Psychology & Buddhism.pdf

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there were large aspects of human behavior, thought, rationalization and other
cognitive processes that were completely separate from instinct and drives.
Comparatively, they developed out of the individual’s biological maturation
rather than any psychologically based function. In addition, Freud’s drive theory
did not address another instinctual behavior supported by the scientific observations
of Bowlby (1969), and researched by Harlow (1958) and others for primary
attachment to a mothering object. These theorists recognized attachment and
interpersonal relationships as an essential aspect of human development. These
scientific findings form, in part, the basis for Object Relations theory put forth by
Fairburn (1952). Of course, Buddhism does not reject attachment in and of itself,
but rather the craving after attachments, which ultimately result in unnecessary
suffering.
Concepts of the “Self” in Buddhism and
Psychoanalytic Thinking
G. Rita Dudley-Grant
Other challenges to Freud’s strict id-ego model have also been explicated by
Eagle (1984). “The core of these challenges is that certain critical issues and features
of personality development and of psychopathology, having to do with
object relations theory and self do not easily fit the basic id-ego model of traditional
theory. [The most meaningful] descriptions of psychological development
to many recent clinicians and theorists are ... accounts that focus on such dimensions
as self-other differentiation, the move from symbiosis to separationindividuation,
and degree of self-cohesiveness” (p. 18).
Similarly, the issue of the ego or “self” has been a central theme in Buddhism
since its earliest inception. The initial conceptions, Hinayana teachings, reflected
on the ego’s attachment to illusion as a major source of all suffering. Nirvana was
the goal to be attained, which represented the final nihilation of all “selfhood” and
attachments, the causes of suffering. Later Mahayana Buddhism suggested that
even Nirvana was not the ultimate goal. Rather the highest achievement was to
transcend suffering in one’s present condition as opposed to escaping it. The
Nichiren sect of Mahayana Buddhism further explicates that rather than attempting
to escape suffering, it is the challenging of one’s earthly life, both positive and
negative, that ultimately leads one to enlightened living (The Gosho Translation
Committee, 1979).
Kohut (1971), a major leader in the development of the self-psychology
model, proposed a theory based on the development of “healthy narcissism”. In
this psychoanalytic formulation, others are necessary as aids in development, but
the ultimate goal is autonomous and independent functioning where one can be
most productive and creative. This formulation is perhaps furthest away from