PSYCHOTHERAPY_BY_KARMA_TRANSFORMATION_f.pdf

8/20/2019 PSYCHOTHERAPY_BY_KARMA_TRANSFORMATION_f.pdf

1/170


2/170

1

PSYCHOTHERAPY BY KARMA TRANSFORMATION:

Relational Buddhism and Rational Practice

G.T. Maurits Kwee

Taos Institute Publications

WorldShare Books

Chagrin Falls, OhioUSA

http://www.taosinstitute.net/worldshare-books


3/170

2

PSYCHOTHERAPY BY KARMA TRANSFORMATION:

Relational Buddhism and Rational Practice

G.T. Maurits Kwee

Copyright © 2013 Taos Institute Publications/WorldShare Books

.

All rights reserved.

All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form or

by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, without permission in writing

from the publisher. In all cases, the editors and writers have made efforts to ensure that the text

credits are given to appropriate people and organizations. If any infringement has been made,

the Taos Institute Publications will be glad, upon receiving notification, to make appropriate

acknowledgement in future editions of the book. Inquiries should be addressed to Taos Institute

Publications at [email protected] or 1-440-338-6733.

Taos Institute PublicationsA Division of the Taos Institute

Chagrin Falls, OhioUSA

E-Book Format Only

ISBN: 978‐1‐938552‐05‐2


4/170

3


The Taos Institute is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the development of social

constructionist theory and practice for purposes of world benefit. Constructionist theory

and practice locate the source of meaning, value, and action in communicative relations

among people. Our major investment is in fostering relational processes that canenhance the welfare of people and the world in which they live. Taos Institute

Publications offers contributions to cutting-edge theory and practice in social

construction. Our books are designed for scholars, practitioners, students, and theopenly curious public. The Focus Book Series provides brief introductions and

overviews that illuminate theories, concepts, and useful practices. The Tempo Book

Series is especially dedicated to the general public and to practitioners. The Books for

Professionals Series provides in-depth works that focus on recent developments intheory and practice. WorldShare Books is an online offering of books in PDF format

for free download from our website. Our books are particularly relevant to social

scientists and to practitioners concerned with individual, family, organizational,

community, and societal change.Kenneth J. Gergen

President, Board of Directors

The Taos Institute

Taos Institute Board of DirectorsHarlene Anderson Sally St. George

David Cooperrider, Honorary Jane Watkins, Honorary

Robert Cottor Diana Whitney, Emerita

Kenneth Gergen Jason WolfMary Gergen Dan Wulff

Sheila McNamee

WorldShare Books Senior EditorsKenneth Gergen and Dan Wulff

Books for Professional Series EditorKenneth Gergen

Taos Institute Tempo Series EditorMary Gergen

Focus Book Series EditorsHarlene Anderson

Executive DirectorDawn Dole

For information about the Taos Institute and social constructionismvisit: www.taosinstitute.net


5/170

4


WorldShare Books – Free PDF Download

Psychotherapy by Karma Transformation: Relational Buddhism and Rational Practice (2013) G.T. Maurits Kwee La terapia como diálogo hermenéutico y construccionista: Márgenes de libertad y deco-construcción en los juegos relacionales, de lenguaje

y de significado (2012) by Gilberto Limón ArceWittgenstein in Practice: His Philosophy of Beginnings, and Beginnings, and Beginnings (2012) by John Shotter

Social Construction of the Person (PDF free version 2012). Editors: Kenneth J. Gergen and Keith M. Davis, Original copyright date: 1985,

Springer-Verlag, New York, Inc. Images of Man (PDF free version 2012). By John Shotter. Original copyright date: 1975, Methuen, London. Ethical Ways of Being (PDF free version 2012). By Dirk Kotze, Johan Myburg, Johann Roux, and Associates. Original copyright date: 2002,

Ethics Alive, Institute for Telling Development, Pretoria, South Africa. Piemp (PDF free version 2012), by Theresa Hulme. Published in Afrikaans.

Taos Institute Publications Books in Print

Taos Tempo Series: Collaborative Practices for Changing Times Retiring but Not Shy: Feminist Psychologists Create their Post-Careers, (2012) by Ellen Cole and Mary Gergen. (also available as an e-

book)

Relational Leadership: Resources for Developing Reflexive Organizational Practices, (2012) by Carsten Hornstrup, Jesper Loehr-Petersen,Joergen Gjengedal Madsen, Thomas Johansen, Allan Vinther Jensen (also available as an e-book)

Practicing Relational Ethics in Organizations, (2012) by Gitte Haslebo and Maja Loua Haslebo

Healing Conversations Now: Enhance Relationships with Elders and Dying Loved Ones, (2011) by Joan Chadbourne and Tony Silbert Riding the Current: How to Deal with the Daily Deluge of Data, (2010) by Madelyn Blair

Ordinary Life Therapy: Experiences from a Collaborative Systemic Practice, (2009) by Carina Håkansson

Mapping Dialogue: Essential Tools for Social Change, (2008) by Marianne “Mille” Bojer, Heiko Roehl, Mariane Knuth-Hollesen, andColleen Magner

Positive Family Dynamics: Appreciative Inquiry Questions to Bring Out the Best in Families, (2008) by Dawn Cooperrider Dole, Jen HetzelSilbert, Ada Jo Mann, and Diana Whitney

Focus Book SeriesWhen Stories Clash: Addressing Conflict with Narrative Mediation, (2013) by Gerald Monk and John Winslade (also available as an e-book)

Bereavement Support Groups: Breathing Life Into Stories of the Dead, (2012) by Lorraine Hedtke (also available as an e-book) The Appreciative Organization, Revised Edition (2008) by Harlene Anderson, David Cooperrider, Ken Gergen, Mary

Gergen, Sheila McNamee, Jane Watkins, and Diana Whitney

Appreciative Inquiry: A Positive Approach to Building Cooperative Capacity, (2005) by Frank Barrett and Ronald Fry

Dynamic Relationships: Unleashing the Power of Appreciative Inquiry in Daily Living , (2005) by Jacqueline Stavros and Cheri B. Torres Appreciative Sharing of Knowledge: Leveraging Knowledge Management for Strategic Change, (2004) by Tojo Thatchekery

Social Construction: Entering the Dialogue, (2004) by Kenneth J. Gergen, and Mary Gergen (also available as an e-book)

Appreciative Leaders: In the Eye of the Beholder , (2001) edited by Marge Schiller, Bea Mah Holland, and Deanna Riley

Experience AI: A Practitioner's Guide to Integrating Appreciative Inquiry and Experiential Learning , (2001) by Miriam Ricketts and JimWillis

Books for Professionals Series New Horizons in Buddhist Psychology: Relational Buddhism for Collaborative Practitioners, (2010) edited by Maurits G.T. Kwee Positive Approaches to Peacebuilding: A Resource for Innovators, (2010) edited by Cynthia Sampson, Mohammed Abu-Nimer, Claudia

Liebler, and Diana Whitney

Social Construction on the Edge: ‘Withness’-Thinking & Embodiment , (2010) by John Shotter

Joined Imagination: Writing and Language in Therapy, (2009) by Peggy Penn

Celebrating the Other: A Dialogic Account of Human Nature, (reprint 2008) by Edward Sampson

Conversational Realities Revisited: Life, Language, Body and World , (2008) by John Shotter Horizons in Buddhist Psychology: Practice, Research and Theory, (2006) edited by Maurits Kwee, Kenneth J. Gergen, and Fusako

Koshikawa

Therapeutic Realities: Collaboration, Oppression and Relational Flow, (2005) by Kenneth J. Gergen

SocioDynamic Counselling: A Practical Guide to Meaning Making , (2004) by R. Vance Peavy Experiential Exercises in Social Construction – A Fieldbook for Creating Change, (2004) by Robert Cottor, Alan Asher, Judith Levin, and

Cindy Weiser Dialogues About a New Psychology, (2004) by Jan Smedslund

For book information and ordering, visit Taos Institute Publications at:

www.taosinstitutepublications.netFor further information, call: 1-888-999-TAOS, 1-440-338-6733

Email: [email protected]


6/170

5

Contents

Forewords 6

By Kenneth J. Gergen

By M.W.

