(REBT) And Zen - The Taos Institute

Journal of Rational Emotive & Cognitive Behavior Therapy, 1998, 16, 5-43THE INTERFACE BETWEEN RATIONAL EMOTIVE BEHAVIOUR THERAPY (REBT)AND ZENMaurits Kwee & Albert EllisAbstractWhile Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT) highlights the norm of people's dogmatic,fanatical, and rigid religious beliefs, it has always favoured several aspects of Zen-Buddhism as amodus vivendi. Scientifically-based REBT and wisdom-oriented Zen have more in common thanone might think at first sight. In this chapter, I, Albert Ellis and Maurits Kwee show how REBTand Zen have significant commonalities as well as differences. "What are these commonalities?",and "What are the issues of mutual interest for REBT and Zen?" are the main questions that wedeal with here. It is submitted that most of REBT theory and practice are in keeping with thespirit of Zen. We note that East and West may in some ways cross-fertilise each other in theinterface between these two proposed ways of living. The narrative techniques of Zen by meansof koans (e.g., analogies, metaphors, parables) and of REBT (its many cognitive, emotive, andbehavioural methods derived from its phenomenological view of human neurosis) are somewhatcomplementary to each other. Zen practice, if stripped of its mystical and utopian aspects,particularly by omitting the non-verifiable concepts of the ostensible "higher" (non-thinking)state of consciousness, can often even be merged with REBT. One main (cultural) difference isthat Zen attempts to go beyond rationality/relativity by striving for a certain kind of selfrealisation(the irrational experience of satori) through paradoxically abolishing the self. The endresult of this is not that the Zen adept becomes a "better" human being, but often becomes moreaware of the hassles of life and how to cope with them from day to day. Something like theREBT practitioner, who practises what she or he preaches, the Zen practitioner remains theordinary (though unique) imperfect human being as she or he was before, sadder but a littlewiser. REBT had better be integrated with the most useful of other therapies, including Zen, sothat it becomes and remains effective with many (not all) people much (not all) of the time. Dueto cultural differences, the practice of Zen is not always compatible with the practice of Zen.However, the practice of REBT does fit with (post)modern Zen as an open living system. Thischapter is laced with two dozen classic and modern koans that are to be used readily in therapyby the reader.A businessman from Oakland climbed the highest mountain in Tibet to ask a venerable lama,who lives at the peak, the question of his life. After weeks of torturous hardship, he finallyreached the summit, cold, hungry, and exhausted. When he found the lama meditating in a cave,he fell on his knees and asked: "Master, I have been searching for you all the way from Oakland,please tell me, what is life?" The lama opened his eyes and answered: "I have been contemplatingthat very question for over fifty years, my friend, and came to the conclusion that life is afountain." The businessman looked astonished and exclaimed: "What! Did I come such a longway facing all hardships just to hear that?" "Damn!", the lama replied: "You mean life is not afountain? You think bullshit is better?".1

AnonymousIntroductionIn one of my early writings, I (AE) stated that many principles of Rational Emotive BehaviourTherapy (REBT) are not new (Ellis, 1958). Some of them, in fact, were originally formulated afew thousand years ago, in ancient Greece and Rome, and by some Taoist and Buddhist thinkers.However, in the course of more than forty years since first using and writing on REBT (Ellis,1957, 1996), I have never thoroughly explained the latter part of this statement. With MauritsKwee (MK), I now aim to fill this gap.As with REBT, the first publications about Zen in psychological journals appeared in thefifties (e.g., Sato, 1958). Although there have been other attempts to connect Zen andpsychotherapy (e.g., Fromm, 1960; Watzlawick, Beavin, & Jackson, 1967; Shapiro, 1978; Hirai,1989; Kwee, 1990a; Kwee & Holdstock, 1996; Haruki, Ichii, & Koshikawa, 1996), an in-depthanalysis of this connection is lacking (cf., Peiser, 1977). In this chapter we try to further relateREBT and Zen. Especially, to provide a bridge for Western and Eastern professionals to graspthe essence of both methods efficiently and effectively and to show that Zen and REBT cansometimes even be merged.I (AE) see meditation, of which Zen is an exponent, as a legitimate cognitive-behaviouralintervention in general and as a useful self-regulatory method in particular (Ellis, 1962, 1984a).However, we suggest discarding its mystical and unfalsifiable aspects. Although REBT employsexistential philosophy in its practice and conceptualisation, and includes some ideas of theancient East - particularly those of Confucius and The Buddha 1 - it is mainly a Western,scientifically oriented form of psychotherapy (Ellis, 1996; Ellis & Yeager, 1989). As I (AE)stated recently:The early constructivist practitioners were philosophers, such as the historical Buddha,Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius, who were quite active-directive and consequentlytaught their students to look at their self-constructed thoughts and feelings, to reconsiderthem when they didn't work, and to work vigorously at changing them (Ellis, 1993a,p.535).Both The Buddha and I (AE) start with the premise that "hassle" is the human life's predicament.To live means to suffer and suffering can be reduced by means of a meditative way of life, thusspoked Siddharta Gautama and many other Buddhas after him.I (MK) observe that quite a few important leaders in Western psychology had a Jewish,thus an Eastern background (Kwee, 1990b). As an ardent REBT practitioner and as a student ofvarious spiritual disciplines, MK also observes that there is an analogy between the rationalversus the irrational and the Talmudic notions of jetzer-tov versus jetzer-hara. People can act forthe better or for the worse, grow or decay by feeding their minds with good (jetzer-tov) or evil(jetzer-hara) thoughts. This is congruent with what REBT calls rational (and irrational): thatwhich does (or does not) accord with social reality or the limitations of human life and does (or1 * Whenever we write The Buddha we refer to the historical Buddha, Shakyamuni Siddharta Gautama, who livedfrom 566 to 486 B.C.2

does not) contribute to well-being and happiness or does (or does not) help people to prevent orlessen unnecessary distress (cf., Fromm, 1966).A frequently applied and established intervention, assertiveness training, described in theearly days of the behavioural tradition by Wolpe and Lazarus (1966), is clearly inspired by theTalmudic saying: "If I am not for myself, who will be for me?" This idea recognises thebiological truth that the welfare of the organism begins with its own integrity. The fullerquotation of the Talmud: "But if I am for myself alone, what am I?" conveys a golden socialmean. The proposed value for mental health is that the individual places herself or himself first,but takes others into account. The Buddha himself also conveyed the importance of taking care ofoneself, as depicted in the following supposedly historical story that he, allegedly, used to tell:Once there were two acrobats, a teacher and his pupil, a little girl. They used a longbamboo stick for their performances. The stick was placed on the head of the teacher andthe little girl climbed slowly to the top. There she balanced while the teacher walkedaround. Both needed to concentrate in order not to have an accident. One day the teachersaid to his pupil: "Listen Medakathalika" (that was her name), "I'll watch you, and youwatch me; thus we'll help each other to keep our balance so that we won't have anaccident." But the little girl said: "Dear teacher, I think it is better that we watchourselves, that you watch yourself and I watch myself. To watch oneself means to takecare for both of us. In this way, I'm sure, we won't have an accident, and we'll earnenough money to eat".Several Eastern and Western authors have tried to bridge the Eastern and Westernmentalities to improve the practice of psychotherapy and the well-being of humankind (e.g., Hall& Lindzey, 1978; Walsh, 1989; Bankart, Koshikawa, Nedate, & Haruki, 1992; Mikulas, 1991,1996; Kwee, 1990a; Kwee & Holdstock, 1996; Haruki, Ichii, & Koshikawa, 1996). Inoue (1990)remarked that "in the past years there has been a growing interest in cognitive therapy amongJapanese mental health professionals. However, very few of them have ever used it as an optionfor the treatment of psychiatric disorders" (p.130). One hampering factor is the issue of applyinga Western method of "talking" as a cure instead of having medication or meditation prescribed, asexpected in Japanese culture. When the client is trained to learn to respond "rationally", this veryterm may be difficult for Japanese and other (South-)East Asian clients to understand, becausethe irrational is not considered necessarily worse than the rational. "Self-help" is a relatively newand overwhelming notion to all clients who are inclined to take a passive attitude, like in atraditional doctor-patient relationship. However, homework assignments for self-help are dailypractice in meditation sessions of Zen and also in REBT. And "rational" in REBT means helpingoneself and one's social group, which people from (South-)East Asians can also sometimesunderstand and work for.In an illuminating chapter, Zen and the Art of Therapy, Haley (1992) drew attention to thefact that Zen is apparently the oldest continuing art in which one person changes another personwithin the context of a special relationship. Haley was a student of the late Alan Watts, arecondite "backdoor" Zen master (not an officially trained authority on Zen), who used to be aconsultant of Gregory Bateson's coterie. The teachings of Watts, especially on paradoxes, helpedhim to understand and adopt some of Milton Erickson's directive strategies. Haley (1992)discovered parallels between Zen and his branch of therapy:3

