Psychology & Buddhism.pdf

Five Manifestations of the Buddha 61
interventions, including distraction. Buddhism stripped of its philosophy, and
reduced to a set of techniques is probably of some value compared to a no-treatment
control, but it is probably not likely to be more effective than an active placebo.
Meditation, particularly for the beginner, is difficult, time consuming, and requires
focused attention. Further, as my colleague, Mark Blows, has repeatedly observed,
much of the time, nothing happens! Metaphysically, 20 minutes of meditation a day
is probably at the other end of the client use spectrum from, let’s say, taking 20 mg
of Prozac every day.
It would be a serious mistake, however, to dismiss the potential contribution
of Buddhist philosophy and practice to behavior therapy. The overlap is, as
de Silva has shown in his writing, actually quite remarkable. In fact, as a practicing
cognitive therapist, virtually all of what I teach my clients can be derived from
Buddhist teachings. Take, for example, the following passage from the
Dhammapada, cited by Parry and Jones (1986, p. 180):
We are what we think
All that we are arises with our thoughts
With our thoughts, we make the world
Speak or act with an impure mind
And trouble will follow you
The real problem is, as Ponce (1982) pointed out, that the Buddhist vision of
psychotherapy aims at a complete transformation of the individual’s paradigms or
worldviews. It demands recognition that the world is in constant flux, that there
is no permanent self, and that the things we believe we know about the world and
our selves are nothing but delusions. It demands that we shatter our habitual ways
of looking and knowing. It demands that we adopt a rigorously moral and ethical
way of speech, action, effort, and occupation. The solution to our suffering
requires the transformation of our limited view of reality, in an existentially
authentic way, applied to the totality of our experience (Ponce, 1982). None of
this is apt to be reflected in patterns of anticipatory psychophysiological reactions
to stress (Bankart & Elliott, 1974). As George Kelly reminded us a generation
ago: “What we think we know is anchored only in our own assumptions, not in
the bedrock of truth itself, and that world we seek to understand remains always
on the horizons of our thoughts” (as cited in Ray, 1986, p. 28).
Phase V: New Age Consciousness
I would like to suggest that there were three foundational events in the
emergence of the Fifth Manifestation of the Buddha in Western psychology.
The first was the publication in 1961 of Alan Watts’ Psychotherapy East and West.