buddhism meditation and mo

7/31/2019 Buddhism Meditation and Mo

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Buddhism, Meditation andModern Psychotherapy

Start Session 1

Dr. Parker [email protected] 392 4444
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


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APA FormatAll references are: single spaced with a single space between references and arelisted alphabeticallyFor standard books and journal articles:

Author last name first (Year of publication) Title of book or article (small caps after capitalizing the first word) Italicize:

Book titleJournal titleJournal volume and edition numbersTitle of a web page

One indent for every line in the reference after the first line Page numbers plainly given for journal articles Examples: Beck, Richard (1998). Cognitive-behavioral therapy in the treatment of anger: a

meta-analysis. Cognitive Therapy & Research , 22(1) , 63-74. Batchelor, S.R. (1997). Buddhism without beliefs: a contemporary guide to

awakening . New York: Riverhead.


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APA Format

For anthologies: Chapter author last name first Year of publication Title of chapter (small caps after the first word) Editor s name first name first with (Ed.) ending Italicize:

Book title Page numbers of the chapter in (pp. xx-xxx) format One indent for every line in the reference after the first line Example: Annas, Julia (1987). Aristotle s metaphysics. In J.L. Ackrill

(Ed.) A new aristotle reader (pp. 127-178). Princeton:Princeton University Press.


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Psychotherapy and Religion

What is the purpose of psychotherapy? Freud and tolerating the intolerable

What is the purpose of religion?


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The BuddhaSiddhartha GautamaBorn to royalty

Trained as a warrior and athletePlowing festival compassion, natural Samadhi and first jhana(meditative absorption)Marriage at sixteen and then fatherhood in his late twentiesLife of hedonismVenturing outside the palaceThe four sights: aging, sickness, death and a sadhuAt twenty-nine he renounces his lay life of luxury and takes a vow toend the suffering of all sentient beings (Bodhisattva)Asceticism and extremismThe middle way

Complete enlightenment (union of wisdom and compassion) atthirty-five


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The Buddha (cont)

First turning of the wheel of Dharma

The development of the SanghaThe Three JewelsBuddha, his Aunt, ordination and feminism

Buddha teaches for forty-five years and dies atthe age of eighty


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The Buddha (cont):

Four Noble Truths: The Truth of the Existence of Suffering

Three TypesUniversal Suffering

The Truth of the Cause of SufferingThree Poisons

The Truth of the Cessation of SufferingThe end of suffering is a possibility The Path to the Cessation of Suffering

Noble eight fold path


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1st

Noble Truth The Truth of Suffering:

Three Basic Types of Suffering:

Gross sufferingMy head aches!My feelings are hurt!I ve been shot!

The suffering of changeEating, drinking, sex pleasure becomes pain

What we want we chase, once caught we cease towant it and quickly become dissatisfiedThe myth of desire (You are my everything)

Pervasive sufferingHaving a mind under the influence of ignorance,attachment and angerHaving a human bodyHaving a human life


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1st

Noble Truth (cont): The Truth of Suffering:

Eight forms of universal suffering: Birth Aging Sickness Death Being met with unfortunate circumstances beyond our

control Being separated from people, places, and things that we

desire Impermanence Karma


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2nd Noble Truth

The Truth of the Causeof Suffering:

The Three Poisons: Ignorance Attachment Anger


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Poison 1: Ignorance of Self

Western Perspective: Eternalism

Aristotle / Descartes / Newton:I is eternal / permanent I is independent I is inherent God (the creator) existsThe soul


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Western Perspective: Descartes: Cognito ergo sum Freud: Where the id was, there the ego shall be Strong ego is affirmed as necessary for success in work, love and

play The ego is strengthened in therapy and low self-esteem is

corrected Fixed, continuous duality of observer and object From the Buddhist perspective, western psychotherapy often

seeks to reinforce and deepen the fundamental illusion of self(which is the root cause of our suffering as human beings). It istantamount to treating a wound by rubbing dirt and filth into it

Question: Do physicians heal the body? Do psychologists heal thepsyche?



