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, Psychological System 1

BUDDHISM AS A PSYCHOLOGICAL SYSTEM: THREE APPROACHES

Gerald Virtbauer ([email protected]), University of

Vienna*

Buddhism has become one of the main dialog partners for since the second part of the last century. The reception of Buddhist psychological thought in the United States began primarily after the World

Parliament of Religions in Chicago, 1893, where writer and publisher Paul

Carus was especially attracted by presentations of Patriarch Shaku

Sōen. His main student, Suzuki Daisetsu Teitaro (usually known in the

West as D. T. Suzuki), consequently moved to the United States to assist

Carus in promoting and developing Buddhist thought in the West. Suzuki‘s approach to Buddhism was focused on the psychological part of the religion. On the one hand, he portrayed Zen as a genuine Asian practice

* Many thanks to my friends at Institute and for fruitful conversations—and especially to Beth Miller for proofreading and important suggestions.

Buddhism, Psychological System 2 way for developing the hidden capacities of the . In this , he wanted to show the gap between Asian and Western thinking and challenge the -centered Western psyche he detected. On the other hand, he was very interested in fostering a dialog between Eastern and

Western psychologies and influenced by the main religious psychological thinkers of his time (especially ). This dialog led to co- operations with famous psychotherapists and psychoanalysts, followed by the first classic works in this field (with Carl Gustav Jung and Erich

Fromm); and finally to the Zen boom in the 1960s.

Though many statements of these early beginnings have been widely criticized in recent years, the importance of the dialog between Buddhism and psychology is not in question, contrarily it is growing and expanding.

Critics mainly pointed to the interest based interpretations of the respective counterpart. As a consequence of constructive elements in exploring Buddhist and Western psychology—either through the eye of the Western scientific , or the Asian religious background— interpretations tended to be orientalist or occidentalist.

The situation today is different, as Buddhism has become a subject of intense study and research, in both Asian and Western countries, and an

Buddhism, Psychological System 3 integrated element of many Western cultures itself. Through global exchange, the presence of Asian teachers in the West has been rising and many Western Buddhists have begun to create their own teaching style and philosophy. nowadays is a mixture of attempts to present a wide range of textual sources and Buddhist teachings in their specific cultural contexts and original languages and attempts to create a new Buddhism—centered on the basic teachings of the Buddha—which can provide answers to contemporary pressing problems in a globalized world mainly ruled by Western capitalistic systems. Of course, either approach does not necessarily negate the other.

Bearing this situation in mind, I want to describe three different approaches of how the relation between psychology / psychotherapy and

Buddhism can be observed and worked with in practice. These approaches should not be understood as exclusive, rather as highly overlapping. My aim is to provide a sort of helping tool for, and brief overview of the current research in this interdisciplinary field.

The first approach is to present and explore parts of Buddhist teachings as a psychology. As many teachers of different Buddhist traditions point out, Buddhism is not primarily a religion based on faith

Buddhism, Psychological System 4 and worship, but a system, or an art to inquire into the human mind. It is difficult, or in many cases in fact impossible, to draw a clear line between the more ‗religious‘ parts—as rituals and daily structures in Buddhist settings—, and the more ‗psychological‘ parts—as practice in all its different variations, as well as the teacher-student relationship and the direct transmission of insight and knowledge. But, considering the common definition of modern psychology as a science of human experience and behavior, Buddhism provides psychological methods of analyzing human experience and inquiring into the potential and hidden capacities of the human mind. In this sense, many Buddhist scriptures are kinds of psychological instruction manuals which are pointing to the practical realization of their contents. In modern translations this direct connection and dependency between psychological method and practice is sometimes stated straight in the titles: for example, Caroline Rhys Davids depicts the Dhammasaṅgaṇi (‗Enumeration of Phenomena‘, the first book of the Abhidhammapiṭaka) as ‗A Buddhist Manual of Psychological

Ethics‘, and Stefan Anacker calls the Yogācāra philosopher a

‗Buddhist Psychological Doctor‘.

The main characteristic of this approach is the close connection to primary sources, and the hermeneutical work with these sources which

Buddhism, Psychological System 5 are often also translated by the author itself. In this way, an insight into the Buddhist understanding of basic human processes of and apperception should become apprehensible. The Buddhist system provides a rich psychological anthropology which contains a general of the human predicament. This is shared by all Buddhist traditions, in addition to many more or less big differences depending on tradition and .

From the point of view of cultural studies, the psychology in Buddhist scriptures shows the dependency of systems of thought to the specific cultural and societal circumstances they are developing in. Buddhism as a psychological system is one example of how psychological knowledge is shaped within certain cultural fundamentals. In intercultural dialog with

Western psychological approaches, this can be helpful in questioning tendencies to universal claims of how to research human experience and behavior. Both Western and Buddhist psychologies are entangled in their specific histories and cultural backgrounds. Hence, they are among many other indigenous systems of investigating and understanding human experience and behavior.

The reception of foreign systems of thought can open new doors for dialog and co-operation. This is what has been happening concerning

Buddhism, Psychological System 6

Buddhism and psychology since Buddhist teachers have arrived in

Western societies. Currently, almost all streams of psychology and psychotherapy have noticed and reflected Buddhist psychological theory and many of them have integrated parts of the Buddhist teachings in their own theoretical and practical work. The second approach, therefore, is the integration of parts of the Buddhist teachings in already existing psychological or psychotherapeutic lines of thought.

