religiously undifferentiated

Figure 29. Type compass for convert Buddhists as compared with heritage Buddhists

←viii | ix→

Tables

Table 1. Summary of known differences in Buddhist religious style

Table 2. The E–I dichotomy

Table 3. The S–N dichotomy

Table 4. The T–F dichotomy

Table 5. The J–P dichotomy

Table 6. A Type table – Sixteen Complete Types with standard UK percentages

Table 7. Worked example of an SSRT summary table

Table 8. Summary of significant SSRT differences between non-horizontal collectivist and horizontal collectivist Buddhists

Table 9. Summary of significant attitude differences between non-horizontal collectivist and horizontal collectivist Buddhists

Table 10. Summary of significant SSRT differences between those not identifying and identifying as ‘proper’ Buddhists

Table 11. Summary of significant attitude differences between those not identifying and identifying as ‘proper Buddhists’

Table 12. Summary of significant SSRT differences between Buddhists who bow or don’t bow to their parents

Table 13. Comparison of attitudes between Buddhists bowing or not bowing to parents

←ix | x→

Table 14. Summary of significant SSRT differences between low and high self-esteem Buddhists

Table 15. Comparison of Buddhist teen attitudes between those with low and high self-esteem

Table 16. Comparison of Buddhist teen attitudes across SEC groups

Table 17. Summary of significant SSRT differences between higher- and lower-class Buddhists

Table 18. Summary of significant SSRT differences between Buddhists who considered themselves happy or unhappy

Table 19. Comparison of attitudes between Buddhists who considered themselves happy or unhappy

Table 20. Summary of significant SSRT differences between non stay-at-home and stay-at-home Buddhists

Table 21. Comparison of attitudes between non-stay-at-home and stay-at-home Buddhists

Table 22. Summary of significant SSRT differences between frequent and infrequent Buddhist teen temple attenders

Table 23. Summary of significant attitude differences between frequent and infrequent Buddhist teen temple attenders

Table 24. Summary of significant SSRT differences between frequent and infrequent practice of meditation in Buddhist teens

Table 25. Summary of significant SSRT differences between frequent and infrequent practice of meditation in Buddhist teens

Table 26. Comparison of attitudes between frequent and infrequent practice of meditation in Buddhist teens

←x | xi→

Table 27. Summary of significant SSRT differences between Buddhists with or without home shrines

Table 28. Comparison of attitudes between Buddhist teens with and without a home shrine

Table 29. Summary of significant SSRT differences between Buddhists who are more or less vertical collectivist

Table 30. Comparison of attitude between Buddhist teens who are more or less vertical collectivist

Table 31. Summary of significant SSRT differences between Non-traditional and Traditionalist Buddhists

Table 32. Comparison of Buddhist attitude differences for low and high scorers on the Warwick Scale of Traditionality (for individual questions)

Table 33. Summary of significant SSRT differences between low and high Mystical Orientation (MOS-R) Buddhists

Table 34. Summary of significant attitude differences between low and high Mystical Orientation (MOS-R) Buddhists

Details

Pages
XVIII, 242
Publication Year
2020
ISBN (PDF)
9781789971866
ISBN (ePUB)
9781789971873
ISBN (MOBI)
9781789971880
ISBN (Softcover)
9781789971859
DOI
10.3726/b15055
Language
English
Publication date
2020 (July)
Published
Berlin, Bern, Bruxelles, New York, Oxford, Warszawa, Wien, 2020. XVIII, 242 pp., 29 fig. b/w, 57 tables.
Product Safety
Peter Lang Group AG

Biographical notes

Phra Nicholas Thanissaro (Author)

Phra Nicholas Thanissaro is a Buddhist monk of 24 years standing. With thirty years of meditation experience, he is a UK Complementary Medical Association qualified teacher of meditation. Affiliated with the Dhammakaya Foundation, he is also qualified as a school teacher and MBTI practitioner. As a scholar-practitioner, during his time as Associate Fellow at the University of Warwick, he published widely in peer-reviewed journals on the formation of Buddhist identity in teenagers and continues to research the appeal of meditation in the West. He currently lectures in ‘Living Buddhism’ and ‘Religious Individualization’ at Claremont School of Theology, California and Willamette University, Oregon.

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