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Anger, Blame, Guilt and Sorrow ~ Dharmavidya David Brazier

Anger, Blame, Guilt and Sorrow:

by David Brazier

This paper is concerned with the ways in which people respond to change, conflict, threat and hurt. It considers the proper place and function of "negative" emotions and the role of therapy in helping us to learn from them. It draws on the authors practice experience and upon the theory of humanistic, analytical and phenomenological psychology, both western and Buddhist.

 

INEVITABLE SUFFERING

a) A culture of repression:

In this life we all experience frustration, loss and injury. Our culture, however, does not provide us with very reliable ways of coping with these events. The culture of the personal growth movement offers some alternative approaches but these too seem often inadequate to the task. Neither the doctrine of the stiff upper lip nor that of letting it all hang out seem to do full justice to our needs.

Every society encourages some emotions and discourages others. A great deal of effort can be expended on "impression management" (Goffman 1959). Keeping face can be even more important in some other cultures than in our own (see eg Doi 1986). In our society, anger, blaming, guilt and sorrow are generally regarded as negative states and discouraged. Although the Victorians believed in the stiff upper lip and the maintenance of proper decorum by the imperial race, it was probably the experience of the first world war which led to the general adoption by people in Britain of a policy of keeping emotions hidden. In a situation in which everybody had lost someone, one person's weeping could bring everyone to tears. People learned to bury their feelings in order to get on. This is understandable. The cost of such repression to individuals can, however, be high if it is sustained without respite. Emotional wounds may be kept out of sight but in that condition they do not seem to heal very well and people who have nursed their hurt for many years may suffer a great range of psycho-somatic disturbance. Also, repression does not eliminate, merely remove from consciousness.

Jung showed through his studies in word association and later through dream analysis that repression creates a "shadow" consciousness where the thoughts and feelings which one is unwilling to accept nonetheless continue to exercise an unrecognised influence over one's behaviour, relationships and decision making. "The shadow consists of those psychic qualities which, because of their incompatibility with conscious values and goals, have been denied a place in the person's consciousness. These suppressed aspects of personality must be integrated with the rest of the personality if we are to become the authentic and whole persons that we should be" (Benner 1988, p56)

Psychological repression in our society also owes something to the rise of science. There is a widespread belief that pain, discomfort and trouble are unnecessary and that when they occur it is because something has gone wrong. Showing a negative feeling thus becomes an admission of failure. In our materialistic society we believe that the answer to all problems is a material one. And when things are not going as they should, science even provides pills to help us repress the unwanted feelings which arise. Science and technology are expected to be able to put everything right. Of course, this is a delusion.

Perhaps this delusion is beginning to fade. We are perhaps beginning to be a little disenchanted with the mirage of endless comfort which modern civilization seemed to promise. Fortunately or unfortunately science has not eliminated distress. It has given us many good things and we can enjoy no longer having to live in hovels but it has not stopped people from quarrelling nor has it stopped them from dying. Rather it has given us a larger range of ways by which we may die and more things to quarrel over. It has eliminated some diseases and created others. It has given us bombs as well as washing machines. Compared with life in third world countries we all live better than kings, yet, on the whole, we are no happier. The materialist approach brings some tangible benefits but does not solve the problem of human misery.

Essentially, the materialist approach consists of believing that all will be well if only circumstances change. This doctrine is faulty on a number of counts. Firstly, the world is not so constituted that a change of circumstances - any change of circumstances - will yield enduring satisfaction. Secondly, it is change itself which is the trigger for most of our misery. Thirdly, the very idea that there is some other better place or time than this one is itself an idea which causes distress.

More recently a different idea has come to the fore. If repression does not work then the answer must be to become self-expressive. This is the idea that is commonly found in growth groups. There is no doubt that for a person who has repressed feelings for many years to have an opportunity to express them in circumstances which provide safety can be immensely healing and this is an important aspect of psychotherapy to which this paper will return later. On the other hand, there is also undoubtedly something wrong with the extension of this into a doctrine of selfishness in which individuals feel they have a right to special consideration at all times. It simply is not possible for everybody to have the largest slice of cake.