Within the last years, the integration of Buddhist and acceptance techniques has been one of the most flourishing innovations in psychotherapy. A development worthy of note within the different schools of psychotherapy is the fact that not only psychotherapies with a traditionally close relation to eastern thought—as Gestalt therapy or —engage in dialog with Buddhist traditions, but also the most scientifically orientated behavior therapies have recently been influenced by Buddhist thought. Some even speak of a ‗spiritual turn‘ in behavior therapy. ―Technologies of acceptance‖, as in Marsha Linehan‘s

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT; Linehan 1998, 23), mirror traditional

Buddhist values and are partly drawn directly from techniques. Another emphasis, and core value in Buddhism and newer behavior therapies, is mindfulness, based on a non-judging experience in

Buddhism, Psychological System 7 the present moment—examples include Jon Kabat-Zinn‘s Mindfulness

Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression (MBCT) by Segal, Williams, and Teasdale. A further approach within newer behavioral and cognitive interventions is

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), which does not have a direct connection to eastern philosophies (ACT is built on Relational Frame

Theory (RFT)), but arrives at comparable assumptions. As in Buddhist mindfulness techniques, a non-judgmental acceptance of all parts of the present experience—especially thoughts connected with inner language— is emphasized. The intended shift should be a focus away from inner conditioned language and behavior shaped as a result of thoughts, to a commitment of following one‘s own personal values, also (and in many situations especially) against inner thoughts and modes of reacting. As

Hayes (2004, 652) puts it: ―The larger message thus is validating (trust your experience) and empowering (you can live a powerful life from here, without first winning a war with your own history).‖

As in the case of ACT, sciences and Buddhism are meeting and informing each other in creating an expanded field for understanding reality. In the Mind and Life Conferences these topics are addressed in a dialog of world renowned scientists and Buddhist authorities, according to

Buddhism, Psychological System 8 the principle of ―a mutually respectful working collaboration and research partnerships between modern science and Buddhism – two of the world's most fruitful traditions for understanding the nature of reality and promoting human well-being‖—Mind and Life XVIII directs to ―The Self,

Mental Causation and Free Will: Exchanges between Science and

Buddhism on the Human Mind‖ (Mind & Life Institute, http://www.mindandlife.org/, 2008/10/08). That there is a prolific dialog for both sides can be observed by the statement of His Holiness the XIV.

Dalai that Buddhism must be open for change, if there are scientific results which clearly imply a modification of certain Buddhist attitudes.

While in the second approach Buddhism as a psychological system is integrated in Western psychological systems, the third approach which I will sketch briefly relates the other way around. This approach is especially connected with newer developments in Western Buddhism and the active integration of social science knowledge into the Buddhist system. Terms as or New Buddhism refer to these innovative movements, even Post-Buddhism. In the words of Marilyn Evy

(2005, 328):

Buddhism, Psychological System 9

When former Zen teacher Toni Packer asks her students to listen to birds

outside the practice hall and imitate their cries, where is Buddhism? When the

Dalai Lama says, ―My religion is kindness,‖ where is Buddhism then? Where is

Buddhism in the practice of radical proffered by contemporary

mindfulness meditation teachers? Perhaps we should talk about post-Buddhism

instead, an amalgam of therapy, breath , and mindfulness techniques

suited for the inhabitants of postmodernity.

What is new about New Buddhism, or Engaged Buddhism in the West is that core Buddhist values as , interdependency, and loving kindness are taken in a literal way, without too close institutional affiliations and historical cultural constraints which have partly taken place in the development of Buddhism in Asian countries. One result of this modern view within Western Zen Buddhism is a focus on gender equality and critical reflections on a male-centered, traditionally grown hierarchical structure.

Recently, also systems of Buddhist psychotherapies have arisen, for instance ‘s Zen Therapy, which are integrations of Western psychotherapeutic structures within a Buddhist method of assigning and dealing with psychological problems. Other ground-breaking movements in Western Buddhism are Buddhist chaplaincy programs which are

Buddhism, Psychological System 10 intended to address current burning problems in the societal surroundings and the interdependent global connection of harmful developments. Areas as prison work, end of life care, or environmental protection are dealt with from a Buddhist standpoint in connection with sciences.

In many cases, psychology is one of the most fitting Western systems to build a frame for dialog with newer developments in Buddhism, because Buddhism always sets off from individual experience which is in a deeper way seen as non-divided, non-dualistic, and connected with all phenomena. But only the individual itself can experience non-distinction— the modern scientific definition of psychology, as a science of experience and behavior of the individual, is therefore a link to Buddhism as a psychological and ethical system.

The is a history of reception in different cultures and societies, with integration in already existing cultural prerequisites.

The transference from India to China, for example, was accompanied by an incorporation of present Chinese religions. What is particularly happening now in Western societies, is the active dialog and debate between Buddhism and sciences. From a psychological point of view, discussions might continue to open new ways of understanding the

Buddhism, Psychological System 11 human mind and dealing with the individual potential to happiness and wellbeing. Buddhism as a psychological, and at the same time, ethical system can help to build a bridge to the collective, which, from a Buddhist point of view, is not divided from the individual, but intertwined in individual experience in the here and now.

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