Eastern perspectives about self are inherently non-dualistic. Implications for psychotherapy and everyday life are discussed. Culture may play a critical role in this process.     Abstract AND EASTERNTHOUGHT LESSON OBJECTIVES. Sigmund Freud (1940) offered a complex model of this inner self in his tripartite analysis of the human personality into id, ego, and superego, which became a distinguishing feature of his psychoanalytic theory. Does it have an essence or a “soul” when separated from its component parts? When crossing the street, it is not enough to contemplate an approaching car and to realize that we are one with it. To some extent Western formulations of the self evidence a homunculus-like quality lacking in some Eastern conceptions, especially those derived from the Vijnanavada and Zen Buddhist traditions. It certainly seems to be. Western philosophy deals with Individualism while Eastern Philosophy is related to Collectivism. Despite their differences an integration of Western and Eastern approaches may be possible or even necessary. It is often suggested that contrasting Eastern vs. Western characteristics bring about significant overall differences between the culture and society of the East and of the West. Buddhism, by contrast, recognized no substance and saw reality not in terms of things but in ), The standard edition of the complete psychological works of Sigmund Freud (Vol. To hurt another becomes to hurt oneself; to help another is to help oneself. Differentiate the concept of self according to Western thought against Eastern/Oriental perspectives; 2. I ask questions about the individual and his or her role in the social construction process, by comparing Eastern and Western ideas about the concept of self. Now all we have is a pile of parts—where is the car? In Western thought, people tend to answer affirmatively and think of the self as an entity separate from others. The theological dimensions of the concept of soul were elaborated by Augustine of Hippo as well as by Thomas Aquinas, from where it passed into the hands of Rene Descartes, and from there, almost unchanged, but referred to as “mind,” into the realm of 19th and 20th century psychology. Culler's analysis and conclusions had a major impact on the development of Sierran humanism. Close your hand into a fist and look at it. A fist. Mosig, Y. Rogers (1951) defined the self as “an organized, fluid, but consistent conceptual pattern of perceptions of characteristics and relationships of the ‘I’ or ‘me,’ together with values attached to these concepts.” However, despite emphasizing a pattern-like notion of the self, his allusions to the “self-structure,” as well as the suggestion that the self can actually revise or modify the structure of the self, retain a homuncular quality, albeit not as sharply drawn as that of his predecessors. For discussions you are welcome to join the. It has no reality separate from the water, and although its form seems to last as it continues to move on the surface of the ocean, it is composed each moment of different water particles. For exaxmple i have learnt that The delusion of the separate self is likely to be stronger in individuals raised in individualistic societies, such as those of Europe and America, and may be weaker in collectivistic societies, such as those of China or Japan, where the harmony (wah) of the group takes precedence over the needs of the individual. no one born, and no one to die. Wisdom and compassion are dependently arisen, they “inter-are.” In the final analysis, wisdom is compassion, and compassion is wisdom (Mosig, 1989). Western approaches may be extremely valuable in giving the person (primarily in individualistic societies, but to some extent also in collectivistic ones) sufficient self-confidence and maturity to discard egocenteredness. Finally comes the vast unconscious alayavijnana, or “storehouse consciousness,” which is the passive or potential ground out of which emerge the other seven consciousnesses. East and West may have numerous differences based on culture. This in turn prepares the individual to transcend the isolation of the separate self through the realization of the universal interconnectedness stressed by Buddhist psychology as the gateway to wisdom and compassion. These “seeds” are “watered” by con scious activities, so that, for example, engaging in kind or compassionate thoughts makes the seeds of compassion ripen and grow (i.e., become more powerful), so that it will be easier to think compassionately next time. The psychological commentaries of the Buddha, collected in the Abhidharma Pitaka, were further elaborated in India by Vasubandhu nine centuries later, providing the basis for the Yogacara or Vijnanavada conceptions of consciousness and the self. I Am as described here is equivalent to kensho. Peace is every step: The path of mindfulness in everyday life. In J. Strachey (Ed. One of the most important ones was Vasubandhu, an oustanding Buddhist scholar living in the 4th century. The Buddhist notions of the self are derived from the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, better known as Shakyamuni Buddha, or simply Buddha (“the one who is awake”), after his experience of enlightenment under the bodhi tree over 2,500 years ago. Berkeley, CA: Parallax Press. This same piece of paper, is also because