Buddhist Practice on Western Ground: Reconciling Eastern Ideals and Western Psychology

by Harvey B. Aronson

This is the first book to offer Buddhist meditators a comprehensive and sympathetic examination of the differences between Asian and Western cultural and spiritual values. Harvey B. Aronson presents a constructive and practical assessment of common conflicts experienced by Westerners who look to Eastern spiritual traditions for guidance and support—and find themselves confused or disappointed. Issues addressed include:

   •  Our cultural belief that anger should not be suppressed versus the Buddhist teaching to counter anger and hatred
   •  Our psychotherapists' advice that attachment is the basis for healthy personal development and supportive relationships versus the Buddhist condemnation of attachments as the source of suffering
   •  Our culture's emphasis on individuality versus the Asian emphasis on interdependence and fulfillment of duties, and the Buddhist teachings on no-self, or egolessness

Genres: Buddhism, Spirituality, Religion, Psychology

253 pages, Paperback

First published August 10, 2004

Reviews

[Hugh Simonich · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so very glad that out of all the books on the shelf at the book store, I found this one. Harvey Aronson is a western psychotherapist and buddhist scholar and teacher with more than 50 years of experience. He writes not for the fellow therapist, or practicing Buddhist, or scholar. He writes for anyone raised in western culture who may have an interest in what Buddhist practice can offer, and how to take the best out of both worlds by blending Buddhist practice and psychotherapy. And, in my humble opinion, he does an outstanding job.

This was not only truly educational, but inspirational. It not only made sense and logically flowed, but provided motivation for a new way of living. Aronson is a learned scholar who spent years and years studying, writing, and practicing, but he never once came across as an intellectual who wants to impress. He came across as one who has been there and knows, and also wants YOU to know and experience as well. His values were apparent from the beginning, and with that, he drew me in.

I've read a few books and papers on Buddhist philosophy, but this was a unique experience to read this one. I not only feel more informed, but truly inspired and motivated to be a better human being. I haven't read many books where I can say that.

[Steve Woods · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book deals specificvally with the basic tenets of Buddhist practice and the their translation and transfer to the western context. It's a must read for any westerne involved in or contemplating involvement in practice of their own.

[Richard Snow · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gives insight into why many modern students of Buddhism face a cultural challenge when adopting Buddhist teachings. Consequently, some of us drop the practice when our beliefs or expectations are challenged, or when the practice, as we adopt it with our Western lens, causes us injury. Put another way, our temperament may cause us to experience additional suffering as we struggle to adopt the practice while holding strong views and expectations from our Judeo-Christian milieu.

Other social science research in the field of mindfulness has recently begun to underline a key understanding that not everyone benefits from mindfulness meditation practice, or from one particular aspect of Buddhist practices.

The author describes his personal journey as a practitioner. His psychiatric training is informative in understanding the different cultural viewpoint of Western practitioners engaging with Eastern teachers.

[Matthew Stolte · Rating 2 out of 5]

too Western Psychology heavy for me

[Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a bit of a curate's egg for me. It was very good in parts, less interesting in others, in terms of what I wanted from it. I wasn't looking for apologetics or help regarding Buddhist meditation practice. However, I really appreciated the honest discussion of the cultural conflicts between aspects of Buddhism and western psychology. It felt quite a relief actually, to have someone name the obvious (to me, anyway) problematic areas and explore why these things cause so much misunderstanding and frustration, and outright damage. Aronson particularly unpacked understandings of ego and the absence of 'self'; understandings of anger and the desire to cause harm; understandings of desire and suffering, attachment, detachment and non attachment. My doctoral research was around discourses of trauma, an area where these issues are particularly relevant and where the spiritual 'wisdom' from many religious traditions can easily come across as shallow and harmful if handled without a sense of psychological reality. It can easily end up affirming harmful patterns of behaviour, rather than creating paths towards healthy living for people carrying psychological wounds. I thought Aronson unpacked the problems well, and it was useful framing some of those in terms of cultural difference, also useful to try and sift the language and hold the difference positively. Unfortunately, in the last couple of chapters I became frustrated with Aronson's loyalty to his buddhist teachers, his critical analysis seemed to fade away and dissolve into less credible apologetics for Buddhist meditation practice. So although I got a fair bit from this book, I cannot give it a high rating.

[Michael Dorais · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was worthwhile to read. I am not a practicing Buddhist, but I have take Buddhism seriously and I have often thought of it, along with Unitarian Universalism as the closest thing to religion that I have. I have practiced light meditation, but never with diligence and consistency. I do however thing that the practice of meditation somewhat along the lines of the way it is approached as a practice in Buddhism can be worthwhile.

This book does take Buddhist precepts for granted. The author is Westerner and is a practicing Buddhist and teacher of Buddhism. So you should not expect the book to be a dispassionate comparison of Buddhist and Western thought and practice. On the other hand, the author does not come across at all 'preachy' regarding Buddhist precepts and teaching. He comes across as authentic and tells things as he sees them honestly. This book would be very good for someone who is very serious about practicing Buddhism, but for one reason or another has struggled with the conflicting tendencies common in Western culture versus what Buddhist practice seems to demand. But even if you have only passing interest in Buddhism and meditation, along with an interest in psychology and comparative culture, you very well might find this book interesting. I did; and I'm somewhere between those two characterizations.

[Juana · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a pretty good book but I stopped after getting 3/4 of the way through as I lost interest. My knowledge of western psychology is pretty limited and this filled it in a little but ultimately I have a lot of skepticism on the subject.

[Al · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book contained a lot of psycho babble.

[Ratforce]

If you like Thich Nhat Hanh, then try Buddhist Practice on Western Ground. The author, Harvey Aronson, is a psychotherapist and Buddhist meditation teacher.