ผู้วิจัย/Authors: Chamlong Disayavanish

ชื่อเรื่อง/Title: Buddhist Understanding of Mental Affiction.

แหล่งที่มา/Source: Journal of Psychiatric Association Thailand. Vol. 53, No. 3, July-October 2008, page 244.

รายละเอียด / Details:

According to the Buddhist doctrine, there are two kinds of disease, namely bodily disease and mental disease. Every human being suffers from mental disease or mental affliction, except the arahants whose mental intoxicants (asava) are completely destroyed. In Western psychology, particularly psychoanalysis, Freud did not believe in absolute mental health and he also maintained that human beings could not get rid of unconscious conflicts and “universal anxiety” In Buddhism, unconscious drives and basic anxiety are originated from deep-rooted mental defilements. An arahant is the worthy one who has achieved the supreme and absolute mental health because all latent mental defilement (anusaya) in one’s mind are totally eradicated. In Buddhist perspective, there are eight causes of mental affliction or “ummuttaka” in Bali, which in extreme cases may result in madness, insanity, or psychotic disorder. There causes include 1) kamummattaka: madness associated with greed (lobha), 2) kodhummattakka: madness associated with hatred (dosa), 3) mohummattaka: madness associated with delusion (moha), 4) ditthummattaka: madness associated with wrong view, 5) pittummattaka: madness associated with organic diseases, 6) surmmattaka: madness associated with alcohol and other intoxicants, 7) vyasanummattaka: madness associated with misfortunes and losses, and 8) yakkummattaka: madness associated with demon or evil spirit. Nowadays, diseases are categorized into three kinds: physical diseases, mental disease, and spiritual disease. The original meaning of mental disease in the Buddhist teaching is compatible with that of spiritual disease. Since, mental disease or spiritual disease is caused by attachment to the five aggregates and latent mental defilements; the effective way to treat this disorder is the practice of insight meditation based on the four foundations of mindfulness.

Keywords: mental affliction, mental disease, spiritual disease, ummattaka, latent mental defilements, four foundations of mindfulness

ปีที่เผยแพร่/Year: 2008

Address: Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand

Code: 201000037

ISSN/ISBN: -

Country of publication: Thailand

Language: English

Category: Abstarct

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