Psychoanalysis and Buddhism: An Unfolding Dialogue

by Jeremy D. Safran (Editor)

"What a wonderful book! Jeremy Safran has assembled an absolutely stellar group of writers and has himself contributed an illuminating introduction. The essays are riveting and the book is the rare edited collection with real thematic unity. If you think you might have an interest in the intersection of psychoanalysis and Buddhism, this is the place to start. If you already know you're interested, once you look at the table of contents you'll find (at least I did) that you want to let Psychoanalysis and Buddhism displace whatever you were going to read next."--Donnel B. Stern, PhD, author of Unformulated Experience and editor of Contemporary Psychoanalysis

Genres: Buddhism, Psychology, Psychoanalysis, Spirituality, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Religion

464 pages, Paperback

First published April 9, 1995

Reviews

[Eugene Pustoshkin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the most essential book I have read. The beginning of the book is a must read—I mean specifically the introduction and Chapter 1 by Jack Engler (though not all of the latter, but 2/3rd of it, in my opinion). There are some other good chapters, but not all of them. In overall, some chapters are not as well-written or well-thought or clear-cut as the initial intention of the editor. Other, if not most chapters, don’t display what I would characterize as profound understanding of Buddhism, while some of psychoanalytic discussions seem to be interesting (even though in the book’s focus on psychoanalysis it fails to mention experiential psychotherapies). Still, it is a very useful work—and I would love to give it a higher rating, but in all my honesty I couldn’t.

Here I want to share some thoughts, and please treat them lightly, just as preliminary reflections which might not be right. One of the main troubles I see with the book is that it attempts to reconcile a secular psychoanalytic practice with religious Buddhist-oriented inclinations (which, apparently, require taking certain dogmas for granted as a basis of belief, in order to ensure security of self-sense in its religions adherence—be it Theravada, Zen or Vajrayana)—rather than approaching both subjects investigatively and comprehensively. Even though the authors say otherwise, I see that at times their religious predispositions and attitudes replace personal reflection and work of thought. Yet this kind of religiosity is not that well-reflected and is often suppressed in terms of its full awareness, or so it seems to me.

I’m not in favor of the fashion of promoting non-theistic spiritual views as somehow more viable for a Westerner (to me it often seems as if some kind of semi-suppressed religious line of development), and I think there is a big deal of personal and/or cultural trauma in many people related to having to deal with Christian fundamentalism or atheistic fundamentalism in that they attempt to turn to Oriental religions and promote such traditions as Buddhism (this great religion towards which I have so many sympathies, recognizing its vastness) as a kind of non-theistic spirituality, while neglecting complex theologies and mystical disciplines of the West—and also misreading complexities of the Eastern traditions themselves.

I think that the world of the 21st century calls for a full-blown mature religiosity, the kind of religiosity which obtains a profound rational and transrational understanding of such things as mystical experience, liberation, salvation, and transformations of consciousness. We need to go further, deeper in our investigations, and provide more sophisticated and clear visions of the complexities at hand.

Anyway, there is much useful material in the book, and at the same time not all of its chapters are created equal.

[Frank Jude · Rating 3 out of 5]

This anthology of essays came out in 2003, since when it has sat on my shelf until this year, when I decided to finally read it as a kind of preparation for a dialogue I was invited to participate in with psychoanalyst Jeffrey Rubin. This book is interestingly set up as "An Unfolding Dialogue" with "core" essays written by various psychoanalysts who have practiced and integrated aspects of buddhism into their work such as Jack Engler, Mark Finn, Sara Weber, Jospeh Bobrow, Barry Magid, Polly Young-Eisendrath and Jeffrey Rubin. Then, shorter responses, written by other psychoanalysts with varying degrees of familiarity with buddhism, such as Charles Spezzano, Philip Ringstrom, and Stephen Mitchell "critique" the essays, raising questions that the original authors then respond to.

Interesting, and uneven. Some dialogues are truly thought-provoking, shedding light on both the similarities and differences between the various psychoanalytic traditions and the various buddhist traditions. Some are less successful, the worst, most turgid, in my opinion is Raul Moncayo's essay on Lacanian psychoanalytical practice in relation to zen buddhism (Moncayo being both a Lacanian AND a zen priest!). What I got from his essay is Lacan and zen share obscurant, overly impenetrable bullshit. It was a strain just to get through the verbiage!

Still, I'd recommend this book to anyone interested in the intersections between these two practices that aim to address similar human existential suffering.

[Lubovedsky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great article on being nobody and being somebody. Explores how the self is defined in psychoanalysis and in Buddhism or spiritual practice. Discusses in detail why those who have attained a degree of self consciousness through spiritual practice are still neurotic. Talks about the overlap between the two and the inevitable questions and confusion that come up when one is involved in a spiritual discipline which affects the ego. The article is about Jack Engler and he speaks from his own experience after many years as a practicing psychoanalyst and Buddhist. Haven't read the other articles but this one is I feel the clearest account I've ever read of this relationship. Not trivial, doesn't just gloss over the hard problems with conventional answers.

[Ihor Kolesnyk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Психоаналіз пропонує своє бачення діалогу із буддизмом. Хоча самого буддизму тут доволі мало, а психоаналізу дуже і дуже багато. Є певні цікаві тексти, наприклад спроба інтепретувати і "викрутитися" щодо доктрини не-Я та Его. Дещо цікаве щодо взаємодії у питанні індивідуалізму і взаємодії поміж людьми.
Очікував більшого, можливо цікавіших стилістично або хоча би із виходом за межі галузевої перспективи. Наразі ця книга нагадує чимось зустріч психоаналітиків під цією темою, однак вони забули про буддизм і продовжили характерні розмови на свої теми.

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

astute and creative insights on the potential integration of Buddhism and psycholanalysis

Thank you for the contributions by the talented and gifted writers who participated in creating this book. And a special appreciation to Jeremy saffron whose life works, certainly contributed importantly to my own professional understanding of psychotherapy process. Each and every chapter was a challenge and a gift I was given much to contemplate.