The Resonance of Emptiness

Author: Gay Watson
Publisher: Motilal Banarsidass
Year: 2001
Language: English
Pages: 317
ISBN/UPC (if available): 8120818083

Description

This book will be of great interest to those concerned with the translation of Buddhism into contemporary life and also to students of psychotherapy and its expansion, particularly into spiritual and transpersonal dimensions.

This book presents an exploration of Buddhist philosophy and practice as a potential resource for an approach to psychotherapy which is responsive to the needs of its time and context, and attempts to open up a three-way dialogue between Buddhism, psychotherapy and contemporary discourse to reveal a meaningful theory and practice for a contemporary psychotherapy.

What is unique about this book is that it raises the question of what it is in Buddhism itself that provides such a rich resource for psychotherapy. Gay watson firmly places her exploration of these themes within the context of contemporary life and thought, as a response to the pathologies, physical and intellectual, of our time.

Organized according to the traditional Tibetan plan of Ground, path and fruition, the book first presents a brief survey of Western psychotherapies followed by an introduction to Buddhist view, with particular reference to those most relevant to psychotherapy. Path considers the two major branches of the Buddhist way, ethics and meditation, in the context of contemporary life and psychotherapy. Fruition compares the goal of Buddhism and Psychotherapy and subsequently explores the implications of adopting Buddhist influence in the light of contemporary discourse and the experienced domains of body, speech and mind. Finally, the lineaments of a contemporary Buddhist-inspired psychotherapy are suggested.

The book will be of great interest to those concerned with the translation of Buddhism into contemporary life and also to students of psychotherapy and its expansion, particularly into spiritual and transpersonal dimensions.

Contents

Acknowledgements

CHAPTER ONE : INTRODUCTION
Buddhism and Psychotherapy
Buddhism and the Contemporary Horizon
Buddhism as an Inspiration for a Contemporary Psychotherapy
Contentions and Intentions

PART ONE
GROUND : Theoretical Consideration
PREAMBLE : Experience and Meaning

CHAPTER TWO : WESTERN PSYCHOTHERAPIES
Psychoanalysis
Congnitive-Behavioural Psychotherapy
Existential and Humanistic Psychotherapies
Transpersonal Psychotherapy
The Integrative Perspective

CHAPTER THREE : THE BUDDHIST VIEW
The Four Noble Truths and Dependent Origination Emptiness
Western Interpretations of Emptiness
Emptiness as a Way
Buddhist Epistemology and Psychology
Buddha Nature

CHAPTER FOUR : THE "CONCIOUSNESS THE VIEWS" : SOME IDEA OF THE SELF
The Buddhist view of the self
Some Western Views on the Development of Consciousness
Views of the self in Contemporary Discourse
The Self in Psychotherapy
Conclusion

PART TWO : PATH
PREAMBLE : Path
Buddhist Ethics
Ethics and Psychotherapy
Some Contemporary Western Views of Ethics
Conclusions

CHAPTER SIX : Meditation
Buddhist Meditation
Lessons for Psychotherapy : The Therapist's Perspective
Meditation and the Client
Meditation in the Therapeutic Encounter
Conclusions

PART THREE
FRUITION : Goals and Implications
CHAPTER SEVEN : GOAL
The Buddhist Goal
Goals in Psychotherapy
Contrasts

CHAPTER EIGHT : IMPLICATIONS

EMBODIMENT
Embodiment in Buddhism
Body in Contemporary Western Thought
Conclusion

SPEECH
Speech in Buddhism
Contemporary Ideas of Speech in the West
Imagination and Metaphor
The Feminine Voice
Conclusion

MIND
Interrelationship
Non-Egocentrism
Answer to Nihilism

PART FOUR : Conclusions
CHAPTER NINE : TOWARDS AN EMPTY FULLNESS

Notes
Bibliography
Index