western vs eastern concept of self

There is experience, but there is no subject (no atman) having the experience. Differentiate the concept of self according to Western thought against Eastern/Oriental perspectives; 2. 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. Thoughts without a thinker: Psychotherapy from a Buddhist perspective. Personally, I am tired of seeing Westerners adopting an Eastern stance for Personal Growth and Connecting with Spirit. While these aggregates are together, the functioning gestalt we call a person exists; if they are removed, the gestalt ceases to be. Goleman, D. (1981). Implications for psychotherapy and everyday life are discussed. Today we bring a guest writer, Lim Chuwei from Hong Kong, to share about this East/West debate. New York: Harper & Row. For this reason, the self can be said to be “empty” of reality when separated from its component aggregates— a view of the self radically different from Western perspectives. Just diagnosing and treating the physical body can be effective, especially when dealing with traumas, infections, and cancers. Close your hand into a fist and look at it. Talk about their social roles/social B. Since it is the self-as-knower that labels and classifies the characteristics of the self-as-object, it stands for a homunculus whose own inner self cannot be reached without infinite regression into absurdity. They are in a state of interdependent co-origination, they inter-are (Hanh, 1988). Wisdom and compassion: What the Buddha taught. Soeng Mu, S. (1991). A comparison of culture and philosophy between Eastern and Western societies. Collectivism – individuals are part of a group and the needs of the group come before the individual. 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. What happened to the “real” thing called “fist” that was there a moment ago? Mosig, Y. The highest conclusion and discovery of Western psychology is the starting point of Eastern psychology, especially the psychology of yoga. 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. For this reason, the self can be said to be “empty” of reality when separated from its component aggregates— a view of the self radically different from Western perspectives. By extension, it is making a thing out of a form, a shape, a configuration, a Gestalt, a perception, or an image. These “seeds,” upon development, produce all sorts of mental phenomena. Loy, D. (1993). Reification is the process by which the mind makes a thing (res), or a material object, out of a concept or an abstraction. Hahn, N. (1988). What is needed is appropriate action in the relative world, while maintaining awareness of the big picture. Such part, if found, would have represented the essence or the “soul” of the car, and yet it was nowhere to be found. 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 following exercise makes the same point experientially. Or is it? 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. There is no end to this causal interconnectedness. There are eight consciousnesses, not just one. New York: Pantheon. The Buddhist notion of self circumvents reification, being an impermanent gestalt formed by the interaction of five skandhas or aggregates (form, feelings, perceptions, impulses, consciousness). 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. Successively taking away the windshield, a door, a piston, a bolt, the radiator cap, and continuing until the last piece of metal, plastic, glass, or rubber has been removed, one would never find the part which, if removed, transforms what remains into a non-car. Avoiding the void: The lack of self in psychotherapy and Buddhism. Despite their differences an integration of Western and Eastern approaches may be possible or even necessary. 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. The Buddha conceived of the universe as composed of an infinite number of, The following exercise makes the same point experientially. The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 13, 125-136. Western perspectives about self are inherently dualistic. 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. New York: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston. Garden City, NY: Doubleday. Eastern psychotherapy attempts to dissolve the experience of the self-as-separate entity and replace it with a feeling of interconnectedness, the non-self or selfless Self implied in the Buddhist concept of anatta. (1989). Associate professor in the Department of Counseling and Human Development Services. Stated differently, the paper cannot exist by itself; it lacks a separate self, soul, or essence. Western vs Eastern Culture. (1998). While radical behaviorism regards this notion of an “inner person” as an explanatory fiction, most theories of personality in the West have endorsed its existence. Garden City, NY: Doubleday. It could be argued that the self needs to be strengthened before it can be abandoned. The article examines the Western ideas concerning how the self is constructed and how it relates to perception and experience. It certainly seems to be. It is also true of cognitive or mental states, because for every emotion, for every perception, for every thought, there are necessary causal conditions without which they would not have come into being. 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. In short, to this false view can be traced all the evil in the world.”. It is essentially a perceptual and cognitive processing center. Now stretch your imagination, and assume for a moment that the collection of elements forming the wave had resulted in the phenomenon of consciousness. The exhilarating and liberating effect of dissolving the illusion of the “I,” “me,” or “self” is reflected in these words by Achaan Chah: The person becomes transformed from an isolated and powerless individual struggling against the rest of the world, into an interconnected integral part of the universe. According to Vasubandhu, all that can be experienced to exist is “mind only,” or the mental processes of knowing. These labels tend to perpetuate the illusion that reified concepts are actually real, existing objects, for their reality seems to be attested to by the very fact that labels exists for each of them. But it is not only the self that is empty, and cannot exist by itself; the skandhas themselves are also empty. University of Nebraska at Kearney Rogers, C. (1951). Angelo Gerangelo Hi Nick. New York: Pantheon. What do you see? London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. They did to me. It helps humans deal with human morality and concepts such as good and … Collectivism – individuals are part of a group and the needs of the group come before the individual. If you're new here, I recommend going through the 'Must Reads' articles (see sidebar). Everything is dependently arisen, everything exists only if the necessary conditions are there. 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). 3. 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. °astern ±oncept of Self 94n the east philosophy and religion are twisted together. Each skandha is in turn a transient pattern formed by the interaction of the other four. There is no one here, just this. It was precisely this inner self that was rejected by B. F. Skinner (1971) and the radical behaviorists as “explanatory fiction.”. Think of a room illuminated by seven lightbulbs. When we carry a burden, it is heavy; when there is no one to carry it, there is not a problem in the world! For discussions you are welcome to join the. It certainly seems to be. This means that nothing is ever truly independent or separate from everything else. 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. Does it have any real existence apart from its parts? I am using this writing to keep me from emotional despondency while having to study a (Western) psychology unit and struggling with reconciling my understanding of the fluidity of concepts that exist in the Buddhist world view and the comparatively gross world view of recent Western psychology. 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. These causes and conditions can themselves be either internal mental states or external events. When crossing the street, it is not enough to contemplate an approaching car and to realize that we are one with it. Both aim at effecting a positive change in the mode of functioning and the lifestyle of the individual. To hurt another becomes to hurt oneself; to help another is to help oneself. and social thought.Focused on individual self Focused on collectivisticconcept e.g., interpersonal self-concept e.g., competition, individual intragroup cooperation, achievement, interdependence, and … Nevertheless, it is not enough for the healthy, liberated individual to eliminate the delusion of the separate self. How do we begin to grasp the validity of these approaches and what they accomplish? Eastern vs. Western Spiritual Practices By Maurice Turmel, PhD. After "strengthening" my ego through self esteem work and venting an ocean of bottled up sorrow and rage, I am now able to work with the "no me/I/self" process taught by you and Tony Parsons and at Liberation Unleashed. Cite your resources. Since upon realizing the universal oneness of all, the “selfless Self,” everyone and everything is oneself, this transcendent wisdom generates universal compassion and caring of everyone as oneself. Although some Eastern conceptions of the self, most notably those derived from Hinduism, which center on the Vedic notion of the atman or soul, are similar to Western ideas of the self, Buddhist psychology provides a radically different interpretation. Form is empty of reality when separated from perceptions, feelings, impulses, and consciousness. Itself, apart from the work of Freud, Jung, and can exist.: where are the boundaries of the most significant issue of all the evil in the world dualities! 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