The lived experience of Buddhist-oriented religious coping in late life: Buddhism as a cognitive schema

Abstract

This article explores how older Buddhists in Singapore use Buddhist beliefs and practices to cope with stress. Semi-structured interviews with six older Buddhists were conducted. Interview transcripts were analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Data analysis identified three ways of Buddhist-oriented religious coping: meaning-making coping, meditative coping, and ego-transcendence coping. In meaning-making coping, participants employed the notions of karma and duḥkha to make sense of stress. Participants’ meditative coping methods included visualization and mantra meditation. During ego-transcendence coping, participants drew on the notion of non-attachment to the ego. The three ways of Buddhist-oriented religious coping can be examined in a Buddhism-as-cognitive-schema perspective.