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Eastern Perspective:

Hinduism:I is impermanent I is interdependent I is inherent God (the creator) existsThe soul or permanent self (atman)


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Hinduism:Realization that self is a worldly constructAttempts to actualize (through spiritual practice) thetrue or real self Union of true self and God (Brahma)


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Buddhism:I is impermanent I is interdependent I is not inherent No God (the creator)No soul / no self (anatman or annata)


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Poison 1: Ignorance of SelfEastern Perspective: Buddhism:

The self (or ego) is a fundamental misapprehension that should bedeconstructed on the most subtle and profound levelsSelf (or ego) is formed as one attempts to avoid the experience ofsuffering and craves and grasps at the experience of pleasureSelf (or ego) should be deconstructed to reveal the truth of no self(anatman or anatta), compassion and emptinessThrough Shamatha and Vipassana the illusion of self (or ego) begins

to dissipate as the meditator realizes the interconnectedness andimpermanence of many life experiences and mental phenomena

Meditative Exercise (Impermanence of self)


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Poison 2 and 3: Attachment and Anger

Ignorance, attachment and anger In Buddhist psychology the trio of

misapprehension/ignorance, attachment/craving andanger/hatred are linked in a causal chain. Anger ultimately arises from attachment to the people,

places, and things of our lives. Attachment is asuperimposition of exaggerated good (or bad) qualities ontopeople, places and things that do not inherently possesssuch qualities (Dalai Lama, 1997; Chodron, 2001a;Chodron, 2001b):

New carNew jobNew mate, etc


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Buddhism: Three Poisons

The joy and satisfaction of attachment aretransitory and are impossible to sustainFreud s Pleasure Principle Inevitably stemming from attachment topleasurable stimuli, then, is a sense of

dissatisfaction and frustration:New car is relabeled old car New job is relabeled the grind New mate is relabeled the ball and chain


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Buddhist Understanding of Anger (cont): Existential frustration then becomes the fertile ground for

the cultivation of anger (Dalai Lama, 1997).Old car gets a flat and is relabeled piece of crap. Perhaps wecurse at and kick the car.The grind is forced to freeze raises in our salary and isrelabeled a prison. Perhaps we feel entitled and justified incommitting a hostile act like stealing office supplies.The ball and chain is irritable one day and is relabeled thebitch or the inconsiderate asshole. Perhaps a heated anddestructive argument later takes place. Perhaps this argument(and several more like it) is then used to justify an infidelity.


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Buddhist Understanding of Attachment:

+

-

Attachment and Emotional Experience

Time

E m o

t i o n a

l E x p e r i e n c e

Dissatisfaction

Satisfaction

-

+


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2nd Noble Truth (cont): The three poisons lead to negative KarmaKarma: the idea that all actions of body, speech and mind havespiritual consequences they leave imprints Old Testament: to lust in one s heart for another man s wife isto have committed adulteryKarma is the ultimate spiritual responsibilityCauses and conditionsKarma can be manifested or purified

ReincarnationNo God / no judgmentNo permanent hellNo savior


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3rd

Noble Truth

The Buddha proved that the cessation of existentialsuffering (gross, change and pervasive) is apossibilityThe Buddha taught that this is a possibility for allsentient beingsWe must extinguish the three poisons from our mindstreams and then our negative karma must bemanifested or purifiedHow do we do all this????


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4th Noble Truth

The eight fold path to the cessation of suffering: Right view Right intention Right speech Right action Right livelihood

Right effort Right mindfulness Right concentration


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4th Noble Truth

The eight fold path to the cessation ofsuffering: Two paths for the development of wisdom:

Right view (to become deeply and profoundly aware ofthe four noble truths; interdependence and emptiness)Right intention (to become deeply committed to anethical life such that every action of body, speech andmind is motivated by insight, kindness and compassion)


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4th Noble Truth

The eight fold path to the cessation of suffering: Three paths for the development of ethics:

Right speech (abstain from: false speech, slanderousspeech, malicious speech, harsh speech and idle chatter).Right action (abstain from killing, lying, stealing, sexualmisconduct and intoxicants)Right livelihood (any occupation that violates right speechand right action should be avoided, i.e., weapons and slavedealing, prostitution, butchery, etc)


