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PSY 432: PERSONALITY
A NON-WESTERN APPROACH
Dainin Katagiri-roshi
(1928-1990)
D.T. Suzuki
(1870-1966)
Chapter 17: Zen Buddhism
THE INTRODUCTION OF ZEN TO THE
WEST
Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki introduced Zen Buddhism to
the West
D. T. Suzuki
 Presented papers on Buddhism in 1930s; He went on a
lecture tour of American universities in 1951, and taught at
Columbia University from 1952 to 1957
Alan Watts popularized Suzuki’s ideas in US beginning
in 1940s
Alan Watts
(1915-1973)
 Born in England; Zen training in NYC; moved to California
where he had large following in San Francisco area
Shunryu Suzuki and Dainin Katagiri-roshi in US and
Taisen Deshimaru in Europe
Shunryu Suzuki
(1904-1971)
 These Soto Zen masters credited with spreading Zen in
these areas in 1960s-1970s
Taisen Deshimaru
(1914-1982)
Dainin Katagiri-roshi
THE ORIGINS OF ZEN
Siddhartha Gautama (“Buddha”)
 Buddha means "awakened one" or "the enlightened one"
 In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha
 Profound flash of awakening at age 35; spent the final 45 years of his
life traveling to teach others and share his great discovery
 Originally, preserved through oral tradition; later written in
Tripitaka
 Two major canons: Hinayana (Theravada school) and Mahayana
THE ORIGINS OF ZEN
Theravada
 Stresses renunciation of worldly life and promotes a monastic
lifestyle
 Attempts to develop the practitioner in an arhat who through
practice and discipline is liberated from suffering
 Stresses wisdom
Mahayana
 Accepts that enlightenment is also possible for lay practitioners
 Bodhisattva is a person who vows to dedicate life to the salvation of
all conscious, feeling individuals; they would not accept full liberation
until all others are free from suffering
 Stresses compassion
THE TEACHINGS OF THE BUDDHA
Philosophical Roots
Eternalist Position
 Posits for a universal creator (Brahma)
 Posits that individual souls (atman) transmigrate through many lives
in order to become purified and rejoin the universal Brahma
 Atman continues eternally
Annihilationist Position
 All that exists is the material substance evident to the senses and at
death the individual was totally extinguished
 Person is completely destroyed at death
THE TEACHINGS OF THE BUDDHA
As a solution to the extremes Buddha advocates for
this “Middle Way” position
He advocated for a lifestyle that avoided the
extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification
THE TEACHINGS OF THE BUDDHA
Dependent Origination
Buddha’s Dharma
 Law of causality that says: “This is, because that is; this is not,
because that is not; when this arises, that arises; when this ceases,
that ceases.”
 Far-reaching truth that leaves nothing untouched and causally
connects everything in the universe
 It implies that everything (internal or external), comes into
existence depending on causes and conditions without which they
could not be
 The causes and conditions can also be either internal or external
 There is no end to causal interconnectedness; nothing is ever truly
independent or separate from everything else
DEPENDENT ORIGINATION
This concept results in an understanding of existence as a
process of change, the result of an infinite web of causal
conditions
 Birth and death mark neither the start or the end
 The conditions that result in our present existence represent a
beginningless chain
 The consequences of our actions become causal conditions whose
effects will continue after we die
 While our self or soul does not continue after death, the process
does
 Who we are lives on in the effects we have on others
 No transmigrating souls; rather a continuing karmic process
THE THREE CHARACTERISTICS OF EXISTENCE
The Buddhist view of the material world is founded on three
understandings:
Anicca (Impermanence)
• Buddhists believe nothing is permanent
• Clinging to the notion of permanency adds to our dissatisfaction and
suffering
Dukkha (Suffering)
• All life involves suffering
• People may be happy for most of their lives, but in the end they must
face physical decay and death
THE THREE CHARACTERISTICS OF EXISTENCE
Anatta (Nonself)
• There is no permanent identity or existence
• All parts are impermanent and ultimately an illusion
• Wise or enlightened Buddhists are detached from material
goods and images of themselves
BUDDHA’S SOLUTION TO THE DUKKA
The Four Noble Truths
1. People suffer (dukkha)
– all our lives, we hurt physically and emotionally
2. This suffering is caused by desire, greed, ignorance, and
attachment
– we can adapt to physical pain, but unfulfilled longings
and cravings make our suffering deep
BUDDHA’S SOLUTION TO THE DUKKA
3. To remove suffering, we must remove desire, greed,
ignorance, and attachment
– if we stop the things that cause us to desire, then
suffering will stop
– taming our desires requires great discipline
4. To end suffering and achieve enlightenment, unending
peace, and freedom from all desire, people should follow
the Noble Eightfold Path
See next slide 
BUDDHA’S SOLUTION TO THE DUKKA
The Noble Eightfold Path
• The Buddha proposed a way to deal with human expectations and
desires and avoid sorrow, called the Noble Eightfold Path
• It describes ways to think, behave, and meditate to avoid suffering
Consists of:
1. Right Understanding
2. Right Thinking
3. Right Speech
4. Right Action
5. Right Livelihood
6. Right Effort
7. Right Mindfulness
8. Right Concentration
Eightfold Path
Nirvana
 The union with the ultimate
spiritual reality
 Escape from the cycle of
rebirth
NIRVANA
The ultimate state of mind in Buddhism
Not a place like heaven, but rather a mental state in
which all cravings, desires, and dualistic ideas have been
completely extinguished through the complete
realization of anicca and anatta