Padmasiri

de

Silva

By Paul J.C.L. van der Velde

By Michael M. DelMonte

Preface 11

Dedication 13

Prologue –

Contextualizing

Buddhist

Psychology

14

Chapter 1 Relational Buddhism: Connecting to Others 21

Chapter 2 Relational Buddhism: Connecting to Oneself 40

Chapter 3 Can There Be Buddhist Psychotherapy? 55

Chapter

4

Karma

Assessment

and

Methodic

Guidelines

77

Chapter 5 Transforming Karmic Thought and Relational Action 99

Chapter 6 Pristine Mindfulness: Heartfulness in Practice 119

Chapter 7 Karmic Life History Questionnaire (KLHQ) 137

Epilogue – Some Final Guiding Issues 160

References 162


7/170

6

Foreword by Professor Kenneth J. Gergen, PhD Mustin Professor of Psychology at Swarthmore College, USA

President of the Taos Institue

Although radical differences in culture and time separate the origins of Buddhist and social

constructionist

thought,

many

find

striking

affinities

between

them.

First,

there

is

the concern with the way linguistic categories hold sway over our lives, creating realities that

can often bring with them ceaseless suffering. There is the shared investment in practices of

liberation, whether by meditation, dialogue, or otherwise. Both traditions draw attention to

the relational origins of our well‐being, and as well, seek to establish practices contributing

to the good will of all. It is these joint concerns that initially gave rise to my dialogues with

Maurits Kwee, and it was from these dialogues that a most valued friendship blossomed. I

have learned much through this relationship; my understanding of Buddhist thought and

practice has been expanded many‐fold, my appreciation deepened, and my sense of

collaborative potentials sharply stimulated. It is within this context in 2006 that Maurits and

I, along with Fusako Koshikawa, edited the 28‐chapter volume, Horizons in Buddhist

Psychology: Practice,

Research

and

Theory.

Later,

in

2010,

Maurits

went

on

to

edit

a second

major work, New Horizons in Buddhist Psychology: Relational Buddhism for Collaborative

Practitioners. We are proud to offer both these works as Taos Institute Publications.

And now, with the present offering, we are presented with a special gift. We are

invited here into a richly nuanced account of Dr. Kwee’s orientation to therapeutic practice:

Psychotherapy by Karma Transformation. This is no small undertaking. My friend has a

wonderfully sophisticated knowledge of Buddhism, psychotherapy, and relational

constructionism – among many other things – and the present work beautifully weaves

them into a single multi‐hued tapestry. I found myself fully fascinated, as the work links the

Buddhist focus on karma with constructionist concerns with dialogue; “the Four Noble

Truths” and “the Eightfold Path” with constructionist concepts of mind as relationship and

multi‐being;

and

karma

transformation

with

the

co

‐construction

of

meaning.

Here

is

work

of

enormous conceptual skill and imagination. Then, as this remarkable conceptual scaffolding

is linked to hands‐on, therapeutic practice, we are rewarded with a new profusion of ideas in

action. We learn of experience‐based practices for the sequential transformation of karmic

thought and action, engaging in a pristine mindfulness practice of meditation, employing a

life‐history questionnaire for enriching dialogue, and narrative re‐biographing. This is

creative therapeutic work at its best, opening new and intriguing paths, packed with multiple

potentials. It is a joy and privilege to offer this work to the world at large through

WorldShare Books.

Some readers might ask me if the work is sufficiently constructionist. For example,

the work speaks boldly – though provisionally and for the sake of communicating – of the

individual

mind,

symptoms

of

emotional

disorder,

personality

disorders,

and

the

like.

All

such reifications have been subject to constructionist critique at one time or another. Yet, as

I see it, there is little need to draw a firm line between what is and what is not

constructionist. Just as Dr. Kwee sees Buddhism not as a religion, but as a way of life, so do I

see constructionism. And both are ways of life that seek inter‐being as opposed to divided

beings. In fact, one of the major reasons I have been drawn to social constructionist ideas

lies in the admission that its own teachings are themselves constructions. In effect, it

provides not a foundational ontology, but a way of approaching the world. And it is a way of

approaching the world that is simultaneously critical and compassionate. It serves as a


8/170

7

bulwark against reification, but simultaneously is open to the potentials of any discourse for

contributing to planetary well‐being. And this is the way I understand Maurits’ deployment

of concepts that might otherwise seem “un‐constructionist.” Most impressively, he develops

ways in which all these terms can dance together. In this he is

relational/Buddhist/constructionist – and friend.

Foreword by

Professor

Padmasiri

de

Silva,

PhD

Professor of Philosophy and Professional Counsellor

Monash University, Victoria, Australia

Maurits Kwee, psychologist and therapist, has over the years, while standing firmly on his

early training and practice in Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy and Cognitive Therapy ,

belongs to a group of therapists who contributed to the early blossoming of mindfulness‐

based Cognitive Behavior Therapy . A pioneer back then, he is now breaking new ground in

presenting and adding two important concepts to his therapeutic baggage: Psychotherapy by

Karma Transformation and Relational Buddhism.

This book

has

two

layers,

one

a highly

sophisticated,

academic

and

dense

but

rich

layer of his main thesis; but secondly, also a clear and practical thesis related to everyday

living and a well‐focused therapy: how do we relate the Buddhist concept of therapy to

practical living and therapy? On the level of doctrinal Buddhism, Maurits Kwee is moving

from a “cosmological perspective of karma” (which the Buddha and other mystics claim to

have experienced) to a down‐to‐earth, partly verifiable/falsifiable concept of the

phenomenological and experiential dimension of karma experienced here and now. As a

matter of fact: the Buddha himself and contemporary Buddhist monks value this second

perspective greatly.

Thus this book is more than valuable; a scholarly gem, it fits into the contemporary

context and offers new horizons for psychotherapy. His main thesis is also

documented/corroborated by

authentic

Buddhist

sources

from

the

sermons

(suttas/sutras)

of the Buddha. The second thesis on Relational Buddhism has a focus on the theme, “to act

is to interact” and sees Buddhism in terms of communal and social discourse, a concept

ingrained in the Buddha’s discourse on morality and missed by many authoritative

interpreters of Buddhism like Max Weber.

On the psychological and therapeutic level, the theory of dependent origination is a

veritable oasis and very modern in getting into the psychodynamics of karma as intentional

activity. I am personally interested in this second layer in the book and warmly invite readers

to participate in enjoying and reflecting on this rich harvest of Buddhist psychological and

therapeutic insights, and for therapists to explore and imbibe patiently integrating facets of

this message into their therapy. This book promises the reader, therapists and patients alike,

to

gather

the

insights

which

best

fits

into

one’s

personal

way

of

thinking,

behaving

and

living.

