Description
Book SynopsisIn The Buddha Was a Psychologist: A Rational Approach to Buddhist Teachings, Arnold Kozak argues for a secular, psychological, interpretation of the Buddha's teachings, with a particular focus on the Buddha's mind model and use of metaphor. Kozak closely examines the Buddha's hagiography, analyzing Buddhist dharma through the contexts of neuroscience, cognitive linguistics, and evolutionary psychology.
Trade ReviewArnold Kozak’s declared intention to ‘reclaim’ the Buddha from Buddhism is an essential and defining project for the varieties of Buddhism in the West. Lacking nativist credentials, Buddhism in the West is always in need of a rescuing of its core principles. Kozak’s presentation of the Buddha as a psychologist may not be the last word but it is one of the first and few to boldly demand our attention. It seems inevitable that Buddhism in the West will be secularized and psychologized, and the hope in Kozak’s and similar projects is that we can still rescue the timeless wisdom of the Buddha and hold it in respectful alignment with the deep psychological truths of our own time. Kozak’s book is timely and much-needed.
-- Mu Soeng, former senior scholar, Barre Center for Buddhist Studies
Table of ContentsPart I: Reclaiming the Buddha from Buddhism
Chapter 1: The Legend of the Buddha: History, Myth, and Hagiography
Chapter 2: The Hermeneutical Buddha: What He Taught, What He Thought (Maybe)
Part II: The Buddha’s Pedagogical Project: The Ennobling Praxes (aka Four Noble Truths)
Chapter 3: The First Ennobling Praxis: What is the Problem?
Chapter 4: The Second Ennobling Praxis: Getting to the Root of the Problem
Chapter 5: The Third Ennobling Praxis: Can the Problem Be Resolved?
Chapter 6: The Fourth Ennobling Praxis: Resolving the Problem
Part III: Mind on Fire: The Buddha’s Psychological Map
Chapter 7: Form: Brain Architecture and the Neuroplastic Forest of Self
Chapter 8: Perception: Categorization
Chapter 9: Feeling: Pain and Pleasure Drive Evolution’s Primary Agendas (And Give Rise to a Sense of the One Having Pleasure and Pain)
Chapter 10: Mental Fabrication and the Modular Self
Chapter 11: Consciousness: Apparently Ubiquitous, Certainly Overestimated
