Buddhist and Western Psychology: Comparative Study

The main objective of this book is to examine of Buddhist influence on Western Psychological interpretations which differ in many ways. In the west, following from Freud to the present, a great deal of importance has been attached to development through childhood. In Buddhism, there is a greater importance placed on death, since the law of cause and effect (kamma or action) determines how one moment conditions the next. Consequently, the moment of death is an area where it is difficult to separate the psychology from the religion. In western psychology we can discover this with studies into the likelihood of those suffering child abuse growing up to become abusers themselves.