An Introduction to Buddhist Psychology and Counselling

Pathways of Mindfulness-Based Therapies

Kenneth A. Loparo

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9781137287557
• Edition: 5
• Topic: Philosophy
• Subtopic: Mind & Body in Philosophy

This book, now in its fifth edition, provides a comprehensive introduction to Buddhist psychology and counselling, exploring key concepts in psychology and practical applications in mindfulness-based counselling techniques using Buddhist philosophy of mind, psychology, ethics and contemplative methods.

Part I

Introducing Buddhist Psychology

1

Buddhist Psychology and the Revolution in Cognitive Sciences

Cognitive science is a child of the 1950s, the product of a time when psychology, anthropology and linguistics were redefining themselves and computer science and neuroscience as disciplines were coming into existence. Psychology could not participate in the cognitive revolution until it had freed itself from behaviourism, thus restoring cognition to scientific respectability. By then, it was becoming clear in several disciplines that that the solution to some of their problems depended on solving problems traditionally allocated to other disciplines.¹

James further speculated that the stream of consciousness may be a different type of phenomenon than the brain, one that interacts with the brain while alive, absorbs and retains the identity, personality, and memories constitutive in this interaction, and can continue without the brain. While James is still widely respected among contemporary cognitive scientists, his views on the origin and nature of consciousness have been largely ignored or rejected.²

Today, the early stages of the Jamesian dream are being realised. Renowned Buddhist scholars have joined psychologists, cognitive scientists and neurologists in integrating the methodologies of Buddhism to a specific discipline, which, following Alan Wallace, may be described as ‘contemplative science’. This emerging framework has located both Buddhist psychology and counselling practices within this contemporary convergence of contemplative practices and the cognitive sciences. While I shall trace below these stages in the interface between Buddhism and cognitive science, Wallace feels that the cognitive sciences have yet to undergo a complete revolution, overcoming the domination of scientific materialism and devise rigorous and precise introspective methods for observing mental phenomena.³

What is referred to as the cognitive revolution in the sciences has gone through several phases. The first phase was marked by the work of Ivan Pavlov, and later by J.B. Watson, who considered psychology to be the science of behaviour, and whose focus was on ‘visibles’, ‘audibles’ and ‘tangibles’. Later, B.F. Skinner asserted that the mind does not exist, and psychology was concerned merely with behaviour dispositions. Mental events were not visible and objective evidence was available only in the realm of publicly observable behaviour. Though the psychologist William James was interested in the study of consciousness, the domination of behavioural psychology meant that it was assumed that such a project did not have any scientific respectability.

The emergence of cognitive psychology in the 1960s was the first step towards the scientific study of consciousness. The next phase in the cognitive revolution was marked by new research in cognitive psychology, neuroscience, linguistics, molecular genetics and artificial intelligence. Harvard University established cognitive studies as a part of the curriculum, and Carnegie-Mellon developed information-processing psychology. As cognitive studies developed, these projects received financial support from the Sloan Foundation in 1976. The relevance of these new interdisciplinary sciences for a dialogue between Buddhism and cognitive sciences was articulated by a scientist of the calibre of Francisco Varella, and this line of thinking appeared to be a revival of interest in the insights of William James. While the scientific study of consciousness achieved legitimacy there were a few obstacles to the extending of these interests to the development of a Buddhist psychology. It took some time for Buddhist scholarship to break away from traditional scholasticism, and Francisco Varela was a pioneer who was instrumental in holding a conference on ‘Buddhism and cognitive sciences’ with a grant from the Sloan Foundation. This conference was held at the Naropa Institute in Colorado and, while teaching a summer course in Buddhist psychology, I had the good fortune to participate. The Naropa University now has a comprehensive degree and postgraduate programme in Buddhist psychology, and staff there are undertaking advanced research. Varella emphasised the point that Buddhism can potentially have an influence on modern science, at the research level in the study of the mind as well as on the epistemological foundations of some of the sciences such as physics. The life sciences that have developed over the years since the Naropa conference on Buddhism and cognitive sciences have a special focus on the study of mind, cognition, emotions or affect, and especially the new frontiers of neuroscience such as affective neuroscience. The meeting ground of science and Buddhism provides the background to the resurgence of interest in Buddhist psychology. The experientially based technology of meditation has generated the use of mindfulness as a therapeutic tool, and its impact on mental and physical well-being is of current interest and research. Thus, it has become important to explore the study of consciousness in the Buddhist meditative tradition and this study over the years, along with the interest among some neuroscientists, culminated in the groundbreaking discovery of the concept of ‘neuroplasticity’ by Richard Davidson and a discussion of its relevance to Buddhist psychology in several conferences of the Mind and Life Institute.