Foreword by Professor Dr. Paul J.C.L. van der Velde Professor of Asian Religions

Radboud University Nijmegen, Netherlands

Buddhism is flexible and “slippery”. As soon as one tries to define it, it escapes the definer.

However, this also creates the ability for adjustment which adds to the value of the Dharma


9/170

8

in the present world. The readiness for adaptation has proven its value if we consider the

history of Buddhism in Asia. Justly, scholars start to view Buddhism as “Buddhisms”, because

its appearances are thus manifold that a title in singular proves to be restrictive. This same

readiness to adopt the Dharma to move beyond restriction is one of the qualifications of

Maurits Kwee and his manifold activities. Anyone who has witnessed one of Maurits’

workshops will know and remember this. I have seen him perform miraculous things. His

meditations

comprise

singing,

shouting,

laughing

and

smiling,

and

his

presentations

show

jumping rabbits on huge screens and images in a daring speed. In this he shows a remarkable

ability to adapt Dharma practice and theory to present‐day audiences, i.e. to the actual

needs of his twenty‐first century participants. This includes psychotherapy.

Modern “Buddhist fundamantalists” may remark that the developments as sketched

above do not represent the “original Dharma of the Buddha” anymore, whatever this may

be, as the assumed “purity” of Siddhartha’s meditation is lost in adjustment. I do not agree

and I think Maurits will agree with me on this matter. Dharma practice not only needs to be

open; it needs an eye for what post‐modern humanity needs as well. If it comes to

adaptation, there is a similarity in history. In China, for example, Buddhism at first met with

stern adversity as monks did not marry; they were vegetarians, did not work in any

profession

and

worst

of

all:

they

did

not

bow

for

the

emperor.

However,

when

monks

showed their knowledge of medicine and transferred karmic merits to deceased ancestors,

adaptability came in as these abilities were of great importance within Chinese culture. And

so monks got their new position as physicians and ritualists in death and other ceremonies.

Tradition has it that the Buddha objected to these kinds of trends. Monks may not work as

doctors and should not become artisans, poets, and so on. Only lay followers are allowed to

pursue form rather than content.

In spite of tradition installed by the Buddha himself changes took place in Buddhism.

This is due to the concept of upaya, “skilful means”, which also exists from the very

beginning of Dharma practice. The Buddha’s pivotal understanding when he attained

awakening was that Dharma presentation should be adjusted to the audience addressed to

and adapted

to

the

needs

of

one’s

time

and

place.

This

is

what

the

Buddha

did

as

from

his

very first sermon to the last. In an impermanent world upaya never ends: skilful means

inheres in constant dynamics. The Dharma will never reach a definite status because the

very act of grasping permanence makes it elusive. Dharma is like the recipe of baking bread.

In this analogy, the recipe may be centuries old, but one needs to bake fresh bread

everyday. Likewise the Dharma needs to be “reinvented” and “reconstructed” everyday. And

at present, at the other end of the scale, we come across Maurits and his new book.

Buddhism reinvents itself once more, this time as non‐religious and non‐dogmatic

psychological processes. Maurits dares to question whether there can be Buddhist

psychotherapy. What about age‐old concepts as karma (and Dharma for that matter) and

how to reinvent them?

The book

Maurits

has

now

produced

uses

a key

‐term

in

the

title

which

I think

is

a

key‐concept in all of Maurits’ reinventing labor. I refer to the term “transformation”. In my

opinion to transform is to adapt and to newly interpret concepts whose meaning change

over time according to history, people and culture. Its original meaning, intention or power

may have been lost as time lapses. Yet a new impulse, by giving a new definition or a

hitherto unmentioned new interpretation, a traditional and maybe even outdated concept

might become revived and re‐empowered. Transformation also implies that characteristics

and traits of the original concept in some way or the other continue to live on in the new


10/170

9

practical interpretation. Thus, the original concept/recipe does not disappear but changes in

practice, warranting edibility. As examples, in Maurits’ work I came across terms like the

“Brahmaviharas”, transformed by him into the “relational sublimes”, “empty dharmas” is

transformed into “social constructions” and “mindfulness” into “heartfulness”. In his

transforming interpretations Maurits adds to the most recent developments of Dharma

practice, adjusted and adapted to post‐modernity.

Maurits Kwee

is

exemplary

as

a representative

for

a new

kind

of

Buddhist

researcher,

the so‐called “scientist‐practitioner”. This researcher is not a detached interpretative scholar

who strictly sticks to mere dry unembodied abstract concepts but connects, adjusts and

adapts findings to the experience of the alive‐and‐kicking. How can the result be applied for

the benefit of suffering fellow human‐beings? Buddhist studies, so far, have a tradition of

mutual suspicion between the over‐critical expert of Buddhist culture versus the (assumed)

uncritical practitioner of Buddhist meditation who allegedly does not keep a scientific

distance between the personal and the subject under scrutiny. The scientist‐practitioner

however combines both of these approaches. The distant scholar and the experiencing

meditator may point out risks to each other’s approaches. Maurits, however, moves beyond

delimitations and leaves both behind. The result is the present volume which is a

combination of

the

two

worlds’

best.

Foreword by Michael M. DelMonte, PhD Clinical Senior Lecturer, Department of Psychiatry

Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland

I have known Maurits personally ever since we met in Tokyo in 1990 as founding members

of the “Transnational Network for Physical, Psychological and Spiritual Well‐Being”, which

was an initiative of Professor Yutaka Haruki of Waseda University, Japan. We organised

conferences about every two years and published the proceedings in book form with Eburon

Academic Publishers,

Delft,

Netherlands.

Over

these

years

I have

become

very

familiar

with

Maurits’s impressive work.

As a clinical psychologist and psychotherapist, with a comprehensive knowledge of

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Rational Emotive Therapy and Systemic Therapy as viewed

through the lens of Social Constructionism, Maurits has brought his extensive knowledge

and experience to his other major interest – Buddhism. The result is a veritable erudite and

in‐depth cross‐fertilisation of Western Psychology and Eastern Buddhism. Maurits is more

than well‐placed to accomplish this formidable task. Being born in Java, Indonesia, then

educated in the Netherlands, and being a well‐travelled linguistic polyglot, he comfortably

strides two worlds to produce an original opus magnum on psychotherapy. Maurits achieves

this with historical depth, global spread and humour. The reader will also enhance his or her

vocabulary

of

Sanskrit

and

Pali

en

route

through

Maurits’s

fact‐

filled

pages!

This book will certainly appeal to anybody with an interest in secular and relational

Buddhism, Social Constructivism, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Rational Emotive

Therapy. The Western systemic approach marries well with relational Buddhism. The way we

co‐construct our inter‐personal minds in the context of the flux of “reality” is highlighted in

Maurits’s fascinating book. He also shows how the practical “here and now” aspect of

Buddhism is compatible with the Cognitive Behavioural and Rational Emotive Therapies.

Last, but not least, Maurits’s comprehensive book appears in the context of a huge

surge of interest in “mindfulness” in which Jon Kabat‐Zinn played a pioneering role. There


11/170

10

are now several forms of psychotherapy which are largely or partially based on mindfulness,

such as Mindfulness‐Based Stress Reduction, Mindfulness‐Based Cognitive Therapy,

Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and so forth. Maurits,

with his extensive expertise, reminds us of the Buddhist origins of much of what we now

refer to as “mindfulness” in isolation ‐ and often without any reference to its Eastern origins.