In Zen, enlightenment is sought through a relationship with a master who believes thatchange can be sudden and discontinuous; who becomes personally involved with thestudent; who joins the student in a task that involves directing him or her; who attemptsto escape from intellectualizing about life or monitoring personal behavior; who posesimpossible riddles and insists on solutions; who approaches each student as a uniquesituation; who has a wide range of behavior and many techniques, including awillingness to be absurd; who focuses on the present and not the past; who solves thesystemic problem that attempting to change prevents change; and who, within a kindlyframework, uses ordeals to force a change (p.33).Let us note here, however, that a significant difference in motivation exists betweentrainees of Zen - who are quite willing (sometimes eager) to accept ordeals (in order to discoverthat enlightenment occurs in other ways) - and clients in therapy who are sent unwillingly totherapy or are "enjoying" the secondary gain which their "bad" symptoms sometimes provide. "Ifyou are unhappy" is a fable, that could be a humorous educative Zen story or modern koan,which MK often tells his clients who are reluctant to give up their neurotic symptom.Once upon a time, there was a non-conforming sparrow who decided not to fly south forthe winter. However, soon the weather turned so cold that he reluctantly started to flysouth. In a short time, ice began to form on his wings and he fell to earth in a barnyard,almost frozen. A cow passed by and defecated on the sparrow. The sparrow thought itwas the end. But the manure warmed and defrosted his wings. Warm and happy, able tobreathe, he started to chirp. Just then a cat came by and investigated the sounds. The catcleared away the manure, found the chirping bird, and promptly ate him. The moral ofthis story is threefold. Firstly, even people who cover you with excrement are notnecessarily your enemies. Secondly, those who get you out of the excrement are notnecessarily your friends. Thirdly, if you are in excrement though warm and happy, keepyour mouth shut!Throughout this chapter we will apply koans as educational means that are mostly derivedfrom Kwee (1996). A koan can at best be described as a humorous educative narrative or littlestory that is a tool for the teacher (or therapist) to help the pupil (or client) to attain an insightfulexperience. Traditional koans are known from the seventh century on and are fixed mostly as aparadox (a kind of riddle that cannot be solved by logic, a phrase from a sutra (Buddhistscripture), or an exchange of an ancient master and a disciple. Present-day koans might take adiversity of forms, such as an anecdote, metaphor, parable, analogy, simile, fable, or even a joke.Mostly a valuable koan is characterised by a funny (under)tone that results in a conjointenlightened "aha" and joyous "haha" experience. Zen culture ridicules openly anything that couldpossibly become sacred by scoffing at the Buddhas and sneering at the patriarchs. Because Zen isalive, a koan can be extracted from many sources and adapted (in an eclectic way) to ourpostmodern era. Jokes are particularly suited to the purposes of Zen and REBT in reaching inner(emotional) balance. Zen and REBT share the common contention that emotional disturbance islargely due to overseriousness and that humorous interventions, if applied appropriately, can (a)highlight the fatuous nature of irrational beliefs, (b) be an effective teaching device, and (c)become a vehicle for rapport-building.4

REBT and ZENWhile REBT finds one of its roots in Stoicism, starting from Zeno, in the 4th century BC up toEpictetus (1st century AD) and Marcus Aurelius in the 2nd century AD (famous for his bookentitled Meditations [Staniforth, 1964]), the origins of Zen can be found in the teachings of TheBuddha (6th century BC). Famous is Marcus Aurelius's adage endorsed in REBT:If thou art pained by any external thing,it is not this that disturbs thee,but thy own judgement about it.And it is in thy powerto wipe out this judgement now.The Buddha was born in what has now become the country of Nepal and lecturedin the Northern parts of India. The technique of meditation or the "art and science of thoughtstopping" was, and still is, known under the Sanskrit term of Dhyana. Twelve centuries later,Dhyana was brought to China by a Southern-Indian prince - known as Bodhidharma, the first Zenpatriarch - where it became Chan. It was heavily influenced by the indigenous Taoist traditionand eventually reached Japan in the 12th century AD where Chan blossomed to become Zen aswe know it today.Among the range of psychotherapeutic approaches, REBT appears perhaps themost suitable partner for Zen in trying to bridge Eastern and Western methods of mental health.Zen is chosen here as a prototype of a meditative discipline, and does not claim to be better thanthe Taoist, Hindu, Chassidic, Sufi or Christian modes of meditative practice. Neither Zen norREBT is a religion. Both discard religiosity or dogmatism. An idea like, for instance, "the holycity," leading to fanatism and warfare, is totally alien for a person of Zen. From a Zen point ofview my (AE) earlier opinion can be supported: "The elegant therapeutic solution to emotionalproblems is to be unreligious...The less devoutly religious they are, the more emotionally healthypeople will tend to be" (Ellis, 1980, p.637). In Zen, heaven and hell are not to be sought in thehereafter, but in one's experiences in the "herenow", like in the following elegant koan (cf., Reps,1957):A proud warrior - a samurai - visited a Zen monk and teacher to learn about heaven andhell; do they really exist? Instead of answering him immediately the teacher kept himwaiting for a while, treating him like a beggar. The samurai gradually became impatient,angry, and demanded a proper answer at last. "You are too stupid to understand", themonk replied. Furiously the samurai drew his sword, wanting to kill the teacher, who atthis moment raised his index finger and said: "Experience the gate of hell!" All of asudden the samurai understood that this was his lecture, bowed in deep grace andkneeled in merciful surrender. The monk smiled, raised his finger again and concluded:"Experience the gate of heaven!"Zen is above all practical and does not concern itself with metaphysics. Questionslike "What is heaven or hell?", "Who created the universe?", or "Does God exist?" are consideredirrelevant. Instead Zen mentality includes the saying, "A day without work is a day without food"5

(Po Chang, 8th century AD). Like REBT, Zen is nonreligious, non-cultic, and against dogma orall devout, fanatical forms of theism. I (AE) call myself a probabilistic atheist, because noevidence for Almighty God - "an old fart" - exists, nor in all probability ever will (Ellis, 1981,1984, 1994c, 1994d, 1996). Therefore, it is highly likely (though not certain) He or She does notexist. Zen is non-theistic, meaning that it is not for or against the existence of a God. Theexistence of a God is not denied, nor confirmed. For Zen this issue is simply unimportant. Thefollowing traditional koan is illustrative:A monk once asked his master: "How can I reach enlightenment?" The master's replywas: "Did you have breakfast today?" The student answered: "Yes I did." Whereuponthe master said: "Then go and wash the dishes." Hearing this the monk awakened.Zen is nonreligious and non-cultic since it does not have an image of a God, as in the Judeo-Christian tradition, and is not involved in liturgies or sacraments. Zen is humanistic and foremostconcerned about the art of down to earth daily living.The above statements reflect only partly what Zen tries to be. Essentially Zen is anexperience: Only on its periphery Zen is an outlook and a philosophy. To try to grasp Zen is aprocess that in the first instance bears resemblance to the Buddhist parable, known as "The blindmen and the elephant".Once a king visited a township where all inhabitants were blind. Everybody greedilytouched the mighty elephant on which the king was seated. When the event was over,each one told his story. The man who touched an ear said: "An elephant is a rough mat."Another man who touched the trunk said: "It is not a mat but a snake." Still another manwho touched a leg declared that he was right: "An elephant is a pillar".Whereas REBT has a philosophical basis, Zen does not pretend to be a philosophy, neither doesZen consider mysticism nor utopianism to be important issues. Although originally developed outof the Buddhist heritage, Zen refers to, and is solely interested in the hard won genuineexperiences of The Buddha. Zen came into existence to denote that it is not equivalent toBuddhism. Zen is not an "ism" at all, but is in essence a relatively permanent emotionalexperience of happiness and inner harmony despite the hassles of life. The appropriate categoryto which Zen belongs is that of a way of life, a lifestyle that forms an antidote to life-inherentsuffering; thus, it is more a kind of psychotherapy than a religion.REBT would appear an excellent partner for Zen because the two methods havemuch in common in their construction of (social) reality and creation of representational modelsof the world. They also complement each other also in their main techniques to reach innerbalance concerning action, emotion, and cognition. Unlike Carl Jung, Roberto Assagioli, FritzPerls and (later in his life) Carl Rogers, who tried to incorporate spiritual issues in their work, wetake an opposite stance. As REB-therapists, we do respect the boundaries between therapy versustheology, while employing various kinds of meditation - as techniques - in nonreligious ways.REBT and Zen can largely - but not completely - be merged with each other. REBT is primarilyconcerned with "cure" (or improvement) but also includes "growth" (the search for meaning orself-actualisation) whereas Zen is primarily directed towards "growth" but also includes "cure"(that necessarily precedes self-actualisation). To avoid a mishmash, it is important to underlinethe specificity and integrity of each discipline.6

