Buddhist Practice on Western Ground (eBook)

Introduction Inthe past fifty years, a significant number of Westerners have adopted Buddhistpractice as a spiritual path. We have learned much from contact with inspiringAsian Buddhist teachers about opening our hearts to others, easing our pain,and getting in touch with our most fundamental nature. Yet there is a dark sideto the transplantation of this ancient spiritual tradition to American soil.Buddhist philosophy and meditation practice offer many tools for profoundspiritual development, but they do not address all the psychological concernsof Westerners. Without more culturally appropriate interventions such aspsychotherapy, even some advanced meditators continue to suffer from anxiety,depression, isolating narcissism, or numbed disengagement. Inthe 1970s, when meditation was first taught widely, there was much hope for itstherapeutic potential. New evidence showed that meditation contributedpositively to reducing the physical correlates of stress such as high bloodpressure. In our initial enthusiasm, many of us hoped that traditionalmeditation would help prevent the emotional turmoil that occurs in ourrelationships and work lives. When it did not, we often blamed ourselves first,assuming there was something wrong with the way we were practicing. Butgradually we also came to ask, Were our expectations of traditional practiceout of line with what it could actually deliver? Was something missing from thepractices we were doing? Asa therapist and a teacher of meditation, I have seen these scenarios play outrepeatedly over the years. Some meditators, overwhelmed by psychologicalproblems, dropped their Buddhist practice altogether, seeing it as irrelevant.Others remained committed to practice and grappled with their problems withoutseeking professional assistance, sometimes struggling with repeateddisappointments in relationships and career, believing that they needed to''practice harder.'' Still others, like me, sought professional help whilecontinuing their involvement in traditional practice. Buta new series of issues arose for Western Buddhists who entered psychotherapy.Buddhist teachers counsel us to abandon anger, develop patience, give upattachment, and understand the absence of self, this is taught in a context ofdisciplined communal practice—,the sangha. Therapists, conversely, encouragethose who are emotionally shut down to experience feelings of anger, and theyfacilitate the quest for relationship and intimacy, this is done in a contextthat supports self-assertion and individuality. How are we to follow bothapproaches? How can we productively understand these inconsistencies? Can theybe reconciled? Answershave not come easily or quickly. Resources for considering these questions indepth were initially lacking. During the last decades of the twentieth century,not much attention was paid to the substantial differences in culture andpsychology between traditional Buddhism and modern Western culture. Many of usinitially wanted to ignore such issues, preferring what I would now call theculturally innocent position, that the ''superficial'' differences representedby culture do not matter. Indeed, such discrepancies and their import often donot become clear right away. However, over time they can affect ourrelationships with teachers, the tradition, and our practice itself. On theother hand, the sensitive exploration of these contrasts can bring to light theunique and valuable contributions that we can cull from both Asian and Westerncultures. Such investigation can clarify in a respectful way the manner inwhich teachings and teachers may not address our particular emotional...