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37 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Psychotherapy at its best meets Buddhist Practice, February 11, 2005
This review is from: Buddhist Practice on Western Ground: Reconciling Eastern Ideals and Western Psychology (Paperback)
Dr. Aronson has written a gem. His psychological insights are warming and wonderful. His bridge to Buddhist meditation practice is both unique and invaluable. Rarely have I seen a psychotherapist who understands and communicates the quality of a successful psychotherapy so well. Coupling that gift with his ease in personal revelations, Dr. Aronson creates a warm holding environment, one that encourages the reader to feel equally comfortable and at ease in looking at his or her own vulnerable feelings. The ability to communicate both the value of a good psychotherapy and to capture its warm essence is very rare. Dr. Aronson has another gift. As a long-time Buddhist practitioner and professor, he possesses a deep personal knowledge of how the practice is used, and misused, by Westerners. Dr. Aronson captures this by providing a very interesting cross-cultural perspective, picking up strengths and weaknesses as Buddhism has been both transplanted and translated from Asia to the West. He has a unique and invaluable perspective on the way Buddhist teachings are recruited to one's individual neurosis. Dr. Aronson retranslates Buddhist proscriptions against "anger." He believes the Asian teachers were not admonishing one to avoid an emotional state, but rather to avoid destructive actions. Aronson believes that angry feelings are often helpful, or even necessary for some people to grow, and to become able have an effective meditation practice. This opinion is consistent with his gloss that the advice to avoid anger should be read as avoiding destructive action. This is so because if a person was the victim of destructive actions, or a longer destructive upbringing, hiding or disavowing those destructive actions perpetrated against the person would actually be to collude with one or more aggressors, and that can only done at a high personal cost. The cost could take many forms, including disengaging with the world, having symptoms of depression or guilt, substance abuse, chronic relational problems, etc. In this discussion, we see Aronson capturing therapy at its best. My only criticism of this book is that its title didn't offer a way to easily capture the imagination of the psychotherapeutic world, as I think psychotherapists, and people interesting in psychotherapy are a natural audience. I appreciate this wonderful book and encourage others to enjoy fascinating and stimulating book. Mark Siegert, Ph.D. Clinical Psychologist, Psychoanalyst
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27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Deep Synergism, November 14, 2004
This review is from: Buddhist Practice on Western Ground: Reconciling Eastern Ideals and Western Psychology (Paperback)
I found this book remarkable; it explores the crucial need to pursue new approaches to understand mental distress and to find ways to overcome such suffering. Dr. Aronson shares with us the gift of his knowledge, experience, and deep compassion helping others. He presents us with a profound and comprehensive portrayal of the differences, similarities and ultimately synergism between Eastern approaches to 'taming' of the mind and Western approaches of 'therapy' of the mind. In this detailed, nuanced and penetrating analysis he patiently teaches how exploring both of these traditions - Buddhism and Psychotherapy- can help us become aware of and overcome obstacles to our personal and spiritual growth that pursuing only one approach, without the assistance of the other, may lead us to feel mired in the inescapable quicksand of seeming insurmountable barriers. Dr. Aronson shares tender personal reflections on his own struggles with suffering and how he was able to overcome these obstacles to his personal growth by pursuing both Buddhist teachings and psychotherapy. His discussion about the way in which both of these practices enabled him to expand and enhance his own spiritual growth and his abilities to work in helping others is both courageous and inspiring. Philip J. Hauptman MD Psychiatrist NYC, NY
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20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Much-needed exposition--cross-culture & cross-languaging, November 28, 2005
This review is from: Buddhist Practice on Western Ground: Reconciling Eastern Ideals and Western Psychology (Paperback)
The author is psychotherapist, & meditation teacher with many famous associates/teachers in Theravada, Vajrayana, Dzogchen, & Bon (e. g. Surya Das, the IMS crew, Hopkins, Dudjom R., Norbu, Wangyal, Goenka et al), & Anne Klein's husband. He builds on the work of other therapist-Buddhists (Engler, Rubin, Epstein, Safran, Welwood) in explaining differences, risks, & potential cross-fertilization between these Eastern & Western approaches p. xiii: "Buddhist philosophy & meditation practice offer many tools for profound spiritual development, but they do not address all the psychological concerns of Westerners. Without more culturally appropriate interventions such as psychotherapy, even some advanced meditators continue to suffer from anxiety, depression, isolating narcissism, or numbed disengagement," p. xv: "When unacknowledged, such cultural gaps can cause teachers to misunderstand their students, who in turn suffer feelings of alienation & emotional injury," p. 2: "When we assimilate Buddhist practice into preexisting patterns, we merely introduce new content into old forms," & p. 65: "Confusion can occur when we are not mindful that we are taking concepts out of a Buddhist historical & linguistic context, translating them & depositing them into our own cultural-linguistic framework." As Tibetan/Pali/Sanskrit translator, he provides extensive discussion of how words, used differentially in English & Asian tongues, cause misunderstanding; thus, he focuses on 4 often confusing topics: self, anger, love, & attachment, providing examples of cultural & linguistic differences. Carefully choosing his words, he provides examples, stories, personal experiences, & quotes from both Buddhist masters & psychotherapists as well as meditation exercises (Tonglen, metta/maitri--see Pema Chödrön's works for more detail). He describes his aim as: p. 91: "cross-cultural & psychological reflections on Buddhist teachings," pointing out that p. 228 note 30: "Our way of understanding our experience is then very different from that of traditional Asian cultures." For example, p. 92: "Healthy anger, or assertion, differs from the intent to harm, which is the traditional Buddhist meaning of anger." p. 101: "Buddhist texts have no single morally neutral term for our abstract concept `emotions'." Also, p. 162: "It is an unfortunate & significant misreading of Buddhist literature to confuse the attitude of a Buddhist practitioner who embodies engaged nonattachment with that of a person who is defensively detached." He addresses how Buddhism will be absorbed into the West (reminiscent of Tsomo's & others' books on Western Buddhist Women), stating--p. 80: "We in the West will inevitably place Buddhist philosophical teachings within our psychological frame." p. 195: "While it is important to recognize the complex web of language, philosophy, social customs, & history that have both informed Buddhism & been informed by it in Asia, there is no way that we can-or should-seek to replicate all segments of that web when we incorporate Buddhist practice into our lives. From what I have seen, it is most effective to craft our own psycho-spiritual milieu, one that combines both traditional & modern approaches in addressing the broad array of concerns that we currently experience." p. 205: "We are seeing the evolution of an entirely new style of Buddhism in the West, influenced by cultural forces not prevalent in traditional Asia."
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