「慈悲」意涵之初探──某佛教學系學生之觀點

Abstract

研究目的：於佛學教育場域中，探討學習者對「慈悲」之經驗與理解，藉以初探「慈悲」之意涵。材料與方法：針對25 位某佛教學系學生，以半結構式面對面深度訪談，了解其對「慈悲」之經驗與理解。訪談內容之逐字稿，採內容分析法（Content Analysis），進行類別與主題的分析和歸納。結果：「慈悲」之意涵，包括同理心（含覺知、陪伴與傾聽、感同身受和理解他人四個次主題）、利他（含不害、關懷與包容、助人行為與無私奉獻四個次主題）、思擇力（含平等心、反思和適切的行動三個次主題）以及自我覺察與調節（含自我覺察、自我慈悲和自我調節三個次主題）四個主題。結論：本研究透過實證資料分析，歸納出「慈悲」之當代與本土化意涵，呈現出慈悲如何運作（HOW），具有慈悲意涵的完整性以及導入實際應用的潛力，期能做為未來研究以及實務上如何實踐慈悲，與促進安寧療護團隊形成共識之參考，進而將慈悲落實於末期病人之照護。

Objectives: To investigate the different possible meanings of compassion (cibei 慈悲) by interviewing students enrolled in a Buddhist Studies Department and surveying their experiences and understandings of the term. Methods: Face-to-face semi-structured interviews with 25 students enrolled in a Buddhist Studies Department were conducted to explore their experience and understanding of compassion. The interview transcripts were analyzed through content analysis in order to identify key categories and themes. Results: Through this qualitative analysis four themes have been found in relation to compassion, each containing three to four sub-themes. These themes are empathy (The four sub-themes being perception, companionship and listening, empathic feeling and understanding for others.), altruism (The four sub-themes being non-harming, caring and inclusiveness, helping behavior and selfless service.), proper discernment (The three sub-themes being equanimity, reflection and appropriate action.), and self-awareness and self-regulation (The three sub-themes being self-awareness, self-compassion and self-regulation.). Conclusions: This study identified the contemporary and local meanings of the term compassion based on empirical data. These results demonstrate HOW compassion works. They reveal all the different meanings of compassion as well as the potential of the fulfillment of compassion. These results can provide a framework for further research on compassion as well as help putting compassion in practice in a clinical setting, create a consensus in the palliative care community, and lead to the creation of compassion-based palliative care programs for terminal patients.