Zen beyond Mindfulness
Using Buddhist and Modern Psychology for Transformational Practice
-
- $13.99
-
- $13.99
Publisher Description
An effective new approach to Buddhist practice that combines the rigor of traditional meditation and study with the psychological support necessary for practice in modern life.
Zen teacher Jules Shuzen Harris argues that contemporary American Buddhists face two primary challenges: (1) “spiritual bypassing,” which means avoiding or repressing psychological problems in favor of “pretend Enlightenment,” and (2) settling for secularized forms of Buddhism or mindfulness that have lost touch with the deeper philosophical and ethical underpinnings of the religion.
Drawing on his decades of experience as a Zen practitioner, teacher, and psychotherapist, Harris writes that both of these challenges can be met through the combination of a committed meditation practice, a deep study of Buddhist psychological models, and tools from a psychotherapeutic method known as “Mind-Body Bridging.” Using this unique approach, students can do the real work of awakening without either denying their embodied emotional life or missing out on the rich array of insights offered by Buddhist psychology and the Zen practice tradition.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Zen priest and psychotherapist Harris argues in his weighty debut that American Buddhists are prone to avoid problems while seeking enlightenment and disconnect from the ethical roots of Buddhism. As a remedy, Harris offers a three-pronged solution: study of Abhidharma psychological models (Buddhist models of the mind), utilization of Mind-Body Bridging psychotherapeutic techniques (a method involving writing down reactions or responses to such questions as "What am I attached to?"), and committed zazen practice (a Zen tradition of meditation). Where the Abhidharma psychological models are concerned with the emptiness or lack of permanence of self, the Mind-Body Bridging, in Harris's estimation, creates and sustains one's sense of self using the presumption that the self is damaged and needs to be fixed. Harris provides questions for mind maps and bridging as well as zazen meditations that readers can use as they work their way through the program. A refreshing alternative to the profusion of mindfulness literature, this usefel if complicated guide will be handy for practitioners interested in the integration of Buddhism and psychology.