Liberation is within the grasp of every person
VASUBANDHU & THE EIGHT CONSCIOUSNESSES
Vasubandhu posits that all can be experienced in
“mind only”
 There is experience but there is no subject (no atman)
having the experience
Vijnana is consciousness which is a multilayered concept
that includes conscious and unconscious aspects
VASUBANDHU & THE EIGHT CONSCIOUSNESSES
There are Eight Consciousnesses with the first five
corresponding to our five senses
Manovijnana
Is below the five sense consciousnesses
Is our thought consciousness; allows for awareness
of thoughts concerning what we see, hear, smell, taste,
or touch
VASUBANDHU & THE EIGHT CONSCIOUSNESSES
Manas
Acts as our mind where the information is given
further cognitive processing through memory,
evaluation, conception, and imagination
Allows us to become aware of being aware and results
in the delusion that we must be a self having the
awareness
The illusion of a subjective “I” or “ego” is the source of
all our psychological problems
VASUBANDHU & THE EIGHT CONSCIOUSNESSES
Alayavijnana
This is our vast storehouse of consciousness
Passive or potential ground out of which emerge the
other seven consciousnesses
Repository of all potential mental activities of the other
consciousnesses
These potentials exist in the form of seeds which when
developed produce all sorts of mental phenomena
VASUBANDHU & THE EIGHT CONSCIOUSNESSES
Alayavijnana
The seeds also affect each other
They are watered by conscious activities
This is why mindlessness of thoughts is so important
THE PRACTICE OF ZEN
Zen masters say that those who say what Zen is do
not know what it is; whereas those who know what
it is do not talk about it but teach the practice of
Zen so that others will be able to experience it
The practice of Zen is the systematic training of the mind
designed to create in the disciple a mental state that will
permit the realization of enlightenment
THE PRACTICE OF ZEN
Zazen
Sitting meditation
Essential part of Zen practice
Mind and body are not separate
Posture is expressed in the mental state that accompanies
it
THE PRACTICE OF ZEN
Rituals
• Buddhists believe rituals help them achieve enlightenment,
either in the present life or in the future
• Rituals also bond them with the Buddhist community
• The main rituals are meditation, worship at home or at a
temple or shrine, rituals marking milestones in life, and
festivals
THE PRACTICE OF ZEN
Meditation
• The Buddha used the Hindu techniques of meditation to
gain enlightenment
• Meditation quiets the mind so the meditator can more
fully enter the spiritual world
• Buddhists who meditate can bring about a state of
mindfulness (awareness only of the present moment) by
focusing on the act of breathing
THE PRACTICE OF ZEN
Meditation
• Meditators can also focus on a visual object, such as a
flame, a sacred diagram, or a mandala
• They can recite or chant a word or phrase, called a mantra,
such as the Mahayana Om Mani Padme Hum mantra (Hail
the jewel in the lotus)
Sand Mandela 
THE PRACTICE OF ZEN
Chanting
 Important thing is to just chant
 Don’t expect anything from it
 This like all Zen activities is autotelic
 Not a form of prayer; not aimed at a superior power, nor
does it petition anything
 When chanting, just experience the sound
THE PRACTICE OF ZEN
Bowing
 Not an act of worship but an action expressing respect
and gratitude
 Bowing in front of an altar is an exercise that helps to
subdue the ego and express gratitude
 All statues in Zen temples are symbolic of mental states
and abilities; they do not represent God or other holy
figures
 The important thing when bowing is to just bow; expect
nothing out of it
THE PRACTICE OF ZEN
Eating
 Whether done with the traditional oryoki bowls or in
the everyday setting , the key element is the maintenance
of mindfulness
 When eating, just eat
 Give food your undivided attention
FIVE APPROACHES TO ZEN PRACTICE
Bompu Zen
 Zen practiced for a profit; mental health, stress
management; sport performance
Gedo Zen
 New Age practitioners use Zen to engage in higher states
of consciousness
Shojo Zen
 Practice for the sake of one’s own liberation
FIVE APPROACHES TO ZEN PRACTICE
Dijo Zen (“Great Vehicle”)
 Practiced for the sake of liberating all people
Saijojo Zen
 Zazen practiced for the sake of practicing zazen with no
expectations
EASTERN THOUGHT & PSYCHOTHERAPY
Eastern disciplines aim to help the everyday lives of
normal or healthy individuals; concerned with the
alleviation of the unnecessary suffering caused by
the delusion of the separate self
Western psychotherapy attempts to heal the neurotic
person by strengthening ego; developing a stronger self
Yet, this notion of the self is the considered to be the root
cause of human by the Buddhists
Eastern psychotherapy attempts to dissolve the
experience of the self as a separate entity and replace it
with a feeling of interconnectedness
EASTERN THOUGHT & PSYCHOTHERAPY
Morita Therapy
“Quiet therapy”
The method consists of isolated bed rest which allows
patients to come in touch with thmeselves
This is followed by periods of light and then heavier
manual work, and a period of retraining to help patients
rejoin normal life
During part of the treatment the patients keep a diary
with therapist adding his or her own notes to it
Standard hospitalization lasts between 40-60 days
EASTERN THEORIES
Strengths
Highly practical
Allow for deeper awareness that transcends everyday
consciousness
Many eastern ideas incorporated by personality theorists
(Jung, Horney, Allport, Rogers, Maslow, etc.)
Weaknesses
Clearly not intended to be a science
CREDITS
Some of the slides in this presentation prepared with the assistance of the
following web sites:
 www.pptpalooza.net/PPTs/GlobalStudies/Buddhism.ppt
 www.ivc.edu/faculty/SFelder/.../Buddhismintro.ppt
 www.nelson.com/worldreligions/documents/ch8ppt.ppt