the self in western and eastern thoughts summary

Both philosophies center on virtues. Western perspectives about self are inherently dualistic. The following exercise makes the same point experientially. 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. Western philosophy deals with Individualism while Eastern Philosophy is related to Collectivism. People constantly act, behave, and live out their lives as if reifications were actually real, separate entities, rather than the delusory constructions of the mind. It is important to realize what is meant by the “self” rejected by the Buddha as illusory. 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. The teaching of “dependent origination” is at the core of the Buddha’s teaching or Dharma. 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. Now consider your self, your ego. The east takes time and has patience. Garden City, NY: Doubleday. Is it real? A fist. When crossing the street, it is not enough to contemplate an approaching car and to realize that we are one with it. The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 24, 151-180. 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. New York: Knopf. The Buddha conceived of the universe as composed of an infinite number of Dharmas, which are described as “point-instants” having infinitesimal extension and only momentary duration, somewhat analogous to the particle-waves of quantum physics (Soeng, 1991). . One could try the following mental exercise. New York: Bantam. (1927). (Kornfield & Breiter, 1985, p. 174). The different conceptions of the self in Western and Eastern psychology have clear implications for psychotherapy and everyday life. What would remain of it if you removed form, feelings, perceptions, impulses, and consciousness? 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. In its simplest expression, dependent origination is a law of causality that says “this is, because that is; this is not, because that is not; when this arises, that arises; when this ceases, that ceases.” Despite the apparent simplicity of this formulation, it is a farreaching principle, that leaves nothing untouched, and, in fact, causally connects everything in the universe, for it implies that all phenomena, whether they be external objective events or internal subjective experiences, come into existence depending on causes and conditions without which they could not be. In B. Engler, Personality theories: An introduction (5th ed., pp. Zen keys. Culture may play a critical role in this process. In the same way, all human problems and suffering disappear when the illusion of a separate self is eliminated. He was a founder of the school known as the Vijnanavada (“path of knowledge”) or Yogacara (“application of yoga”), and the author of one of the most important books of Buddhist psychology, the, According to Vasubandhu, all that can be experienced to exist is “mind only,” or the mental processes of knowing. The practice and theory of individual psychology. 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). New York: Pantheon. Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology, 9(2), 27-36. “Conceptual self” (Neisser, 1997), “Relational Self” (Jordan, 1991), “Public and private selves” (Morin, 1998) have just been a few amongst the many terms offered in the explanation of the ways people perceive themselves and their world. Certainly. The Buddha conceived of the universe as composed of an infinite number of, The following exercise makes the same point experientially. (1942). Rogers, C. (1951). This means that nothing is ever truly independent or separate from everything else. A comparison of culture and philosophy between Eastern and Western societies. Eastern psychologies maintain that, as a result of social and self-conditioning, our ambitions, beliefs, desires, expectations, preconceptions, and views of the nature of reality are illusory. The skandhas are form, feelings, perceptions, impulses, and consciousness. Is it real? Allport, G. (1961). Now open your fingers. Just as an automobile is a temporary collection of car parts, a person is a temporary arrangement of these five aggregates or skandhas. New York: Houghton Mifflin. We in the West are quite concerned these days with how to make the dharma authentically Western. Client-centered therapy: Its current practice, implications and theory. 23, pp. There is no end to this causal interconnectedness. process. Richard C. Page: is an associate professor in the Department of Counseling and Human Development Services at the University of Georgia, Athens. Does it have an essence or a “soul” when separated from its component parts? Allowing oneself to indulge in anger or hatred waters the corresponding seeds, so that it becomes easier to grow angry and to experience hate. (1998). Certainly. New York: Harper & Row. 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. THE SELF IN WESTERN. . Each of these jewels reflects the whole net, so that the entire universe is contained in each part of it (Loy, 1993). They are the consciousnesses of seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching. Buddhist training consists largely of short-circuiting the reification process, by using non-verbal, non labeling experiential practice (such as meditation) to become “awakened” to the “as-it-is-ness” of inexpressible reality. Ancient Eastern Philosophy On the Ancient Wisdom of Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism & Confucianism. Neurosis and human growth. Everything is dependently arisen, everything exists only if the necessary conditions are there. This is the Buddha’s concept of anatta, and this is why the Buddha declared the self an illusion. Just as an automobile is a temporary collection of car parts, a person is a temporary arrangement of these five aggregates or skandhas. 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. The notion of self in Confucian thought is very similar to what Ames expresses in above quote, and to the understanding of self in our examples of the Maori. Oh the mixed up world of the new religion that is science. 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. Take the form of one’s body, for example. It certainly seems to be. What is needed is appropriate action in the relative world, while maintaining awareness of the big picture. The alayavijnana is a vast unconscious realm, which is often compared to a stream, constantly flowing and renewing itself. ), The standard edition of the complete psychological works of Sigmund Freud (Vol. 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. Gordon Allport (1961) made an interesting distinction between the self-as-object and the self-as-knower, asserting that the former could be approached with the descriptive tools of psychology while the latter was to remain a subject for philosophical speculation, outside of the realm of science. 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. Western heritage: The western tradition is commonly acknowledged to be “imbued with a style of 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. The delusion of separateness results in cravings, grasping, clinging, greed, selfishness, hatred, fear, feelings of alienation, loneliness, helplessness, and anxiety, which afflict those “healthy” as well as “unhealthy.”. Helper Pointers to I AM Awakening, etc by Angelo Gerangelo. Epstein, M. (1995). Removing one of the tires of the car, one could ask oneself, is this the car? According to Walpola Rahula (1974), “Buddhism stands unique in the history of human thought in denying the existence of a [separate] soul, self, or atman. Is it real? If the component conditions are regarded as elements, we can say that this piece of paper is composed of non-paper elements, or, in other words, that conditions other than the paper itself are necessary for the paper to exist. . It is the source of all the troubles in the world, from personal conflicts to wars between nations. The heart of man. Glad you’re reading this book, I found it very helpful. Karen Horney (1950) distinguished between the “real self” and the “idealized self,” the former being regarded as a unique central inner force common to all people and the latter as a fantasy resulting from social pressures and expectations. E-Mail: mosigy @ unk.edu, http: //www.chinabuddhismencyclopedia.com/en/index.php? title=Conceptions_of_the_Self_in_Western_and_Eastern_Psychology & oldid=147072: //www.chinabuddhismencyclopedia.com/en/index.php? title=Conceptions_of_the_Self_in_Western_and_Eastern_Psychology & oldid=147072 Breiter... 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