REL407 Paper Topics I

Topics for Paper I, REL 407/507 Buddhism and Psychotherapy

Due date: Friday, October 30 on Canvas.

Two to three pages (If necessary, you can go over some, but the topics are designed so that you can address them within the limited space alloted. You may use parenthetical notation to indicate page numbers for textual references. Provide a bibliography at the end.)
Select ONE topic from below, either from Topics A, or do Topic B.
I encourage you to discuss these topics with one another.
Write your name, the name of the class, and the number and title of your topic at the top of the page. Be sure include direct quotations and/or page references from the readings relevant to your chosen topic in the body of your paper.
I also strongly encourage you to read the essays on my Writing web pages, especially "Four Keys to Writing in the Humanities," "Paper Writing Guidelines," "Checklist for Papers," and "Writing: The Bridge between Consciousness and Unconsciousness."
I encourage you to use Grammerly, an online writing aid tool, available free at https://www.grammarly.com/ The basic version is free.

TOPICS A

1. Jack Engler, "Being Somebody and Being Nobody"

How did Engler's view of the relation between "being somebody" and "being nobody" change? How does that affect how he thinks Westerners might engage the Buddhist practice of realizing 'no-self' or "being nobody"? Provide one concrete analogy or illustration of how this realization works in relation to "being somebody." What is/are problems with the model of the self he presents?

2. Robin Hertz, "Science-ing Mindfulness"

Discuss two differences Hertz identifies between traditional paths of Buddhist practice and contemporary Western mindfulness-based interventions. From the perspective of Jeremy Safran's essay, "Introduction: Psychoanalysis and Buddhism as Cultural Institutions," provide at least two points that help to expand and illuminate these differences in terms of cultural history/context.

3. Jung's Commentary on the Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation

Discuss Jung's presentation of the similarities and differences between the Buddhist view of the mind, on the one hand, and Jung's view of Westerner's minds, on the other. Expand on Jung's discussion based on Jeremy Safran's essay, "Introduction: Psychoanalysis and Buddhism as Cultural Institutions," by a) providing two points of cultural contextualization, and b) one or two points where Safran might disagree with Jung's views presented in his essay.

4. Ann Ulanov, Creativity and Madness

Select one or two case examples that Ann Ulanov presents that describes the disintegration of the ruling principle of ego-consciousness, how this leads to confrontation with the psychological complex previously hidden from view, and the return to creative integration between consciousness and the unconscious. Focus on how the repetitive compulsion to revisit the emotional and psychic experience of the complex becomes transformed into creative integration through appropriate ritual practice (of psychotherapy, dreamwork).

5. Ann Ulanov on the Jungian View of the Psyche (consciousness and unconscioues) and Buddhist Views of Mind and Interdependence

Compare and contrast two views of the mind: Ulanov's Jungian view of the psyche as constellated in terms of ego consciousness, society, and inner unconscious with either A) Jung's presentation of Buddhist Mind as he discusses it in

his "Psychological Commentary on the Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation" (CR6), or B) Jeremy Safran's presentation of Buddhist view of self, non-self, and interdependence in

"Introduction: Psychoanalysis and Buddhism as Cultural Institutions" (CR1).

6. Ann Ulanov on the Creative Return from Madness (Individuation) and Jack Engler on awakening to Buddhist No-Self

Compare and contrast Ann Ulanov's presentation of Jungian individuation -- the disintegration of rigid ego-consciousness, facing the abyss, and returning to a creative consciousness that is integrative with the Unconscious -- with Jack Engler's view of the attainment of Buddhist no-self in "Chapter 1: Being Somebody and Being Nobody" (CR2).

7. Select your own topic

Identify one passage from among the readings thus far that relate to a topic concerning Buddhism and psychotherapy that you would like to develop throughout the course. Formulate a one paragraph description of the topic that you would like to pursue, in terms of a) a psychological problem that you would like to examine, in a clinical sense; b) a philosophical problem of the similarities and differences between a particular Western psychological view of mind and a Buddhist one; c) a comparison and contrast between Buddhist views of practice and psychotherapeutic views of therapy. Discuss how the passage you have selected helps to address the topic or question that you have selected to work on. If there is another topic you would like to do on your own, then please see me. You must submit your topic paragraph by email to me by Thursday, Feb 2.

TOPIC B

You will create a character - fiction or non-fiction, one you create or someone you know, or even yourself - and write a brief story. You can write about this person in the FIRST PERSON OR THIRD PERSON (your own voice, the character's own voice, or the narrator's third-person description). This character is facing pain and suffering on two fronts, externally and internally. For example, they may be facing externally: a natural disaster, illness, loss of relationship, violence or abuse; they may be facing internally: emotional turmoil, shame, guilt, anger, depression, loss of meaning, confusion. You will create the beginning of a story in which you incorporate 2 or 3 of the ideas below:

Jeremy Safran's ideas about the self: the psychological self, which can be multiple or multifaceted and fluid in a constructed, psychological sense, and/or his view of the Buddhist self, which is similarly multifaceted and fluid, but is realized in a mind-body unity or nonduality that reflects is grounding in emptiness/oneness.
Jack Engler's idea that development some degree of strength and resilience of ego-consciousness (being "somebody) is required in order to let go of the self and realize no-self/non-self/emptiness.
Robin Hertz's criticism of secularized mindfulness practice as too goal-oriented and based on short-term self-benefit rather than the Buddhist path of lifelong cultivation, confronting the darkness within, and letting go of expectations.
Radmila Moacanin's presentation of the work of psychotherapist C. G. Jung, who presents the journey of individuation as the path to wholeness through integrating ego consciousness with the personal unconscious, the Shadow, and the collective unconscious.
Katy Butler's examination of potentially abusive practices carried out by Buddhist masters/teachers in the West.
Ann Klein's discussion of Buddhist practice as the transformative practice of energetic sensing.
Ann Ulanov's notion that trauma/complexes are tangles of thoughts and emotions that become lodged in the psyche in such a way that they also inhabit the body, that one feels physically as well as mentally dislocated in such a way that one's existing framework for understanding reality is not expansive enough to hold one's experience (Chapter 1). (For a Reader's Guide to Ulanov's work, Creativity and Madness, see Guide to Ann Ulanov on the external web site. Ulanov's work is an interpretation of Jung's view of individuation as presented in his Red Book).
Ulanov's idea that increasing awareness of the presence of complexes/traumas can ultimately bring one to a deeper realization about oneself, initiating a creative process of self-discovery (Chapter 3).
Ulanov's idea that opening to the Shadow and abyss within, initiated by the confrontation with complexes allows one to gain access to the healing power of the Collective Unconscious, through the archetypal divine power within, or the power of the Self (Chapter 4).
Other ideas from Ulanov.