Zen Therapy Abilities ~ Dharmavidya

Dharmavidya:

I could have called this ZT Skills, but I don’t like the idea of reducing therapy to a set of skills, as though you could build it up like a set of lego bricks. Rather it is an art. To play music you might need certain abilities with a keyboard or set of strings, but good music is not primarily technical in that way. It requires a feel for the whole, an acumen that is difficult to teach and cannot be broken down into component parts. Nonetheless, we can list some things that a good therapist using a ZT approach will do.

1. Notice what comes first
This is a principle of wide application that fits into several others that I shall mention. Thus, notice the very first thing the client says. If you are busy making the client feel comfortable or dealing with preliminary administrative matters you may miss it. Often clients give away a key to the whole matter in their first utterance. The personal koan seems to press forward and take precedence.
2. Note rupas
As the client tells his story, there is likely to be embedded a parade of rupas. Notice them all, but particularly, again, notice what comes first. If the client starts by saying, “I have three daughters and I’m having a lot of problems with the youngest, Emily…” then some time will now likely be spent talking about Emily, but when that ebbs, the therapist will say, “You said you had three daughters…” Even if the client dismisses this with “Yes, but the others are no trouble,” the therapist can persist a little, “That’s nice, tell me about them, what are their names?” “Charlotte and Jane.” “So tell me about Charlotte.” again picking the first. We’ll come back to Jane later.
3. Notice when the rupa has power
Sometimes it seems as if Emily is actually present in the room standing before the client. You can tell this from the client’s eye movements and general animation and orientation. The client, talking of the rupa, is in a samjna trance. During these periods the client will experience all the thoughts and feelings he has in relation to the real Emily. However, he is not yet seeing Emily as she actually is, only seeing the rupa, not yet the dharma.

Some Thoughts About Zen Therapy ~ Dharmavidya

Dharmavidya:

Buddhist Psychology has what we in the West might call behavioural, cognitive, humanistic and analytical aspects all together in a single system. In other words, it deals with all aspects of the process of internalising experience and turning it into future action. This is called the skandha cycle about which I have written elsewhere.

This makes it difficult, in some ways, to define Buddhist psychotherapy (Zen Therapy). Intervention in one case might be very different from in another. The client meets the therapist and something happens. The adept meets the Zen master and something happens. It is, perhaps wrong even to use the word “intervention” since the master does not really have an intention to change the adept, merely to do Zen with him. He anticipate that the adept will change, but not in an easily predictable fashion. Who knows what the destiny of this or that person is to be?

This can, therefore, look different from many Western ideas of therapy, where goal setting and protocols dominate, but it is justified to call it therapy since it is a human interaction from which the adept may well emerge reformed in significant ways. I will here try to bring out some of the distinctive characteristics of a ZT approach.

RATIONAL AND IRRATIONAL

People are not particularly rational. The kind of issues that they bring to a therapist are often not the kind that can be sorted out in a rational manner. Nor is it a goal that the person necessarily become more rational. Rational and irrational elements harmonise, each playing different parts in human nature. Nonetheless, many therapies purport to try to do so. Thus, it is, for instance, a principle of many therapeutic approaches to do either or both of the following:

1. to establish as a "ground rule" that everything shall be open and honest and to discuss openly the nature of the client's "problem" and assemble information that may throw light upon it, clarifying the client's habits and tendencies that may be contributing; and/or
   2. make a therapeutic contract with the client specifying goals and even how these are to be achieved.

I have a number of reservations about this kind of approach. One of the difficulties is that whatever is said is thereby made open to doubt. If I need to say to you that I am going to be open and honest, you wonder if this is really the case. If we make a contract, at least one part of your mind is already thinking of ways to get round it. Furthermore, while the therapist is establishing ground rules and thus telling the client how it is going to be, she is very likely missing communications that the client would be making whereby he sets out his sense of things. These first communications are often vital to the whole process and it is important that the therapist attend and listen rather than impose, since what happens at the beginning sets the tone and provides vital clues.

Psychotherapy: Evolution or Decline: The misuse of 'evidence' ~ Dharmavidya

Dharmavidya writes:

I am at the Evolution of Psychotherapy Copnference in Anaheim, California. This conference attempts to showcase the best practice in psychotherapy. The presenters are exemplars for the profession and the information presented is intended to shape the thinking of the thousands of practitioners who attend. The amount of academic data presented is huge.

