Buddhism as a Psychological System: Three Approaches

2008, Gerald Virtbauer

Buddhism has become one of the main dialog partners for psychology 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 Zen Patriarch Shaku Soen. 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 way for developing the hidden capacities of the mind. In this sense, he wanted to show
the gap between Asian and Western thinking and challenge the self-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
William James). 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 methodology, 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 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. Buddhism in the West 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
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 meditation 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 Pali Dhammasangani ('Enumeration of Phenomena', the first book of the
Abhidhammapitaka) as 'A Buddhist Manual of Psychological Ethics', and Stefan Anacker calls the
Yogacara philosopher Vasubandhu 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 are often also translated by the author itself. In this way,
an insight into the Buddhist understanding of basic human processes of perception and apperception
should become apprehensible. The Buddhist system provides a rich psychological anthropology which
contains a general view of the human predicament. This is shared by all Buddhist traditions, in
addition to many more or less big differences depending on tradition and lineage.

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 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 mindfulness 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 transpersonal psychology--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 Buddhist meditation
techniques. Another emphasis, and core value in Buddhism and newer behavior therapies, is
mindfulness, based on a non-judging experience in 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 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 Lama 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 Engaged Buddhism or
New Buddhism refer to these innovative movements, even Post-Buddhism. In the words of Marilyn
Evy (2005, 328):

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 attention proffered by contemporary
mindfulness meditation teachers? Perhaps we should talk about post-Buddhism instead, an amalgam of
therapy, breath awareness, 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
compassion, 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 David Brazier'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 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 history of Buddhism 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
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.

* Many thanks to my friends at Upaya Institute and Zen Center for fruitful conversations - and
especially to Beth Miller for proofreading and important suggestions.

Selected Bibliography

General

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Consciousness. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press.

Coleman, James William. 2001. The New Buddhism. The Western Transformation of an Ancient
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Fromm, Erich, Suzuki, Daisetz Teitaro, Martino, Richard de. 1960/1971. Zen-Buddhismus und
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Gmez, Luiz O. 2004. Psychology. In Robert E Buswell, Jr (ed). Encyclopedia of Buddhism. 2

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Luisi, Pier Luigi. 2008. The Two Pillars of Buddhism -- Consciousness and Ethics. From the
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Queen, Christopher S (ed). 2000. Engaged Buddhism in the West. Boston: Wisdom Publications.

Revel, Jean-Franois, Ricard, Matthieu. 1997/2003. Der Mnch und der Philosoph. Buddhismus und
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Snodgrass, Judith. 2003. Presenting Japanese Buddhism to the West. Orientalism, Occidentalism, and
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Wallace, B Alan, Shapiro, Shauna L. 2006. Mental Balance and Well-Being. Building Bridges
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First Approach

Anacker, Stefan. 2005. Seven Works of Vasubandhu. The Buddhist Psychological Doktor. Delhi:
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Bodhi, Bhikkhu (ed). 1993/2007. A Comprehensive Manual of Abhidhamma. The Philosophical

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De Silva, Padmal. 1990. Buddhist Psychology: A Review of Theory and Practice. Current Psychology,
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Second Approach

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Davidson, Richard J, Kabat-Zinn, Jon, Schumacher, Jessica, Rosenkranz, Melissa, Muller, Daniel,
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Daya, Roshni. 2000. Buddhist psychology, a theory of change processes: Implications for counsellors.
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Magid, Barry. 2002. Ordinary Mind. Exploring the Common Ground of Zen and Psychotherapy.
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Pickering, John (ed). 1997. The Authority of Experience. Essays on Buddhism and Psychology.
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Third Approach

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Ivy, Marilyn. 2005. Modernity. In Donald S Lopez Jr (ed). Critical Terms for the Study of Buddhism.
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Loy, David R. 2000. How to Reform a Serial Killer: The Buddhist Approach to Restorative Justice.
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Loy, David R. 2008. Money, Sex, War, Karma. Notes for a Buddhist Revolution. Somerville, MA:
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