Term Paper on "Buddhist Psychology"

Term Paper 10 pages (3167 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Buddhist Psychology

Compared to Western Psychology, what are the characteristic features Buddhist approaches to the mind? To what extent can these fruitfully interact?

Psychologist Daniel Goleman sums up one of the central disparities in the different views of mind between Buddhism and Western thought. He states:

It seems that one of the biggest gaps that must be crossed between the Eastern and Western approaches to the mind is that the scientific method requires an objective third-person approach, whereas Buddhist practice is clearly a subjective first-person phenomenon.

Increasing use of Buddhist Practices in Psychotherapy)

Goleman makes a clear distinction between scientific thought and the idea of objectivity and Buddhist practice. This in effect means that the Western model of mind and reality is based on the fundamental tenets of science. Western scientific thought is essentially dualistic and is constructed on the assumption and belief in the reality and existence outside of the mind of the ego or self as a separate entity. Buddhism is essentially non-dualistic and has for centuries maintained that self and mind are illusions and obstacles to the true knowledge of reality of enlightenment. This is of course a radical simplification of the Buddhist stance which also varies from school to school.

Many Western psychologists and scientists do not understand this severe distinction and fundamental difference between the two views of reality. Western psychology still in many instances misinterprets the Buddhist Philosophy of mind as a form of extreme subjectivism - as "... A subjective first-person phenomenon." Buddhism in fact rejects the entire subjective-objective dichotomy that Goleman refers to as the "objective third-person debate."

The difference between East and West can therefore be seen within the trajectory of this understanding of reality in terms of subject-object dichotomy in the West and a transcendence of this dichotomy in the east. This amounts to a radical and severe difference between the two perceptions of reality. Many psychologists, even after Jung's writings on Zen and Eastern philosophy and psychological thought still perceive Buddhist philosophy through the lenses and filters of the Western mode of subject-object division. For example, Goleman continues to state that when it comes to exploring the mind in the framework of cognitive neuroscience, the maximal yield of data comes from integrating what a person experiences -- the first person -- with what the measurements show -- the third person. The late Francisco Varela, with colleagues like Evan Thompson at York University, proposed an integration called "Neuro-phenomenology," which elegantly ties together first-person experience, a second person trained as an interlocutor, and the standard third person, such as fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging). Varela has a brief presentation of this method in my book Destructive Emotions. He points out the need for highly trained observers of the mind and proposes that seasoned meditation practitioners can play this role.

This seems to ignore the distinction between the two reality systems and the central characteristic of the Buddhist philosophy and psychology of mind. One of the central contentions of this paper is that, within the ambit of the dualistic thought structure in Western science and medicine, the Buddhism of mind cannot be adequately incorporated or even understood. However, a further area of exploration is that there are areas in which Western psychology has opened itself to the non-dualistic mode of thought in Buddhist mind philosophy. In many instances the principles and techniques of Buddhism or at least derived from Buddhist practice, are altering the dualistic mindset of many Western psychologist and theorists

It should be emphasized at the outset that the central disparity between the Eastern and Western view of mind lies not only in the different approaches to mind but in the very philosophical and theoretical concept of mind that informs these opposing views. The Western view of mind is based and centered on the idea of a permanent self, mind and ego as both an objective and subjective fact. On the other hand the Buddhist view is that these aspects and mind itself are illusionary and in fact mind is, in the final analysis, an obstruction to enlightenment and impedes the understanding of reality and realization of the true non-dualistic view of mind. Western psychology, as part of the Western scientific enterprise, has been built around a belief in the reality of self, mind and the cult of personality; whereas Buddhist's view these three concepts as existent but illusionary obstacles to true-mind. The difference between a dualistic and non-dualistic perception is the crucial and central criterion which separates Western and Eastern psychology.

However, during the second half of the Twentieth Century there were many theorists who attempted to bridge the gap between East and West in many fields, including psychology. The advent of post-modern thought in all disciplines in the West created a new perception and realization of the relativity and representational nature of Western scientific concepts and assumptions. Strict dualism and the subject-object dichotomy where questioned by scientists like Heisenberg and others and there was a general and growing realization that non-dualistic views of reality were an option that could not be ignored in the basic questioning of the Western scientific ethos.

In Psychology the work of Jung and others laid the foundations for Humanistic and Transpersonal psychology which attempted to incorporate Buddhist principles and even therapeutic techniques into psychology. This paper will assess some of the central aspects of this vast and complex field.

Buddhist philosophy of mind

The Buddhist approach to mind varies and differs, sometimes considerably, from school to school and country to country. However, Buddhism in general is based on four central foundations which inform the Buddhist understanding of mind.

The first noble truth in Buddhism is that of suffering as the central characteristic of human experience. The realization and problematics associated with suffering serves as the point of departure for the exploration of all existence and the understanding of mind. The second noble truth is intended to explain this suffering. The cause of suffering in Buddhism is directly related to mind, or perception in terms of Western psychological understanding. This relates to the idea of the mind as the basis of attachment. The term attachment is central to the concept of suffering through mental attitudes or mind. It is also one of the most important aspects that can be related to modern psychological views and theories of the human self. The essential point is that suffering is created by the perceptions and constructions of mind." People's suffering is not created by the external world, but by people's own minds." (Goldstein, 1976)

In other words, according to the Buddhist understanding of mind in relation to suffering, psychological suffering and distress is created by desires and attachments to an external and therefore illusionary world. More specifically, people suffer because of their desires or attachments. "Attachments are things that people cling to, things they feel they must have to be happy." (ibid) Importantly for Western psychology, one of the central forms of attachment in Buddhism is the attachment to perceptions of self and ego. "People cling to their image of who they are, and expend great amounts of energy defending and bolstering that image." (ibid)

The third noble truth is that attachment and suffering is not inevitable and the fourth truth relates to how the releasement from attachment and suffering can be achieved. This final truth is the area that relates more specifically to the Buddhist complex of mind and it is also the area which is most strikingly in opposition to the Western mode of thought.

The release or escape from the confines of attachment is, very simplistically put, accomplished by the removal of attachments to the world. This is the process of realization and understanding of the way in which the mind "works" or creates attachment and illusion. The release from attachment can be achieved in Buddhism by gaining clear insight into the process by which attachments lead to suffering. Whereas struggling to give up attachments only serves to make them stronger, a clear understanding of the process by which suffering occurs leads attachments to fall away without struggle, because it leads people to understand the folly of desire and clinging. (Goldstein, 1976).

This last point clearly stresses that an understanding of mind and the view and creation of illusionary attachments is the central aspect of Buddhist view of mind-only.

These views lead to the concept of Mindfulness which has also filtered into Western Psychological terminology in recent years.

Practicing mindfulness means paying attention at all times. By paying close attention to their thoughts, to external stimuli, and to their own behavior, people gradually gain the insight needed to be free from suffering. It is because people generally do not pay attention that they remain ignorant to the process that leads to their suffering, and continue to behave in ways that lead to more suffering.

McIntosh 38/39)

The relationship to attachments is one of the concerns found in contemporary social psychology. Attachment structures form one of the critical points in the social construction of the… READ MORE

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