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4th Noble TruthThe eight fold path to the cessation of suffering: Three paths for mental development:

Right effort (this is mental energy to be aggressive and angrytakes effort and similarly to be compassionate and kind takes effort)Right mindfulness (here the mind is anchored in clear perceptionswithout being carried away by dualistic concepts like judgment andopinion e.g., the table)

Right concentration (this is a single point of focus, the ability tofocus the mind in its entirety on a single object of meditation andthereby create and sustain penetrative insight and realization; thispath is specifically associated with the practice of meditation)


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Emptiness Emptiness is THE foundational Buddhist psychological concept:

All things exist interdependently (not independently)

All things exist in a context (not as stand alone objects)All things exist temporarily (not permanently or eternally)

Ex. The train and the tea Ex. A coffee table

Three Nature Theory:

ImputedDependentConsummate

The first two actually construct reality. Ex. Halle Berry The last is the empty nature of all phenomena and objects

All things exist as a result of what we have thought -Buddha


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Emptiness of Self...meditation on emptiness begins with gaining a sense of theinherent existence of which phenomena are empty, for withoutunderstanding what is negated, you cannot understand its absence,emptiness...Through carefully watching how you conceive your self,or I, to be inherently established, you will determine that the Iappears to be self-instituting without depending on the collection ofthe mental and physical aggregates, which are its basis ofdesignation, or without depending on any of them individually, even

though the I appears with those aggregates. Proper identification of this appearance is the first essential toward realizing selflessness--ascertaining the object of negation.

--from Yoga Tantra: Paths to Magical Feats by H.H. the DalaiLama


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Emptiness of SelfThe self postulated by the extremists, When you thoroughlyanalyze it with reasoning, Within all the aggregates [of body

and mind], Nowhere can you find a locus for this. Nagarjuna (2 nd Century), A Commentary on the AwakeningMind

No known neural correlates for self No known neural correlates for consciousness

Underlying all mental affliction is our belief in our identity our permanent, eternal, independent selfhood. To releaseour grasp on this belief is to move towards mental health,peace and happiness.Complete enlightenment is the union of method

(compassion) and wisdom (emptiness)


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EthicsWhy are ethics necessary for mankindWhat is the relationship between civilization andethics?What is the primary ethic of both medicine andpsychology?Why are ethics necessary for psychotherapy?What is the relationship between successfulpsychotherapy and solid professional ethics?


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EthicsReligious Ethics: Judeo-Christian Tradition:

Seven Deadly Sins: Envy Gluttony Greed Lust

Pride Sloth Wrath


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EthicsReligious Ethics:

Christian Tradition:Sermon on the mount

Eye for an eye leads to turn the other cheek Righteous injury leads to love your enemy Absolute generosity is proclaimed (give to all who ask and give more than they

asked for)In later teachings Christ equates the internal experience (thoughts, feelings, fantasies,etc) of killing and lust to the actual physical acts of murder and adulteryIn essence, Christ encourages mankind to work with the seven deadly sins.Christ directs mankind to psychologically and spiritually recognize our own mentalhabits and to produce change from the inside out, for how else will one become ableto love an enemy?It is no longer enough to be angry but not sin (old testament), now man must begin totrain his own mind and heart; he must begin to reshape his basic relationship with sin.

How one works with sin, though, is left rather vague (faith, prayer, etc)


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Ethics

Religious Ethics: Buddhism:

Five Poisons: Envy Pride Wrath

Attachment Ignorance


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EthicsReligious Ethics: Common Ground Now the teaching of Christ and Buddha have overlap. From Robert

Thurman s book Anger (2005):Once you realize the absolute loss pertaining to killing or even angrilythinking to do it, you reverse your worldly values. You realize thattolerance, meekness, and gentleness are a supreme evolutionaryadvantage, breaking the vicious cycle of mutual domination,developing a virtuous cycle of increasing vulnerability and toleranceYou begin to live more and more in the Kingdom of God, the domainof absolute strength, imperturbability, where nothing can harm youbecause of your ultimate flexibility beyond life and death, bliss beyond

pain and pleasure. This is the domain wherein you can love not onlyyour friends but also your enemies, wanting them all to be as happy asyou, at the extreme end of the virtuous circle of mutual surrenderbeyond not only the hells of fire but also the temporary heavens ofsuperficial pleasure, in the supreme bliss of freedom beyond alldualities such as self and other. (pg. 39)


