1

A Psychological study of the Buddhist Process of Mind

management with special reference to Ānāpānasati Sutta

Introduction

It is commonly found in human nature that nobody wishes to feel pain or any
unfavorable or intolerable feeling, yet because of various competitions in life and so
many other factors, everyone has to undergo or to pass through such situations that
bring pain to him. That way unrest becomes a common thing in everybody’s life. Here,
when we talk in the context of Buddhism as a psycho-ethical system of philosophy as
well as a practical way of life, it becomes more conspicuous 1. We find that the Buddha
has laid utmost emphasis on mind and its complex structure. It is very difficult to
understand mind. There are so many angles to understand it. Psychologists analyze
mind in different ways; moralists and ethicists too interpret it in some different tones.
Moreover, scientists analyze mind in the physical perspectives. Thus, the
concept and nature of mind has several perspectives and it is very difficult to
understand it. The Buddha has said that mind is the supreme. It is the fastest runner.
Everything originates out of the mind. Whatever we think, speak or act upon, is the
product of mind. Mind is the fount aim of all the good and evil those arising within and
befalls us from without. That is why in the Dhammapada, he says in the very
beginning:

‘Manopubbaṅgamā dhammā manoseṭṭhā manomayā

Manasā ce paduṭṭhena bhāsati vā karoti vā
Tato naṃ dhkkhamanveti cakkaṃ va va vahato padan’2

“Mind foreruns of all things, mind is the chief, and so mind-made are they.
If one speaks or acts with evil mind, because of that, suffering follows him, even as the
wheel follows the hoof of the ox that draws the cart.”
And again immediately he says:
1
Prof. Baidyanath Labh, PaññÅ in Early Buddhism (A Philosophical Analysis with Special Reference
to the Visuddhimagga), Delhi: Eastern Book Linkers Press, 19
2
Dh. T.W. Rhys. Dialogues of the Buddha. Landon: PTS. 1997. P. 1.
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“Manopubbaṅgamā dhammā manoseṭṭhā manomayā

Manasā ce paduṭṭhena bhāsati vā karoti vā
Tato naṃ sukkhamanveti chāyāva anupāyinī”3
“Mind foreruns of all things, mind is the chief, and so mind-made are they. If one
speaks or acts with pure mind, because of that, happiness follows him, even as his own
shadow that never leaves him.”
Thus, mind is the supreme. Whatever we act, whatever we do, whatever we
speak, it is a product of mind. This is the reason, Buddha has very clearly said ‘Oh,
Bhikkhu’, I call volition is action ‘Cetanāhaṃ, bhikkhave, kammaṃ vadāmi4.’ Cetanā
means volition, decision or resolution that we take at the level of mind. So mind has a
very important role to play in our life and when it feels unrest or faces unbearable
situation, it feel unrest. Obviously this uneasiness or unrest is a common problem
applicable to all the human beings.
Today we have progressed a lot in respect of science and technology, our life
has become quite easy monetarily, physically as well as mentally, but we have a lot
something very valuable yet to attain and that is ‘peace of mind’. So the basic question
is how to get peace, and how to get it. The Buddha has tried to find out some viable
solution. He noticed that people become sick, get old, and ultimately die, and even
during their lifetime, experience various types of problem at different times and in
different ways. Therefore, we need to control our mind.
Research Problems
Every human beings are faced many problems in different ways and different
places. And then they are solving the problems between in their families, friends and
work in their daily life. Moreover, every day may experience a lot of suffering, sorrow
and pain so people need to management their mind. So that to discuss above mention
facts, we will investigate as follow problem:

Can management our mind to peace by the practicing of Mindfulness?

Objectives of the Study

3
Dh. Verse. 1.
4
A. III. 464. Karma As Volition: It is volition (Cetanā) that the Buddha aclls ‘Karma’ (action). Having
willed, one acts by body, speech, and mind.
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The general objectives of the present research are as follow:

To investigate the concepts of mind
To study the approaches to peace our mind in Buddhism,
To study controlling our mind with practicing of mindfulness.

Aim and Objectives

Aim is to control our mind and to develop spiritual power.

Objectives
Objectives describe to get development of spiritual power, how to control and
practice with mindfulness in Buddhism.

Literature Review
The article named of “The use of Buddhist mindfulness meditation in
psychotherapy” written by Piyanjali de Zoysa emphasizes relevance of Buddhist
psychology and its practices for psychotherapy. Psychotherapeutic applications of
Buddhist mindfulness practice aim to regulate attention develop an attitude of
tolerance toward negative affect, and to reduce behavioral avoidance. The Buddhist
practice of identifying impure thoughts and consciously modifying them to reflect
reality shares similarities with the second wave of cognitive behavioral therapies.
Buddhist doctrine states that when a person comes into contact with an external or an
internal experience, he initially experiences a neutral, positive or negative feeling. This
feeling in turn leads to thoughts which then lead to mental images. If these mental
images are held onto, they excite a corresponding emotion such as anger, sadness,
happiness or envy. The author mentions mindfulness meditation can remove our bad
feeling but did not show how to improve our mind so I will study mindfulness is the
best way to improve our mind.

The Book named of “Meditation is a Mind Management” written by Rishi

Ramesh Vishvas, the author explains about the greatest meditation it can control
concentration of mind. Meditation has got no technique. There are techniques of
concentration. And he states that in loud and clear voice time and again that meditation
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is not at all concentration. When current is interrupted which means that all the
thoughts are fixed on one object, it is concentration. When flow is uninterrupted which
means that there are not any thoughts fixed on any object and the subject and object is
one and the little is immersed in self, it is meditation. It is a non-doing state. In
meditation, you become the witness, the seer and non-doer. The author said that
Meditation is the mind management. We agree the author of view point, but I will
discuss mindfulness is also mind management.

Research Methodology
The methodologies of this research are divided into three main states as follow:
(1) As I mention earlier, both canonical literatures and post-canonical
literatures of Theravāda Buddhism will be used as primary sources.
(2) Research works undertaken by modern scholars related to the proposed area
in the present research will be treated as secondary sources.
(3) The analyzed data will be logically presented in the form of answer to the
research problem and questions mentioned earlier.

Tentative Chapter Outline

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: Concept of mind in Buddhism

Chapter 3: The way of mind development methods in Buddhism

Chapter 4: Application of mindfulness to be balance of mind.

Chapter 5: Conclusion

Bibliography
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Tin. 1923-1931.
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