Zen in Classic Morita Therapy a Heuristic Inquiry
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Zen in Classic Morita Therapy A Heuristic Inquiry John R. Mercer Centre for Mental Health Melbourne School of Population & Global Health Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry & Health Sciences University of Melbourne October, 2015 © John Mercer, 2015 Declaration This thesis is submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Melbourne School of Population & Global Health, University of Melbourne. The thesis is comprised of original work, apart from material appropriately cited and acknowledged throughout the text. The thesis word-count (counted by Microsoft Word) exclusive of Tables, Figures, References and Appendices, is 95, 485. 2 Acknowledgements This project is a product of the generosity of others. I take this opportunity to acknowledge the individuals and organisations who have contributed to the unfolding of the research process and its outcomes. I wish to express my sincere gratitude for the wisdom, patience and generosity of two individuals who have supported my aspiration and practice learnings over many years: Sensei Michael Clark, Kyoshi, Shinseidokan, Okinawan Goju Ryu Karate-do, and Osho-sama Korematsu Ekai, Abbot, Jikishoan Zen (Sōtō) Buddhist Community. Without them, the lived understandings and disciplines which have shaped the endeavour would have been unattainable. I wish to acknowledge the organisations which have given me opportunities to progress the study and at times practical and/or financial support. Sansei Private Hospital in Kyoto, under the clinical direction of Dr USA Shinichi Sensei; Jikei-kai University Centre for Morita Therapy in Tokyo, under the clinical direction of Dr NAKAMURA Kei Sensei; the Classic Morita Therapy Institute (CMTI) in Australia under the clinical direction of Dr Peg LeVine; the Japan Society for Morita Therapy (JSMT); The International Committee for Morita Therapy (ICMT); and Okamoto Foundation under the leadership of Mr OKAMOTO, for its financial support for a part of the fieldwork, and for its longstanding commitment to Morita therapy both in Japan and abroad. I also wish to acknowledge and thank the members of my Advisory Committee. Finally, I wish to acknowledge the people who have leant themselves to the research process. Among these are Dr MINAMI Masahiro, whose collegiate support with translation and kindred passion for Morita helped sustain my own enthusiasm; Dr Christopher Ives, whose reflections of my own formative ideas were at once inspiring and tempering; Professor Emeritus Graeme Smith, whose sharp eye for all things psychological and psychiatric provided fertile ground for necessary self-reflective challenge; Dr KONDO Akihisa, for passing on the tradition of Zen-based Morita therapy as a practice lineage, and Dr Jess Woodroffe, for her invaluable support and criticism during the writeup stage. And of course, I also wish to sincerely thank the 3 many individuals with whom I shared my lived experiences of Morita therapy as fellow patients. Therapeutic communities engender a humble but genuine fellowship in members with "a commitment to struggle together" (Tucker, 2001, p. 28), and despite language barriers, there has been much struggle, learning and laughter shared with these open and giving individuals. The work would have been meaningless without them. Dedication for my wife, without whom nothing of merit would have transpired, & for my son, for whom all things of merit are pursued 4 Abstract Morita therapy is a native Japanese therapeutic system, for the treatment of a broad range of clinically diagnosable anxiety-based disorders. It has also demonstrated efficacy cross-culturally for post- traumatic stress, existential distress and health anxiety. Morita therapy is uniquely phenomenological, relying on natural processes and experiential understanding rather than cognitive or dialogical strategies. Still in the early stages of internationalisation, the influence of Zen in Morita's theory and method has been a contentious ambiguity for Morita scholars for decades. This inquiry began by examining the question of whether a relationship exists between Morita therapy and Zen. While there are many perspectives on this question, the current inquiry is the first study to methodologically investigate experiential dimensions of the relationship between Morita therapy and Zen, beyond theoretical and comparative analyses. A hermeneutically informed meta-synthesis of perspectives from the Morita-Zen discourse revealed a consolidated position that a relationship does indeed exist between the two systems. These findings, in turn, re-oriented the inquiry toward exploring the nature and extent of that relationship. Given the origins and aims of the inquiry, a qualitative approach was guided by heuristic, hermeneutic and phenomenological principles. Methods included experiential immersion fieldwork across three international Morita therapy contexts in Japan and Australia. Lived experiences were examined from both patient and therapist perspectives, with analyses that identified where and to what extent operational Zen principles were apparent in the reported lived experiences of Morita therapy. Data analysis strategies were matched with research design and data collection methods, to draw out a depth representation of where operational Zen principles were evident or absent in Morita's therapeutic method. Findings indicate that operational Zen principles are embedded in the therapeutic mechanisms of Morita's 'staged' approach to treatment, and inherent to the ecologically engineered therapeutic milieu through which clients are exposed to Nature. Blending naturally with reality as it is, experiential insights into the nature of self, other and anxiety, and orientation toward unimpeded being-as-activity are dimensions of lived experience common to both systems. The study provides a translation-semantic explanatory model to articulate operational principles common to Morita's therapeutic system and the Zen practice systems, before a presentation of implications, limitations and possibilities for further research. 5 Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................. 5 Preface ............................................................................................................................. 11 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 15 1.1 This inquiry 15 1.2 Focus of the inquiry 17 1.2.1 Statement of question ........................................................................................................... 18 1.3 Health Philosophy as translatory theory 19 1.4 Structure of the thesis 21 1.5 Chapter summary 23 Classic Morita Therapy ............................................................................................... 25 2.1 Chapter overview 25 2.2 Introducing Morita therapy 25 2.2.1 Reconceptualisation of task & outcome ............................................................................... 28 2.3 Morita's context as a hermeneutic consideration 30 2.3.1 Meiji Japan ........................................................................................................................... 30 2.3.2 Explicit & implicit influences .............................................................................................. 32 2.4 Morita's understanding of human nature 36 2.4.1 Nature-body-mind monism .................................................................................................. 37 2.4.2 Shin ki & sei ki .................................................................................................................... 41 2.5 Conceptualisation of neurotic anxiety 45 2.6 Aetiology of Morita's shinkeishitsu 47 2.6.1 Existential tensions .............................................................................................................. 49 2.6.2 Temperament, environment & experience ........................................................................... 50 2.6.3 Toraware .............................................................................................................................. 53 2.6.4 Assessing viability for Morita therapy ................................................................................. 55 2.7 Therapeutic approach to neurotic anxiety 58 2.7.1 Morita's therapeutic theory ................................................................................................... 59 2.7.2 Morita's therapeutic method ................................................................................................. 61 2.7.3 Morita's progressive, staged approach ................................................................................. 63 2.7.4 Therapeutic use of community ............................................................................................. 69 2.7.5 Morita's use of Zen's mushoju shin & arugamama .............................................................. 70 2.8 Chapter summary 77 Non-theistic Zen ........................................................................................................... 79 3.1 Chapter overview 79 3.1.1 Emphasis on Morita's Zen .................................................................................................... 79 3.1.2 From Mahayana Buddhism to non-theistic Zen ................................................................... 82 3.2 Non-theistic Zen 85 3.2 Non-theistic Zen as meta-theoretical