Health and holiness: Resources from Buddhist indigenous psychology for differentiating mental health and religion

Abstract

Theorists examining the relationship between mental health and religion such as Harold Koenig robustly differentiate these domains of human behavior. Other clinical practitioners such as Kin Cheung Lee propose interpretations where these domains are substantially identified. Similar to Lee, researchers Koneru Ramakrishna Rao, Padmal de Silva, and Padmasiri de Silva approach the Theravāda tradition of Buddhism from psychological and clinical perspectives, yet like Koenig these authors also differentiate the goals associated with the domain of mental health from the goals associated with the domain of religious practice. These researchers integrate the religio-philosophical psychology found in the ancient Pāli canon of Buddhist texts with modern theories of psychology and clinical psychotherapy such as those proposed by Sigmund Freud, Marie Jahoda, Les Greenberg, and positive psychology. The current essay explores the works of Rao, de Silva, and de Silva as resources that help differentiate mental health and religion—or, more broadly speaking, that help clarify the distinction between health and holiness.