Psychotherapy in brown and orange robes

Spirituality is not about getting something. It is always about giving up something.
-Michael Singer

Psychotherapy in brown and orange robes

I really think the Buddhists should have the market on psychotherapy. Their approach to understanding the mind and the need for healing is phenomenal.  It is simplistic, down to earth and so very, very applicable. The more I study it, the more I realize how we could all benefit if we adopted some of the principles and therapeutic approaches. We all need psychotherapy!

No Need to Convert

I am not saying we should become Buddhist...and from what I gather from watching, listening and learning...this isn't the mandate of the Buddhist teacher either.  They aren't looking to convert more people to Buddhism, they are looking to convert a mentally disturbed world to a peaceful one; monkey minds to still ones, suffering to joy and it doesn't matter if you are Hindu, Muslim or Christian. Buddhism is not in the world to increase the numbers of Buddhists  or  the power  that religion has. In fact, ego recognition, competition and power is  completely the opposite of all Buddhist doctrine.  Buddhism, I believe, is simply there to help heal the world.

A True Teacher/Healer

If you want to see someone who aspires to this sincere and honest  and non discerning role  of Buddhist teacher, watch Thich Nhat Hanh at work. Five minutes listening to him, watching that light in his eyes, feeling warmed by that peaceful smile on his face and hearing the beautiful simplistic wisdom that flows from him like water from a tap will convince you of this. You will feel at peace. He wreaks of the peaceful presence he teaches about.  He walks the walk and talks the talk...How many teachers out there actually do that?

Healing the Mind

The approaches to healing taught are not about religion.  In fact, spirituality isn't about religion is it?  The two  can compliment each other beautifully when the mind is healed.  First we must heal the mind. Buddhism offers practical and effective ways to do so.

Of course the Buddha had a well designed plan for healing which involved a number of steps.(16)  The first eight steps are addressed in a dharma talk entitled Call your Cows by Their True Names. They  were divided into two categories: Body as a portal and Feeling as a portal:

Body Portal

1. Recognizing breath going in and out
2. Following breath as it goes in and out
3. Awareness of body
4. releasing tension in the body

Feeling Portal

     5. Generating Joy
     6. Generating happiness
     7. Recognizing painful feelings
     8. Embracing painful feelings

Mindfulness and Concentration

It was taught by Buddha and his followers that in order to generate joy and happiness or healing we need to be able to be mindful, have the ability to bring ourselves back to the present moment and back into our bodies so we can experience Life fully. Concentrating on what we are doing in the here and now can help us to do that. (First four steps have that covered.)

Next we have to be able to strengthen our emotional reserves before we can entertain and not be destroyed by pain. We need to be able to generate joy and happiness at whim so when the the so called painful emotions we have stuffed begin to rise up we can deal with them effectively.  Effectively means with compassion and patience and tender loving care before we release them. We need mindfulness and  concentration to do this but more importantly we need the ability to let go and to release.

Letting Go

What we cling to in pursuit of joy and happiness often prove to be obstacles that get in our way of finding it.  When we notice suffering in our lives we tend to go after something out there and in the future, don't we? We assume that happiness is in something the future moment offers if we do a certain thing or strive for a certain thing.  We seldom find it that way do we?  The reason for that is that our idea of happiness and our idea of who we are, are obstacles in our way to healing.  If we want healing...want to embrace peace and joy and happiness we must first let go of our ideas that happiness is somewhere out there. We have to get rid of this crazy notion that we are not yet all we can be and that we need to improve by having more, doing more, learning more in order to attain joy and happiness.  We need to let go of that notion that takes us from the here and now so we can settle in the here and now, the only place where peace and joy can exist.  We need to let go of our future projections, our cravings, our clinging, our compulsive doing, our striving, our struggling and also our resistance.

Resistance is what happens when what is happening in the present moment competes with our ideas of what should be happening. If the moment right here and right now doesn't offer what we think it should in order to be happy and joyful we have a tendency to push against it or numb away from it.  We numb from the experience of feeling emotions we erroneously judge as "bad." Stuffing these down the way we do, does not make them go away.  We just cling to them more and they may get stronger. Our suffering increases with resistance and struggle.  We need to release and let go of that.

Healing Begins with a Breath

Healing, in the spiritual way then, involves many things but most importantly it involves a letting go so that we can eventually learn to accept, embrace and compassionately release our suffering. How does all this begin? With a breath...with a breath.  How more simpler can it get than that?

All is well in my world.


Desire cannot be fulfilled. Moreover, when you are desiring, desiring, desiring, you face many obstacles, disappointments, unhappiness, and difficulties.  Great desire not only knows no end but also itself creates trouble.
-Dalai Lama (quote for Tuesday, February 5)

References

Thich Nhat Hanh (Sept, 2011) Calling Your Cows by Their True Names. Plum Village online.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8pFAjQpTKY