The no-nonsense orientationI (AE) have described how I came to REBT largely through my interest in philosophy, my hobbyfrom the age of sixteen (Ellis, 1984b, 1990b, 1994c). My favourite philosophers were not usuallyarmchair intellectuals but activists who applied philosophy to human happiness and encouragedpeople to do something to change their misery-creating thinking. Among others they included:Schopenhauer, Santayana, Russell, Emerson, Thoreau, Kant, and Dewey. An active and "nonmusturbatory"attitude is in full accord with Zen, where the adage "Be in this world but don'tcling to this world" applies. Zen promotes tranquillity or a peace of mind - perhaps the term"heart," referring to affect, would appear more suitable than "mind" - which may imply themisunderstanding of quietism. The following koan is a classic one to illustrate the case in point:Once (in the 8th century AD) a monk was sitting cross-legged all day long in meditation.His master asked him what he sought by doing so. "My desire is to become a Buddha",the monk answered. Hereupon the master picked up a piece of brick and began to polishit on a stone, explaining that he wished to make a mirror out of the brick. The monkreacted astonished: "But no amount of polishing will turn the brick into a mirror." "Noamount of sitting cross-legged will make you a Buddha either", the master replied.Although The Buddha serves as a model, Zen is not a religion. Buddha statues areconsidered worthless in Zen. They are good for fuelling the stove to warm oneself against thecold. Zen opposes idolatry and worship. Like REBT, it does not deify or devil-iffy anybody oranything. Questions like, "Who is the Buddha?" will find answers like: "Three pounds of flax","Clean your mouth", or "A dried piece of manure". The Zen master who made the last statement(Yun Men, 10th century AD) was once declared unanimously to be China's wisest man (Blyth,1970).The no-nonsense orientation of Zen towards life may be illustrated by numerousexamples (Kwee, 1993, 1996a, 1996b). One example refers to Pu-Tai, the Buddha with a big fatbelly who lived in the first half of the 10th century. It was told that he was very much in need tourinate and wanted to do that against a Buddha statue of some monastery. When the abbotfuriously ordered him to spring a leak elsewhere, he answered: "Could you show me a spot whereThe Buddha dwells not?" Another example tells about a disciple who thought that he just reachedBuddhahood. To prove this he cleaned his arse with an old sutra. When asked by his masterHakuin (18th century) how he could do such a thing, he answered: "Since I am a Buddha, what iswrong with cleaning my Buddha-arse with a sutra?" Hakuin replied: "Assuming that you have aBuddha-arse, how can you clean it with old paper? You should do that with brand new paper!"Hereupon the monk asked for forgiveness (Kaiten, 1915).The following narrative allegedly based on history is a warning for those who areinclined to deify The Buddha or any other teacher. For The Buddha truth is relative, meaning thattruth is what is functional or useful for a certain individual at a specific place and time duringone's life:Once The Buddha and his disciples spent a rainy night in a tavern. The keeper of the innwas an opponent of The Buddha and his teachings. To test The Buddha he gave him aroom with a leaking roof. When The Buddha asked for another room, the landlord7

sarcastically asked: "How can a little bit of water disturb someone who has conquered allsuffering?" The Buddha smiled and countered: "Indeed, I tell you, a little water meansnothing for someone who has conquered suffering, but if I want to sleep I don't wish toswim".Accordingly, REBT contends that what is deemed "rational" by one community, group, or personcan easily be regarded as "irrational" by another group or person. The REB-therapist persuades oreven cajoles the client to engage in doing something s/he is afraid of doing, which itself serves asa forceful counter-propaganda agency against the nonsense s/he believes (Ellis, 1962, p.95).Another example is given by an anonymous master, probably five centuries ago,who lectured a group of bald-headed monks on "enlightenment" (de Groot, 1988):What have you baldheads, disciples of The Buddha, done? You have raised The Buddhato your Lord. You have made a legend out of his life to satisfy your phantasy. You havedeified and worshipped him. You have learned his words by heart and made themsacred. You have established schools, written books and discussed endlessly. You havebuilt temples and made many statues. You have burned incense night and day. You havecreated dogmas and creeds. You have invented do's and dont's, and exercised a lot.Baldheads, you have deceived yourselves and are lost. You have thus filled your mindswith nonsense and crap that do not really matter. You fools, listen to me. I shall revealyou the secret of enlightenment: "It does not exist!"Zen, in fact, is demoralising for people hankering after religion in a rigid or dogmatic way. Amoderate instead of a fanatical form of religion is hardly incompatible with REBT or Zen. Notethe similarity to the REBT vantage point that rationality is not to be elevated to something"holy". If one absolutely believes in REBT, then one gets oneself really into real trouble. Thoughit was once positivistic, REBT now takes a postmodern, liberal social constructivistic view of"rationality" and psychotherapy (Ellis, 1990a, 1993, 1994b, 1994c, 1994d, 1995, 1996).The ABC modelREBT is not only rooted in Stoicism but also in the writings of Epicures (4th century BC), whostrived for a long-term hedonism: the enjoyment of life led by reason. True happiness can befound by means of serene contemplation and in a peace of heart, called ataraxia. REBT strivesfor Epicurean hedonism and emphasises the great importance of philosophic contributions toneurotic disturbance, as summarised in the stoic adage that people become emotionally upset notby the events but by the views they take of them. The notion that cognitive functioning is animportant determinant of affect and behaviour was also observed by Shakespeare, who hadHamlet say: "There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so". In several of mylectures I (AE) have illustrated the combined practice of stoicism and hedonism by saying that "ifyour aeroplane is bound to crash, you better enjoy until the last moment". How similar thissounds to the Buddha's following analogy, in which he teaches about the either/or orientation:Striking across a field a man came across a tiger. The tiger chased him while he fled.When the man stood before an abyss he managed to cling to the root of a wild climbingplantand dangled over the brink. Above his head the tiger snarled at him. Trembling8

with fear, the man looked downwards where another tiger was waiting to devour him.Only the climber held him. But two mice, a white one and a black one, began to gnaw atthe plant. Then, suddenly, the man noticed a strawberry. While holding on tight to theclimbing-plant with one hand, he picked the strawberry with the other. "How sweet itis!", he exclaimed.In technical terms of REBT: It is not the Activating event (A) that createsdisturbed emotional and behavioural Consequences (C), but largely people's own irrationalBeliefs (B). The message that humans are largely responsible for their own emotions anddisturbances echos The Buddha's words: "It is foolish to see any other person as the cause of ourown misery or happiness" (Störig, 1964). This basic principle of REBT has been illustratedearlier by a famous Jataka story, the fable about The Buddha and the hare:Once upon a time there was a hare sleeping under a mango tree. Suddenly he heard aloud noise and he thought that it meant that the end of the world was coming, so hestarted running. When the other hares saw him running, they asked: "Why are yourunning so fast?" The hare answered: "Because the world is ending". Hearing this, theyall joined him in his flight. The deer saw the hares running and asked: "Why are yourunning so fast?" The hares answered: "Because the world is ending", upon which thedeer joined them in their flight. Thus, one species after another joined the runninganimals, until the entire animal kingdom was involved in a frantic flight that eventuallywould have led to the demise of them all. When The Buddha saw the animals rushingalong in their panic, he asked of the last group that had joined in: "Why are you runningso fast?" "Because the world is ending", they answered. "That can't be true", said TheBuddha, "for the world has not come to an end yet; let's try and find out why they thinkso". He questioned one species after another in succession, finally arriving at the hares.They pointed at the one that had started the story, and The Buddha turned to him andasked: "Where were you and what were you doing when you thought the world wasending?" The hare answered: "I was sleeping under a mango tree". The Buddha replied:"Then you probably heard a mango fall from the tree; the noise roused you from a deepsleep, you thought the world was coming to an end and you took fright. Let's go back tothe tree you were sleeping under to find out whether this is indeed the case". Togetherthey went back to the tree and saw that a mango had actually fallen where the hare hadbeen lying. Thus, the Buddha saved the animal kingdom from annihilation.By going back to the scene of the original incident (the A) the thought(s) about the end of theworld could be falsified (the B); this relieved the hare and the other animals from the feelings ofanxiety and panic (the C).The A-B-C model - a cornerstone in the theory and practice of REBT - is in fact apopularised version of the cognitive behavioural S-O-R paradigm (Stimulus-Organism-Response). Conveying the A-B-C framework is one most relevant teaching task of the REBtherapist.Although quite simplified and unidirectional, the nature of the A-B-C's can beinteractional, overlapping and complex. Note that:Emotional disturbance doesn't come from anybody's fucking childhood. The idea thatyour mother made you disturbed is Freudian horseshit! The Freudians always forget to9

