An Introduction to Buddhist Psychology and Counselling: Pathways of Mindfulness-Based Therapies PDF
Preview An Introduction to Buddhist Psychology and Counselling: Pathways of Mindfulness-Based Therapies
An Introduction to Buddhist Psychology and Counselling An Introduction to Buddhist Psychology and Counselling Pathways of Mindfulness-Based Therapies 5thedition Padmasiri de Silva ResearchFellow,FacultyofPhilosophical,HistoricalandInternationalStudies, MonashUniversity,Australia ©PadmasirideSilva2014 Allrightsreserved.Noreproduction,copyortransmissionofthis publicationmaybemadewithoutwrittenpermission. Noportionofthispublicationmaybereproduced,copiedortransmitted savewithwrittenpermissionorinaccordancewiththeprovisionsofthe Copyright,DesignsandPatentsAct1988,orunderthetermsofanylicence permittinglimitedcopyingissuedbytheCopyrightLicensingAgency, SaffronHouse,6–10KirbyStreet,LondonEC1N8TS. Anypersonwhodoesanyunauthorizedactinrelationtothispublication maybeliabletocriminalprosecutionandcivilclaimsfordamages. Theauthorhasassertedhisrighttobeidentifiedastheauthorofthiswork inaccordancewiththeCopyright,DesignsandPatentsAct1988. Fiftheditionpublished2014by PALGRAVEMACMILLAN Thirdedition©PadmasirideSilva2000 Fourthedition©PadmasirideSilva2005 PalgraveMacmillanintheUKisanimprintofMacmillanPublishersLimited, registeredinEngland,companynumber785998,ofHoundmills,Basingstoke, HampshireRG216XS. PalgraveMacmillanintheUSisadivisionofStMartin’sPressLLC, 175FifthAvenue,NewYork,NY10010. PalgraveMacmillanistheglobalacademicimprintoftheabovecompanies andhascompaniesandrepresentativesthroughouttheworld. Palgrave®andMacmillan®areregisteredtrademarksintheUnitedStates, theUnitedKingdom,Europeandothercountries. ISBN 978-1-137-28754-0 ISBN 978-1-137-28755-7 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-137-28755-7 Thisbookisprintedonpapersuitableforrecyclingandmadefromfully managedandsustainedforestsources.Logging,pulpingandmanufacturing processesareexpectedtoconformtotheenvironmentalregulationsofthe countryoforigin. AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary. AcatalogrecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheLibraryofCongress. To Our Renowned Meditation Guru Ven. Uda Eriyagama Dhammajiva Thero To My Family Memory of my beloved parents & beloved wife, Kalyani Our sons, Maneesh, Adeesh and Chandeesh & their wives, Harini, Ananga and Sharron Our grandchildren: Ishka Yugani, Ashan, Keisha and Jed Contents Preface ix Acknowledgements xiv Part I IntroducingBuddhistPsychology 1 BuddhistPsychologyandtheRevolution inCognitiveSciences 3 2 BasicFeaturesofBuddhistPsychology:AnOverview 9 3 ThePsychologyofPerceptionandCognition 23 4 ThePsychologyofMotivation 31 5 Emotions:WesternTheoreticalOrientations andBuddhism 46 6 Personality:PhilosophicalandPsychologicalIssues 68 7 MentalHealthandSickness 78 8 MentalWell-being 82 9 Mind–BodyRelationshipandBuddhistContextualism 93 10 TowardsaHolisticPsychology:BlendingThinking andFeeling 97 11 BuddhismasContemplativePhilosophy,Psychology andEthics 108 Part II PathwaysofMindfulness-BasedCounselling 12 NatureofCounsellingandTheoreticalOrientations inPsychotherapy 119 13 Mindfulness-BasedTherapeuticOrientations 126 14 ExploringtheContentandMethodology ofBuddhistMeditation 141 15 StressManagementandtheRhythmsofOurLives 147 vii viii Contents 16 TheLogicofSadnessandItsNearAllies:Depression, MelancholyandBoredom 154 17 UnderstandingandManagingGrief:WhentheDesert BeginstoBloom 170 18 TheConceptofAnger:PsychodynamicsandManagement 177 19 Addictions,Self-ControlandthePuzzlesRegarding VoluntarySelf-Destruction 187 20 PrideandConceit:EmotionsofSelf-Assessment 202 21 TheCultureof‘Generosity’andtheEthicsofAltruism 216 GuidelinesforReaders 227 FurtherReading 232 Notes 235 References 254 Index 265 Preface TheEmotionalRhythmsofOurLives In a very basic sense, this work is an introduction to Buddhist psychology and counselling and especially mindfulness-based coun- selling.ThefirsteditionofthebookonBuddhistpsychologyemergedin 1979,whenonlytheearlypioneeringstudiesofRhysDavidsand,alittle later, Rune Johanson’s writings, focused on the psychology of nirva¯na, comprisedtheliteratureonthesubject.Ididnotinanywayanticipate thatthiswasgoingtocontinueasfaras2005withthreemoreeditions with additional chapters. I am grateful to Palgrave Macmillan for their continuing interest in this book and the editor of the ‘The Library of Philosophy of Religion’, Professor John Hick, who initially invited me to write this work during his sabbatical as a Visiting Fellow at the Phi- losophyDepartmentatPeradeniyaUniversity.Infact,recentlyhewrote to me to say that this book was one of the most successful books in theseries.Iamsurethathewouldbegratifiedtoseethattheworkhas emergedwithanewleaseoflifeasabookonBuddhistpsychologyand counselling.Iamgratefultotheteachersandstudentsintheuniversities andinstituteswherethebookhasbeenusedandalsotoalargenumber ofBuddhistscholars,aswellastothecontinuinginterestshownbythe ‘generalreader’. However, this book, especially the counselling dimensions of the work,hasbeennourishedbymyearlydifficultexperiences,whichwere followed, as the years passed, with joy, contentment and fulfilment in my work and life. Thus, while I am more than happy about its accep- tance into academia, this book has an undercurrent of what I refer to as the ‘rhythms of our emotional lives’. It represents an authentic, existential and experiential strand in my life, which went through a deeply disturbing shattering phase in 1994 (see Chapters 16 and 17 on‘Sadness’and‘Grief’)butculminatedinthedeepestinsightsofself- knowledge–ofanger,fearandanxiety,lonelinessandmilddepression, withanemergingcalm,equanimity,tremendousempathy,compassion