Sacred Psychoanalysis - etheses Repository - University of ...

and psychoanalysis (Galatzer-Levy and Cohler 2002) the same can be true for religion and
spirituality.
Theme 7: Buddhism/Buddhist 481
Buddhism offers distinctive forms of spirituality that create a bridge between theistic
religion (perceived as fundamental/pathological) and pluralist spiritualities. Buddhism
provides the structure of religion without deity and the tradition of spiritual practices with
greater openness to dialogue than other religions. 482 Buddhism through the practice of
meditation also offers common ground for engagement with the clinical practice of
psychoanalysis. Rubin writes ‘if you don’t understand the … unconscious, the dense rich
texture of … the way unconscious mechanisms work … your mind can be quiet and still and
equanimous but you are missing something vital’ (JR 417-419). Rubin offers, ‘the way I try
to listen - is to integrate the Eastern and Western ways of listening, to quiet and still the
mind and then to be interested in meaning’ (JR 420-422) understood psychoanalytically
‘putting those together to create something new’ (JR 424). Black believes Christianity and
Buddhism have common ground in underlying ontological values of love, kindness and
compassion. 483 Thirdly, psychoanalysis and Buddhism are different in the UK and the
USA, a fact that initially surprised Black. In the UK, Coltart was identified as of particular
importance (DB 163f.) and contemporaneously Parsons (Parsons 2000, 2006) and Black
(Black 2006) have become important in religious and spiritual engagement.
481 69 references.
482 When describing psychoanalysis as a puritanical religion Grotstein adds ‘Buddhists they were not’ (JG 792)
implying that the term Buddhism/Buddhist, used metaphorically, offers a different quality of religious and
spiritual engagement that is much more attractive than traditional religion.
483 ‘I sort of assumed that psychoanalysis and Buddhism have a lot to say to each other’ (DB 119-120) said
Black, who identified positive aspects of religion related to an emerging dialogue with Buddhism and the
Dalai Lama. Jones notes that there is a tension as both Buddhism and Christianity can be studied academically
and understood psychoanalytically: however both are religious and spiritual practices that require a spiritual
engagement through prayer and meditation (Jones 2003).
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