ask the most relevant question: "Who listened to your mother's crap?" The answer is,"You did!" And who carried on her slop to the present day? Again the answer is, "Youdid!" As Pogo said, "We have met the enemy, and it is us!" We upset ourselves! Nobodyin human history was ever made upset (Ellis, in Yankura & Dryden, 1990, pp.40-41).As for the A-B-C's or the BASICI.D. of multimodal therapy (Behaviour, Affect,Sensation, Imagery, Cognition, Interpersonal relations, and Drugs related biological issues), Zenis relatively more concerned with the A, the perception or Sensory modality. REBT is mainlyconcerned with the B, the Cognitive and Imagery modalities. Both are interested in the C, whichrepresents the Affective, Behavioural, and Interpersonal modalities. While taking account of thebiological (or D.) modality, both REBT, multimodal therapy and Zen practice make use of allmodalities in bringing about change (cf., Lazarus, 1989, 1997; Kwee & Lazarus, 1986).The performance basisThe original name I (AE) gave to my approach to psychotherapy was Rational Therapy (RT) andthen Rational-Emotive Therapy (RET) (Ellis, 1957, 1962). Recently - in 1993 - I (AE) renamed itREBT to stress the equal importance of its behavioural modality along with its cognitive andaffective modalities. Especially when serious behavioural symptoms are involved, such as inobsessive-compulsive disorder, several kinds of phobias, and depression, REBT applies in vivoperformance-based techniques. Cognitive and emotive methods are also used to help the client'sself-instruction for relevant behaviour modification (cf., Lazarus, 1989). I (AE) have alwaysfavoured implosive or massed in vivo exposure rather than gradual or imaginal desensitization(Ellis, 1984, 1994c). Various homework assignments accompanied by self-reward and sometimesself-penalisation (but not of course: self-damnation) and shame-attacking exercises are includedin REBT's behavioural modality. Furthermore:I was wrong to call it...RT and then...RET...the term "rational" itself was probably anerror, because it mainly means empirical and logical (but)...as the postmodern thinkerspoint out, we can have no absolute criterion of "rationality"..."(R)ational" has alwaysmeant cognition that is effective or self-helping, not merely cognition that is empiricallyand logically valid...If I were to rename RET today I might well call it cognitive-emotiveinstead of rational-emotive therapy; but it is a little late in the game for that change...Forseveral reasons...RET has really always been...REBT...its treatment methods are quitemultimodal and significantly overlap with those of Arnold Lazarus... (Ellis, 1993c,pp.257-258)."Right action" is a Buddhist main issue and part of the "eightfold path" that cantake many forms. According to de Silva (1984, 1986, 1996) the range of behavioural strategiesfound in the Buddhist literature is wide (de Silva, 1990, p.248):When these are described using modern terminology and listed together, they look likethe contents page of a modern behavioural therapy manual! These include: fear reductionby graded exposure and reciprocal inhibition; using rewards for promoting desirablebehaviour; modelling for inducing behavioural change; the use of stimulus control toeliminate undesirable behaviour; the use of aversion to eliminate undesirable behaviour;10

training in social skills; self-monitoring; control of intrusive thoughts by distraction,switching/stopping, incompatible thoughts, and by prolonged exposure to them; intense,covert, focussing on the unpleasant aspects of a stimulus the unpleasant consequences ofa response, to reduce attachment to the former and eliminate the latter; graded approachto the development of positive feelings towards others; use of external cues in behaviourcontrol; use of response cost to aid elimination of undesirable behaviour; use of familymembers for carrying out behaviour change programs; and cognitive-behaviouralmethods - for example, for grief.The Buddhist action-orientedness is illustrated by a parable, entitled "Kisagotamaand the mustard seed", telling how The Buddha dealt with pathological grief during his time:This is a story about a mother who mourned and wept about the death of her child. Hervery young son was bitten by a poisonous snake. As she could not accept the fact of hisdeath, she was out of her senses with grief. Nobody could comfort her and at last shedesperately went to The Buddha to ask him for his advice. "How can my son be cured?"she asked The Buddha. He replied: "There is only one way to help you and your child.Look for a black mustard seed that has to come from a house where no one has ever diedand which should be given to you by someone who has no deceased relatives". So thewoman left, seeking from one house to the next, but she was unable to find such a blackmustard seed. Finally she realised what The Buddha must have meant with hisassignment and she was healed.In order to make good use of the remaining 167 hours in the week, reality testing by means ofbehavioural self-instruction and homework assignments assumes an important place in REBTand also in Zen. Most behavioural techniques in REBT are aimed at facilitating meaningfulphilosophical change for the client, but can also be useful in providing opportunities for skillspractice. Even though both practices are skeptical that any "objective reality" or "absolute truth"exists, both help people to face and cope with probabilistic (and ever-changing) social realities(Ellis, 1994c, 1995).The empircal groundAn important common ground between REBT and Zen is that both appreciate an empiricalworking mode and the logico-empirical methods of science, which are flexible and antidogmatic.Where feasible, REBT tries to help people internalise the scientific method and to useit to solve their own emotional and behavioural problems for the rest of their lives. It hopes thatthey will, during and after therapy, adopt flexible, undogmatic, empirically-oriented ways ofthinking that - it assumes - make up a main aspect of emotional health. It tries to teach clients thatit is preferable to use REBT effectively, but that there is no reason why they must absolutely doso (Ellis, 1984b, 1994c).In REBT, therefore, we endorse Beck's (1976) collaborative empiricism. Thetherapist and the client discover and proof together whether the irrational thoughts and theconcrete treatment goals fit social reality. In a liberal postmodern fashion, REB-therapists knowthat nothing can be proven absolutely. A "real" or "objective" truth does not exist (mostprobably). At least it has not been proven until now. It is hard to believe that it can ever be found11

y scientific observation and experimentation. Logical positivism is passé for REB-therapists.Instead critical realism is embraced: All things and beings exist in a constant flux, there is noincontestable truth, and reality is largely an intersubjective social construction.Moreover, I (AE) also stress the notion that REBT is not sacred, and that if youdogmatically believe in REBT, then you will find yourself in neurotic trouble. How similar thesewords sound to the Zen saying "When you meet The Buddha on the road, kill him!" In order tobecome the master of one's own inner path - i.e., to achieve self-mastery - one had better stopbeing someone else's epigone. In fact, The Buddha himself is against any kind of epigonism orzealotry and has a clear preference for (collaborative) empiricism. For instance, in a discourse heonce offered the following advice to the Kalamas (Kalupahana, cited by de Silva, 1993):Do not accept anything from hearsay, because of tradition, or because of the reputationof the teacher. Accept what you can see for yourselves as valid... When you haveverified for yourselves that this is wholesome and that is not, this is blameless and that isblameworthy, this is conducive to well-being and happiness and that is conducive tosuffering and illness, then you will choose this as your practice and reject that.Buddhist psychology (Kwee & Holdstock, 1996) that forms one root of Zendeveloped outside of, and prior to, Western psychology and is thus "prescientific" (Katz, 1983).However, it can offer testable hypotheses in a spirit that encourages empirical enquiry anddiscourages some of the "New Age drivel", such as channelling, Tarot, handpalm reading, IChing, and numerology. The following didactic story about tackling guilt displays the(collaborative) logico-empirical methodology:A wife asked of her husband to promise never to take another woman after her death."And if you break your promise, I'll return as a ghost and won't allow you any rest", shesaid, and so he promised. Unfortunately, a few months after she died, he fell in love withanother woman. Shortly after that he saw his ex-wife's spirit appearing, condemning himfor breaking his promise. The spirit knew everything he thought, felt, and did, includingall about his relationship with the new woman. He went to a Zen master for advice."Your first wife has changed into a spirit", the master explained. "Whatever you do, say,or give to your new wife, she knows. She must be a very wise spirit. Behold, you have toadmire such a spirit. The next time she appears, you just arrange with her. Tell her thatshe knows so much about you that you can't hide anything from her, and that you'll breakup your engagement if she can answer one question." "Which question do I have to putto her then?", enquired the man. The master replied: "Take a handful of beans and askher exactly how many beans you have in your hand. If she can't tell you that, then she'llnever trouble you again". The next time the spirit appeared, he flattered her by sayingthat she knew everything. "Indeed", the ghost answered, "and I know that you've been toa ZEN master today". "If you know so much", the man insisted, "tell me how manybeans do I have in my hand?"... The spirit disappeared, never to reappear again.REBT makes use of several types of disputing, such as logical disputing,pragmatic disputing, and empirical disputing. The latter type of disputing is to explain thatabsolutistic demands are usually inconsistent with known facts and observable data. Irrational12

