A Psychodynamic Approach To Finding Emptiness

The significance of the Buddhist teachings has impacted the everyday lives of Buddhist adherents as it provides a set of guidance, in which the goal of individuals is to improve themselves through effort and ultimately reach Nirvana, enlightenment. Through the Four Noble truths; The existence of Dukkha (Suffering),

Even though Zen and Pure Land Buddhism are usually considered to be quite different, they are actually part of the same type of Buddhism, Mahayana, and thus have an underlying similarity. This essay will argue that, in particular, the Mahayana concepts of non-duality and no-self are present in both schools, and that the ways employed in each school to reach their respective goals can be analyzed in a similar fashion, proving that these two schools are part of, rather than deviations of, Mahayana Buddhism.

Firstly, I am going to talk about the two themes, Bodhisattva’s compassion and emptiness in Mahayana. Bodhisattva is a practitioner who experiences millions of rebirths before becoming Buddha. However, in order to make sure that others are also enlightened, Bodhisattva put off his chance to enter nirvana (liberation). For Bodhisattva, it’s selfish that you only want to attain the perfection of awakening for yourself instead of being compassionate to the people who haven’t

Emptiness is a descriptive word used day in day out in our lives to describe the state of an object, or feelings perhaps. We might not think about it as a deep meaningful word which has the power to ultimately release us from samsara. Emptiness is a central Buddhist teaching which is often misunderstood. According to the Buddhist Master Nagarjuna in The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way, verse 11, “By misperception of emptiness A person of little intelligence is destroyed. Like a snake incorrectly seized or like a spell incorrectly cast”. In other words, a confusion in emptiness will only lead to more suffering and probably get bitten by a snake. Emptiness does not mean nothingness or complete non existence, but more of a molded concept

Psychotherapy and counselling are inseparable. The effectiveness of a counselling program is not just based on the connectedness and interaction between a therapist and a client, but also the framework of the counselling approach in helping the client improving his mental health or overcoming personal problems. There are an extensive number of psychotherapies developed by past researchers, with each therapeutic concept offering unique contributions in understanding human behaviour and useful implications for counselling practice (Bedi et al., 2011).

In The Heart of Understanding, Thich Nhat Hanh’s uses simple but powerful words and real world examples to illustrate the profound Buddhist philosophy from the Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra, an important representative of Mahayana Buddhist literature. The Mahayana school of Buddhist teachings emphasizes the doctrine of Sunyata- emptiness. The doctrine of emptiness, one of the most important Mahayana innovations, focuses on the relational aspect of existence. Thich Nhat Hanh coins and introduces a new word- interbeing to explain the state of emptiness. This idea of interbeing not only illustrates emptiness well but also provides understanding of other fundamental Buddhist ideas such as No-Self, impermanence and non-duality.

This piece represents the very tenets of Buddhism at its most extreme. Those that wish to evade the suffering of the human existence should remove themselves from the materialism of it to the fullest extent possible. This is one of the

The concept of dependent arising forms the central core of the Buddhism teachings. Dependent arising, also known as dependent origination or the Pratītyasamutpāda, holds that the origin of all things (dharmas) depends on other things. In fact, all other aspects of the Buddhist philosophy are viewed as being grounded in the Buddha’s teaching concerning dependent arising (Holder 26). This implies that if one thing exists, then another must also exist; and if one of them becomes extinct, so does the other one. This pragmatic teaching is applied in explaining the onset and cessation of pain or suffering. The first and most important factor in the formula of dependent arising is the development of craving (tanha) from a feeling (vedanā). Essentially,

Emptiness in my own words from the Buddhism prospective would be like imagining a person sitting in their secret place in the lotus position meditating with a basket full of issues or stress triggers. As you sit there meditating with your eyes closed, focusing on your breathing and then you would start to empty your mind of each issue found in the basket one by one. You would continue to do this until the basket is empty, until your mind is empty and until your soul is empty. At that moment is when you should reach nirvana. I imaged it being this way because of my Christian experienced, it will be the same process but instead of sitting, you will be on your knees, instead of sitting quietly, you will be praying and talking to God about each

