The Buddhist tradition offers a profound psychological framework for understanding human suffering and transformation. Rooted in the teachings of Siddhārtha Gautama, known as the Buddha (“the awakened one”), Buddhism emphasizes the mind’s central role in shaping perception and experience (Rahula, 1974). Rather than viewing suffering as an external affliction, Buddhist psychology identifies it as a product of attachment, craving, and delusion — patterns that can be observed and transformed through conscious awareness.
At the heart of Buddhism lie the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path, which together outline both the diagnosis and cure for human distress (Harvey, 2013). Through mindfulness, meditation, and ethical practice, Buddhism provides a path toward liberation — a process that deeply resonates with modern psychological approaches to self-awareness, emotion regulation, and cognitive restructuring (Kabat-Zinn, 1994; Wallace & Shapiro, 2006).