thoughts block the person from her/his moderate emotional-behavioural goals and do not standthe test of empirical veracity.On the humanistic stanceThe Buddha underlined the tenet that human beings do inherently possess a self-directed freedomof choice that is decisive for their psychological gate. "Liberation", "salvation", "enlightenment"- in common words: "A self-realised relatively perpetuating state of health and happiness" - canbe attained depending on one's own choice, in spite of the "slings and arrows of outrageousfortune". REBT takes a similar humanistic-existential outlook and is indeed doubly humanistic inthat it attempts to help people maximise their individuality, freedom, self-interest, and selfcontrol,while simultaneously trying to help them to live in an involved, committed, andselectively loving manner with other humans (Ellis, 1973). It focuses mainly on human survivaland happiness rather than on any absolutistic or authoritarian world order or on supernaturaldictates. It views and accepts all humans as human, never as either subhuman or superhuman. Itemphasises some degree of free will and choice rather than rigid determinism or fate in humanaffairs (Ellis, 1994b, 1994c, 1994d, 1996).REBT sees all as people equal in their personhood and brings this into practice bycondemning the sin, but accepting the sinner. REBT is opposed to deifying or devil-iffyinghuman beings who are all considered unique (cf., Ellis, 1984). The practice of Zen breathes thesame tenet of individuality. The following story is told to illustrate how Zen appreciates AndréMalraux's "la condition humaine" in dealing with someone's inferior self-image:A famous general, a samurai, went to a Zen master. He felt insufficient when noting thebright and wise master, overflowing with compassion, and asked: "Why do I feelinferior? A short while ago I felt OK. I have seen death often and was never frightened.Why am I afraid now?" The master said: "Wait; tonight, when everybody has gone, I'lltell you". Throughout the day people came by to consult the master and the samuraibegan to feel even more inferior. At dusk he asked for his answer, and the master tookhim to the garden. It was a full moon night. The master said: "Look at these two treeshere, the big one and the small one blossoming now. They have been in my garden foryears already, and that never caused any problems. The small one has never told the bigone that it feels inferior. This tree is big, the other tree is small, why have they neverheard about inferiority?" The samurai was absorbed in thought and replied: "Becausethey do not compare themselves with one another". The master responded with a smile:"So you know the answer. Small trees also bloom beautifully, since they make nocomparisons".In a most influential Buddhist textbook, the Dhammapada (Humphreys, 1987, p.93), we read:By oneself, indeed, is evil done; by oneself is one injured. By oneself is evil left undone;by oneself is one purified. Purity and impurity belong to oneself. No one purifiesanother.13

One other much quoted passage from the Dhammapada reads as follows: "The task has to beaccomplished by yourself. The enlightened ones only teach the way". The same message isexpressed in The Buddha's last words he spoke to his brother before he died:And whoever Ananda, now or after I am dead, shall be an island unto themselves and arefuge to themselves, shall take to themselves no other refuge, but seeing Truth as anisland, seeing as a refuge Truth, shall not seek refuge in anyone but themselves - it isthey, Ananda, among my disciples, who shall reach the Further Shore! But they mustmake the effort themselves (Humphreys, 1987, p.94; italics added).Such an outlook concurs with the enlightened self-interest endorsed in REBT.Emotionally healthy people put their own interests and goals first most of the time, while puttingthose of significant others a close second. This is the only way to be able to give more to others,to prevent emotional bankruptcy, and to preserve one's own integrity. One has to feed oneself,dress oneself, brush one's own teeth, etc., and this principle of self-interest applies in the pursuitof one's own happiness as well. However, such an attitude cannot be equated with egotism orselfishness (the ruthless pursuit of one's own goals while cynically disregarding those of others).Emotionally healthy people are also willing to accept the flip-side by accepting the responsibilityfor their own psychological disturbances, instead of defensively blaming circumstances or othersfor their own functioning. In the same tenor, emotionally healthy people accept that other peopleand they themselves are imperfect mortal beings who are almost never old enough to learn. This -non-utopian - humanistic stance is also reflected in the following Zen-story:Zen-students stay at least ten years with their teachers before daring to lecture others.Once, at a rainy day Tenno, who has become a teacher himself, visited Nan-in. Tennowore wooden sandals and carried an umbrella. After having welcomed Tenno, Nan-insaid: "You have left your sandals in the hall. I wonder where you have put yourumbrella. Did you place it on the left or on the right side of your sandals?" Confused,Tenno could not give the answer, and realised that he was not yet able to be in Zen allthe time. It lasted six years more for Tenno to reach a state of Zen on-every-moment-ofthe-day.On relativismOne of the core themes in REBT is to refute perfectionism. Indeed I (AE) was influenced byKaren Horney, who emphasised the tyranny of the should. Shouldism or "musturbation" is alliedwith dichotomous reasoning, also known as the "black or white" mode of thinking based on theprinciple of tertium non datur: a thing is either A or not-A (instead of allowing moreclassifications: tertium, quartum, quintum datur).A dualistic way of dividing the world does certainly have advantages for the kindof absolutistic logic formulated by Aristotle many centuries ago (4th century BC). Dualismcreates order out of chaos in the first instance and thus helps us understand the world a littlebetter, at least to a certain degree. However, when we get stuck in contradictions like good orbad, friend or enemy, saint or sinner, and when we fail to see the middle ground, then this logicaldevice becomes a danger for sanity. The mind is apt to catch a disease that we might call14

"Aristotelitis", because the tendency to perfectionism is likely to be part of the imperfect state ofthe mind itself (Ellis, 1962, 1994c; Korzybski, 1933).Believing in the real existence of these dichotomies, while forgetting that the mindhas artificially created them, is like eating the menu card by mistaking it for the meal. Indo-European languages are replete with black and white terms. Some other languages do have wordsto denote variations between the two extremes. For instance, Innuits have 20 words along thespectrum from love to hate. They have a word to denote: "I like you very much, but would notlike to go seal hunting with you" (De Bono, 1991). To see the colours of the rainbow in theversatile contradictions around us is, metaphorically, to think like one of the two Alberts(Einstein or Ellis) instead of thinking like an Aristotle, and to apply relativity (rationality) to theintra- and interpersonal realms of life. We will even go so far as to submit that if one would beallowed to describe the message of REBT's major philosophy of life and therapy in only oneword, that word is relativism.Perfectionism includes the possibly inborn tendency of humans to see the blackonly or the white only, instead of seeing all colours of the kaleidoscope. It is failing to recognisethat contradictions do not always fight against each other, but often complement each other. It isfailing to understand and accept that imperfection characterises growth and therefore life itself,and indeed to recognise the fact that the only perfect state is death. As long as one grows oneremains imperfect. Only when growth ceases one is perfectly dead. Life and death make eachother complete. Completeness denotes a totality that reflects more of a quality (e.g. a relativestate of experiencing joy), whereas perfection refers to a quantity, a 100% that can never beachieved in life, thus remaining an Utopia. Demanding oneself to achieve perfection or"musturbation" is the recipe for neurotic disturbance.According to Zen we live in a relative world of YinYang experiences instead of atheoretical world of all-or-nothing type of thinking. The wisdom of YinYang is exemplified in thefollowing narrative:Once there was a poor old man whose only possession was a white horse. For years his fellowvillagers advised him to sell this horse and make a lot of money. But the old man refused. "Thehorse is part of my family and you don't sell your family", was his regular answer. One night thehorse disappeared and the people said: "You shouldn't have been so stupid not to have sold theanimal. Now you have nothing left. A bigger misfortune could not have happened to you". Theold man smiled and said: "Who knows whether it's a misfortune or not. The only thing I know isthat the horse is gone". A few weeks later the horse returned to the stable and brought 12 otherwild horses with him. Apparently he went to look for other horses and found his way back. Thevillagers said: "Old man, you're right, it was not a misfortune at all, but a great fortune that theanimal broke out. Now you are a wealthy man". But the old man smiled and replied: " Whoknows whether this is a fortune or a misfortune. The only thing I know is that the horse cameback with 12 other horses". In the weeks that followed the son of the old man tried to tame thewild horses, fell from a stallion, and broke both his legs. The villagers said: "Indeed it wasn'tsuch a good fortune that your horse brought all those other horses to you. You are completelyright. Now your son is an invalid and a bigger misfortune could not have happened to you". Theold man smiled and countered: "When will you stop at last pretending as if you know whattomorrow will bring? The only thing I know is that today misfortune has befallen me, but that isall I know". A few months passed by, a war broke out, and all15