The net result is unfortunate. The work of being a researcher and that of being a therapist require very different mentalities. As the divide between the two activities erodes, so psychotherapy deteriorates. Psychotherapists now have their eye on generalisable evidence, not on the uniqueness of the client. The data mountain is mostly a distraction and a barrier, only rarely an aid.

I have now watched a number of clinical demonstrations. These are what the thousands of people here are learning to imitate. In all cases, in my view, the practices has been poor, ranging from excruciatingly bad to simply inappropriate. I would not be happy to see this kind of practice by my own students.

The fact that you know, or think you know, from having read piles of statistics, that 60% of successful people or couples do X, Y & Z gives you no right to try persuade the client or clients in front of you to do or say those things. Even if you know that 90%, even 99%, of supposedly successful people do X, Y or Z, that does not tell you anything about the unique, precious soul that is undressing in front of you and as soon as you start to pressure him or her to fit into your predetermined idea of what the right people do, you have stopped doing psychotherapy.

There is a fundamental philosophical divide between research that looks for generalisable conclusions and psychotherapy which looks for what is uniquely precious in the particular case. The therapist should be treasuring and being in awe of precisely those ways in which this client deviates, not trying to get them to fit in. Of course, getting them to fit in will help the therapist increase his or her ‘evidence base statistics’ and this means that the modern therapist tends to be self-justifiying rather than truly client-centred. A real therapist approaches the client in humility, confident of meeting something he or she has never encountered before, something that is not to be found in the statistical generalisations. It is that uniqueness that is the focus of true therapy and the increasing focus upon statistics is making modern therapists blind.

This trend is not the evolution of psychotherapy, it is its decline.

:: link

The Tiger and the Ox: A Buddhist Psychotherapy ~ Dharmavidya David Brazier

A BUDDHIST PSYCHOTHERAPY: The Tiger and the Ox

~ David Brazier 2015

Buddhism as a Basis
In this paper I would like to describe one way of doing and conceptualising psychotherapy. I do not claim that this is the only or best way, necessarily, though I believe it has some particular merits. All forms of psychotherapy practice offer methods, theory that supports and makes sense of those methods and a basic grounding that indicates where the method sits in the wider scheme of values, society, and the spirit of the age. In this instance, this basic grounding is provided by Buddhism and much of the theory, correspondingly, is simply the Buddhist teachings themselves. Here, however, I shall not be giving an extensive covering of all the Buddhist principles that are here relied upon. One has to set some limits and it would take too long to expound here the Three Signs of Being, the Four Truths for Nobel Ones, the Five Skandhas, the Six Paramitas, the Seven Factors of Illumination, the eight steps of the Eightfold Path, the nine grades of Entry into the Pure Land, the Ten Precepts and so on. Yet each of these doctrinal formulas and many more ould, in other circumstances, be taken as a basis for expounding another and another aspect of the psychotherapy that will here be described.

It is a well established result of social research demonstrated by a large number of studies that people who have a religious life or serious spiritual outlook have, on the whole, healthier and happier lives. They, on average, live longer, cope with pain better, meet setbacks with more fortitude, and do not succomb so readily to disease as members of the same society who lack such a spiritual grounding. This is not a trivial finding. Those who are concerned with health and well-being should certainly take it a important and relevant. However, the spirit of our times is such that health care and the professions ancilliary to it have become more and more detached from any serious consideration of religious or spiritual wisdom. In one study it was found that even so much as having the doctor ask a few serious questions about the patient's spiritual life in the course of a diagnosit interview was sufficient to bring about shorter recovery times and better healing, presumably because it gave evidence to the patient that the doctor took the patient's spiritual ife seriously.

Heart Sutra: Therapeutic Commentary ~ Dharmavidya

Hanya Shin Gyo: The Heart Sutra

in old Japanese with English translation

Kanjizai Bosatsu
gyo jin hanya haramita
ji sho ken go un kai ku
do issai ku yaku

Quan Shi Yin Bodhisattva
practises deeply "prajna paramita",
sees the five skandhas completely empty
goes across all affliction.

