Is Compassion An Emotion? A Cross-Cultural Exploration of Mental Typologies
Abstract
It is observed in this chapter that there is no Tibetan term for emotion. This is rather interesting, as emotions are a constant element of human nature. Tibetans have come up with a term that has the same sentiment as emotion, translating into the experience of feeling. But emotion is a word that is hard to describe and analyze as it is more of an intense experience rather than what can be perceived by the senses. It varies from person to person in the levels of intensity and perception. The chapter attempts to see the Tibetan view of this word, whether it integrates into their culture and their religion, as data would show that they refer to mental states such as jealousy and anger, ones that can be interpreted in our view as emotions.
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Buddhism has no native category that corresponds to emotion and is clearly distinguished from other phenomena.
“First, Buddhism has no native category that corresponds to emotion and is clearly distinguished from other phenomena (see among others Ekman et al. 2005, 59; Dreyfus 2002, 42; Attwood 2018, 33).”
From Do Buddhists Have Emotions? The Mysterious Case of Vedanā (2025) · cites this paper as Dreyfus 2002
The Tibetan neologism tshor myong for emotion is derived from the Tibetan word for vedanā, tshor ba.
“tshor myong ( ཚོར་མྱོང། ), the Tibetan neologism created for emotion, is derived from the Tibetan word for vedanā , tshor ba ( ཚོར་བ། ) (Dreyfus 2002, 31)”
From Do Buddhists Have Emotions? The Mysterious Case of Vedanā (2025) · cites this paper as Dreyfus 2002, 31
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Dorjee, D. (2016) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01788 · Cited by 123 · see citing works
Mascaro, J. S., Florian, M. P., Ash, M. J., Palmer, P. K., Frazier, T., Condon, P., & Raison, C. (2020) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.547241 · Cited by 118 · see citing works
The neural mediators of kindness-based meditation: a theoretical model
Mascaro, J. S., Darcher, A., Negi, L. T., & Raison, C. L. (2015) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00109 · Cited by 58 · see citing works
The Aesthetics and Emotions of Religious Belonging: Examples from the Buddhist World
Baffelli, E., Caple, J., McLaughlin, L., & Schröer, F. (2021) · Numen · doi:10.1163/15685276-12341634 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
“Other scholars have explored and cross-culturally compared individual emotions in Buddhism (Brekke 1999; Dreyfus 2002; Gowans 2010; Horton et al. 2012; Makransky 2012) or have reflected on theories of emotions in Buddhist epistemologies (Harvey 2013; Peacock and Batchelor 2018).”
BackgroundDo Buddhists Have Emotions? The Mysterious Case of Vedanā
Font, B. (2025) · Buddhist Studies Review · doi:10.1558/bsrv.32671
- Authors
- Dreyfus, G.
- Corresponding author
- Dreyfus, Georges
- Venue
- Visions of CompassionWestern Scientists and Tibetan Buddhists Examine Human Nature
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press
- Published
- 2002-01-17
- Pages
- 31-44
- OpenAlex
- W2273800434
- Cited by
- 26
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2025: 2 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 1 · 2018: 3 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 9.30
- Type
- book chapter
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Oxford University Press eBooks (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Religious studies › Indian and Buddhist Studies
- Social Sciences › Linguistics and Language › Language and Culture
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Categorization, perception, and language
- Keywords
- compassion, emotions, Tibetan language, Tibetan Buddhism, mental states, jealousy, anger, cross-cultural comparison, emotion concepts
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