He places mindfulness in its relational, moral and Buddhist context. For this endeavour alone

he should

be

gratefully

thanked.


12/170

11

Preface

In fact, Buddhism does not exist. An “‐ism” is a Eurocentric theory‐laden/abstract notion

which has no equivalent in the Eastern Buddhist languages. What does exist in the pristine

teachings is a concrete guide to practice, a way (Dharma or Dhamma) in order to “awaken”

which could

be

called

“buddh

‐ing”

or

“budd

‐ing”.

Nevertheless,

the

term

Buddhism

will

be

maintained throughout this book because it is ingrained at large. However, it will be used

here in the original sense as a guide and pathfinder for daily problems of living and

dilemmas, and particularly as a vade mecum and manual for psychotherapists and clients

who suffer from being emotionally disturbed. Thus, once out of the emotional mud there is a

sound basis to continue life as usual or to prosper the lotus flower toward awakening. That is

a choice. This book presents psychotherapy in a Buddhist way, called Karma Transformation,

organized in seven chapters which cover the collaborative practice of therapy by changing

the cognitive structure of Karma aiming at a metamorphosis of karmic emotional fate. The

sole meaning attributed to Karma here in this book is intentional action. Accordingly, the

adjective karmic means: intended, deliberate, wilful, purposeful and premeditated (as in

overt and

covert

deeds).

Intention

is

a cognitive

experience

and

action

is

evidently

manifest

behaviour, conduct or demeanour. Psychotherapy by Karma Transformation (PKT) includes

ongoing assessment, which is a combined procedure of Narrative Rebiographing, and a

multimodal strategic approach based on cognitive‐behavioural‐affective tactics of change.

Transformation takes place in the greater framework of Relational Buddhism which is

a merger of views, the pan‐Buddhist view of reality and the social constructionist view. The

psychology of Social Construction offers a meta‐view of reality as socialy constructed and of

the mind as located/extended in‐between people. Such a notable take is congruent to the

Buddhist idea of reality and mind. This monograph reaps the best of my writings on merging

Buddhism, meditation, psychology and psychotherapy as published earlier in the past three

decades in various articles (e.g. Kwee & Lazarus, 1986; Kwee & Ellis, 1996, 1998; Kwee

2012b) and

anthologies

(e.g.

Kwee,

1990,

2010abc,

2012ac,

2013;

Kwee

&

Holdstock,

1996;

Haruki & Kaku, 2000; Kwee & Taams, 2003; Kwee, Gergen & Koshikawa, 2006).

Psychology as a science emerged out of religion and philosophy and was boosted by

Descartes’ dualistic split of mind‐body in the 17th century enabling the separate study of the

mind. Although the word psychology was first used by Goclenius in 1590, the science

formally started in 1879 when Wundt opened the first psychological laboratory in Leipzig,

Germany (according to the European account). There is an interesting analogy with the

present status of the Buddhist Dharma. Broadly, Buddhadharma is regarded as a religion and

a metaphysical or ethical philosophy, and at best as a philosophical psychology. Many

psychologists are nowadays transforming the Dharma into a mainstrean psychology, quite

similar to what pioneer psychologists did prior to Wundt’s landmark move. Transforming the

Dharma

into

a

contemporary

psychology/psychotherapy

is

possible

due

to

a

Buddhist

principle called upayakaushalya, the skilful means which enable the Dharma to adjust itself

to changing mentalities across times and cultures. The meeting of minds in 2005, i.e. of the

14th Dalai Lama and Dr. Aaron T. Beck (founder of Cognitive Therapy) in Gothenburg,

Sweden, seems to be the landmark move for mainstream Buddhist psychotherapy.

How to read this book? As each of the seven chapters stands on its own, a chapter

can be read asunder as a stand‐alone without per se knowing the content of the other

chapters. Although kept to a minimum, some doubling of content occurs as a didactic service

to the reader who is a neophyte in Buddhism. Whenever using Indian terms, Sanskrit, the


13/170

12

Mahayana language of the sutras is preferred; otherwise Pali terms are used if the original

source is the Theravada suttas. Sanskrit is preferred in case of doubt or equivalence. The

referred suttas and sutras can be found in various translations on the internet by googling. I

usually check www.metta.lk (suttas) and www.e‐sangha.com (sutras). Abbreviations like BCE

(Before Common Era), Buddhist Psychology and Psychotherapy (BPP), Karma Life History

Questionnaire (KLHQ) are spelled in each chapter anew when used for the first time. Reading

this book

falls

short

to

become

a Buddhist

psychotherapist

and

Karma

transformer;

rigorous

training and life supervision are required. It is my hope that practicing this book may

contribute to lessen grass‐root karmic greed, hatred and ignorance so that we can prosper in

spite of economic crisis and global terrorism.

To close: My heartfelt thanks are due to Dr. Krishna K. Mohan for his cogent remarks

on an earlier draft of this book and to Dawn Dole who was proficient, as ever, in realizing this

book.

In heartfulness,

Maurits Kwee


14/170

13

This book is dedicated to my clients from whom I have learned the

craft of psychotherapy

Dr. G.T.Maurits Kwee is Emeritus Honorary Professor at the University of Flores, Buenos

Aires and was a Visiting Professor at Waseda University, Tokyo. He earned a doctorate in

Medical Science at the Erasmus University Rotterdam. Past President of the Transcultural

Society for Clinical Meditation, he promulgates a cutting‐edge “Psychology of Relational

Buddhism” that moves beyond Theravada and Mahayana. He is a clinician since the 70s and

since the 80s he propagates Buddhist Psychology/Psychotherapy as a mainstream discipline.

Prof. Kwee is currently a Faculty Member and Thesis Advisor of the Taos Institute (USA) and

Tilburg University (Netherlands) PhD‐program. His latest book: New Horizons in Buddhist

Psychology (Taos Institute Publications). Contact: [email protected]; Website:

@relationalbuddhism.org; Linkedin @Dr. G.T. Maurits Kwee, PhD; Facebook @Relational

Buddhism and

@Maurits

Kwee;

Twitter

@relationalbuddh

and

@MauritsKweePhD.


15/170

14

Prologue Contextualizing Buddhist Psychology

The Buddha

(awakened

one)

was

born

a prince

by

the

name

Siddhartha

(having

all

worldly

wishes fulfilled) Gautama (most victorious on earth) some 100 generations ago in the clan of

the Shakyas (kindness). As his mother Queen Maya (illusion) died a week after his birth, he

was a motherless child who lived at the foothills of the Himalayas in the Iron Age when the

earth was considered flat. Living comfortably, like many urban citizens nowadays, Siddharta

was eager to uncover life’s meaning after observing duhkha: suffering due the predicament

of birth, illness, aging and death. By contending “neither theism, nor a‐theism”, the Buddha’s

teaching (Dhamma or Dharma) is about “non‐theistic emptiness”, loving‐kindness,

compassion and joy. Countering Brahmanism, metaphysics and sky‐god religious thought the

Buddha did not want to be worshipped. Nonetheless, his way was explained down the ages

as a religious quest, a cosmology, and an ethical system, and recently as a

psychology/psychotherapy. The unadulterated message of the Buddhist teachings has survived the ravages of

time most likely because of its multidimensional and multidisciplinary nature and its ability

to flexibly adjust and adapt to the changing needs and demands of various peoples, times

and environments. This notion suggests that the Dharma, which resembles a religion, a

philosophy or a science, is actually an open, living, relational system that is ever learning and

changing through feedback/feedforward processes. Inculcated qualities like these are likely

to be those which warrant the Dharma to be integrated into and taking root in the various

cultures where it happened to dwell, and to be taken up with conservation of the peculiar

and undiluted characteristics of its teachings. While on the surface its form of expression

appears to be totally different and to vary from culture to culture, its core message does not

seem to

have

been

altered

in

principle:

“emptiness

and

interconnectedness”.

