The Buddha and Aristotle offer competing visions of the best possible life to which human beings can aspire. In this volume, Seth Zuihō Segall compares Theravāda and Mahāyāna accounts of enlightenment with Aristotelian and neo-Aristotelian accounts of eudaimonia, and proposes a syncretic model of eudaimonic enlightenment that, given prevalent Western beliefs about well-being and human flourishing, provides a credible new end-goal for modern Western Buddhist practice. He then demonstrates how this proposed synthesis is already deeply reflected in contemporary Western Buddhist rhetoric. Segall re-evaluates traditional Buddhist teachings on desire, attachment, aversion, nirvāṇa, and selfhood from the eudaimonic enlightenment perspective, and explores the perspective’s ethical and metaphysical implications.

Naturalism, Human Flourishing, and Asian Philosophy: Owen Flanagan and Beyond is an edited volume of philosophical essays focusing on Owen Flanagan’s naturalized comparative philosophy and moral psychology of human flourishing. Flanagan is a philosopher well-known for his naturalized approach to philosophical issues such as meaning, physicalism, causation, and consciousness in the analytic school of Western philosophy. Recently, he develops his philosophical interest in Asian philosophy and discusses diverse philosophical issues of human flourishing, Buddhism and Confucianism from comparative viewpoints. The current volume discusses his philosophy of human flourishing and his naturalized approaches to Buddhism and Confucianism. The volume consists of five sections with eleven chapters written by leading experts in the fields of philosophy, religion, and psychology. The first section is an introduction to Flanagan’s philosophy. The introductory chapter provides a general overview of Flanagan’s philosophy, i.e., his philosophy of naturalization, comparative approach to human flourishing, and detailed summaries of the following chapters. In the second section, the three chapters discuss Flanagan’s naturalized eudaimonics of human flourishing. The third section discusses Flanagan’s naturalized Buddhism. The fourth section analyzes Flanagan’s interpretation of Confucian philosophy (specifically Mencius’s moral sprouts), from the viewpoint of moral modularity and human flourishing. The fifth section is Flanagan’s responses to the comments and criticisms developed in this volume.

Religious Studies, Theology, and Human Flourishing contains essays by nine prominent scholars of religious studies and theology on approaches to cultivating human flourishing within the field of positive psychology. Part of The Humanities and Human Flourishing series, this volume represents perspectives from north India to the buckle of the American Bible Belt and explores the implications of religious studies and theology for well-being, illuminating connections between theory, pedagogy, and practice.

Can humans flourish without destroying the earth? In this book, experts on many of the world's major and minor religious traditions address the question of human and earth flourishing. Each chapter considers specific religious ideas and specific environmental harms. Chapters are paired and the authors work in dialogue with one another. Taken together, the chapters reveal that the question of flourishing is deceptively simple. Most would agree that humans should flourish without destroying the earth. But not all humans have equal opportunities to flourish. Additionally, on a basic physical level any human flourishing must, of necessity, cause some harm. These considerations of the price and distribution of flourishing raise unique questions about the status of humans and nature. This book represents a step toward reconciliation: that people and their ecosystems may live in peace, that people from different religious worldviews may engage in productive dialogue; in short, that all may flourish.

Suffering and Psychology challenges modern psychology's concentration almost exclusively on eradicating pain, suffering, and their causes. Modern psychology and psychotherapy are motivated in part by a humane and compassionate desire to relieve many kinds of human suffering. However, they have concentrated almost exclusively on eradicating pain, suffering, and their causes. In doing so psychology perpetuates modern ideologies of individual human freedom and expanding instrumental control that foster worthy ideals but are distinctly limited and by themselves quite self-defeating and damaging in the long run. This book explores theoretical commitments and cultural ideals that deter the field of psychology from facing and dealing credibly with inescapable human limitations and frailties, and with unavoidable suffering, pain, loss, heartbreak, and despair. Drawing on both secular and spiritual points of view, this book seeks to recover ideals of character and compassion and to illuminate the possibility of what Jonathan Sacks terms "transforming suffering" rather than seeking mainly to eliminate, anesthetize, or defy these dark and difficult aspects of the human condition. Suffering and Psychology will be of interest to academic and professional psychologists and philosophers.

