BUDDHIST PRINCIPLES AT WORK IN ACADEMIC WRITING: TRUTHFULNESS, HEART, HELPFULNESS, AND TIMING

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Blog 11 - Buddha.jpg

My husband recently attended a (Zoom) retreat put on by the Spirit Rock Buddhist Meditation Center. The topic was taken from one of the eightfold principles: right speech. There are four Buddhist elements of rich speech: Truthfulness, Heart, Helpfulness, and Timing. My immediate reaction was: Those are the same basic principles for good academic writing—they just have different names.

  • Truthfulness = Objectivity — looking at all sides

  • ·Timing = Organization — how you tell the story 

  • Heart = Writing about something that you care about, and 

  • Helpfulness = The goal of all dissertations should be to make the world a better place

TRUTHFULNESS

One cornerstone of academic writing is objectivity. Scientific inquiry is based on fact and proven methods that are verifiable and reliable. The conclusions you make can only hold their weight if your inquiry is grounded in the evidence and your effort to look at all sides while remaining open-minded. A researcher’s bias can be minimized in a number of ways. Here are just a few examples in qualitative research: 

Bracketing. In photography, the photographer takes several shots of the subject using different camera settings to capture its many facets. In qualitative research, the researcher looks at the data from numerous sides, also as a means of capturing the many facets and avoiding bias by only seeing one side. 

Interviewing. In interviews, the researcher asks indirect and open-ended questions that do not have a “right answer” while attempting to maintain a neutral stance.

TIMING

Timing is organization. Much of good writing occurs before the first word is written. I always recommend to my students that they spend ample time considering how they want to organize their dissertation (or essay or report). 

Timing is deciding how you tell “the story.” How do you introduce your topic?  You may want to address your topic chronologically (e.g., the evolution of a theory or practice: how one theorist built upon another theorist’s ideas) or by themes or major components, as I am doing in this blog.

 Timing is also knowing when to introduce a new idea. Don’t overburden your readers by throwing too many concepts at them all at once. Introduce one at a time, define it, maybe give some examples, and after your readers has had a chance to digest that idea, they are ready for your second concept. The worst type of writing is having no organization — intermingling all of your ideas into a mishmash of writing like a symphony without a conductor. 

HEART

 If your writing is going to have life and interest others, you must write about something you care about. Otherwise, there is no point in writing at all. And whatever subject you do write about, treat that subject with care and empathy. Also, treat your readers with care and empathy; that is, make your writing compelling and easy to follow. 

HELPFULNESS

Ultimately, the goal of all dissertation studies is to make a better world. 

This is absolutely universal across all subjects or fields of study, whether it’s helping us:

  • better understand a particular group of people and their struggles 

  • identify the best practices in a business merger 

  • uncover our ancient past through the exploration of clay pots in Egypt 

  • shed light on the origin of sound and language, or

  • identify the major challenges confronting tiger teams

This is your calling:

Make this beautiful planet a better place and

help all of humanity to be safer, healthier, and happier. One person can make a difference. 

Happy summer!