1

Dharma as psychology and its prime exponent psychotherapy are complementary to

Dharma as religion or philosophy and may serve as a rational alternative for people who are

allergic to metaphysics or sky‐god religiousness. Having gone through ups and downs in the

past 2600 years, the Dharma which was disseminated as a religion and a philosophy survived

successfully and grew exponentially. However, the languages games of science, religion and

metaphysics may lack a fitting relevance in the present era. For this reason the old stream

Dharma may have outlived its usefulness. If the raison d’être of the Dharma is ceasing

existential emotional suffering (duhkha), through awakening and gaining insight in the

processes how they come about and can be extinguished, it seems to me that this Dharma is

grist for the psychotherapist’s mill. Dharma as a therapy, which on the meta‐level conceives

mental

life

as

relational,

aims

at

helping

people

unchain

themselves

from

being

stuck

in

unwholesome mental states. Voilà, the main theme of this book.

1 This book uses insights from the major Buddhist traditions, i.e. Theravada (teachings of the elders, the only

extant school and denomination out of 18 of the vehicle of Early Buddhism) existing as from the Buddha’s

lifetime 2600 years ago) and Mahayana (great vehicle, as from the 1st century BCE), developed as from the start

of Common Era and practiced in 12 denominations. Mahayana includes Vajrayana (adamantine vehicle), also

called Tantrayana (vehicle of sacred texts), developed from the 4th

until the 13th

century and practiced in four

denominations. Theravada is practiced in Kampuchea, Laos, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand), Mahayana in China,

Japan, Korea, Vietnam and Vajrayana/Tantrayana in Bhutan, Mongolia, Sikkim, Siberia and Tibet.


16/170

15

Most psychotherapists know little about the Dharma and look at it with mistrust

particularly when Buddhist scholars apply religious language they are unfamiliar with. In

order to reach as many readers as possible, this introduction aims to clarify the scope,

breadth and depth of the present overarching framework: psychology. The quest centres

round the question: What is Psychotherapy by Karma Transformation (PKT) based on

Buddhist Psychology and how is it practiced? The concept of Karma carries religious

meanings causing

a plethora

of

misunderstandings.

In

Brahmanism

it

is

a law

of

cause

and

effect stretching across reincarnated lifetimes towards rejoining the Brahman. A judicial

account of retribution, this Karma determines fate, like one’s caste. The Buddhist Karma

renders a completely different meaning. Its pristine interpretation is psychological, not

metaphysical. Action is a function of intention and conducive to its fruit:

feeling/affect/emotion. After all, bad things happen to good people and good things happen

to bad people. “Evil” can be done without any purposeful intention. Without a god banking

merit/demerit, PKT is a psychological system of karmic change through collaborative practice

of de‐construction‐ing.

Both the “old” Buddhist Psychology of the Abhidhamma (the 3rd “canonical” book of

the Theravada school) and a “new” Buddhist Psychology adhere to the Buddhist

Body/Speech/Mind triunion

which

corresponds

to

a mainstream

health

care

paradigm:

the

Bio/Psycho/Social systemic model (Kwee & Holdstock, 1996). On the basis of this wholistic

tripartition, PKT is a subdivision of a social‐clinical‐neuro‐psychology which integrates

research methods in a complementary way on the third (Body/Bio), second (Speech/Social)

and first person (Mind/Psyche) levels of functioning. Leaving plenty of room for individual

interpretation of the reader and not acknowledging any absolute authority, Buddhist

Psychology/Psychotherapy (BPP) and its subsystem PKT are a postmodern proposition of

Relational Buddhism which includes Social Construction that moves away from religion and

philosophy toward becoming a practice of transformational conversation and dialogue.

By doing so, this book breaks away from the tradition of Louis de Vallée Poussin

(1869‐1939), who contended that the Dharma is a religion, and of Fyodor Stcherbatsky

(1866‐1942),

who

insisted

that

the

Dharma

is

a philosophical

system.

While

both

scholars

were specialists in the Mahayana sutras, the tradition followed here is that of Caroline Foley

Rhys Davids (1857‐1942). She worked with Theravada suttas and was the first scholar who

recognized its psychological content and the first author who subsumed the Dharma under

the rubric of psychology. This is reflected in her landmark book Buddhist psychology – An

inquiry into the analysis and theory of mind in Pali literature (1914). It is a privilege to stand

on her giant shoulders as well as on those of three Sri Lankan scholars Padmasiri de Silva,

David Kalupahana and Padmal de Silva who studied the Dharma as a psychology.

The present this‐worldly view of Karma endorses the writings of Dahlke (1865‐1928),

a pioneer of a non‐metaphysical interpretation of Karma, the Skandhas (psychological

modalities), and dharmas (the smallest experiential units) .

Buddhist

and

contemporary

psychology/psychotherapy,

having

overlapping

concerns

and

being different in several respects, might learn from each other. PKT is a multiphase

approach in line with the 4‐Ennobling Realities and the 8‐Fold Balancing Practice meant to

lift emotional hurdles toward awakening. While the Dharma as such is concerned with

awakening of the Arahant (someone who has eradicated inner enemies), PKT prime concern

is to lift clients’ emotional disorder. Getting “enlightened” (experiencing AHA and HAHA)

inheres in the therapeutic process and does not necessarily lead to a pursuit of awakening.

The quest is: how to rid emotional suffering due to the “slings and arrows” of existential mis‐


17/170

16

fortune and live in wholesomeness? This depends on the proficiency of gaining insight,

seeing and transdorming daily emotional Karma. This might require expertise of a guide, i.e.

a professional psychotherapist. Wholesome Karma is free from ignorant craving, greedy

grasping and hateful clinging. Unwholesome Karma – noticeable by emotional craving,

grasping thoughts and clinging behaviours – is shackling. Wholesomeness is attained

whenever ignorance is replaced by wisdom and savvy, when generosity resolves greed and

when forgiveness

dissolves

hatred.

Although intention is the seed for future action and deeds, it is manifest, observable

and wholesome performance, not wholesome planning and intending, which will extinguish

agony. Being mindfully attentive‐concentrative and vigilantly aware‐introspective on

Karma’s working likely increase the frequency of wholesome Karma and prevent the

occurrence of unwholesome Karma. The crux is to keep Karma un‐afflicted by choosing not

to become attached to greedy or hateful feeling‐thought‐action in relationships. We are all

engaged in meaning‐making through conversation and dialogue. As meaning is not a given

but a communal act of discourse and negotiation, it is of great importance to participate in

collaborative action and reflexive deliberation, and to be aware of the relational origin and

impact of our activity. After all, to be related to each other is a given as from the first smile

in the

cradle;

losing

this

connection

might

need

reinstallment

by

PKT.