consider the fact that you are not on trial. It's not the total you. Think instead: "i am giving aspeech" (Lazarus, 1997,p.69).Each role is a constructed personal reality which meaning can be understood when the therapistlistens to the client's story. Thus, the "self" is constituted by the integrated stories of all of her/hismost important roles, that change necessarily during one's lifetime.As submitted before, human life finds itself in a changing flux, constantly growingand decaying. Any final judgement of the self is incorrect, because an ongoing process will thenbe impeded. It is impossible to say everything about a dynamic living and moving complex. Evenif a representative sample of all the aspects of the self is observed, the judgement of the total selfwould be a pars pro toto, a fallacious identification of a concept with the "self". Thus, a rationalanswer to such a compelling question as "Who am I?" cannot be given satisfactorily, becausewhatever one says it is, it is not (Korzybski, 1933). REBT suggests a rational exercise inrelativity instead of overgeneralising, by only rating one's behaviour(s), as in the followinganalogy (Walen, DiGiuseppe, & Wessler, 1980):Imagine that you have just received a large basket of fruit. You reach into the basket andpull out a beautiful red apple, and then a ripe juicy pear, and then a rotten orange, andthen a perfect banana, and then a bunch of grapes, some of which are musky and rotten.How would you label the basket as a whole? Clearly, some of its contents are good andsome are bad; you'd want to throw away some of it, but not all of it. You see, the basketrepresents you and the diversity of fruits that varies in ripeness or rottenness is like yourtraits. Rating yourself by a trait is like saying that the basket is bad because it contains apiece of bad fruit.Like REBT, Zen particularly unmasks "I am..." statements as false identifications.Perhaps the only "I am" statement that is correct is: "I am 80% water," but this refers to whatinstead of who I supposed to be. Instead of saying "I am bad", it is better to say "I see myself (or:some of my traits) as bad," just to avoid the is of predication implying that badness really existsin the universe. The eminent Zen scholar Suzuki (1960) stated: "If a person is identified withnothing more than an act, then the person is not a living human being at all, but a concept of themind" (p.46). A concept about the self turns it - a dynamic developing process - into somethingthat is abiding, static, rigid and thus not liable to change. Both Zen and REBT ad8vocateunconditional acceptance of one's self as a "fallible human being" who is ready to take action forchange (Ellis, 1973, 1976, 1994c). In Zen, one speaks about accepting the self "without rank" or"without (the emperor's) clothes" (Lin Chi, 9th century AD). A loving relationship with oneself isrecommended; in practice this means taking care of oneself first in order to be able to give moreto others. Altruism and egotism are discarded in favour of self-interest, a golden mean alsoendorsed in REBT as explained before.A discrepancy between REBT and Zen regarding the self is that Zen tries toachieve something epitomised by the term satori, moments in which one paradoxicallyexperiences the "abolition" of the ego altogether. In Zen such a process of dis-identifying one'sself with one's overt and covert behaviour is called "detachment" (relative freedom fromattachment). This experience goes beyond the boundaries of rationality or relativity and mighteven be qualified paradoxically as "absolute." We may wonder whether this is a delusion. But,according to those who claim to have once experienced it, such as one of us (MK), it is definitely17

not a psychosis. One is completely compos mentis/compos sui, before, during and after theexperience, and may be said to have a fully awakened and clear state of awareness. It isimpossible to fully describe this "perfect" (complete or fulfilled) state because one remains animperfect human being (who is sometimes not less meshugge than before).To paraphrase William James's (1902) idea, it is as if one lets the waxing andwaning stream of consciousness flow down the river until it reaches the endless waters of theocean and with which it merges like a dew drop. Words fail to depict the complete experience.But vigilant exhilaration or silent ecstasy (as if the whole body is in a state of orgasm) and a lossof the ultimate fear, the fear of death, are essential characteristic features.As stated earlier, such an experience in Zen is called satori, the best translation ofwhich is "selflessness" or self-realisation. Satori is the raison d'être of Zen. Paradoxically, inZen, satori is met if one willfully succeeds in experiencing this "deflation" of the ego. Beyondthe satori comes a life that on the surface does not differ from the one before (eating breakfastand washing the dishes, for example). Its "cash value" is found inwardly: One feels relativelymore reassured and "arrived," within a context of a more balanced state of affect than before. Asformulated in a Zen saying: "When sitting just sit, when walking just walk. Above all don'twobble".On cognitive strategiesREBT and Zen definitely differ in their concrete practices when dealing with cognitions. REBTis concerned with changing irrational cognitions and replacing them with rational cognitionsthrough a process of internal dialogue and also through changing one's feelings and one'sbehaviours (Ellis, 1994c; Ellis & Dryden, 1987; Ellis & Abrams, 1994; Lazarus, 1989). Zen doesimplicitly the same and considers the internal dialogue as just one part of consciousness and in asense an unnecessary limitation of consciousness to the verbal faculty (cf., Schwartz, 1986).Wegner's "white bear phenomenon" (Wegner, 1989, 1994) is relevant in thisrespect. Thought suppression has a paradoxical effect as evidenced by robust empirical data. Theinstruction not to think of white bears leads to a more frequent and intensive occurrence of whitebear cognitions in the stream of consciousness during or after the suppression period. In fact, thisfinding offers the Zen way to handle cognitions - namely, to let them go, or leave them for whatthey are - an experimental underpinning par excellence. This phenomenon occurs in a classic Zenstory:Once there were two Zen monks travelling by foot on their long way back to themonastery. On the road they saw a beautiful woman crying and close to desperationbecause she was afraid to cross a dangerous river on her own. The woman asked theolder monk to carry her to the other bank. But he replied: "No, I can't, because that'sagainst the rules. I am forbidden even to look at a woman. Touching or carrying isabsolutely out of the question". Then she called on the younger monk and he, in silence,carried her safely to the other side. Many miles further, already nearing the monastery,the older monk spoke to his younger colleague, saying: "I'll report your misconduct tothe master!" The old man smiled and countered: "I have unburdened her from myshoulders hours ago, but you are carrying her still".18

In a recent experiment on "ironic processes of mental control" Wegner and Gold (1995) indeedfound that subjects who had suppressed thoughts of a still-desired relationship showedheightened emotional reactions. Trying to forget painful thoughts seems not only to prolong themisery, but makes it even worse.In dealing with unwanted cognitions, the Korzybskian (1933) principle of "selfreflexiveness"is helpful in REBT and in Zen. In general, one is not conscious about one's ownthinking, one just thinks but does not identify one's thoughts as (just) thoughts. The lack of selfreflexivenessor meta-thinking, i.e. the inability to observe one's own thoughts, leads to the falseassumption that the content of one's thinking is necessarily true. For instance, if one fails toidentify the thought, "She does not like me", as a cognition, one is not likely to scrutinise itscontents as true and/or false. In REBT the therapist will subsequently argue the irrationality ofthe cognition "She must like me, or else I am a worthless person!" In Zen the person will proceedwith detaching from the cognition. Walsh and Vaughn (1983) describe such a process ofdisidentification as realising one's identification with a cognition and consciously distancingone's self from this cognition. It is a process that goes from an ego-syntonic state to an egodystonicstate, resembling Beck's distancing technique (Beck, 1976). Other cognitive behaviouraltechniques are available to control unwanted intrusive cognitions that bear a striking resemblancewith Buddhist tactics of eliminating such thoughts during meditation as nicely reviewed by deSilva (1985).The importance of General Semantics (Korzybski, 1933) for REBT has beenemphasised time and again (Ellis, 1962, 1994a, 1994b). For instance:[REBT] is one of the few truly semantic therapies that now exists... I stick very closelyto [some of its] principles as originally laid down by the brilliant Alfred Korzybski(Ellis, 1977, pp.27-28). The more I think about Korzybski's masterpiece, Science andSanity, the more I am enthralled by its revolutionary title (Ellis, 1994b, p.218).Self-reflexiveness was also formulated in Korzybski's famous map-territory analogy: The idealmap represents a map of the map of the map, etc. Thus, one can speak words about words aboutwords, etc. On a verbal level there will always be an abstraction and therefore reduction of theworld as experienced on a nonverbal level, or, as Korzybski preferred to call it, a "silent" level ofsanity.As MK has outlined before, this implies the existence of different levels ofabstraction, where each "higher" level leaves out data of the foregoing "lower" levels, thuscreating a potential source of dysfunctional (self-)communication, resulting in the end inemotional disturbance (Kwee, 1982). At least four levels of abstraction with regards to a(nonverbal) stimulus can be differentiated (see also Chapter 2):1. the perceptual (or observational) level (e.g., seeing or hearing);2. the descriptive (or objective) level (e.g., "this room is 3 by 2 metres");3. the inferential (or interpretational) level (e.g., "this room is small");4. the evaluative (or appraisal) level (e.g., "I hate this den").Because "we read unconsciously into the world the structure of language we use...to be means tobe constructed" (Korzybski, 1948, p.35, italics added), one is advised to be aware of thecorrespondence of the semantic structure constructed by the human mind (levels 2, 3 and 4) andthe structure of the world on a nonverbal level.19

