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Martino 1991; Rubin 1992; Westkott 1997), Kondo (De Martino 1991; Kondo
1958/1998) 298 and others but it was the publication of Fromm, Suzuki and de Martino’s Zen
Buddhism and Psychoanalysis (Suzuki, Fromm, and DeMartino 1960) that announced the
start of a detailed engagement between the two (Chessick 2000a; Safran 2003), closely
followed by Kelman (Kelman 1960/1998) 299 and Watts (Watts 1961/1998). The early
adoption of Zen Buddhism was loosely linked to the radical counter-culture movement of
this period in which Watts was a leading figure (Gold 1999). Despite this early interest it
went underground with no major resurgence until the mid-1990s (Safran 2003: 1). 300 As
Buddhism emerged into the small but rapidly expanding world of psychoanalysis and
Buddhism, two significant figures were Mark Epstein (Epstein 1990/1998, 1995) and
Jeffrey Rubin (Rubin 1985, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996). 301 Rubin’s work covers: a historical
overview of psychoanalysis and religion; a rationale on psychoanalysis’ rejection of religion
and spirituality; an apologetic for a positive role for religion; and a critique of Buddhist and
298 Akihisa Kondo was a Japanese psychiatrist who had trained in the 1950s at the Horney Institute.
299 Kelman, an associate of Horney, was a respected figure in one tradition of psychoanalysis, being past
president of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis and editor of the American Journal of Psychoanalysis
(Rubin 1992).
300 This was predated by a 1987 conference of the American Psychological Association (held in New York)
with contributions from Finn and Rubin leading to later publication (Finn and Gartner 1992). However Smith
and Handleman's review of psychoanalysis and religion contains no reference to Buddhism (Smith and
Handelman 1990). Finn records that although important texts on Buddhism and meditation already existed,
more connection was being made between meditation, psychotherapy and psychoanalysis as seen in Engler
1983, Aronson 1985, Kurt et. al 1985, Rubin 1985 and Epstein 1988 (Finn 1992).
301 They ‘speak from a deep experiential knowledge of both disciplines, and write with important authority and
reflectiveness’ (Black 2000b: 834). DeMartino explored historic developments (De Martino 1991), and
influenced Molino who, in turn, produced an edited volume that brought together people and texts
demonstrating the importance of Buddhism in psychoanalysis (Molino 1998), a theme he had already explored
in a collection of interviews (Molino 1997). Another author writing later than Rubin and Epstein but who has
developed this engagement between psychoanalysis and Buddhism is Paul Cooper who as well as founding a
group to explore psychoanalysis and Buddhism has published a wide range of books and articles (Molino
1998; Cooper 2010). He also offers an insightful autobiographical account found in (Weiner, Cooper, and
Barbre 2005). Jeremy Safran assembled contributions from a distinguished range of psychoanalytic
practitioners, many associated with the relational school, in his edited text that focused on the unfolding
dialogue between psychoanalysis and Buddhism (Safran 2003). Similarly Joe Bobrow contributes reflective
work on this engagement drawing on Winnicott, Grotstein and Symington and the Diamond Sangha tradition
of Zen established by Robert Aitken Roshi. Bobrow has also established the Deep Streams Zen Institute in
San Francisco. Epstein, Rubin and Bobrow continue to make important contributions to
Buddhist/psychoanalytic engagement (Bobrow 2003, 2004, 2010).
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