Spacious Minds: Trauma and Resilience in Tibetan Buddhism

by Sara E Lewis

Spacious Minds argues that resilience is not a mere absence of suffering. Sara E. Lewis's research reveals how those who cope most gracefully may indeed experience deep pain and loss. Looking at the Tibetan diaspora, she challenges perspectives that liken resilience to the hardiness of physical materials, suggesting people should "bounce back" from adversity. More broadly, this ethnography calls into question the tendency to use trauma as an organizing principle for all studies of conflict where suffering is understood as an individual problem rooted in psychiatric illness. Beyond simply articulating the ways that Tibetan categories of distress are different from biomedical ones, Spacious Minds shows how Tibetan Buddhism frames new possibilities for understanding resilience. Here, the social and religious landscape encourages those exposed to violence to see past events as impermanent and illusory, where debriefing, working-through, or processing past events only solidifies suffering and may even cause illness. Resilience in Dharamsala is understood as sems pa chen po , a vast and spacious mind that does not fixate on individual problems, but rather uses suffering as an opportunity to generate compassion for others in the endless cycle of samsara . A big mind view helps to see suffering in life as ordinary. And yet, an intriguing paradox occurs. As Lewis deftly demonstrates, Tibetans in exile have learned that human rights campaigns are predicated on the creation and circulation of the trauma narrative; in this way, Tibetan activists utilize foreign trauma discourse, not for psychological healing, but as a political device and act of agency.

Genres: Buddhism

252 pages, Paperback

Published February 15, 2020

Reviews

[Viki Sonntag · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent and valuable ethnography which compassionately disrupts our Western views of how to respond to deep harm. As trauma and resilience is enjoying a surge in popular discourse this book is especially appreciated to remind us how much of what we purport to understand is construct. Took off one star for repetitiveness but the writing is clear and lovely.

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book so interesting and inspiring. The stories of the Tibetan people, their suffering and how they dealt with this with their Buddhist faith. How trauma is reified in the west making treatment a reinforcement of the diagnosis.

One thing that did concern me was people were told not to dwell on their suffering and move on. However, for certain individuals maybe this would not be a compassionate approach and they may feel pressure to keep quiet. A spacious mind is an advanced Buddhist practise. If one did not have the capacity for spacious mind Buddhist doctrine as a belief might not be healing in itself.

However, overall I found this very interesting and shows how Buddhism has so much to give and offer the world.

I would have been interested to hear if such beliefs are widely held among the young generation.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Theres some really interesting stuff in here regarding dealing with trauma, but fuck was it an unenjoyable read. Slow, dense, and some of the chapters were duds. Important notes revolve around sems pa chenpo and emptiness. Emptiness was especially of note to me, which says that everything is impermanent and always in flux, including emotions and the self. Emotions are not part of us, but are reactionary, however they are controlled by us and not caused by conditions. We make a choice to feel a feeling, and can choose to avoid it. By moving on past our negative emotions and thinking of others, we can derealize and demolish our shortcomings. Interesting stuff, but very unenjoyably written. Giving it a 3 star but a kinda weak one.

[Leandra Arroyo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating and insightful ethnography on the people of Tibet exiled in India and how they perceive trauma through their unique Buddhist lens. This work makes you question the cultural understandings of trauma, PTSD, talk-therapy, and resilience. I would recommend to anyone interested in Buddhism, trauma, psychotherapy, and Tibet.