The Zen student is obviously interested in the "silent" level. He tries to function atthis level by acquiring the meditative skills to liberate or detach herself/himself frompreconceived ideas, hidden assumptions, rigid ways of thinking, etc., through the process ofdisidentification from these mental phenomena. To let go does not mean that conflicting thoughtshave to be removed or repressed from consciousness (see Chapter 4), but only that one no longeridentifies one's self with them. It is evident that traumatic memories and experiences have to beemotionally worked through first, before such a detachment can take place. That is whypsychotherapy had better precede meditation, especially in those instances when the meditator ispsychologically disturbed.The interface revisitedIn earlier publications satori has been differentiated in great Satori and little satori (Kwee,1996a, 1996b). While the experience of the great Satori belongs to the realm of spiritual silence,not to the field of (verbal) psychotherapy, little satori is a Eureka-experience mainly of apsychological nature that one encounters in everyday life. REBT - or at least my (AE's) versionof it - does not deny that satori, or a state of unusual ego detachment, exists, nor that it may leadto some beneficial results (Ellis, 1994; Hearn, 1994; Moore, 1994). But it is sceptical about all"transpersonal", "mystical" or "no-mind" experiences for several reasons:1. People usually consciously bring on satori experiences. They therefore includevolition and mindfulness. Furthermore, people desire to achieve satori. They wishto have this experience and enjoy it. It therefore is not really utter detachment ordesirelesness.2. The human brain, "mind" or "psyche" is practically never quiet, except forpossibly a few seconds at a time - if then! Even in deep states of"unconsciousness" it seems still to be alive - and often kicking and screaming!"No-mindfulness" either does not exist or is rare.3. Many "visions" and "experiences" of "knowing" the secret of it all, beingpersonally in touch with God or the universe, having conscious awareness ofunconsciousness, etc. result from using drugs, from organic anomalies, frompsychotic states, from other brain aberrations, and come to an end when theaberrant brain state ameliorates. Practically all "transpersonal" and "mystical"experiences are quite probably similarly aberrant, even though those whoexperience them are not usually psychotic.4. When satori-like "revelations" are experienced, with or without drugs, they ofteninclude "absolute truths" that are "inexpressible", cannot be clearly communicatedto others, do not lead to miracles, and cannot be empirically or experimentallychecked. In this sense, these truths seem to be, at least for us "normal" humans,illusory.5. Although feelings of great self-fulfilment or ecstasy frequently accompany thesatori experience, it may also include distinct disadvantages and unfulfillingactivities and processes, such as: (a) Spending huge amounts of time and energyfor relatively few moments of "full self-actualisation"; (b) Giving up other20

important intellectual, emotional and physical pursuits; (c) Being over-absorbed inoneself and under-absorbed in human relationships.6. Satori experiences may serve as a distraction from what REBT calls the "elegant"solution to neurotic disturbances. According to this solution, when people fullyand consciously accept grim social reality and when they unconditionally accepttheir self and other people - but not accept their destructive behaviours - they notonly make themselves unneurotic but less disturbable. They then oftenautomatically reduce their absolutistic shoulds, oughts and musts and rarelyseriously upset themselves about anything, yes, anything. All kinds of distractionmethods - such as relaxation, meditation, and satori experiences - can appreciablyhelp them to overcome their present disturbances. But when taken to extremes,these distractions and enjoyments may (paradoxically!) distract them form workingto achieve the elegant solution of less disturbability. REBT encourages workingfor this state plus increased self- and social-actualisation (Ellis, 1991). Extremesatori experiences may encourage the latter without the former, not a badsolution!, but still not so good.7. If we achieve satori - or a "non-thinking state of mind" - we had better use ourthinking state of mind - as well as our feelings and our actions - to make ourselvesmore effective and happier. In other words, we had better use REBT after we do,and if we do, achieve satori!In general Zen adepts are cautious and usually warn novices to be attentive for themany pitfalls that can occur during its practice in the pursuit of satori. The caveats vary from "aholier than thou-syndrome", to using - energy depleting - (soft) drugs, to life abnegation to selfabsorption,etc. It includes the caveat of anarchy because Zen uses to ridicule openly and makes ajoke out of anything that could possibly become sacred, by for instance scoffing at the Buddhas.Once - after having experienced satori - a Zen master even declared that he finds Zen not somuch worthwhile after all. It is this irony that makes any dogmatism in Zen impossible to surviveand places instead humour in the centre of its system.Famous is the experience and deeper meaning of the smile in Zen that has foundsome experimental underpinning (Zajonc, Murphy, & Inglehart (1989). For instance, subjectswho produce the sound "eee" (like in cheese when smiling) have a cool forehead and acorresponding positive affect, while subjects who utter "oh" for instance, do not accrue such aresult. Sharing the same relativistic philosophy, the tactics of REBT are generally ready to be fitin Zen. However, because of the cultural differences, some Zen meditation exercises will often beconsidered palliative or too much alien to be directly applicable within the context of REBT (e.g.,the laughing or smiling meditation).By using metaphors, stories, slogans, humour, irony, exaggerations,contradictions, and jokes REBT not only resembles but might even be considered equivalent toZen. Illustrative is the following verbatim example:Cl. A couple of months ago, when I was anxious, I did what you're saying. I put apicture in my head, about my wife or about some other sexy woman, and then myanxiety would leave and I'd be all right sexually.AE Yes, as soon as you focus on anything else, your anxiety will temporarily go. Letme tell you a famous fable. A king didn't want to marry his daughter to a favorite21

Cl.AEprince, who passed all the tests he was given, so that it looked like he would marrythe daughter. But the king was horrified at that, so he said to his wise men, "Look!You find a test this son-of-a-bitch can't pass, or I'll cut your balls off!" The wisemen were very horrified about this. So they thought and thought and finally cameup with a test that the prince couldn't pass. Do you know what it was?No, I can't think of one."Don't think of a pink elephant for 20 minutes!" You see, if you say to yourself, asthe prince did, "I must not think of a pink elephant! I must not think of a pinkelephant!-"Cl. Then you're going to think about just that.AE Right! And that, you see, is exactly what you're doing. You're saying, "I must notbe anxious!" Then you'll be anxious. Or, "I must be good sexually." Then you'llmake yourself so anxious that you won't be able to concentrate on sexualenjoyment. Because to do well at sex, you have to focus on sexual thoughts - onyour wife or on some other desirable woman. You have to have sexy thoughts. Butif you say to yourself, "Oh, my God! Suppose I get anxious! Suppose my cockwon't go up and stay up!" Then it won't! So that's what you're doing. You'redemanding that you have to do well; and you're also insisting that you must not beanxious. So if we can get you to say to yourself, and really believe, "I'd like to dowell, but I never have to" and, "I'd very much prefer to be unanxious, but fuck it, ifI'm anxious, I'm anxious!" then you'll get over this nonsense that you're now tellingyourself. Whenever you take a preference, a goal, a desire, and you say, "I have toachieve it! I must perform well!" you're making yourself immediately anxious.That's where your anxiety comes from. And that's what people do: They take theirstrong desires and say, "I absolutely must achieve them! I have to; I've got to!"Instead of, "I'd like to achieve them, but if I don't, tough! The earth won't stopspinning!" (Ellis, 1996, pp. 228-229).Another similarity occurs in a group therapy session. One member reported hisguilt feelings about the fact that he thinks of other women during sex with his wife. Afterresisting the idea that such thoughts are "normal", I (AE) told him the following joke toemphasise that it is usually difficult to always maintain a high degree of physical attractionwithin a long-term marriage (Yankura & Dryden, 1990, p.129):A couple had a good sex and marital relationship. They'd been married for 25 years, theirchildren were grown-up and married themselves, and everything was fine. They decided,"Hell it's our 25th wedding anniversary - we'd better do something special!" So theywent for a gourmet meal, which they love. But neither one got very aroused or excited.Finally, after about ten minutes, the wife patted her husband on the shoulder and said,"Well dear, I guess on this night of all nights, you're having trouble thinking of someoneelse, too!"The message in this anecdote is very similar to that of a little story told by a Zen master:An ill woman who went to many doctors and tried already several medicines, butnothing really helped. Desperately she went to a Zen master who assigned her to repeat22