Kenko, the Buddhist monk and author of Essays in Idleness, took great satisfaction in the idea of impermanence. A hefty amount of this work deals with Kenko talking about Buddhist values and the beauty of change. He felt that “if man was never to fade like the dews of Adishino, never to vanish like the smoke over Toribeyama, but lingered forever in the world, how things would

Nothingness. Dark blank nothingness. Imagine losing everything all in a matter of days. Imagine everything you love gone and never getting it back. Imagine not being able to put the bottle down for even one day for someone you love. Not being able to control who you are when you are intoxicated. Seconds. Just seconds and “poofff” it’s gone.

Throughout human existence, people have often contemplated about the meaning of life. Why do we exist? What purpose do we serve as human beings? Who created us? Is there a mission that humans are supposed to complete while alive? Richard Taylor sought out to answer these questions through his paper The Meaning of Life. He particularly uses the myth on Sisyphus and his life throughout the paper to help prove his point.

Eastern enlightenment religions have been gaining popularity throughout the western world for the past few decades, with many people attracted to a "different" way of experiencing religion. As with many other enlightenment religions, Buddhism requires disciples to understand concepts that are not readily explainable: one such concept is that of no-self. In this essay I shall discuss the no-self from a number of modern perspectives; however, as no-self is difficult to describe I shall focus on both the self and no-self. Beginning with psychological aspects, and neurophysiological research on transcendental meditation, I shall discuss the impact of modern brain science on our understanding of the self and transcendence. Next I will outline

From the lavish beginnings in a wealthy kingdom nestled within the Himalayan foothills of Nepal, Siddhartha Gautama’s transformation into the Buddha and the start of Buddhism was based off of and due to confronting constant human suffering in everyday life. Abandoning his regal life in pursuit of spiritual insight, Siddhartha sought to understand the problem of human suffering and propose remedies, if any, to such a condition. Verses, lectures, and sutras transcribed in scriptures by Buddha’s followers offer an other worldly perspective to endure the hardships and how to conduct oneself harmoniously in society especially with the concept of Inner Peace. The truth goal of Buddhism is to attain peace within oneself, detaching oneself from worldly suffering, attaining enlightenment, and eventually reaching a state of escaping the cycle of suffering, the state of Nirvana. Even though there are many sects of the Buddhist faith, this essay focuses on the shared peace practices and beliefs Buddhism promotes, especially the concept of inner peace through reflection. Buddhism is known widely as a religion of peace and non-violence, though there are outlying examples contrary to the point such as Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, and etc., the concept of achieving inner peace and living harmoniously no matter what views one has can promote a positive society.

“The only thing that is constant is change”. This quote, attributed to the pre-Socratic Greek philosopher Heraclitus embodies an essential concept of Buddhist teaching – emptiness. In Buddhist traditions, emptiness refers impermanence, the idea that everything and everyone is in a constant state of change and our present condition is the result of previous states. In general use in Western culture, emptiness typically comes with a negative connotation; it implies loneliness and absence of material goods. In Buddhism emptiness is not nothingness. Emptiness does not mean that nothing exists, rather, things do not exist the way we assume they do. To reach a true emptiness one must be devoid of all attachment including views and assumptions to free the mind from stress and anxiety. I am writing this essay looking out on the lake at the new home my parents just purchased. As I observe the movements of the water, the ripples and waves on the surface, I am beginning to understand the concept of impermanence. After each ripple the lake is never the same. Each movement of the water impacts the next and the body is constantly changing. Buddhist’s emphasize the concept of no “I” – everyone and everything is completely and totally interdependent. Think of all the seemingly random actions, interactions and decisions that have led to each of us being where we are today. Had any of us made different choices anywhere on our paths – a different class to take, a different college to attend, a