This book explores the positive psychological aspects of religion and spirituality in the Indian context. It discusses the concepts and practices of Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, Christianity, Jainism, and Sikhism and their impact on overall well-being. As the global enthusiasm for Indian spirituality grows, this book brings together scholars to share their perspectives and reflections on various religious aspects. The chapters offer readers a psychological "capsule" of mental health, well-being, compassion, kindness, character strength, mind-body relationship, and mindfulness, providing practical strategies for a better quality of life. Furthermore, this book offers insights into the different perspectives of happiness and well-being measured across diverse demographics. It also provides a qualitative conceptualization of happiness among older people, reflections on positive aging, and highlights the facilitators and inhibitors of happiness. With its comprehensive coverage and multidisciplinary approach, this book serves as a valuable reference for postgraduate and doctoral students of Psychology, as well as a treasure trove in the libraries for researchers and faculties associated with spiritual psychology, positive psychology, religious studies, comparative literature, mental health professionals, academicians, and anyone interested in allied health fields.

'A careful and thoughtful provocation' (Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury) Ambitiously placed at the intersection of scientific insights and spiritual wisdom, Human Flourishing prompts us to reflect on what constitutes a good life and the choices that can help achieve it. For thousands of years, humans have asked 'Why we are here?' and 'What makes for a good life?' At different times, different answers have held sway. Nowadays, there are more answers proposed than ever. Much of humanity still finds the ultimate answers to such questions in religion. But in countries across the globe, secular views are widely held. In any event, whether religious or secular, individuals, communities and governments still have to make decisions about what people get from life. This book therefore examines what is meant by human flourishing and see what it has to offer for those seeking after truth, meaning and purpose. This is a book written for anyone who wants a future for themselves, their children, and their fellow humans - a future that enables flourishing, pays due consideration to issues of truth and helps us find meaning and purpose in our lives. At a time when most of us are bombarded with messages about what we should or should not do to live healthily, attain a work-life balance and find meaning, a careful consideration of the contributions of both scientific insight and spiritual wisdom provides a new angle. This is therefore a book that not only helps readers clarify their views and see things afresh but also help them improve their own well-being in an age of AI and other new technologies.

EDITORS’ INTRODUCTION BACKGROUND This is a great academic solace to see the Volume on Buddhist Approach to Responsible Consumption and Sustainable Development which covers Sub-Theme Five of UNDV 2019 Academic Conference. REVIEW OF CONTENTS The World of Today is suffering from the crisis of consumerism. The first paper on a Buddhist Perspective on Overconsumption and Its Negative Effects towards Society and Environment deals with it specifically in the reference of consumption beyond requirements which is generally termed as overconsumption. Such human tendency leads to negative impact on the entire force of nature and the environment. How the Buddhist principles guide us to live a better life where there is least effect on the environment and society is well explained in this paper. The second paper in this volume, entitled Attaining a Sustainable Society through the Teachings of the Khandhaka of the Theravāda Vinaya Piṭaka is a vivid example of the benefits which one can derive from our ancient Pali literature. While studying the Theravada Vinaya Pitaka, the author explores the specific words of the Buddha in the Khandhaka which hint at the possibility of sustainability and development going together without harming other societal components. Though the Vinaya being a Pitaka for monastics, it still is highly useful for the laity as well. The paper, Buddhist Ethics in the Establishments of Green Tourism is a unique academic contribution. Here, the writer states that the Buddha’s life and principles make us learn a lot as how green methods must be applied in our day-to-day life. The damage being caused by the genre called DEVELOPMENT needs to be controlled and for this, the words of Master exhibits his proximity to protect nature, humanity and the world order.

In the wake of various secularization processes, a growing number of people in Western societies are now describing themselves as “non-religious.” But what does this sociological fact really mean, for the Church and for society at large? Has human religiosity a future after secularization? It does, this book argues, but in a radically altered form. Taking its cue from Pope Francis’s suggestion that globalizing humanity is presently living through a genuine “epochal shift,” this book presents an original analysis of the transformative effect of secularization on our spiritual predicament in the Western, now definitively post-Christian, world. Instead of succumbing to the all-too-common polarizations in contemporary religious discourse, this book aspires to overcome the “religious” vs. “secular” dichotomy through developing the logic of “Radical Secularization,” arguably the genuine novelty of the particularly Western process of secularization. The past homogeneously religious culture is certainly dusking, but this only paves the way for the dawn of the future and radically open horizon for our human search for meaning. This challenging book will offer intellectual impulses and spiritual incentives to everybody who ponders the future of human religious evolution after secularization.

In Reimagining Zen in a Secular Age André van der Braak uses Charles Taylor’s A Secular Age to describe the encounter between Japanese Zen Buddhism and Western modernity. He proposes how Dōgen’s thought offers resources for a reimagining of Zen.