This book presents an exploration of Buddhist philosophy and practice as a potential resource for an approach to psycho-therapy which is responsive to the needs of its time and context, and attempts to open up a three-way dialogue between Buddhism, psychotherapy and contemporary discourse to reveal a meaningful theory and practice for a contemporary psychotherapy. What is unique about this book is that it raises the question of what it is in Buddhism itself that provides such a rich resource for psychotherapy. Gay Watson firmly places her exploration of these themes within the context of contemporary life and thought, as a response to the pathologies, physical and intellectual, of our time. Organized according to the traditional Tibetan plan of ground, path and fruition, the book first presents a brief survey of western psychotherapies followed by an introduction to Buddhist views, with particular reference to those most relevant to psychotherapy. Path considers the two major branches of the Buddhist way, ethics and meditation, in the context of contemporary life and psychotherapy. Fruition compares the goal of Buddhism and psychotherapy and subsequently explores the implications of adopting Buddhist influence in the light of contemporary discourse and of the experienced domains of body, speech and mind. Finally, the lineaments of a contemporary Buddhist-inspired psychotherapy are suggested. The book will be of great interest to those concerned with the translation of Buddhism into contemporary life and also to students of psychotherapy and its expansion, particularly into spiritual and transpersonal dimensions.
Resonance of Emptiness, Gay Watson, RoutledgeCurzon, Hardcover, 315 pp, $124.95
Gay Watson is a writer, teacher, psychotherapist. She received her doctorate from SOAS, University of London in 1996 and is associated with the Sharpham College for Buddhist Studies-Contemporary Enquiry, and the Karuna Institute of Core Process Psychotherapy. She is also a trustee of the Dartington Hall Trust. She lives in South Devon with her husband and has two children.
Acknowledgments 1. Introduction Part I Ground: Theoretical Considerations Preamble: Experience and Meaning 2. Western Psychotherapists 3. The Buddhist View 4. The "Consciousness that Views": Some Ideas of the Self Part II Path Preamble: Path 5. Ethics 6. Meditation Part III Fruition: Goals and Implications 7. Goal 8. Implications Embodiment Speech Mind Part IV Conclusions 9. Towards an Empty Fullness Notes Bibliography Index |
Series Information: Routledge Critical Studies in Buddhism
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