I endorse Korzybski’s “to be is to be related”, Gergen’s “I am linked therefore I am”,

and add: “to act means to interact” and “to be implies to inter‐be”. This signifies that

therapy/coaching behooves looking for the conjoint meeting points enhancing the

participants’ motivation to work on a set task of meaning‐making and conduct. Espousing a

social constructionist position, i.e. viewing reality as a social construction and the mind as

located in‐between people and protagonist, does not per se disagrees with existing models

of psychology. Social Constructionism is a meta‐view which acknowledges multivocality in

reality construction. It therefore respects all voices and language games of various

psychologies. Psychoanalysts use a shared jargon to communicate with each other which is

different from the jargon used by cognitive‐behaviour therapists (cf. DelMonte, 2011). A

social constructionist

stance

recognizes

that

psychology

is

a multivocal

endeavour

and

does

not a priori consider one model superior to the other. Models of the mind are narratives

using metaphors for psychological realities which are usually only valid in the particular local

communities. Although one model can be more influential than the other, no model can yet

claim universality.

My model of choice is the S‐O‐R model which concurs with the Buddhist model of the

mind. While the meta‐psychology of Social Construction provides Buddhist Psychology with

a theoretical and interpersonal perspective for meaning and action, the next levels of

abstraction refer to the toolkit of PKT which is on the level of macro‐analysis, when

strategies of intake (Narrative Rebiographing) assessment (Topographical/Functional

Analyses) and intervention (Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy) are concerned, and on the

level

of

micro‐analysis,

when

the

minute

to

minute

application

of

change

techniques

are

concerned. Psychologists whose mainstay is in logical‐positivism contend that psychotherapy

is largely about the study and modification of mind and behaviour. Traditionally, the

psychologist’s project is to understand behaviour as a function of emotion, motivation,

perception, attention, cognition, learning, and the like. “Old‐stream” psychology seeks to

account for behaviour as a function of individual agencies’ isolated minds. This book,

however, embraces a relational perspective: human mind is a social construction.


18/170

17

Individuality and all that we consider to be true, real and rational emerge out of

relationships in Dependent Origination ( pratityasamutpada), hence Relational Buddhism.

The basic idea of this book concurs with the Buddhist understanding that mind is not

“self ‐contained” but operates in‐between people and protagonist in Dependent Origination:

to be is to inter‐be and to act is to inter‐act. This has ramifications for practice; if not for

practice Buddhist Psychology and Psychotherapy (BPP) have no reason to exist. The Buddhist

caring for

relationships

is

focused

on

cultivating

the

social

meditations

of

loving

‐kindness,

compassion and joy. These are attitudes considered relevant as communicative

performances to create rationality which comes about by collaborative effort through

dialogue and conversational exchange. Buddhist practice aims at extinguishing the relational

poisons (greed, hatred and ignorance) hampering human interconnectedness. The Buddha’s

pivotal insight is that psychological suffering is rooted in the irrational relational stances of

greed and hatred due to ignorance on human interconnectedness. This understanding is

more valid than ever today as it is undeniable that greed is the root cause of the economical

crisis the world is facing today and that hatred is the root cause of terrorism threatening us

on the planet. The end result is fear, anger, sadness, depression and premature death,

unless we know how to appropriate the cultural scenarios of emoting and relating with savvy

and wisdom.

The Buddha practised wisdom by dealing with Karma, i.e. intentional action which

implies relational meaning and interpersonal activity. Karma is expressed through

Body/Speech/Mind (Kamma Sutta). The Buddha’s causality hypothesis of Dependent

Origination necessitates a communal view of human life which considers self not as self ‐

contained but as constituted in multiple relationships from the cradle to the grave. The

Buddhist vision concurs with a social constructionist perspective of collaborative practice

and reflective negotiation which culminates in a concatenated confluence of Interbeing

( Avatamsaka Sutra) and Relational Being (K.J. Gergen). The Gergenian adage “I am linked

therefore I am” serves as a purview that psychological processes are not so much

in‐between the ears as in‐between people. Focusing within by meditation we see the

relational

everywhere.

The

self

encountered

inside

is

a

social

construction

which

is

at

bottom “empty”. Mindfulness is not a matter of experimental control and empirical data,

but is rather a qualitative clinical N=1 study which allows repeated measuring for gaining

reliability and which might generate hypotheses grounded in relational experience. BPP is

not so much focused on collecting knowledgeable data on what reality is (ontology), but is

rather about how to gather reliable knowledge about life as lived out of perception

(epistemology). In other words, BPP is about what we perceive. Such perceptual knowledge

is experiential and not easily transmittable but it can be socially constructed and negotiated.

Recognizable things must have been learned before and are thus necessarily social

constructions. From a social constructional perspective mind is a relational concept. The

other person and the self that we talk and think about are provisional linguistic creations.

These are

dialogical

‐conversational

‐narrative

constructions

which

can

also

be

deconstructed

and reconstructed by continuous interaction and multiple relationships. Such I‐me‐mine/self

is always performing; I am as many potential selves as are embedded within and constructed

through conversation. Identity and continuity, or what I think of as selfhood, become

maintaining coherence and continuity in the stories I tell about myself. This self or self ‐

narrative does not represent a single voice but is a multi‐authored polyphonical self, a

“multibeing” (Gergen, 2009a). Since I‐me‐mine/self does not exist outside of language and

discourse, an inner‐core self and a fixed tangible self are illusory. Lacking


19/170

18

substantial/inherent self, the self is empty. At this point, the Dharma and Social Construction

are in a concatenated confluence.

Does this view absolve the individual from responsibility? As non‐solitary Interbeing,

we are confronted more not less with issues of social responsibility in striving toward

“emptiness, here‐now”. Thus, PKT emphasizes a spirit of collaborative practice which is

rooted in a relational orientation (Anderson, 2008; ). This

corresponds to

the

Buddhist

way

of

building

rapport:

(1) Skepticism. The Buddha was a non‐theistic skeptical free thinker who ran against

the institutionalized belief system of his time. He questioned ingrained traditions,

transcendental knowledge and universal truths, none of which were to be taken for

granted. Instead of blindly buying into the assumption and pre‐understandings of a

teacher/therapist, prejudiced theories, or societal criteria, one examines for oneself

what is wholesome or unwholesome in each particular situation. While thus

remaining humble about one’s own knowledge, one stays open to self ‐critique and

challenges one’s own understandings in a changing world. Realizing that one can

never have absolute knowledge about anything, one is receptive to learning about

the uniqueness

and

novelty

of

life

through

dialogue.

(2) Particularism‐relativism. Avoiding overgeneralization, Buddhism espouses upaya

(Upayakaushalya Sutra) allowing the Dharma to be reinvented time and again by

disseminating it in tune with the particular people, local culture, specific language

and peculiar circumstances which require unique interpersonal skills relative to time

and place. It is in this tradition that BPP/PKT come into being. The practitioner

prevents a limiting of others people’s possibilities. By engaging in a dialogue, listening

and responding, one openly encounters other descriptions, meanings and

understandings of lived experiences. Privileging local/home‐grown knowledge of the

particular community is important for acquiring relational expertise which is relevant,

pragmatic

and

sustainable.

Each

one

contributes

to

the

conversation

and

designs meaning, activity and its outcome.

(3) Interactionism. Understanding and insight are relational processes. The relational

poisons, greed, hatred and ignorance, are engendered in an interpersonal context.

Existential suffering emerges out of lacking psychological insight and results in

illusions and delusions like seeing the devil and the divine outside ourselves.

