| Humanistic Psychology is a branch of psychology fathered by Abraham
Maslow and Carl Rodgers.
It is based on the beleif that humans are motivated to maintain and
enhance themselves, which in turn
moves them toward growth, maturity, and life enrichment
(self-actualization).
The Dalai Lama is the spiritual leader of Tibet, although he lives in exile. He is a Nobel Peace Prize recipient, and there are at least two fantastic movies about or involving him (Kundun, Seven Years in Tibet). Below is the millenium address by the Dalai Lama, followed by an exerpt on the goals of humanistic psychology. The similarities are interesting; one connection is that the excerpts below both prescribe a certain behavior for making the world a better place. Do other areas of psychology share this feature with the humanistic perspective and the Dalai Lama? Dalai Lama: January 1, 2000 "Many people seem to be excited about the new millennium, but the new millennium in itself will be nothing special. As we enter into the new millennium things will be the same; there will be nothing unusual. However, if we really want the next millennium to be happier, more peaceful and more harmonious for humankind we will have to make the effort to make it so. This is in our hands, but especially in the hands of the younger generation. We have had many experiences during this century -constructive as well as extremely destructive ones. We must learn from these experiences. We need to approach the next millennium more holistically, with more openness and farsightedness. If we are going to make the right kind of efforts to make the future of the world better, I believe the following matters are of great importance. 1. While engaging in material progress and taking care of physical well-being we need to pay equal attention to developing peace of mind and thus taking care of the internal aspect of our being. 2. Along with education, which generally deals only with academic accomplishments, we need to develop more altruism and a sense of caring and responsibility for others in the minds of the younger generation studying in various educational institutions. This can be done without necessarily involving religion. One could therefore call this 'secular ethics', as it in fact consists of basic human qualities such as kindness, compassion, sincerity and honesty. 3. This past century in some ways has been a century of war and bloodshed. It has seen a year by year increase in defense spending by most countries in the world. If we are to change this trend we must seriously consider the concept of non-violence, which is a physical expression of compassion. In order to make non-violence a reality we must first work on internal disarmament and then proceed to work on external disarmament. By internal disarmament I mean ridding ourselves of all the negative emotions that result in violence. External disarmament will also have to be done gradually, step by step. We must first work on the total abolishment of nuclear weapons and gradually work up to total demilitarization throughout the world. In the process of doing this we also need to work towards stopping the arms trade, which is still very widely practiced because it is so lucrative. When we do all these things, we can then hope to see in the next millennium a year by year decrease in the military expenditure of the various nations and a gradual working towards demilitarization. Human problems will, of course, always remain, but the way to resolve them should be through dialogue and discussion. The next century should be a century of dialogue and discussion rather than one of war and bloodshed. 4. We need to address the issue of the gap between the rich and the poor, both globally and nationally. This inequality, with some sections of the human community having abundance and others on the same planet going hungry or even dying of starvation, is not only morally wrong, but practically also a source of problems. Equally important is the issue of freedom. As long as there is no freedom in many parts of the world there can be no real peace and in a sense no real freedom for the rest of the world. 5. For the sake of our future generations, we need to take care of our earth and of our environment. Environmental damage is often gradual and not easily apparent and by the time we become aware of it, it is generally too late. Since most of the major rivers flowing into many parts of south-east Asia originate from the Tibetan plateau, it will not be out of place to mention here the crucial importance of taking care of the environment in that area. 6. Lastly, one of the greatest challenges today is the population explosion. Unless we are able to tackle this issue effectively we will be confronted with the problem of the natural resources being inadequate for all the human beings on this earth. We need to seriously look into these matters that concern us all if we are to look forward to the future with some hope." Humanistic Psychology -- We should teach people to be authentic, to be aware of their inner selves and to hear their inner-feeling voices. We should teach people to transcend their cultural conditioning and become world citizens. We should help people discover their vocation in life, their calling, fate or destiny. This is especially focused on finding the right career and the right mate. We should teach people that life is precious, that there is joy to be experienced in life, and if people are open to seeing the good and joyous in all kinds of situations, it makes life worth living. We must accept the person as he or she is and help the person learn their inner nature. From real knowledge of aptitudes and limitations we can know what to build upon, what potentials are really there. We must see that the person's basic needs are satisfied. This includes safety, belongingness, and esteem needs. We should refreshen consciousness, teaching the person to appreciate beauty and the other good things in nature and in living. We should teach people that controls are good, and complete abandon is bad. It takes control to improve the quality of life in all areas. We should teach people to transcend the trifling problems and grapple with the serious problems in life. These include the problems of injustice, of pain, suffering, and death. We must teach people to be good choosers. They must be given practice in making good choices. |
Contents | |||
|
|