Sharishi
shiki fu i ku
ku fu i shiki
shiki soku ze ku
ku soku ze shiki
ju so gyo shiki
yaku bu nyo ze

Oh Shariputra,  
Rupa [and] shunyata [are] not separate,
shunyata [is] not apart from rupa.
Rupa is shunyata,
shunyata is rupa.
vedana, samjna, samskara, vijnana:
are also just the same.
Sharishi    
ze sho ho ku so
fu sho fu metsu
fu ku fu jo
fu zo fu gen

Shariputra,
this empty character in all dharmas
is not born and does not die,
is not defiled and is not purified,
is not gained and is not lost.


Ze ko ku chu
mu shiki mu ju so gyo shiki
mu gen ni bi zets shin ni
mu shiki sho ko mi soku ho
mu gen kai nai shi mu i shiki kai

Therefore, in the middle of emptiness,
no rupa, no vedana, samjna, samskara, vijnana:
no eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, or mind senses
no sights, sounds, smells, tastes, tangibles, or mind objects
no eye-world and so on to no mind-world.

Mu mu myo
yaku mu mu myo jin
nai shi
mu ro shi yaku mu ro shi jin
mu ku shu metsu do
mu chi yaku mu toku

Radiance is not lacking,
so no darkness to destroy,
and so on to
no old age and death and no need to destroy them.
No dukkha, no samudaya, no nirodha, no marga,
no wisdom and no attainment.

I mu sho tokku bodaisatta e
hannya haramita
ko shin mu ke ge
mu ke ge ko mu u ku fu
on ri issai tendo mu so
ku gyo nehan


Having nothing to attain, a bodhisattva relies on the prajna paramita,
so mind is no obstacle,
as mind is no obstacle there is no fear;
going across all troublesome states
just practise nirvana.
San ze sho butsu
e hannya haramita
ko toku a noku ta ra
sanmyaku sambodai

Buddhas, past, present and future,
depend on prajna paramita other shore wisdom,
thus arrive at supreme, perfect, enlightenment,
samyak-sambodhi.
Ko chi hannya haramita
ze dai shin shu
ze dai myo shu
ze mu jo shu
ze mu to do shu
no jo issai ku
shin jitsu fu ko


Thus know other shore wisdom
The great inexplicable mantra
The great radiant mantra
The unexcelled mantra
Incomparable mantra
able to cut through every affliction.
It is true. It is not false.
Ko setsu hannya haramita shu
Soku setsu shu watsu
gyate gyate hara gyate
hara so gyate bodhi sowaka

So, proclaim the prajna paramita mantra
That is proclaimed and proclaimed like this:
Going, going, going beyond,
going completely beyond, awaken! Svaha!



COMMENTARY

This is a commentary on the sutra with the therapist in mind. We are looking at this teaching as a basis for helping those in need, not simply for our own personal practice. For clarity I have adopted the convention of referring to the therapist as “she” and the client as “he” but all the principles set out here apply in exactly the same manner whatever the sex of the therapist or client.


Kanjizai Bosatsu
Gyo jin hanya haramita
ji sho ken go un kai ku
do issai ku yaku

Quan Shi Yin Bodhisattva

This sutra starts with the name of the bodhisattva of love and compassion. This is, therefore, a text about the nature of love and compassion. The name Quan Shi Yin literally means one who hears the cries that come down through the generations. This kind of love, therefore, is full of sympathy for the pain and woe that people have inherited from their own past lives, from their ancestors, and from the culture they have been born into. The term bodhisattva means one who has the courage or spirit to live up to a great vision. Dhi means vision and the syllable bo means to be awake to that vision. Sattva refers to being or spirit. The bodhisattva lives in the spirit of awakening to a perception that goes beyond the ordinary. Compassion and wisdom need each other. Wisdom is not real wisdom unless it acts as compassion and compassion is not effective compassion unless it is wise. Quan Shi Yin is a kind of patron saint of therapists because her mission is to ease the spiritual pain of beings by bringing them to a place of greater wisdom.

The Jewel Mirror Samadhi ~ Dharmavidya

Translation & commentary ~ D. Brazier

The following is a translation and commentary upon a famous Chinese Buddhist text. I am not a language scholar, so my translation is not perfect and, in any case, such texts are open to a variety of interpretations. However, the purpose here is to examine the text both from the point of view of Dharma practice and from that of psychotherapy and counselling.