Richard Davidson argued for neuroplasticity, the ability of the brain to develop throughout life, and presented data suggesting that meditation practice could produce beneficial plasticity in the brain’s affective centres, inhibiting destructive emotions while fostering positive ones.⁴

More recent works such as The Mindful Brain, by Daniel J. Siegel indicate that mindful awareness has been scientifically proved to enhance our physical, mental and social well-being.⁵ At the very heart of this synthesis of science and mindfulness practice is the idea that our awareness of our ongoing experience creates a kind of attunement within ourselves and with others that can harness the specific social and emotional circuits of the brain. Such findings not merely help us to transform our lives and deepen our connections with others and ourselves but also these developments in contemplative neuroscience have given a great deal of confidence to those who have extended mindfulness techniques to different types of Western therapies, ranging from cognitive-behaviour therapy to psychodynamic, humanistic and Gestalt therapy. Chapter 13 in this book is devoted to describing and analysing number of mindfulness-based therapeutic traditions in the West and, therefore, gives a bird’s-eye view of these dominant traditions today. All of the chapters in Part I illuminate the Buddhist psychology that, in the background, gives nourishment to these therapeutic traditions, as well as the practical application of mindfulness practice and Buddhist insights to specific problem areas such as stress management, anger management, grief counselling, depression and addictions.

The emergence of the Mind and Life Institute has led to a series of conference and related publications from 1987 onwards, and the Dalai Lama has given the necessary guidance throughout the series of meetings. In the field of Buddhist psychology I have constantly found their contributions to emotion studies and related issues very valuable: emotions and health; destructive emotions; mindfulness and compassion, and the treatment of depression; altruism, ethics and compassion; attention, memory and mind; mind–body connection; neuroplasticity; and contemplative science. Going beyond the mind, the exploration of epistemological questions in quantum physics and Eastern contemplative science has been a noteworthy contribution. Since 1987, dialogues between Buddhism and the cognitive sciences under the aegis of the Mind and Life Institute have explored a vast territory and have been a catalyst in the emergence of Buddhist psychology with a new face. They have also helped to restore the brain into the context of the body and its impact on the immune, autonomic and endocrine systems. Candace Pert’s thesis concerning the body being a second brain has thrown new light on the links between the body, brain and mind in emotions.⁶ On the practical side of counselling and therapeutic systems, mindfulnessbased techniques have been integrated into stress-reduction therapy, cognitive-behaviour therapy, psychodynamic therapies, humanistic and Gestalt therapies, and also into the work I have done in developing mindfulness-based EFT (Emotion-focused Therapy), as well as Cultivating Emotional Balance (CEB), which is a broad based education programme. The Naropa University stands out in developing an entire degree programme in Buddhist psychology.

It must be stated that, from the perspectives of Buddhism as a liberation quest, while research in the sciences referred to above may certainly increase the relevance and credibility of Buddhist psychology and therapy in modern times, and, therefore, offer some kind of rationale for those who come to the Buddhist faith from outside as well as those who are serious practitioners, an understanding of the relevance of science has not been embraced by many of the monks who follow the traditional Buddhist path and who have become perfected ones or achieved higher stages on the way. But yet, today, for practitioners among both laymen and monks, this encounter with the fresh breeze of discoveries in psychology, therapy and neurology has helped to draw them to the practical path of ethics and the practice of meditation. In my personal life as a Buddhist and a therapist, I find that they are two mutually enriching dimensions. Needless to say, it is the deeper practice of Buddhism that helps our absorbing interest in Buddhist psychology to go beyond academic boundaries.

Evan Thompson observes that contemplative mental training and critical phenomenological and philosophical analysis of the mind form the cornerstone of Buddhist practice, and it may be considered more as a repository of contemplative and phenomenological expertise rather than being just an object of scientific study.⁷ I hope that studying the biographies of the outstanding monks in the Buddhist contemplative tradition will open up a new chapter in this revival of the Jamesian heritage.

The place of ‘moral psychology’ in Buddhism will be referred to again in Chapter 2. Briefly, the links between psychology and morality in the context of the new scientific writings energised thinkers to move forward: consider, for instance, the work of Lawrence Kohlberg, who became popular because of the interviews he had with children on moral dilemmas, for example, the famous question – should Heinz steal a drug to save his wife’s life? Antonio Damasio’s book Descartes’ Error⁸ showed that morality and rationality were dependent on the proper functioning of emotional circuits in the prefrontal cortex. Daniel J. Siegel says in his book, The Mindful Brain:

Of related ‘neural note’ is the finding of an active role of the middle prefrontal cortex in morality. This same region is active as we imagine ethical dilemmas and as we initiate moral action. We come to our sense of ourselves and of others, and a sense of right action and morality, through the integrative circuitry in our neural core.⁹

Siegel recommends the four great factors of curiosity, openness, acceptance and love – COAL:

Just as attuning to oneself and approaching experience with COAL is a natural flow of being mindfully aware, so is the attuning to the larger world of living beings with a loving stance inherent in this reflective immersion in our deeper selves. This journey is a part of the path to dissolving the delusion of separateness.

He says thus we see ‘right action’ not as a mere judgment, but ‘as a moral direction which has a deep universal structure’.

Thus the emerging links between Buddhist ethics and moral psychology is an important dimension of the interface between Buddhism and the cognitive sciences. Chapter 5 on emotions examines in detail the impact of the cognitive sciences on emotion studies, which maintains that understanding emotions illuminates the understanding of ‘intelligent systems’.

The most recent developments that have led to the emergence of moral psychology have been presented by John M. Doris:

Starting in late 1960s, the increasing influence of philosophical naturalism and cognitive science, particularly in epistemology and philosophy of mind, set the stage for an interdisciplinary study of morality in philosophy, while in psychology,...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Part I: Introducing Buddhist Psychology
• Part II: Pathways of Mindfulness-Based Counselling
• Guidelines for Readers
• Further Reading
• Notes
• References
• Index