Abstract

              This paper uses a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods to explore the following research objectives: (1) to study the idea of religious pilgrimages and development of ethical behaviors in Buddhism and in modern sciences, (2) to study the process of ethical behavior development of the pilgrims at the Four Holy Sites of Buddhism in India and Nepal, and (3) to present a model of ethical behavior development for Buddhists.

             There are 3 groups of key informants, which are: (1) A sample group of 40 religious pilgrims, (2) A group of key informants for in-depth interviews, comprising of 3 behavioral experts, 3 pilgrimage leaders, 3 experienced pilgrims, and 10 pilgrims from the sample group, and (3) A group of 7 experts who participated in the focused group interview. The study has shown that:

             (1) Religious Pilgrimages and Development of Ethical Behaviors

             The pilgrimages begin when religious followers have devout faith in the religion and therefore have the desires to express the remembrance of and the gratitude towards the founder of a religion by traveling to the holy sites that are the symbols of or connected with the founder. Such the sacred locations are the common destinations with atmosphere that can influence the pilgrims’ inner emotions. With strengthened faith, the pilgrims can be of more willing to adhere to the doctrines without doubting the value of the ethical behavior based on one’s own religion, resulting in one’s own development of ethical behavior in daily life.

             (2) The Process of Ethical Behavior Development for the Pilgrims.

             The process includes the steps and the approach of ethical behavior development for the pilgrims through the learning processes from: (A) The activities performed during the pilgrimage at the Four Holy Sites of Buddhism which include the study activities, such as listening to the lectures, and the practical activities, such as praying, meditating, and worshiping. (B) The experience from being in touch with the atmosphere of the Four Holy Sites of Buddhism and the surrounding area in India and Nepal. When making statistical comparisons of the ethical behavior of the pilgrims, we found as follows:

                   (2.1)The pilgrims who participated in the pilgrimages that emphasized meditation practices have different ethical behavior before and after the pilgrimage with statistical significance of 0.05

                   (2.2)The pilgrims who participated in pilgrimages that emphasized praying and worshiping practices have no statistically significant difference in ethical behavior before and after the pilgrimage.

                   (2.3) The pilgrims who participated in pilgrimages that emphasized meditation practices have the higher ethical behavior after pilgrimages than those who participated in the pilgrimages that emphasized the praying and the worshiping practices with statistical significance of 0.05

             (3) The model of Ethical Behavior Development for the Buddhists.

             The model of ethical behavior development for the Buddhists, based on CIPPA Model, is of the inputs that are the internal factors (Construct) and the external factors (Interaction) of the individual pilgrims. The external factors (external voices and opinions) such as good pilgrimage guides and location can induce the persons to have faith in the religious doctrine which in turn can influence the internal factors (internal reasoning and critical reflection) which causes the individual pilgrim to reach the "Right View Discourse" (Sammaditthi). The learning process factors that drive behavioral changes are the religious rituals in which the Buddhists can actively participate (Physical Participation) and which are in line with the Bases of Meritorious Action, the Three Studies, or the Noble Eightfold Path, and that can measure the development of ethical behaviors through the Four Aspects of Self-Developments, which are physical, moral, spiritual and wisdom development (Process Learning). An individual, who can have introspection in the four aspects and can learn to develop correct behaviors, will be beneficial both to oneself and to others in the societies (Application).

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