There is, therefore, a commentary upon each line that has two parts. “Dharma Commentary” contains notes relevant to the meaning of the text and its significance in Buddhism. “Therapy Commentary” takes the line in question as a maxim for psychotherapy and suggests its application.

The text is about the “mirror mind” and is about the relationship between master and disciple or, equally, therapist and client. Here we are teasing out the nature of this relationship at different levels. For simplicity, the therapist is referred to as “she” and the client as “he”, but the principles apply the same whatever the gender of client and therapist may be.

There are also, for reference, three appendices at the end relating to Dong Shan's principle of the “Five Ranks” or “Five Positions”.

Author:
Master Dong Shan Liang Jie 洞山良价 (Tozan Ryokai, 807-869) and his leading disciple Caoshan Benji 曹山本寂 (840-901) are regarded as the founding figures of the Caodong School in China which became Soto in Japan. Master Dong Shan is especially noted for this text and for his associated doctrine of Five Ranks (五位). It seems likely that the present text was one of the inspirations for Dogen Zenji's seminal text Genjo Koan upon which I have also done some work for presentation in another publication.

The Jewel Mirror Samadhi Song

Thus, by Buddhas and ancestors, the Dharma is secretly transmitted.
Now that you have it, guard well.
Snow upon a silver plate, a white egret hiding in moonlight,
Similarity is not identity. Similars, when together, can be distinguished.
You'll not see it in what people say, you'll see it in their spontaneous responses and reactions.
Acting and achieving in the old familiar way you miss the slip – look again, wait, look to the longer context.
Too far away and too close are both wrong, as in relation to a great fire.
Fancy words that are merely rupa are themselves klesha.
True radiance comes in darkest night; the dawn brings no dew.
This rule benefits beings; use it to uproot all kinds of dukkha.
Although uncontrived, it is not wordless.
Thus facing the jewel mirror, rupa images regard one another.
You are not it, but it is definitely you.
It's like a baby, complete in five ways
Neither going nor coming, neither arising nor staying.
Ma-ma, wa-wa; speech without speech,
In the final analysis, the object is not attained because the speech is not yet right.
In the double li hexagram, the one who stands upright and the one who bows depend upon one another
You make your threefold division, but to get the result you rework it into five.
Like the chih grass taste, like the vajra.
In their encounter, disciple and master embrace and display the central mystery.
To know the ancient way is to know the way ahead; take it to heart and it will take you along.
If reverent, then happy. Nothing can go wrong.
The truth that Heaven bestows is nonetheless mysterious; not even to be classed with delusion and enlightenment.
All in due season, with the ripening of causes and conditions, its glory quietly emerges.
Fine, it penetrates hell; great, no cell can hold it.
A tiny mistake and you lose the tune
Now we have sudden and gradual and sectarian meanings take their stands
The sects separate, setting up rules and standards
Yet, if one plumb them to the very depths, it will be found that true nature flows quite naturally.
Outwardly calm yet agitated within, one is like a tethered colt or a trapped mouse.
From pity, as dana paramita, the former sages performed the Dharma
by such paradoxical means as black silk performing pure whiteness.
When muddled thought is extinguished, the willing heart comes into its own [i.e. is liberated].
To walk hand in hand with those of old, one must inquire of the ancient ways.
Along the Buddha Way: ten kalpas contemplating the bodhi tree.
Thus the tiger's tattered ears; thus the horse's old grey leg.
Therefore, for the downcast, a jewelled footrest, a noble chariot.
Therefore, astonishingly, there are dutiful cats and pure cattle.
Emperor Yi could hit a target at a hundred yards by dint of skill and strength.
But how will you make to meet two arrows in mid-air straight on?
How make the wooden man sing, the stone damsel dance?
This cannot arrive by vijñana cravings, much less include discriminative thought.
The minister serves the king, the child respects the father.
Without service there is no loyalty, without respect, no support.
Make use of this secret practice, be the foolish being completely.
Only in each making the other successful can the master within the master be inherited.

