Buddhist personality types

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This is fairly light on religiosity/spirituality, so please don't be put off by the Buddhist label if you are not Buddhistically-inclined.

I happened across an article and questionnaire to determine your Buddhist personality type (Greed/Faith, Aversion/Discerning Wisdom, or Deluded/Speculative) which I found interesting and fairly apt, and thought that I would share it here for any who may appreciate such things.

Here is page 1 of the article: http://www.tricycle.com/feature/which-b ... u?page=0,0
The questionnaire is on page 2, if you would prefer to skip straight to that: http://www.tricycle.com/feature/which-b ... u?page=0,1

It even offers advice on how to improve the negative side of your temperament. Interestingly, I found that the advice on offer for my own type (Aversion/Discerning Wisdom) is much in line with how I have been attempting to improve myself, and has thus far been very successful.

Apparently my personality type is Greed/Faith. I do have a problem with the advice it gives for my temperament, such as thinking about topics like death, sickness, etc. and putting oneself in uncomfortable situations, because those things are likely to make me depressed. However, I do agree that I could be more generous.

Well, I think it means to meditate on the concepts, not just sit and think about them or brood. But if you could stand to be more generous, then I would certainly recommend giving it a try. It can be very rewarding.

Sorry I got rather lost in what the test was for. I took it and it said I was Deluded/ Speculative and gave advice about it, but I couldn't really figure out what Deluded/ Speculative was relevant to. What I mean is it told me what someone of that type should do to improve, but it didn't really explain what the type was. I looked at the previous pages and er... wasn't able to decipher it's meaning.

It told me this... The spiritual task of the deluded type is to transform spaciousness into a state of rooted equanimity. Deluded types need to learn how to reel in their minds. Practices useful for a deluded type include: noting (labeling); mindfulness of the hindrance of doubt; body awareness; somatic experiencing; qigong or yoga; precision; mindfulness of the earth element, and putting oneself in safe and pleasant surroundings to prevent dissociation.

... but not what the type meant

Sorry if I'm being stupid and have missed something

I just took the quizee. I was afraid of biasing myself if I read something else first. It told me what I expected: I am delusional and speculative though I have elements of the other two also.

I am perfectly fine with that, though I think being so crimps my productivity. I must say I know little of Buddhism. If I ever get around to choosing a spiritual path, it seems like one I would go for.

I scored fairly evenly between Aversive/Discerning Wisdom (6 points) and Deluded/Speculative (5 points).

Confronting those concepts is confronting your attachment to life, and health. Death and sickness aren't inherently depressing, they can exist without you feeling bad about them (suffering). It's quite an alien idea for most 'western' types, and a grounding in buddhist practice and philosophy is probably necessary to understand how it can be helpful to do things like that.


I got mostly the Greed/Faith type, but I definitely used to be more of an Aversive/Discerning type... very aversive in fact

NO.

I mostly looked at the questionnaire; I'll look at the other stuff more latter. The majority of my answers were C & the others were a toss-up between C & B.

I think C is the rite category but my subtype is B. I'm not really sure what it means but as I said; I'll read it all later.

Greed/Faith=6
Aversive/Wisdom=3
Deluded/Speculative=3

Once I walked into somebody's kitchen and they really did have a SubZero fridge and I really did squeal (literally) and spend a long time making my host show me it's features. And that was the first question. I do have appliance greed and will squeal if I visit somebody and they have an appliance I think is very awesome.

But I didn't buy the fridge for myself because it is absurdly expensive. So I guess that's where the smidgen of Wisdom comes in.

I think being the delusional type is likely to crimp one's productivity. That's apparently my sub-type, and I can certainly see elements of myself in it (and it definitely crimps my productivity!). As far as the Buddhist path, I highly recommend it. If you're not spiritually-inclined, it also works great simply as a philosophy. That's how I approached it--I was skeptical about meditation before giving it a try and I take no stance whatever on reincarnation. I have found it very beneficial in a number of areas--helping to reduce my anxiety and to make me more compassionate and patient, etc. I'm far from some enlightened Buddhist, though. I just try to be a mindful person and always to improve myself. There are, of course, many ways to achieve this, and Buddhism is simply one of them.




Janissy: Good thing for that smidgen of wisdom! I've never seen a SubZero fridge, but it makes me think of Mortal Kombat, so I like it.

And thank you, Moog. You are much more skilled at explaining these things than I.

I've tried to read it, but I couldn't understand it.

Ha, I find that passage pretty incomprehensible too, and I should at least have some inkling of what the heck it means.

So, I've had a good think about it and maybe this will help;

Deluded/speculative types may spend a lot of time in thoughts, indulging in fantasies, both negative and positive. Their mind is a natural wanderer, going far and wide. That's not necessarily bad, but sometimes it can be problematic.

Deluded/speculative types tend to be full of thoughts, many of them perhaps not reflecting reality too accurately. I would say questioning the truth quotient of your thinking would be very helpful, and testing those thoughts against reality.

I think a good way to 'reel in the mind' is with a concentration meditation practice. You train yourself to focus, or 'anchor', on a single thing, such as the sensation of the breath. This will inhibit the tendency of the mind to wander uncontrollably, and help ground yourself in the body.

The deluded/speculative type of person lives in the mind a lot and sometimes neglects the body, which is why the writer of the quiz recommends yoga and qi gong; a physical practice to bring a bit more balance and harmony between mind and body.

Greed Faith: 5
Deluded etc 5
Aversive 3

I thought it was ok but the definitions are a bit narrow. And I have enough death around me every day, I dont need to meditate on it, thank you very much.

If there's death around you, you have no need to seek it, but when your attention comes to it, you are meditating on it.

I hope that you do not suffer from your close proximity to it.

Thank you. I cant really see any way around suffering, but thank you for your kind thoughts.