andinsightswiththeabilitytounderstandtheconflictsandtensionsof my clients in counselling. The Buddha advised his son Ra¯hula to look at his mind in the way that one looks at a mirror, as a pathway for ix x Preface self-knowledge, but in my counselling sessions the client’s mind was a mirror to let me see my own ‘emotional rhythms’ in their mind and body. As Ervin Yalom says, the client and the therapist are fellow trav- ellers–astheybegintounderstandthedifficultencountersinlife:going through shattering conflicts, anger and anxiety but gradually experi- encing calm and contentment and insight into the nature of one’s predicament. Chapter 11 focuses on the nature of the contemplative paths in therapy, which opens up new horizons in the life of both the therapistandclient.Academiaandthepublishingworldshavegivenme aframeworktoreachalargenumberofreaders,andPartIIspringsfrom authentic rhythms of my emotional life. T.S. Eliot has presented fine insightsinhismethodoftransforminganumberofdisorganisedexpe- riencesintoabeautifulformat,somethingverypersonalintoauniversal message. An Introduction to Buddhist Psychology has commanded a keen read- ership for over three decades. During the last two decades, courses on Buddhist psychology have been introduced in some universities, in departments of religion and philosophy, in the West; and, in the sec- ond wave of interest, Buddhist courses in psychology and new courses incounsellingandtherapyhaveemerged.IncountriessuchasThailand andSriLankatheynowoccupyanimportantplaceinBuddhiststudies. Duetotheemergenceofanumberofmindfulness-basedtherapies,the generalreadershipforbooksonBuddhistpsychologyhasincreasedand the book has evolved: new chapters were added to each edition. The followingpointssummarisethesignificantfacetsofthisbook. First, the present book brings together the elements of what may be described as mindfulness-based counselling, and so it covers both Buddhist psychology and counselling. This new dimension empha- sises the practical value of Buddhist psychology. Secondly, a number of mindfulness-based therapeutic traditions have emerged in the West duringthelasttwodecades.TherearechaptersinPartIIthatintroduce both the nature of counselling and the mindfulness-based therapeu- tic traditions, including the therapeutic method I have developed, Mindfulness-based, Emotion-focused (EFT) Therapy. Thirdly, for many years I have been immersed in ‘emotion studies’: Part I, Chapter 5 discusses emotions at length, and in Part II, against the background of therapy and counselling there are specific chapters on grief, sad- ness/depression, anger, conceit/pride, greed/addictions and presenta- tion of some positive emotions, generosity, compassion, emotional balance and equanimity. A chapter on ‘Thinking and Feeling’ offers a Preface xi Buddhist perspective to try to resolve a Western debate on the nature of emotions: physiologically oriented theories vs cognitive theories of emotions. In fact, a sub-theme that reverberates in this book may be described as ‘the emotional rhythms of our lives’. Fourthly, the book is a blend of material on the psychology of Buddhism from the origi- nal Buddhist sermons, structured according to the main topics in the discipline of psychology such as cognition, motivation, emotion, per- sonality, health and well-being. My training in the philosophy of the mind at the University of Hawaii and during a Fulbright fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh have formed the way I handle basic con- cepts such as motivation and subliminal activity, emotions, intentions and volition and, in general, the fourfold cognitive, affective, voli- tional/conative and attentional dimensions of the mind. The charting out of different emotion profiles like grief, sadness, depression, anger, addictions and generosity is also partly facilitated by my training in the philosophy of the mind. Fifthly, many years of study, training and practisingasaprofessionalcounsellor,whichmaybedescribedas‘Bud- dhist Psychotherapy’ has been a basis for the section on counselling in the book. Sixthly, Chapter 1 on Buddhism and the cognitive sci- encesdefinestheemerginginterestintheBuddhism–cognitivesciences interface. Seventhly, Buddhism has also been described as ‘contempla- tive science’ and Chapter 11 is completely devoted to an analysis of Buddhism as contemplative philosophy, psychology, ethics and edu- cation, and in several other chapters there is a discussion of Buddhist psychologyinthecontextofthecurrentinterestin‘moralpsychology’. Eighthly, there are also new features in the new edition. Throughout my years of studying and teaching there has been a visible interdisci- plinary spectrum running through formal studies in philosophy with philosophy of the mind as a speciality, Buddhist studies, counselling and psychology and a professional training in emotion studies. This background has given the present work an enriching flavour by illus- trating the relevance of Buddhism to the contemporary world and, as Robert H. Thouless says, the surprising relevance of a message coming downtwenty-sixcenturies. In general, it can be said that there is a demand for Buddhist psy- chology texts integrating some of the more recent developments in counsellingatthelevelofuniversitycourses,forWestern-trainedthera- pistsintegratingmindfulnesspracticetotheirworkandasophisticated groupofreadersinterestedinthesenewtrends.Chapter1positionsBud- dhist psychology beyond its early philosophical beginnings grounding
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