COMMENTARY

TITLE

The Jewel Mirror Samadhi Song

寶鏡三昧歌

Commentary: The Jewel 寶 generally refers to the “mani”, or “wish fulfilling jewel”, that represents the seemingly magical effect of Dharma. The Mirror signifies the mind of one who has let self fall away. Samadhi means concentration, but has a wider implication than the English word, signifying a state transcending ordinary consciousness in which the spontaneous activity of the mind automatically reflects the Dharma.

A jewel has many facets and so reflects in many directions at the same time. Everything reflects everything, but, in particular, there is an important reflection effect between master and disciple and, similarly, also between individual and Buddha. Beyond the relationship between master and disciple is the relationship that they together have to the Three Jewels: Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. The jewel mirror thus also refers to the “Three Jewels”. It is the influence of the threefold jewel coming through that actually heals. It is this deeper connection that makes the reflection between master and disciples or between therapist and client deeply meaningful. The master-disciple relationship itself reveals the jewel mirror and only exists because of the jewel mirror.

The therapist who employs a Buddhist psychology approach has a sense of the Buddha as present in the relationship and as being the jewel mirror. The truth that emerges through the therapy process is Dharma. It is the deep meaning of human heartedness and of “the depths of the soul”. We, therefore, must approach this work in a spirit of great humility. What we discover by working with a client is no small thing. It is not a fault in a psychological mechanism that needs fixing, it is something much more important. The client embodies the Dharma and the client's “problem” or “koan” that is ripening in their life is like a chink of light reflected from the jewel mirror.

Thus, it is not simply that “the relationship heals”, it is that the relationship gives access to the meaning of life exemplified in a particular instance. This is portentious. It moves us. We feel it. We are touched and moved. These “touchings” and “movings” are not always easy to put into words, but the therapist must learn to allow herself to be touched and moved and to find in that deep involuntary effect something of great worth, something to respect infinitely. In this infinite respect the Dharma is made manifest.

LINES

Line 1

Thus, by Buddhas and ancestors, the Dharma is secretly transmitted.

如是之法佛祖密付

Dharma Commentary

Secret transmission
The Dharma is passed down directly, heart to heart. The point here is that we should not think that the Dharma is something merely intellectual, nor that it is a matter that can be figured out if one is just sufficiently clever. The Dharma is more connaisance than savoir, “caught” rather than “taught”, experiential rather than didactic. The didactic elements are signposts. All over France there are signposts to Paris, but no study of the signposts, however exhaustive, will ever substitute for a visit to the city. The Dharma is found in the spontaneous, nonpossessive love that exists between a true master and a true disciple. It is a mirroring of mutual esteem, supported by shared esteem for the Dharma.

Thus
Buddhist scriptures generally begin, “Thus have I heard...” The term tatha in Sanskrit can be translated as “thus” or “such”, hence tathata as “thusness” and Tathagata as an epithet of Buddha. The whole idea of “thusness” has a particular cachet in Buddhism, referring both to the transmitted Dharma and to the idea that Dharma is simply things as they are - “thus”. It would, therefore, also be possible to translate this first line as “By Buddhas and ancestors, the Dharma of thusness is secretly transmitted.”

By Buddhas and Ancestors
The Buddhas and ancestors are eternally transmitting this Dharma. This is the religious sense of Buddhism. We are not merely talking about a theory, but a living presence. Things emerge in the Dharma relationship that are not traceable to the individuals and their personal karma. Something more is at work.

Therapy Commentary

The “Dharma of thusness” refers to a certain kind of spontaneity or naturalness. An aim of therapy is to help the client to arrive at such a state of freedom from inner conflict, such that the mind can be trusted and anxiety then can subside. In therapy a special kind of relationship space is created within which certain qualities can be transmitted. It is also a space within which a person feels able to be more spontaneous and to follow the hidden thread of their deeper thoughts and feelings. There is a heart to heart connection between therapist and client which creates a freedom, where the client feels trusted and immune to destructive criticism. In therapy, different things happen at different levels. Superficially the client may obtain reassurance and may learn some things from the therapist. This process of learning and reassurance, however, can be the medium within which a deeper meeting occurs in which there is a real opening, heart to heart, by means of which a deep healing takes place. This all happens secretly. It is not necessarily conscious to either therapist or client. It is the fact that there is no contrivance or manipulation that makes it possible.