Generated through language in social discourse, the Dharma became embedded in

various cultures and histories. The construction of “Buddhist realities” is an

interactive process of interpretation by community members who constantly create,

sustain and change form and content, and which are therefore fluid, not fixed,

definitive

or

final.

The

Dharma

is

not

to

be

foisted

upon

another;

it

occurs

in

the

transformational space between people, not limitedly transmitted from one head to

another.

(4) Connectivism. As to be is to be related and we are because we are linked, we are

interconnected through verbal and non‐verbal speech and self ‐speech/self ‐talk.

Balanced Speech is a noteworthy part of the 8‐Fold Balancing Practice and is

considered to be relevant in connecting Body/Mind. Language is the product of social

interaction, a complex process through which we communicate with ourselves


20/170

19

through self ‐dialogue and with others in dialogue and conversation. As a medium

within which we create knowledge, insight and understanding, words become

meaningful as we speak and in the way we speak. Clients engage in parlance when

encountering the psychotherapist who is a catalyst in a mutual transformational

partnership. These dynamics of participants likely generate a change of meaning and

action through construction and reconstruction in the semantic space of Interbeing.

Symbolising the merger of BPP/PKT and Social Construction, Interbeing also alludes

to a meta‐psychological framework which transcends traditional views of self. The self as a

“common intersection of multiple relationships” (multibeing) necessitates an empty self,

because this “being” is considered to be located in‐between interacting protagonist and

people. Relational Buddhism is not a clear‐cut product but a work in progress: a process that

is constantly under construction.

According to Wittgenstein, terms derive their meanings from the members of a

particular language. In turn, meaning is determined by its place in the context of a family of

words according to cohering rules of grammar and syntax. Thus, linguistic meaning is not a

product of a single mind but comes into existence through communal action from Inter‐

being. Through

speech

and

self

‐speech/self

‐talk

people

narrate

the

wordless,

express

and

communicate what is mindfully conceptualized and what is sensory/emotionally bodily felt

in interpersonal/intrapersonal relationship. Buddhists are intrigued by the wholistic notion

of Body/Mind and its bridge, Speech and self ‐speech/self ‐talk (verbal and non‐verbal), used

to story‐tell the basically inexpressible and “wordless” emotions. Speech and self ‐

speech/self ‐talk are seemingly the near equivalents of emotion, a concept that does not

exist in the Buddhist idiom and if alluded to, like in greed/hatred/ignorance and in

kindness/compassion/joy, it is something relational, not a solipsistic entity of an

independent agency. Thus, in BPP/PKT emotions as “inner feelings” are viewed in

relationship, in relationship to others as well as in relationship to oneself. In the latter case

one might consider emotions to bridge and connect Body/Mind.

From

an

integrative

stance,

modifying

“intrapersonal

stories”

through

self ‐speech/self ‐talk and walking this talk on the affective/emotional level are therapeutic

healing steps, which might eventually lead to awakening. This is often engendered through a

dialogue or conversation in co‐action on meaningful views of reality leading to a wholesome

change of meaningful action which is relational (to be found out). According to the Buddha

helping takes place in a conversation of “ennobling friendship” (in kalyanamitta). This seems

to be a finger pointing at the “talking cure”, psychotherapy, to complement meditation.

Notably, guidance by a role model refers to dealing with and overcoming self ‐talk on

“hindrances”, stumbling blocks on the path like doubtfulness and lack of confidence in

progress. The Buddha admonished in his “greater discourse on emptiness” (Mahasunnata

Sutta), that:

Talk

which

is...

leading

[not]

to...

freedom

from

passion,

not

to

cessation,

not

to

tranquillity, not to higher knowledge, not to awakening, not to Nibbana, namely, talk

about kings, robbers and ministers, talk about armies, dangers and war, about food

and drink, clothes, couches, garlands, perfumes, relatives, cars, villages, towns, cities,

and provinces, about women and wine, gossip of the street and of the well, talk

about the ancestors, about various trifles, tales about the origin of the world and the

ocean, talk about what happened and what did not happen, such and similar talk I

shall not entertain… But... talk which is conducive to... Nibbana, namely, talk about a


21/170

20

life of frugality, about contentedness, solitude, aloofness from society, about

arousing one's energy, talk about virtue, concentration, wisdom, deliverance, about

the vision and knowledge of deliverance, such talk I shall entertain.

This alludes to avoiding what Gergen (2009a) calls “deficit discourse” which, centred

round problem thinking, is suppression rather than construction or appreciation of positive

possibilities.

A

“transformative

dialogue”

dissolves

the

barriers

of

meaning

separating parties and promotes a conversation that nurtures and elevates relationships. BPP/PKT is

about transforming Karma based on an analysis of feeling‐thinking‐doing‐and‐emotions

which all come about in interrelationship. Karmic causality is hypothesized by the Buddha as

Dependent Origination, an arising‐peaking‐subsiding‐ceasing of phenomena in non‐

independence, inter‐dependence or co‐dependence. Negative emotions are to be eradicated

by not clinging‐grasping‐craving to I‐me‐mine/self and by experiencing “emptiness” which is

not a goal in itself but is a reset‐point to start the promotion of “positive” emotions.

Evidently, “psychotherapist” and “psychologist” did not exist as a science or as a title

in the Buddha’s time. During his time the Buddha was known as a kammavadin/karmavadin.

This was a self ‐proclaimed role as a wise teacher of Karma, one who uncovers Karma’s

unwholesome

root

causes

(hetu):

greed,

hatred

and

ignorance.

The

“awakened

one” revealed the conditional relations, causes/functions or reasons/motives of experiential

events in interpersonal contexts. He was a teacher of effective action (kiriya) devoted to

summoning up in others the strength (viriya) needed for action resulting in increasing

wholesomeness (Swaris, 1997). The heavy valorisation of karmic intentional/meaningful

feeling‐thinking‐doing‐in‐relationship by the Buddha combined with the present clinical

practice of evidence‐based interventions in co‐action lead to coining Relational Buddhism

and PKT. The minutiae of PKT practice is ultimately based on the merger of Rational Emotive

Behavior Therapy and the Dharma (Kwee & Ellis, 1998) as will be pointed out in this book.

Psychotherapy by Karma Transformation starts with two chapters on Relational

Buddhism. The first chapter covers relationships with others while the second chapter refers

to

one’s

relationship

with

oneself.

Chapter

three

begs

the

question,

because

Buddhist psychotherapy is feasible as Buddhism is a discipline meant to change intentional

action/behaviour/conduct/demeanor: Buddhist psychotherapy based on Buddhist

psychology is enforceable and practicable. Chapter four highlights assessment which focuses

on the prime target of psychotherapy, feeling and emotion as dis‐ease or

“psychopathology”. It comprises Narrative Rebiographing (intake), topographical and

functional analyses (treatment plan) which lead to pinpointing a strategy, a roadmap for

change, and change tactics. Chapter five explains the “how to” of Karma transformation.

Karma as intentional action can be transformed effectively and efficiently by changing

cognition and behaviour. Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy is particularly apt for changing

goal, purpose, aim, plan, design, end and accompanying conduct and demeanor as well as

for

transforming

negative

emotions

to

positive

emotions.