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EthicsBuddhism s Ten Destructive Behaviors: 1. Taking life

2. Taking what has not been given3. Inappropriate sexual activity4. Lying5. Speaking divisively6. Using harsh language

7. Speaking idle words8. Thinking covetous thought9. Thinking thoughts of malice

10. Distorted, antagonistic thinking

Body

Speech

Mind


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Ethics

Religious Ethics: All Major World ReligionsAgree: Killing Stealing Lying

Sexual misconduct Intoxicants


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Ethics

The Eight Mundane Concerns: Most humans spend their lives chasing the left

and avoiding the right:

Praise / BlameGain / LossApproval / DisapprovalPleasurable stimuli / Unpleasant stimuli


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The Six Realms of ExistenceThe Hell Realm (sociopaths, AIDS babies)The Hungry Ghost Realm (alcoholics, junkies,anorexics)The Animal Realm (Psychopaths, gang bangers)The Human Realm

The Demi-God Realm (B-List celebrities, wealthyhedonists, millionaires)The God Realm (A List celebrities, billionaires)


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MindfulnessSamadhi is also termed as a single point of focusbut is generalized within Buddhism and HinduismShamatha is called mindfulness, calm abiding, andsingle point of focusThe relationship of attention and insight bothmeditatively and psychotherapeuticallyShamatha is spoken of as the foundation formeditative realizations in the Pali Cannon , the Lam Rim and the Bodhicharyavattara


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MindfulnessShamatha (also known as calm abiding and single

point of focus)Settling the Body in its natural state

Object of meditation: Tactile sensations of the body

Settling the Speech in its natural state Object of meditation: Abdominal sensations of respiration Object of meditation: Sensations of respiration at the

apertures of the nostrils

Settling the Mind in its natural state Object of meditation: The space of the mind itself


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MindfulnessShamatha:

Settling the Body in Its Natural StateSession time find a balance

Correct postureLaxity and ExcitationThree deep breathsMind / Body relaxationBegin with body scan identify tension and create relaxationBring your awareness (consciousness / attention) to the tactilesensations of the body as a whole

Become disinterested in sight, auditory, taste, smell and mind stimuli(mental phenomena) select the tactile sensations of the body as awhole onlyAllow your breathing to settle into its natural rhythmWhen you become distracted or lost in thought, recognize yourdistraction (observe it)Bring your mind back to the object of meditation

Goat herder and his flock25% attention to my voice / 75% attention to the object of meditation

Start Session 2


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What Is Mind?

Traditional Greek Senses:Sight, Sound, Taste, Touch and Smell

Traditional Buddhist Senses:Sight, Sound, Taste, Touch, Smell and MINDWhat is Mind? Mind, in a gross yet practicalsense, is that which experiences mentalphenomenaWhat would be left if you were suspended in asensory deprivation tank? That is mind.

Start Session 2


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What Is Mind?

Greek and European Philosophical Understandingsof Emotion:

Socrates

Plato v. AristotleAristotle and Logic explaining ambivalenceAristotle and angerSenecaEarly Christian church and emotion as the Beast Within

(e.g., 7 deadly sins are all emotions)Descartes and Reason v. EmotionEmotion as irrationality


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What Is Mind?

Greek and European Philosophical Understanding(con t):

The creation of a taboo of subjectivity

Because Aristotelian empiricism (as a mode ofinquiry) is limited in its ability to explore andunderstand first-person phenomena (which isoften also paradoxical by nature) many

scientists mistakenly conclude that thesephenomena simply can not be understood at all(Batchelor, 1997; Wallace, 2000; Wallace, 2003;Ekman et al, 2005).


