Christopher McLean

Buddhist practice and psychotherapy are both engaged in ending certain forms of suffering, especially suffering which arises from unskillful use of the mind. They share, too, a love of depth - they each explore what is in the depths of the human being. In this sense (speaking generally, of course) they are both directed toward the awakening of wisdom, the liberation of the human being.  This website will be devoted to presenting some of the main ideas that underpin a Buddhist psychotherapy.

When we, as individuals, free ourselves from our prejudices -  from our emotional and intellectual baggage -  then, we not only feel happier ourselves, but we are freed up to make a significant contribution to the peace and happiness of our families, and to the well-being of local, national, and international communities. Personal peace also contributes to the welfare of all other species with whom we share this fragile blue planet, because inner peace removes the causes of the violence we otherwise visit on our environment.  When we go into our psychological depths, with no limit to the investigation, we find there a common, inexhaustible, spiritual nature, which extends kindness in all directions.

Pain is inevitable -  the pain of birth, of loss, of death, of accident and disease, and so on. On the other hand, everywhere in human life there is anguish that is self-caused - innumerable forms of suffering: from the subtle tensions and gross violations which can occur in our homes, our schools, or our workplaces, to the world-wide sufferings of racism, economic exploitation, ecological degradation, and war.  And yet, we are born capable of developing peaceful and loving lives. For this potential to be actualised, we need to examine closely how we function; to get to know ourselves intimately. This is the primary purpose of meditation, mindfulness and other forms of self-reflection.

As the Dalai Lama said to Howard Cutler in their The Art of Happiness: a Handbook for Living:

"It is still my firm conviction that human nature is essentially compassionate, gentle.   That is the predominant feature of human nature.  Anger, violence, and aggression may certainly arise, but I think it's on a secondary or more superficial level;   in a sense, they arise when we are frustrated in our efforts to achieve love and affection.  They are not part of our most basic, underlying nature." 

If we grow up otherwise, its a failure of education. Buddhist teachings say that self-caused suffering can be eliminated if we intelligently investigate its deep causes, and that the result of such an effort is to see into the nature of our heart and, and so to realise unparalleled freedom.  The fundamental cause of human-caused suffering is - in both psychotherapy and Buddhadharma - ignorance.

There is, as I said, pain that arises with disease, accident, child-birth, and so on; however, these are not 'self-caused' in the sense that is meant here. However, even this type of pain can be borne with greater dignity if we live in such a way as to be free of our selfishness.  

The common territory of psychotherapy and Buddhism lies in their interest in human liberation from everyday narcissism; their support for the awakening of love, compassion, and joy; and their unflinching investigation of what blocks these.  Indeed when psychotherapy admits of a spiritual life, then the line between spiritual work and psychological work is not so easily defined.  The psychological work is able to give access to spiritual dimensions of life, and the spiritual work illumines personal psychological patterns.  The work of both Buddhism and Psychotherapy is the clarification of the human personality and hence, the uncovering of our luminous core.

May all be free, and have the causes of freedom and happiness.
Christopher McLean