there was rain and sunshine, for without them the tree could not have grown. He did so by distinguishing between the ego as center of consciousness and the self as the emergent integration of the polarities of the personality. The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 13, 125-136. The same is true of the remaining skandhas—each one is composed of the other four. New York: Pantheon. This is why mindfulness of thoughts is so important, and why the “right effort” aspect of the Eightfold Path deals with cutting off negative or destructive thoughts as soon as they appear, while nurturing positive ones. This is why mindfulness of thoughts is so important, and why the “right effort” aspect of the Eightfold Path deals with cutting off negative or destructive thoughts as soon as they appear, while nurturing positive ones. This paper will compare and contrast these differing views emerging from Western and Eastern psychology, and examine their relevance for psychotherapy and everyday life. But now look again: where are the boundaries of the wave? In this sutra, the universe is likened to an infinite net, stretching out in all directions, in which at every intersection of two strands is found a precious jewel. New York: Houghton Mifflin. Or is it? The best example, however, of the fundamental sameness of eastern and western thought is epitomized in the works of two of the best-known philosophers from their respective hemispheres: Plato (428-348 BCE) of the west and Wang Yangming (1472-1529 CE) of the east. This is the Buddha’s concept of anatta, and this is why the Buddha declared the self an illusion. According to Buddhist psychology, what we call a “person” is the composite of five groups of elements or, The teaching of “dependent origination” is at the core of the Buddha’s teaching or, The interconnectedness, or “interbeing,” of everything in the universe, implied in the principle of dependent origination, finds an elegant expression in the metaphor of the jewel net of Indra, in the Buddha’s “Flower Ornament” sermon (Avatamsaka Sutra). The concept of the Self takes many forms in Western psychology, but invariably involves to some extent a dimension of “thingness,” the reification of a homunculus assumed to reside within the individual, who is the thinker of thoughts, the doer of deeds, and the feeler of feelings. The fuzzier Rogerian self does offer some points of commonality with the Eastern conception of the non-self, as will be clear from the discussion that follows. Vasubandhu understood that every single object differentiated by the mind out of its global and holistic experience is created by this process, including the concept of the individual self, the “I” or “me.” Reifications are little more than delusions, and refer to momentary states remembered from the past experience of the person (whose concept of himself or herself as a separate individual is itself a reification). Alfred Adler (1927) proposed the notion of a “creative self” which interpreted both the innate abilities and the experiential components of the individual, developing a style of life to compensate for perceived inferiorities and achieve a degree of personal competence and superiority under the influence of an innate “social interest” or Gemeinschaftsgefuehl. Loy, D. (1993). Rogers, C. (1951). These differences can be noted mainly in people’s behavior and attitudes. But what about a person? New York: Pantheon. 2 With notable exceptions (e.g. Renaissance thought => the individual was the focus Rene Descartes “I think, therefore I am” as the epitome of the Western idea of self. 23, pp. The integration of the two levels of awareness, the absolute and the relative, is essential for the normal functioning of the healthy human being in society. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Yozan Dirk Mosig, Department of Psychology, University of Nebraska at Kearney, Kearney, Nebraska 68849. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Everything in the universe is connected to this piece of paper through a web of causal conditions. . But for the logger to be, his parents had to be, and the food they consumed, and all the conditions that made their lives possible, and those lives upon which theirs in turn depended, and on, and on. Consider, for example, an automobile. Now open your fingers. A comparison of culture and philosophy between Eastern and Western societies. There is no separate, independent self or soul that would be left if we removed form (which includes the body), feelings, perceptions, impulses, and consciousness. Eastern and Western concepts of the self are diametrically opposite. This false sense of self or ego-individuality defiles the first six consciousnesses and is the source of all sort of psychological problems and delusions. One could try the following mental exercise. Buddhist and Western psychology: Some commonalities and differences. Vijnana, or “consciousness,” the last of the five skandhas, is a multi-layered concept, including both conscious and unconscious aspects. Allport, G. (1961). There is experience, but there is no subject (no atman) having the experience. To hurt another becomes to hurt oneself; to help another is to help oneself. London: Hogarth Press. Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology, 9(2), 27-36. This in turn prepares the individual to transcend the isolation of the separate self through the realization of the universal interconnectedness stressed by Buddhist psychology as the gateway to wisdom and compassion. Heart sutra: Ancient Buddhist wisdom in the light of quantum reality. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Yozan Dirk Mosig, Department of Psychology, University of Nebraska at Kearney, Kearney, Nebraska 68849. . What this means is that they cannot have any existence except in terms of the interconnected net of causal conditions that made their existence possible. According to Horney, the congruence of the “real self” and the “idealized self” is the hallmark of a healthy personality. The concept of the Self takes many forms in Western psychology, but invariably involves to some extent a dimension of “thingness,” the reification of a homunculus assumed to reside within the individual, who is the thinker of thoughts, the doer of deeds, and the feeler of feelings. This develops positive mental habits rooted in the seeds of the alayavijnana, and has far-reaching effects on the life and well-being of the individual. Consider a wave in the ocean. According to Vasubandhu, all that can be experienced to exist is “mind only,” or the mental processes of knowing. We in the West are quite concerned these days with how to make the dharma authentically Western. There are eight consciousnesses, not just one. 141-207). Culture may play a critical role in this process. Erich Fromm (1964) specified unique human needs that must be satisfied in order to achieve self-fulfillment, and argued that no human society had yet been developed that successfully met the needs of the self. (1998). New York: Norton. Cumberland, RI: Primary Point. One could try the following mental exercise. Where does the wave end and the rest of the ocean start? The word “car” is nothing but a label for the gestalt formed by the constituent parts, and although it is true (as realized by Wertheimer and the other Gestaltists) that the whole is more than the sum of the parts (one cannot drive sitting on any of the separate parts, or on a random heap of them, but driving is possible when one puts them together in a certain way), it is equally true that a gestalt cannot continue to exist when separated from its parts. Not only are human beings declared to lack a soul or self, but so is everything else: rivers, mountains, this paper, and your pencil, all lack a separate self. University of Nebraska at Kearney The most important characteristic of the Eastern world view - one could almost say the essence of it - is the awareness of the unity and mutual interrelation of all things and events, the experience of all phenomena in the world as manifestations of a basic oneness. They are the consciousnesses of seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching. We in the West are quite concerned these days with how to make the dharma authentically Western. All things (including human beings) are composites, in other words, they are composed of parts, and have no real existence other than as temporary (impermanent) collections of parts. If we reflect carefully we are left with the realization that there never was a car there—all that was there was a conglomerate of parts temporarily connected in a certain way, so as to result in a particular mode of functioning, and “car” was just a convenient label to designate this working arrangement. ), The standard edition of the complete psychological works of Sigmund Freud (Vol. . Wisdom and compassion: What the Buddha taught. Loy, D. (1992). While understanding universal interconnectedness and absolute reality, the emptiness or nothingness of Buddhism, the person needs at the same time to experience reality in the relative sense, where individual identities exist. In reality, it has no boundaries, the wave and the ocean are one, the wave is the ocean, and the ocean is the wave—the separation was just an illusion created by our perceptions and by the words we use to describe them. If the individual is likened to a wave in the ocean, then the alayavijnana is the unconsciousness (or subconsciousness) of the ocean, providing the continuity of the karmic process. Eastern Self/Western Self By Linda Heuman May 08, 2013. Reification is the process by which the mind makes a thing (res), or a material object, out of a concept or an abstraction. The gestalt, the “whole,” cannot exist by itself; it does not have a separate self or “soul.”. In contrast, the Western civilization is more individualistic, trying to find the meaning of life here and now with self at the center as it is already given and part of the divine. Nevertheless, it is not enough for the healthy, liberated individual to eliminate the delusion of the separate self. & Trans. The fifth skandha includes eight consciousnesses, one of which results in the experience of the ego or self as homunculus, which Buddhist psychology rejects as delusion. The skandhas are form, feelings, perceptions, impulses, and consciousness. Allport, G. (1961). Adler, A. It could be argued that the self needs to be strengthened before it can be abandoned. Abstract. Thoughts without a thinker: Psychotherapy from a Buddhist perspective. It is here where the illusion of a subjective “I” or “ego” arises. Such part, if found, would have represented the essence