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What Is Mind?Greek and European Philosophical Understanding (con t):

Scientific materialism: the tendency to reify science as the onlyvalid mode of inquiry for obtaining information about reality.Exemplifying Scientific Materialism, Alfred Ayer in his 1936

treatise Language, Truth and Logic :We conclude, therefore, that the argument from religiousexperience is altogether fallacious. The fact that people havereligious experiences is interesting from the psychologicalpoint of view, but it does not in any way imply that there issuch a thing as religious knowledge, any more than ourhaving moral experiences implies that there is such a thingas moral knowledge. The theist, like the moralist, maybelieve that his experiences are cognitive experiences, but,unless he can formulate his "knowledge" in propositions thatare empirically verifiable, we may be sure that he isdeceiving himself.


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What Is Mind?Greek and European Philosophical Understanding (con t):

It follows that these philosophers who fill their books withassertions that they intuitively "know" this or that moral orreligious "truth" are merely providing material for the psycho-analyst. For no act of intuition can be said to reveal a truth about

any matter of fact unless it issues in verifiable propositions. Andall such propositions are to be incorporated in the system ofempirical propositions which constitutes science. (pp119-120).

In one page Ayer dismisses 5,000 years of spiritual,philosophical and religious insight.This attitude set the stage for psychology (as a fledgling field) todismiss introspection as a valid mode of inquiry and to embracescientific materialism at first in the form of behaviorism and nowin the form of empiricism


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What Is Emotion?Greek and European Philosophical Understanding (cont):

The death of introspection around the turn of the 20 th centuryJames and Freud v. SkinnerAs Plutchik (2000) states in Emotions in the Practice of Psychotherapy :

Behaviorists held the view that the only truly reliable objectiveinformation obtainable about living creatures was informationabout their behavior (and preferably simple behavior). This attitudelead to a preoccupation with conditioned responses; emotions, onthe other hand, were considered to be inner states that could not bereliably observed and were therefore outside the realm of scientificpsychology. (p 40)


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What Is Emotion?

Greek and European Philosophical Understanding(cont):

Aristotelian Logic: the laws of identity, contradiction

and excluded middleA is A (identity), that A is not non-A(contradiction) and that A is not A and non-A(excluded middle)

Obviously this logic can not apply to many mentalphenomena (thought, emotion, judgment, opinion,memory, fantasy, impulse)


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Blind Spot in Scientific Materialism

No definition of consciousnessNo objective, 3 rd person means of detecting andmeasuring consciousness

No identified neural correlates for consciousnessNo identified causes (both necessary and sufficient)for consciousnessNo understanding of the relationship betweenconsciousness and mental phenomena

No understanding of how the brain creates andmanipulates mental phenomenaWilliam James and Wilhelm Wundt tried to remedythis over a century ago


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What Is Mind?Modern Psychological Understanding:

Is it possible to understand mental phenomena from theinside out? The contemplative traditions of the world saythat it is possibleThe modern, scientific endeavor is to understand mentalphenomena from the outside in (PET, CAT, MRI. Etc)Modern science / empiricism is not qualified to define, explainor predict mental phenomena

If three core tenets of any science are systematization,quantification and reproducibility then on some levelcould meditation (the methods of working with mentalphenomena) be considered a valid science of the mind?


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What Is Emotion?Five Core Psychological Perspectives:

The evolutionary tradition: Charles DarwinThe Psycho-physiological tradition: William

James and the behavior/body before mindargument.The Neurological tradition: Cannon s shamrage in the hypothalamus of cats.

The Psychodynamic tradition: id, repressionand subconscious.The Cognitive tradition: emotions and ourreactions to them become habituated


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What Is Emotion?Evolutionary Psychology:

The evolutionary tradition: The ability of an animal to use expressivebehavior to communicate information (danger, safety, etc) greatly addsto the survivability of that animal and is therefore adaptive (Darwin,1872/1965) .In a unique and forward looking leap, Darwin recognized that the

process of evolution applies not only to an animal s genetic andphysiological structures but also to the animal s emotional andbehavioral expressions (Darwin, 1872/1965).

The ability of an animal to use expressive behavior to communicateinformation (danger, safety, etc) greatly adds to the survivability of thatanimal and is therefore adaptive.Darwin felt similarly about emotional expression and furthermoreconcluded that most emotional expression is innate and thereforeunlearned (Darwin, 1872/1965).

