From the "Buddhism is..." page (7 May, 2005):
First is the claim that Buddhism is psychologically astute. This I pose in comparison to western liberal democratic culture in general. Buddhism stands on the truth of suffering, and works systematically to uncover the cause of suffering, the question of ending suffering, and the path to ending suffering. The Buddhist discussion of suffering (duhkha, not to be translated merely as suffering, but also as 'stress, angst, dissatisfaction, unsatisfactoriness, etc.') is, I believe, quite astute. One is urged to look inward, to such emotions as desire and anger/aversion as the more likely causes of unhappiness in the world (as opposed to the devil or other people). Further, one is told to examine their understanding of the world, urged to question his/her philosophical understanding of reality, as ignorance here is seen as the sine qua non of harmful desire and aversion. Though historically, and even contemporarily, many Buddhists do not practice meditation or look at their own emotions and understanding, instead relying on 'merit' by helping others (the monks) to do this, there is no reason why we should not heed the Buddhist advice:
"Not to do any evil,
To cultivate good,
To purify one's mind-
This is the advice of the Buddhas."
-- the Dhammapada (183)
See the full "Buddhism is..." essay.