Amida Newsletter 28: Whispers from the Bamboo Grove ~ Dharmavidya's news from California

Dharmavidya

A Wonderful Ten Days Presenting Dharma
   in California

I am now at the end of what has been a wonderfully successful visit to the Bay Area in California, staying at San Francisco Zen Center, attending the Mindfulness & Compassion Conference at SF State Uni and the post conference meeting at the Mangalam Centre and, finally, conducting a wedding.

Last weekend I gave a day seminar at SFZC on Buddhist psychology and on the Sunday I spoke at Stone Creek Zen Center on the theme “All One Dharma”. Both meetings went very well with attentive audiences and intelligent discussion.

In the Mindfulness and Compassion conference I spoke firstly in a panel, emphasising the importance of compassion as a basis for all aspects of Buddhist practice. Then, in my main presentation I spoke about how mindfulness in Buddha’s original intention and mindfulness as it is currently popular are not the same thing. The mind always has an object, so is always paying attention to something. Is the person walking I passed on the street that morning who was walking along with eyes half closed and headphones on being mindful or not? Attention fixes the mind on one thing and simultaneously excludes other things, thus attention creates more unconsciousness than consciousness. It may well be that many of the effects of mindfulness as attention are really the positive effects of distraction. One feels less stress because the mind has been distracted from its worries. Buddha’s mindfulness was less a distractor and more a protector. To be mindful was to have in mind something higher that would carry one through difficulties.

In the Friday night talk at SF Zen Center I spoke about how Buddhism can be looked at as science, spirituality, therapy and/or religion. I spoke of them in this order suggesting that each subsequent perspective goes a little deeper. As an inner science, Buddhism cultivates objectivity in regard to the flow of human experience. Buddhism is spiritual in that so many of its major historical developments (Buddha’s going forth, Atisha going to Indonesia and subsequently becoming the great teacher of Tibet, Shinran going to become a disciple of Honen Shonin, and so on) were precipitated by powerful spiritual experiences or divine interventions in the lives of people who were thus empowered to take actions that became pivotal and highly consequential. Looking at Buddhism through the therapeutic window we see that the transmission of the Dharma is a person to person affair in which lives are radically changed through encounter. Finally, Buddhism is a religion, both in its social forms which include just about every known aspect of religious expression (temples, rituals, priesthood, monks, liturgy, altars, icons, etc.) and also in its fundamental sensibility as a faith that creates and unites communities in a spirit of faith and practice.

The conference at the Mangalam Center was called “Conversations at the Edge” and I was part of a panel with Stephen Jenkins, Humboldt State University and Steven Stanley, Cardiff University to address “Buddhist philosophy and the perennial concerns of Western philosophy”. I had already had some good contact with Stephen and Steven and this proved a good conversation. An emergent theme was the manner in which the Western tendency is to look for a key true principle as the unifying meaning of the message whereas much in Buddhism is more concerned with opening up possibilities and appreciating the nuanced subtlety of ethical situations and wisdom propositions. The manner in which Dogen or Shinran approach texts, for instance, is very different and more creative than the Western academic search for the one true authentic original meaning. Another preoccupation of Western thought is the relationship between the individual and the collective. I talked about how “individualism” is generally not real independence in the sense intended by the Buddhist term ekagata, but rather a pose that is socially constructed and intended for social consumption. I also talked about some of the ideas of the French philosopher Alain Badiou in relation to Western and Buddhist ideas about oneness, voidness and complexity.

Subsequent discussions looked at
(1) how, on the one hand, Buddhism adapts when it enters a new culture, but, on the other hand, it also contains powerful resources to critique a culture and change it.
(2) how the current conversation between Buddhism and neuro-science serves both parties but also involves substantial compromise on both sides.

(3) the importance of opening up conversations between Buddhism and other areas of Western academic culture was proposed.

All in all, the visit has been a huge success, especially in my connection with SFZC where I have felt myself to be among good friends throughout. It is very nice to feel such a good connection between Buddhists.