the following mantra at least ten minutes a day: "I am not ill, I am healthy". After a fewmonths she recovered. Because her sex-life was at a low pitch she went to consult themaster again for another mantra. When she returned home her husband wanted to knowher new assignment, but she refused to tell him. During the ensuing months her libidoimproved, and the husband became very curious. On a Sunday morning he was unable tosuppress his curiosity and tiptoed to the bathroom door where, to his big surprise, heheard her murmuring: "He is not my husband, he is not my husband, he is not myhusband".The famous shame-attacking exercises of REBT in which clients engage publiclyin behaviours "normally" considered foolish or silly resemble ordeals that could also be assignedto Zen novices on their way to satori. These are for instance: Go into a drugstore at a crowdedhour and say to the clerk in a loud enough voice for everyone to hear, "I want a gross ofcondoms. And because I use many of them, I want a special discount". Or: Ride the subway andannounce the stops in a loud, clear voice, for instance "Forty-second street!" Then, stay on thetrain. Or: Go to a department store at a busy time and unashamedly announce the time at the topof your longs: "It's 4:45 p.m. and all's well!"Closing commentsTo understand the goals and the means of REBT vis à vis Zen, it might be useful to compare andcontrast the positions taken by their respective founders: Albert Ellis and The Buddha.The fact that the latter lived 2500 years ago in the East suggests seeminglyirreconcilable differences with a modern person from the West such as I (AE) am. However, ifdemystified, the thoughts of The Buddha turn out to contain essential commonalities. TheBuddha was a prince who abandoned his worldly belongings in search of self-mastery, a choicethat fits in the cultural context of the time (events aptly depicted in Bertolucci's film "LittleBuddha"). In search of wisdom, he led an ascetic life for six years, after which austerities at theage of 35, he experienced a blissful state. He then condemned his unnatural self-torturingwithdrawal as foolish, and started a fulfilling life, as normal for a teacher of his time, focussingon how to develop a virtuous life. A central tenet in his discourses is to uncovet, which in REBTterms would mean to uncling or to detach from "musts" and change these into "wishes". TheBuddha espoused ideas, which are imbued with rationality/relativity. Among other standpoints,The Buddha saw his teachings not as a church-like religion but as a lifestyle ("right livelihood")to cope with life-inherent suffering. He pointed out that, to achieve inner balance, meditationshould be practised without abandoning the world ("not fleeing to the Himalayas but staying onthe market place"), and that Nirvana is not a Utopia but just a name for an experience in the"herenow," just as one may, for instance, experience in a genuine deeply-felt smile. ApparentlyThe Buddha never spoke about Nirvana, instead he talked about the meditative lifestyle that willpurify oneself from troubling emotions.There exists no permanent ego or self in each human being. The individual is thesum of her or his qualities taken together without bothering about the "soul" as some permanentor persisting substratum (Zuercher, 1962). The Webster's New World Dictionary definition ofNirvana as "the state of perfect blessedness achieved by the extinction of individual excellenceand life absorption of the soul into the supreme spirit, or by the extinction of all desires and23

passions", sounds like drivel from a Zen vantage point. When one lives Zen, one is onlyinterested in experiencing satori, as was attained through the ages by many Buddhas. Theremainder of Buddhism - including worship, rituals and temples - is irrelevant devotional fluff,which, however, does not mean that these aspects cannot cause the experiencing of satori.A meditative lifestyle, in a sense, can be seen as going through the "hells" of rage,panic, or depression to full awareness, to achieve a state of balanced happiness, where feelingappropriate or healthy emotions, such as grief after a loss of a significant person, have a definiteplace. To free oneself from the attachments/preoccupations called egotism or greed is toovercome the fallacy of identifying one's overt or covert behaviours with one's self. It is thereforeincorrect to state that Zen encourages people to become desireless - although some adepts mightthink so - or to slip into a semi-schizophrenic state of withdrawal. Note the message in thesaying: "The highest truth is contained in carrying water and chopping firewood", that reflects theattitude of Zen towards daily living, which nowadays can be observed in, for example, the Sino-Japanese working ethos. Zen at its best strives for happiness, a transcultural experiential state thatcan be achieved by means of meditation or by any other technique expediting this state. Zen doesnot try to eliminate appropriate or healthy affects like irritation, concern, or sadness, when oneexperiences unfortunate life events.REBT and Zen have very similar goals, as both strive for "intense appropriatefeeling, commitment to life, and the unfrantic search for maximum enjoyment" (Ellis, in Hoellen,1986, p. 90). I (AE) had my share of difficulties, such as being shy in my youth, being neglectedby my father when I was a child of divorced parents, suffering from a kidney disease early in mylife, and living with diabetes until my present age of 85. Like The Buddha, I try to practice what Ipreach, and worked my ass off to achieve self-mastery from my childhood onwards. For instance,I overcame my shyness by approaching 100 women for a date in a park at the age of 19, and bydelivering numerous public talks to overcome my public speaking phobia. By searching forknowledge, earning my PhD at the age of 34, and leading a rational life myself, I have become arelatively happy man who wants to die in the saddle, preferably at the age of 110. I have beenvoted as one of the most influential psychotherapists of this century (Smith, 1982; APA, 1986;Warner, 1991; Dryden & Ellis, 1990).REBT and Zen are often similar, especially when REBT is directively taught as anon-dogmatic way-of-life in the "herenow", when it insists that "life is a hassle", when clients usebehavioural homework (such as "shame attacking exercises") to overcome irrationally-fearedsituations, when "non-cerebral" emotive techniques of humour, and the pursuit of happiness areemphasised (Ellis, 1987). In a way, one might argue that general REBT often includes theteachings of ZEN (except its culturally alien techniques) and modern ZEN often includes REBT'srelativism. ZEN, REBT, and General Semantics often significantly overlap and reinforce eachother (Ellis, 1994b; Johnston, Bourland, & Klein, 1994).As in General Semantics, Zen aims to take a regular break from the "unsane"crowded chaos of a turbulent world to correct the bad effects of uncontrolled circularity (Bois,1973). Reaching for what is called in General Semantics a "silent level experience" is a way ofbreaking out of the circle of sensing and thinking what one used to sense and think, and of feelingand behaving how one used to feel and behave. In fact, such an experience is also the essence ofZen, which can be attained by training not to talk to oneself. In fact, this satori level ofexperiencing without any naming at all is striven for in Zen meditative practice. Johnson (1946)describes the general semanticist's meditation - which is similar to a formal Zen exercise - asfollows:24

Hold an object (ashtray, pencil...) in both hands, and look at it steadily, examining it. Assoon as you begin to verbalize about it, put it down. Take it and try it again. See, howlong you can stay "on the silent level" ... This should be practiced for a short time eachday ... You can also do it while watching a person ... listening to music ... (p.493).Weinberg (1959) used the term "acceptance" to denote the "silent level" in the emotional realm,which is in full accord with Zen and REBT:The act of acceptance, the will to bear discomfort, has an immediate and profound effectupon the intensity of the pain. It becomes much more bearable, less threatening...Learning to accept what at the moment cannot be changed produces what I should like tocall an enlightened stoicism (p.188).REBT and Zen are both constructivistic and rationalistic in that they conveychanges that might go far beyond symptom reduction (cf., Wessler, 1992). In some ways REBTemphasises symptom relief and less disturbability, while Zen emphasises "personality" change orgrowth, observable in a modified lifestyle. But REBT is also interested in a philosophical impacton clients and is thus a constructivistic approach as well (Ellis, 1990a). Being mainly aconstructivistic approach, Zen longs for growth and happiness, which can be attained only aftersolving neurotic habits by rational means. Elegant REBT, striving for symptom elimination andphilosophical change, also aims at growth and happiness. In its therapeutic phase, Zen - ifnecessary - works through emotions via several useful techniques of meditation, for instancelaughing meditation, crying meditation, anger meditation, sexual love meditation and other kindsof breathing exercises to prepare the adept for the last breath (see for a further discussion Kwee,1990c; 1993).A koan attributed to The Buddha himself depicts the Zen flavour of the art ofdying. Life consists of moments in the "herenow" and one day we shall all experience our lastmoment when there is no longer any future. That moment can be a great lesson about the art ofliving. Further techniques in teaching clients relativizing differ between REBT and Zen, as hasbeen explained in this chapter. In the cognitive area REBT often works via disputing irrationalself-talk and self-defeating meanings, while Zen mainly uses story telling, analogies andmetaphors. But REBT - like Lazarus's (1989, 1997) multimodal therapy - uses many cognitive,emotive and behavioural methods that include some of these Zen techniques and other processes.In conclusion, it is mainly in the striving for the "silent" level - or, because thisinvolves a prolonged absence of words, a "non-thinking state of mind" - that Zen and REBTdiffer essentially. Since happiness is the sought benefit, the shortest route counts. And this mightbe a different one for each individual living on this globe, East and West alike. Let us end withthe words of Wittgenstein in his Tractatus (1951): "About which one cannot speak, about thatone has to keep silence" and conclude, in the present Zeitgeist of psychotherapy integration, thatEast and West, "the twain" have met in the interface between REBT and Zen.ReferencesAPA (1986). Awards for distinguished professional contributions: 1985. AmericanPsychologist, 41, 386-397.25

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