Darwin s work expanded the study of emotion from the study of subjective feelings to the study of behavior within a biological,evolutionary context. It became scientifically legitimate to ask thequestion, In what way does a particular emotion or behavior patternfunction in aiding survival?


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What Is Emotion?The Psycho-physiological Tradition :

The psychophysiological tradition is most identified with the work ofthe Harvard psychologist-philosopher William James.Twelve years after Darwin published his work on emotion, James(1884) published an article that founded a second theory of emotion,one primarily concerned with the sequence of events in emotional

experience.James asked the question: which comes first, emotion or behavior? Inessence, does the fact that we run away from a predator cause theemotional experience of fear or does the emotional experience of fearcause the behavior of running away from the predator?James himself came down firmly on the side of behavior beforeemotion. As James (1890) stated, common sense says we lose our

fortune, are sorry and weep; [My] hypothesis is that we feel sorrybecause we cry, angry because we strike, afraid because we tremble.(p. 1066). In an attempt to prove or disprove James hypothesis, atremendous amount of research has been conducted over the lastcentury. While inconclusive about James hypothesis, this research,has produced significant advances in our understanding of autonomicphysiology, arousal, lie detection and other areas (Plutchik, 2000).


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What Is Emotion?The Neurological Tradition :

Walter Cannon, another Harvard professor, conducted medicalresearch on domestic cats and discovered that thehypothalamus was the neurological seat of emotion

A few years after James death, Cannon (1929) removedcertain parts of the brain in cats and discovered that he couldcreate a sham rage that would last between two and threehours.In essence, Cannon discovered that there are neural correlatesfor emotion.

Based on these results, Cannon directly challenged Jamesstrict hypothesis of behavior before emotion.His work also inspired related research that set the basis foradvanced neurological research along with thepsychopharmacological treatment of mental disorders (Plutchik,2000).


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What Is Emotion?The Psychodynamic Tradition :

Working on the condition called hysteria, Freud and Breuer(1895/1936) published Studies on Hysteria , which described a newtheory about the genesis of psychiatric illness.Within this larger topic, the book also set the stage for a new theory ofemotion (Plutchik, 2000).

Although Freud initially utilized hypnosis as a treatment method helater developed free association as the primary means by whichpatients would make conscious repressed memories and emotions.The point of therapy was thereby transformed from abreaction to aprocess where unconscious motivations were brought into consciousawareness and replaced with volitional judgments (very Buddhist ).Over the course of decades Freud developed a complex theory ofneuroses that had within it (as an implicit part) a theory of emotion.This implicit theory proposed an extremely complex interaction ofdrives, developmental stages, conflicts and personality developments.Even today, an agreed upon theory of emotion does not exist in thevarious branches of psychoanalysis.


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What Is Emotion?Cognitive Psychology:

The cognitive tradition: The work of Fritz Heider (1958) is the historicalfoundation of the fifth main tradition: cognitive psychology.Cognitive psychology was the first to markedly point out the contextualreality of our emotional worlds.Heider talked of our casual attributions, our sense of what ought to

be, and our personal goals (that we superimpose onto the world) asbeing some of the forces that create our emotions.Heider also connected the dots between thoughts and emotionssaying that our affect often creates thought and then that a thoughtoften creates an affect.In this way Heider saw that the emotional life of man wasfoundationally self- created from one s own perspectives, attitudes,beliefs and perceptions, emotionsOur reactions to these mental phenomena become habituated (i.e., wedevelop emotional habits)


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What Is Anger?As Paul Ekman (2003) said in his book Emotions Revealed : Theword anger covers many different related experiences. There is arange of angry feelings, from slight annoyance to rage. There arenot just differences in the strength of angry feeling, but alsodifferences in the type of anger felt. Indignation is self-righteousanger; sulking is a passive anger; exasperation refers to having

one s patience tried excessively resentment is another member of the anger family of emotions but holding a grudge, a longstanding resentment, is different It is not that you arecontinuously angry, but whenever you think about or see thisperson, anger reemerges Hatred is enduring, intense dislike. Weare not angry continuously towards the hated person, butencountering that person or hearing about him or her may easilyawaken angry feelings. We are likely to feel disgust or contempttowards the hated person It is hard to classify hatred andenduring resentment. They are not emotions, for they last too long.They are not moods for the same reason, and also because weknow why we hate or resent someone while we typically don t knowwhy we are having a mood. (pp. 112 -113).


