Are Buddhists Happier Than Other People?

[Xangsamhua]

Are Buddhists happier than other people? Part One

Are Buddhists happier than other people? There are those who would claim this to be so. In fact, for a time it was thought there was some neurological evidence for this, based on brain scan studies done at the University of Wisconsin at Madison in the early 2000s. One person studied was the French-born Buddhist monk, Matthieu Ricard, whose indicators for serenity and imperturbability were almost off the scale compared with other participants, to the extent that he has subsequently been described as “the happiest man in the world”. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/the-happiest-man-in-the-world-433063.html

The wider reading public became aware of these experiments, and others measuring neurological responses to sudden loud noise, indicators of mood, resistance to flu germs, etc. following publication of an article written by Professor Owen Flanagan in the New Scientist magazine in 2003. The “Buddhists are happier people” and “meditation makes you happier and healthier” claims became widespread from then on. However, Professor Flanagan believes he was misinterpreted (for which he takes some of the blame), that he was reported as claiming rather more than he meant to, and that there is a need to get the record straight and to put these claims into perspective. This he has tried to do in a recent book, The Bodhisattva’s Brain: Buddhism Naturalized (MIT Press, 2011).

It’s not my intention to write a review of this book. Much better reviews than I could write can be found on the net. Indeed, the quality of the reviews found on the book’s Amazon page is striking. I would advise people interested in buying the book, or at least having an idea of what it sets out to do, to visit that page. Some of the comments, from people who clearly have a good grasp of the issues and principles involved, include the following:

… This book is an exemplary and inspiring manifestation of a spirit of openness, curiosity, and deep practical respect that is altogether too rare in our purportedly "global" age. It is especially important and encouraging to see someone of Flanagan's stature pursue and produce such outstanding comparative work.

… I am a practicing Western Buddhist and a life long skeptic. I found this book perfect in addressing not only some of the outrageous claims made by "boutique" Buddhists and by the modern Buddhism "industry". Ironically, Buddhism seems to be the only world religion that can accommodate this kind of scrutiny with aplomb as [sic] gain strength by it.

Five stars, no doubt, and the only one getting a five in my Buddhist library.

… I believe this book represents nothing less than the beginning of a new genre within secondary literature on Buddhism and cognitive science.

Whether you are a skeptic or a believer, there is something edifying for everyone in this book. I've assigned it to my students with great success.

… Even where he expresses skepticism, though, the thrust of Flanagan's argument remains constructive, pointing the reader towards a better question, or a more thoroughgoing approach. It is only fitting that Flanagan's last response opens, rather than closes the discussion: "Aristotle saw clearly that our natures contain a healthy dose of fellow-feeling. His vision of the virtuous person is one who grows fellow-feeling. From a Buddhist point of view, what Aristotle failed to see was that growing these seeds even more fully, to the point where compassion and lovingkindness take over our heart-mind, would make us morally better and happier, too. Maybe, maybe not."

So what is it that Owen Flanagan (Professor of Philosophy at Duke University and a member of the Dalai Lama’s Mind and Life Conference) is setting out to do in this book, and what therefore, as a result, should Buddhists and Neo-Buddhists be giving thought to?

1. Flanagan wishes to set the record straight on the “brain scans show that Buddhists are happier” claim. Surveying the research that has been done and the potential of neurological studies to discern and discriminate among states of mind and feelings of contentment, he concludes that it simply does not have this capacity to more than a fairly simple and gross degree. He believes that the research done since 2000 uses insufficient populations, does not discriminate adequately between, for example, present mood and a deeper sense of life-satisfaction, and does not investigate sufficiently the relationships between different conceptions of happiness. His conclusion is that: Regarding the current state of research, there are in fact no scientific studies yet on Buddhism as a lived philosophy and spiritual tradition, in any of its forms, and happiness. None, zero! (Kindle 478-85)

To be continued in Part Two....

[TongueThaied]

What's the point, there are no Buddhists in Thailand; only mislabeled animists who believe in ghosts and magic.

[sabaijai]

What's the point, there are no Buddhists in Thailand; only mislabeled animists who believe in ghosts and magic.

Quite a sweeping statement. I know many Buddhists in Thailand, personally.