Buddhist Wisdom and Psychotherapy
Among the many paths contained within the two-legged sentient world, today especially in Australia we can acknowledge great diversity! As such, one can consider the range of cultural and spiritual wisdom traditions as part of one humanity. In many ways, perhaps more ways than any other perspective, there are indeed connections and harmonies created by the sounds of every tradition and culture. This symphony of humanity is astounding. Rich in meaning. And full of potential for healing, growth, and insight.
At this time in history, the ancient Buddhist scriptures of the “east” are arising in the “west” due to recent translations. Likewise, in our generation we have rediscovered buried texts of early Christianity that predate the canon of gospels and that were found in the Dead Sea Scrolls as they are called by many. Among these the Gospel of Thomas provides a great deal of wisdom, and insights to early Christian wisdom that are expansive and powerful.
Only as recent as 2017, a new translation of the Heart Sutra with commentaries was published by Thich Nhat Hanh, entitled ‘The Other Shore’ (Parallax Press). Likewise, a huge explosion of valuable and mostly free-access public domain and creative commons open copyright materials is now available online, in large part due to the Buddhist philosophy of positive merit associated with sharing the wisdom of tradition. For example, see https://www.buddhanet.net/.
Not the least contribution of Buddhism to psychotherapy practice is the sense of presence of mindfulness, where divinity in the Ch’an or Zen sense is immanent within you. When awakening to the sense of divinity within, also your issues or problems that arise in daily life take on new meaning. By sensing or simply mentally acknowledging a ‘higher self’ we two-legged are more apt to shift perspectives, to see from a ‘bird’s eye view’ and to access new inner resources for change, healing, and insight.