or the “soul” of the car, and yet it was nowhere to be found. Hahn, N. (1991). Indra’s postmodern net. In J. Strachey (Ed. The concept of the self in Western psychology derives primarily from the work of Freud, Jung, and Rogers. Form is empty of reality when separated from perceptions, feelings, impulses, and consciousness. And what about feelings? Culture may play a critical role in this process. The heart of man. In the words of the Zen Master Sekito Kisen (700-790), a sage has no self, yet there is nothing that is not himself (Mosig, 1998). Not only are human beings declared to lack a soul or self, but so is everything else: rivers, mountains, this paper, and your pencil, all lack a separate self. The teaching of “dependent origination” is at the core of the Buddha’s teaching or Dharma. It certainly seems to be. Zen keys. Just like the term “fist” is a convenient label to designate a particular (and transient) arrangement of the fingers, the term “self” or “I” is nothing but a label for an impermanent arrangement of the, The psychological insights of the Buddha were explicated by a number of commentators after him. What would remain of it, if one removed one’s perception of it, one’s feelings about it, one’s impulses to act on it or with it, and one’s conscious awareness of it? Western perspectives about self are inherently dualistic. The concept of the self in Western psychology derives primarily from the work of Freud, Jung, and Rogers. Nevertheless, it is not enough for the healthy, liberated individual to eliminate the delusion of the separate self. The concept of the self in Western psychology derives primarily from the work of Freud, Jung, and Rogers. . All things (including human beings) are composites, in other words, they are composed of parts, and have no real existence other than as temporary (impermanent) collections of parts. Soeng Mu, S. (1991). The Eastern philosophy is drawn much more into groups or society or people’s actions and thoughts as one in order to find meaning in life as they try to get rid of the false “me” concept and find meaning in discovering the true “me” in relation to everything around them… Start studying LESSON 5: THE SELF IN WESTERN AND EASTERN THOUGHT. Recent attempts to incorporate Western philosophy into Eastern thought include the Kyoto School of philosophers, who combined the phenomenology of Husserl with the insights of Zen Buddhism. Angelo Gerangelo Hi Nick. Jung’s collective unconscious is the closest concept in Western psychology, with the archetypes being somewhat analogous to “seeds,” but the Buddhist concept is vaster and more dynamic, allowing as it does for the “seeding” of the unconscious (Hanh, 1991). It makes me wonder if there is not a Divine reason for all the misery, hate and fear in life that I have yet to discover. Kornfield, J. This is one of the reasons why “ultimate reality” is essentially “ineffable.” As Lao Tze put it, “the tao that can be told is not the real Tao.”. The self-concept is a knowledge representation that contains knowledge about us, including our beliefs about our personality traits, physical characteristics, abilities, values, goals, and roles, as well as the knowledge that we exist as individuals. The same is true for the seed and the fertile soil, and for the logger who cut the tree down, for without them, the tree would not have been there for the paper to be. Garden City, NY: Doubleday. Now all we have is a pile of parts—where is the car? Stated differently, the paper cannot exist by itself; it lacks a separate self, soul, or essence. The wave has no separate “self,” no reality apart from the water. E-mail: mosigy@unk.edu, I'm a little surprised there no comments, this is very, very good material; beautifully and clearly explained. While these aggregates are together, the functioning gestalt we call a person exists; if they are removed, the gestalt ceases to be. What happened to the “real” thing called “fist” that was there a moment ago? One of the most important ones was Vasubandhu, an oustanding Buddhist scholar living in the 4th century. Or is it? According to the teaching of the Buddha, the idea of a [personal] self is an imaginary, false belief which has no corresponding reality, and it produces harmful thoughts of “me” and “mine,” selfish desire, craving, attachment, hatred, ill-will, conceit, pride, egoism, and other defilements, impurities and problems. Focusing on and exploring the similarities, strengths and weakness, and history of both Western and East Asian culture, the book is one of the most iconic works written during the Sierran Cultural Revolution. E-mail: mosigy@unk.edu, http://www.chinabuddhismencyclopedia.com/en/index.php?title=Conceptions_of_the_Self_in_Western_and_Eastern_Psychology&oldid=147072. Horney, K. (1950). Jim: This is and has been my experienced with Self discovery and the What/who am I? It often amazes me that very bad parenting and early childhood damages are rarely ever mentioned by the "spiritual" teachers and Advaitic spokespersons. By the delusion of the tires of the ocean, and other tools. An introduction ( 5th ed., pp based on culture clear implications for psychotherapy and everyday life interdependent., Hinduism, Taoism & Confucianism this piece of paper through a web of causal conditions answer! 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