As

propounded

in

Chapter

six,

the

heart of therapeutic change is the same as for meditation: mindfulness; i.e. to pay attention

and to be aware of what needs to be changed, why and how. Buddhist‐lite mindfulness, like

in the mindfulness‐based approaches, is discarded in favour of pristine mindfulness, also

called heartfulness, which is based on Theravada and Mahayana tenets. And as espoused in

the last Chapter seven, nothing can be achieved in psychotherapy if there is no

meaningfulness, to be found in coherent life stories. The Karma Life History Questionnaire is

a 300 item tool which accompanies an assessment and therapeutic procedure of Narrative

Rebiographing which is a cognitive restructuring of the client’s life history.


22/170

21

Chapter 1 Relational Buddhism: Connecting to Others

Introduction

This chapter presents a social constructionist view of the Dharma, i.e. a comprehensive

account of Relational Buddhism and Buddhist Psychology as a basis for Psychotherapy by

Karma Transformation (PKT). Founded on unadulterated principles and core teachings of

pan‐Buddhism, a “new” Buddhist Psychology goes beyond the “old” Buddhist psychology of

the Abhidhamma. This implies a down‐to‐earth social‐clinical‐neuro‐psychology which

concurs with the Buddha’s Body/Speech/Mind paradigm. By emphasizing the void nature of

Transcendental Truth and expounding that corroborates “not‐self” and “emptiness”, the

meta‐psychology of Social Construction (or rather Social Construction‐ing) bears a striking

resemblance with

what

is

much

exhibited

in

the

Avatamsaka

Sutra

and

its

thesis:

Interbeing.

Relational Buddhism underpins a de‐colonized revision of the traditional provisions of the

Dharma as a sky‐god religion and a metaphysical philosophy regarding the self. In Buddhist

Psychology/Psychotherapy (BPP) “emptiness” is not a goal in itself but a reset‐point for

meaningful action derived from compassion and care (through kindness and joy) for

harmonious relationships. While deeply respecting the Buddhist vehicles of the past, the

cosmology of Mahayana/Vajrayana‐Tantrayana is qualified as having outlived its usefulness

for those who embrace Buddhist Psychology/Psychotherapy (BPP).

The Buddhist tradition allows a cultural interpretation of its teachings on

“emptiness”. That is how metaphysical atavisms, e.g. the soul, its transmigration and

reincarnation and other non‐Buddhist notions could have entered and contaminated the

Dharma

via

a

back

door

in

the

Mahayana

and

Vajrayana/Tantrayana,

and

even

in

the Theravada (Conze, 1980). Thus, a teaching of “emptiness” is able to cater the illiterate

masses, superstitious people who are used to believe in magic, miracles, metaphysics, rituals

and omniscience. The informed reader is aware of upayakaushalya (or in short: upaya),

skilful means of educating and disseminating which helped the Dharma blossom in many

eras and across cultures by accommodating and adapting it to local customs of numerous

audiences. These skills to methodically present the Dharma made it possible that as from the

first encounters Western scholars saw an Abrahamic type of religion in the Vajrayana, a

philosophy in the Mahayana and a psychology in the Theravada. Ironically, none of these

cases of hineininterpretieren seem to be per se wrong. It seems to me that they need to

continually exist alongside each other to cater different strokes for different folks. This holds

in

the

West

where

religious

sentiments

even

after

decades

of

secularization

still

loom

large

and are even regaining ground in post‐secular societies as observed by Habermas

.

Nevertheless, I submit from a non‐theistic stance that religion and philosophy as a

paradigm for the Dharma have outlived their usefulness and contend that psychology is the

most apt upaya for 21st century people who consider themselves secular. This assertion does

not mean that psychology is truer than other disciplines: practical outcome is what matters.

The psychology that inheres in the Buddhist teachings (Dharma) is contained in the Buddha’s

discourses. According to the Kevatta Sutta the Buddha did not expound an “other‐


23/170

22

worldliness”, he expounded a “this‐worldliness”, did not satisfy seekers of an eternalistic

“all” or an annihilistic “nothing”; instead he kept a Middle Way – a “neither‐all‐nor‐nothing”.

He refused to formulate a final truth as this would lead neither to an understanding how the

mind works, nor to liberation from existential suffering (duhkha), the psychological agony

due to the emotional ramifications of birth, aging, illness and death. The Buddha is

renowned for his “classical unanswered questions”, like: “Is the world [this universe] eternal

or finite,

or

both,

or

neither?”,

“Are

the

self

and

the

body

identical

or

different

or

both

or

neither?” and “Will a Buddha exist or not exist after death or both or neither?” According to

the Buddha, entertaining these metaphysical questions leads to speculation and generating

religious and metaphysical debates which are not conducive to liberation from duhkha

( Avyakata Sutta). Along this line of reasoning, dogma, creed, belief and miracles are

anathema as are the soul, transmigration and reincarnation, since all of these can neither be

confirmed nor denied (Kalupahana, 2010). Here is the Buddhist charter of free inquiry:

Do not believe on rumours or hearsay, because it is reported to be good, ancient or

practiced by tradition… because it is in the scriptures or because of logic, inference or

metaphysics... because the speaker appears believable or you are shown the

testimony

of

an

old

sage.

Do

not

believe

in

what

is

fancied,

because

it

is extraordinary, it must have been inspired by a god or other fancy being... because

presumption or custom of many years inclines you to take it as true... just because of

someone’s reputation and authority or because he is a guru. (Kalama Sutta)

Thus, the Dharma is an open‐minded discipline, a set of practices, which takes nothing on

blind faith and does not confess a personal holy figure or some godhead. If the Buddha’s

words are taken as hypotheses, the Dharma suggests an evidence‐based‐research‐as‐action

method. The Buddhist community is studious, not religious in a Western sense.

Let us call to mind the historical datum that the Dharma was a non‐theistic reaction

to Brahmanism (better known by its colonial name: Hinduism), a dialectical anti‐thesis

countering polytheism. Being non‐theistic, the Dharma had no involvement in religious

practices in

the

usual

sense:

god

is

simply

not

an

issue

at

all.

Non

‐theistic

means:

neither

theistic, nor atheistic and not even something in the middle. Instead, the Dharma brings the

liberating experience of “emptiness” to the fore. Thus, the Dharma is neither gnostic (god

can be known), nor agnostic (god cannot be proven): god is “none of our business”. The

undiluted Buddhist teachings acknowledge that the Buddha did not establish a religion, did

not declare himself to be a godly/omniscient manifestation (messiah, saviour or prophet)

and did not derive inspiration from any deity or other external power.

In his criticism of Brahmanism the Buddha was quite humorous. In the Tevijja Sutta a

Brahman named Vasettha discussed with the Buddha on the union with Brahma, the

Creator. The Buddha asked him whether he, or his teacher or his teacher’s teacher up to the

seventh generation had ever seen Brahma. Vasettha’s denial sparked the Buddha’s

comment on

the

opponent’s

logic

by

comparing

his

behaviour

with

that

of

a person

who

decides to seek out and love the most beautiful girl without knowing her name, looks,

complexion, height, dwelling or descent. Furthermore, the Buddha discouraged religious

rituals. Never did he teach his students to pray, nor did he ever wish to be worshipped, nor

did he claim to be anything else than an awakened but fallible human being. The most

probable conjecture is that he lived with human uncertainties like anyone else, not knowing

that his teaching would ever become “Buddhism” and extant in the 21st century.


24/170

23

Despite the metaphysical flirtations of Mahayana, the Buddha was not concerned

with the cosmological order of the universe. He was almost exclusively invol

Documents

PSYCHOTHERAPY_BY_KARMA_TRANSFORMATION_f.pdf