:: link to this post on Dharmavidya's weblog, "Flotsam and Jetsam"

Dharmavidya

spoke at

'Mindfulness and Compassion: The Art and Science of Contemplative Practice'

June 3 - 7, California

:: http://www.mcc2015.org

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 The ITZI Conference, Madrid, 25 - 27 September 2015 

:: http://www.itziconference.eu

:: more details here

 

Read previous Whispers from the Bamboo Grove newsletters here

 

View or share this newsletter at: http://eepurl.com/bpR2gz

Amida Newsletter 27: Whispers from the Bamboo Grove ~ the ITZI Conference

 Announcing the first international

ITZI conference in Madrid

“Buddhism, therapy and cultural engagement: an emerging synergy”

Friday 25^th to Sunday 27^th September.

Zen Therapy
is an evolving movement in psychotherapy, counseling and spirituality. The International Institute for Zen Therapy (ITZI) is an umbrella organization. It encompasses individuals, scholars, groups and practitioners, from around the world who are involved in applying Buddhist psychology to engaged work.
Not narrowly Zen, not narrowly therapy, the purpose of the conference is to bring people together and to explore the wide variety of approaches, applications and interpretations that are emerging. It will also create a forum in which further fresh channels can open and new collaborations blossom.
This first ITZI conference comes at an exciting time of growth in the therapeutic professions with new synergies being formed between the fields of psychology and spirituality, meditation and dialogue, mindfulness and engagement. Buddhist based practices in the areas of health and wellbeing are blossoming. We are confident the conference will prove a rich and stimulating event for a broad range of practitioners.

The ITZI Conference will be held in
Madrid, 25 - 27 September 2015 

http://www.itziconference.eu
We would like to an invitation to you to join ITZI for this exciting event.  

We are delighted to announce what we consider to be an academically exciting, intellectually stimulating and rich programme in the field of Buddhist psychology.

Presentations and workshops, short talks and practice demonstrations will take place over the course of three days – Friday 25^th to Sunday 27^th September. The days are organized into three sub-themes to stimulate the discussion of new ideas and create potential for emerging synergies in the field.
 
The themes are:
Day One: Zen Therapy - encompassing mindfulness and going beyond
Day Two: Ancient dharma forms - Zen, therapy and encounters with the other
Day Three: Buddhist Therapeutics – the many facets of Dharma

whispers from the bamboo grove - amida newsletter 21

News from
the Amida Order
October 5th, 2014

Here's the smart updated Amida website :: link
(thanks to Kaspalita)
and here's the Friends of the Amida Order social network :: link
*****

Adrian Thompson has just published the next

Running Tide 32

You'll find a link to a high resolution on-line version :: here.

If you prefer a paper copy so you can relax and peruse it, with a nice cup of tea (my own favourite option, I must admit), then email Adrian :: here

Adrian says:
"I am in the process of having some copies of this edition printed in full colour.  The cost will be £2.50 + P&P.  Unfortunately, at the moment I can only offer UK delivery.  If you are interested please e-mail me privately (see above)"
*****

The Move That Moves The Heart

Colin McDougall, Mitra with the Amida Order, writes:

 

"With the winter night's rapidly approaching it is almost time to say farewell to Sujatin as she and her husband Peter head north towards their new home in  Scotland. Although I am pleased to see the happiness sparkle in their eyes as they look forward to setting up their new home, it is also with a heavy heart that I bid them farewell. A bitter sweet occasion no less.

The home of Sujatin and Peter {The Amida Sanctuary at Beacon House} has been the light where Amida's Newcastle Sangha have met for around 12 years approximately. Beacon House being the point of contact to the Buddha's teaching and the wider Amida community. A place where at a personal level, I have found sanctuary, when life's events have become more than a day to day challenge.  The welcome which I, and many others, have received during this period, has on many occasions been a heart felt experience. Its is with much gratitude that I thank both Sujatin and Peter. Not only for opening their home but also their hearts. Love and warm wishes."
Colin
Namo Amida Bu

*****

Dharmavidya David Brazier is visiting our Hawai'i sangha

from October 2 - 15.

This weekend (3 - 5 October) he is leading a retreat, which includes chanting, meditation, discussion and instruction focused on expressing the Dharma through silence, words and symbolic action, including instruction in the principles and practice of ritual, not as a dead form but as a living language of expression of faith and devotion, as meditation in action.

The retreat also includes advice on the giving and receiving of Dharma talks and guidance.

Various sangha members are participating in a Recommitment/Progressions Ceremony.

This is the Amida USA website :: link
*****