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Working with Emotion

Western Perspective:In the West, we tend to take an adversarialapproach to our suffering (trying to destroy it,numb it out, deny it or fix it)In the West when we suffer, we think that meanssomething is wrong, almost as if our life shouldnot include sufferingFreud s radical technique: free association

Learning to open, look, and analyze our mentalexperiences


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Western Perspective:Rogerian unconditional positive regard

teaching self compassion as a means of generating compassion forothers

Cognitive psychology and the union of perception and personalrealityBuddhist psychology would agree

Kohut and Self psychologyCreating a better house

Cognitive behavioral therapy as a way to make practical the

salubrious effects of psychotherapyCriticisms of insight and supportive therapy

CBTs limited efficacy with addiction, high risk youths anddomestic violenceCBT and anger management low efficacy


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Buddhist Perspective:Ask ten psychologists what consciousness is and see what happens.Ask ten psychologists what emotion is and see what happens. Ask tenphysicists what gravity is and see what happens.At present, there are over thirty different theories of emotion in thefield of psychologyMedical model and the pathology model and why these do not work well with the goal of understanding and working with mind

Positive PsychologyGood Lives model for sex offenders

In Buddhist psychology suffering is to be expected, recognized,

acknowledged, accepted, learned from and then transformedSakya God myth of Buddhism Is anger a thing to be managed?You will not be punished for your anger, you will be punished by your anger. Shakymuni Buddha


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Working with Emotion (con t):

Buddhist Meditations presented in this class:Shamatha (also known as calm abiding andsingle point of focus)

Settling the Body in its natural stateSettling the Speech in its natural stateSettling the Mind in its natural state

Shamatha without a SignThe Nature of Suffering

Friend, Foe and StrangerTong LenLoving Kindness and interdependence (Metta)


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What Is Meditation?

Meditation is slowing downMeditation is learning to stay

Meditation is becoming educated aboutyour hooks, your limits, and your exit doors.

Shamatha cultivates three things:relaxation of body and mind, mentalstabilization (concentration), and

mental vividness

Wh t A Y Li it d


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What Are Your Limits andHooks?

Helplessness

We tell ourselves stories starring us as thevictim or unsung hero

Getting cut off in traffic(we get hooked by our

anger)

EmotionalOverwhelm

We assign blame and becomefundamental and righteous

Anger and victimhood doesnt feelgood, we are very uncomfortable,

and now we look for an exit door

We come home and our spouse is wrapped

up in her day and is insensitive to ourfeelings (we now reach our limit)


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What Are Your Exits Doors?

Feeling overwhelmedwith: anger, irritation,

frustration, anxiety,

fear, sadness,mourning, depression,grief, shock, etc

Numb Out (drugs,alcohol, food, sex, TV,Xbox, etc)

Anger / Aggression (we yell, condemn and putothers down, quietlyintimidate, threaten,passive-aggressive

manipulation, assault, etc)

Materialism / We Craveand Seek (retail

therapy, buying bigger andbetter things, splurging)

Exit Door #3

Exit Door #2

Exit Door #1


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Mind Training

From the Buddhist perspective onemust simultaneously:

Decrease the grip of the three poisons bymeditating on their essential nature ANDMeditate on the benefits of loving kindnessand compassion thereby naturally increasingtheir presence in your mind

In essence, Buddhist meditation seek toeliminate negative emotions whilesimultaneously replacing them withpositive emotions


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Seven Points of Mind Training

From the Buddhist perspective onemust simultaneously:

Decrease the grip of the three poisons bymeditating on their essential nature ANDMeditate on the benefits of loving kindnessand compassion thereby naturally increasingtheir presence in your mind

In essence, Buddhist meditation seek toeliminate negative emotions whilesimultaneously replacing them with

iti ti

buddhism meditation and mo

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