Toward a Psychology of Awakening: Buddhism, Psychotherapy, and the Path of Personal and Spiritual Transformation

"Good book, just a bit all over the place because it is a collection of articles that the author altered to fit into book form. I wish the author would come out with a more comprehensive book on the subject. He seems to focus on healing relationships much.
I also disagree somewhat with meditative psychologists, saying that meditation is about transcending the self completely. I would argue that a component of meditation is better/nonverbal understanding of one's psycholoy as a whole. Also with my Zen experience, we try not to focus on talking about in great lenghts, what exactly we are doing when sitting, because it isn't about expecting something.
But I'll say kudos to this author. It was from reading him and Charlotte Beck that got me to search out a psychotherapist that understands the meditative disciplines. Meditation may be the grounds toward psychological wholeness, but the complicated western mind needs psychological.
I've always wondered why some so called masters are still neurotic. "
~ Written on 2008-04-11

"Most folks who join a Buddhist center in the West likely have a combination of psychological pain and spiritual angst, and it is often difficult to sort out which is which. There are many Western Buddhists with years of meditation practice under their belts, but who nevertheless feel anxious about their so-called negative emotions and who, in some part of their minds, hold doubts about their worthiness as human beings. Unfortunately, these folks are wary of psychotherapy and labor under the delusion that more meditation, more community service, and a stricter adherence to the Buddhist precepts will "cure" this state of affairs. It won't. As John Welwood points out in *Toward a Psychology of Awakening*, most Westerners have grown up in modern societies in which obtaining stable, meaningful work, engaging in significant long-term relationships and belonging to supportive communities are tasks that were much easier achieved by their grandparents than by themselves. Thus, meditation practice in and of itself is never sufficient to attain wholeness. Welwood shows us that it is only by acknowledging our wounds and fully opening to being present with ourselves will we begin the slow task of integrating ourselves with our experience--a task which in many cases will necessitate psychotherapy. This book complements Rob Preece's *The Wisdom of Imperfection* and Harvey B. Aronson's *Buddhist Practice on Western Ground* very nicely."
~ Written on 2008-02-16

"TOWARD A PSYCHOLOGY OF AWAKENING is a dense book that describes the path of spiritual transformation from both an Eastern and Western perspective. Its primary value lies in trying to synthesize these two ways of looking at reality and describes in detail how each path informs the other.

Many paradigms both East and West aren't necessarily integrative for many modern people. This book is an attempt to provide a more holistic worldview that reconciles psychology with Buddhist insights into human nature, love and transformation.

There is also a good section on relationship as a path. I think this is an important area to address because something arises in intersubjective experience that has emergent qualities that transcend each individual. In other words, things like love, compassion and community. We can only be fully human when we are fully engaged with others in a conscious manner. This book discusses these issues and does a great job of it.

Many people won't find this book an easy read. It contains a lot of material and it explores many ideas in-depth. It also attempts to synthesize a lot of material in a brief space. However, if you have a deep interest in psychology or Buddhism, you will discover a treasure trove of good information and innovative ways of bringing it together.

If you are not very familiar with Western Psychology or Buddhism, but have a deep interest in personal and spiritual growth, you will still get a lot out of this book. However, you may find it a slower read and will undoubtedly have to take time to assimilate all of the concepts. It will be well worth the effort, but this isn't a superficial bedtime story.

Overall, I give this book my highest recommendation. It is original, well-organized, and well thought out. It is an important contribution in the area of psychological and spiritual growth and the relationship between them.
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~ Written on 2006-10-09

"The author integrates Western Psychology & Eastern Spirituality (Tantric Buddhism) in a highly readable book--p. xix: "I have chosen to discuss East & West, psychotherapy, meditation, Buddhist psychology in broad terms, without focusing on the different schools & perspectives w/i these traditions." He has a lyrical style; provides good analogies (Buber's egg to chicken story p. 248), balances opposites, & relates the 2 paths/domains into "psycho-spiritual development." This book is personal, inspired by p. xv "Witnessing the contradiction where spiritual teachers & students who clearly had developed a certain level of genuine spiritual insight & awareness nevertheless remained stuck in unwholesome personality patterns-was both troubling & revealing," demonstrating pp. 11-2: "spiritual bypassing" = "to use spiritual practices to bypass or avoid dealing with certain personal or emotional `unfinished business'...trying to use spirituality to shore up developmental deficiencies." He states that p. 24: "personality is a frozen form of our true nature" & p. 231: "Intimate relationship as a path of awakening." Per Tantric Buddhism's "love affair between absolute & relative truth," he asserts the need to integrate realizations to actualize them--we need to grow up (psychologically) as well as wake up (spiritually), avoiding codependence while pursuing selflessness. Thus, he differentiates between soul work & spiritual work, stating that the West is pioneering new possibilities through the personal (individuation) & the interpersonal (e.g. intimate relationships). He has fine observations On Thoughts: p. 31: "Our thoughts act as a kind of glue that holds our identity structure together" & p. 190: we get "hijacked by our thoughts" On Love: p. 251: "Unconditional love does not imply that a relationship must take a particular form. We may love someone deeply, yet still be unable to live with that person" & p. 253 (quoting) "Unconditional love & support can be damaging to the development of a child's self-esteem" & On Healing: p. 145: "The full presence of our being is healing in & of itself."

But some neologisms are redundant: unfolding, Horizontal/Vertical shifts, & chaos resemble Kuhn's paradigms & the unfreezing/freezing process; "Moment of World Collapse" resembles St. John of the Cross' Dark Night of the Soul. Despite a Sources section, some quotes only give the author. IMHO he has a pro-feeling/anti-thinking bias--his assertions on thoughts also apply to emotions, seems sight-oriented (persons perceive more with one sense than others), & often refers to people's p. 183 "basic goodness" (cf. M. Scott Peck's "People of the Lie"). His differencing of "submit" & "surrender" isn't in Websters, he fails to note that complementary psychological & spiritual work resembles a yin-yang balancing, & his "meditation" means Shamatha, not Vipashyana. He says p. 293, Part I, Intro., note 1: "strictly speaking there is no Eastern "Psychology" in the Western sense of the term: the objective study of psyche, self, & behavior as they develop through time," agreeing with Jung & profusely uses Jung's term "individuation," but seems p. 63 to confuse unknowable with unknown, ignores Jung's synchronicity & Self, & decries Western psychology's p. 95 determinism. His knowledge of Jung seems limited. He's correct regarding Jung's defining consciousness only by the ego, but Jung's ego-inclusive Self could IMHO become conscious like Castaneda's 2nd Attention. While I didn't find much new in this work, its presentation & insight greatly overshadow its relatively minor deficiencies."
~ Written on 2005-08-04

"This was one of the first spiritually inclined books i've ever read and was rather hard to get my head around some of the information. Along with the big words :), however i stuck with it and this book really has helped me loads and its one of those books which i keep going back to and reading again."
~ Written on 2005-05-22