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ZhuXiang and Resistance Practice of Chan Buddhism and Psychoanalytic Therapy in Chinese Culture Zhang Tianbu , Xi’an , P.R. China Abstracte :There is a growing body of literature on the similarities between the Western practice of psychoanalysis and Eastern practice of Chan Buddhism. As a Chinese clinician who has been exposed to the theories and techniques of both psychoanalysis and Chan Buddhism, I try to integrate these two historically and metaphysically different systems of thought and practice in my own work. In this paper, I will discuss two parallel phenomena: resistance in psychoanalysis and ZhuXiang in the practice of Chan Buddhism. Second, I will briefly compare some main psychoanalytic theories with Chan Buddhism. Finally, I will demonstrate, through a number of cases, how to render interpretations more readily understood and accepted in Chinese culture by using the concepts and techniques from both practice of psychoanalytical therapy and Chan Buddhism. [Key Word] Psychotherapy, Psychoanalysis, Psychoanalytic, ZhuXiang, Resistance, Chan Buddhism, Working Through, Insight, Interpretation, Chinese Culture Psychoanalytic psychotherapy uses relational communication between the therapist and the client to promote insight and growth. In the process of analysis, the therapist helps the client overcome resistance, which can hinder communication between the two as well the client’s self-understanding ,which can hinder therapeutic change. Different schools of psychoanalytic psychotherapy use school specific theories and techniques to help the client gain insight. Chan practice emphasizes “clarifying the heart to expose the origin of it”, “complete awakenness of the origin of the heart”. The heart is easy to be blocked thus there is the need to keep it clear. In parallel to this, psychoanalytic theories stated people are not aware of the content and conflicts of the unconscious due to repression. The commonality between Chan and psychoanalysis lies in that both deals with the human mind, and both help people become more self-aware and stable. In the practice of Chan, there are many unique idioms or “cases” of well-known Chan masters that illustrate the basic principles. Chan has a long history in China. Using these idioms and cases in interpersonal communication would greatly facilitate understanding of the purpose and the metaphor of these unique idioms and cases. In this paper, I will 1) discuss resistance in psychoanalytical psychotherapy in the light of Zhu-xiang, a state characterized by fixation on objects in Chan practice. 2) compare Zhu-xiang in the light of different schools of psychoanalytical theories. The purpose of this paper is to clarify some psychoanalytical theories and techniques in a language which is more familiar to the Chinese people. 1.Clinical manifestation of Zhu-xiang and resistance 1.1 Ms. C with Social Anxiety ClientC, is a 30 y/o female who self-referred to psychoanalytical psychotherapy for her social anxiety. In the first four sessions, she reported to the therapist in great detail about her symptoms and answered the questions about her childhood, family history and social and occupational history. In the fifth session, there was a dialogue between the therapist and Ms. C. C: Doctor, I’ve finished reporting what I can think of. Now it is your turn to tell me what and how I should do to become normal again. A: what does “abnormal” mean to you? C: I become nervous when I see people, very nervous. A: Do you know any reason why you become so nervous? C: The reason is because that I would blush when I see people. A: Under what situations, you would blush? C: I blush once I feel nervous. A: Nervousness is a type of feeling. Can you talk about how you feel when you feel nervous? C: I don’t feel anything. A: What has made you feel nervous, do you worry about anything? C: I worry that I would blush when I see people. When I blush, I feel nervous. I don’t worry about anything else. A: then blushing… C: blushing is because….because when I feel nervous, I blush. A: let me tell a story. Both of us can relax a bit. A man bought a parrot. When he brought it home, he found out that the parrot had a habit of asking “Who are you?” all day long. The man was very annoyed by this. One morning, after the man left for work, a thief broke in. When the thief stepped in, he heard a loud voice, “Who are you?” the thief was scared, hid behind the door and answered “ Gas delivery” the voice asked again, sounding very serious “Who are you?” the thief was very nervous and relied again, “Gas delivery” the voice persisted asking with doubt, “who are you?” the thief kept answering “ Gas delivery” “who are you?” “ gas delivery” …… The man came back home. When he pushed the door open, he saw a stranger lying on the floor, confused and trembling. The man asked “who are you?” A loud voice came from the living room, “ Gas delivery!” After listening to the story, C said, “I know you want me to feel myself, but I just don’t feel anything.” Silence in the therapy room. The therapist didn’t continue the “egg and chicken” dialogue with C. He looked at her quietly for a minute and commented “ you are pretty” seemingly irrelevantly. Upon hearing this, C covered her face with her hands, turned against the therapist and said, “ Please don’t say that, I am indeed feeling embarrassed. I am most afraid that people would comment that I am pretty.” The therapist then reminded her to pay attention to her reaction and how she feels for this moment. 1.1.2 A nun with anxiety disorder a sixty years old nun feels nervous, muscle ache in the neck and sweats quite often. Especially when it is her turn to chant the Jing, she would worry that she can not follow the rhythm of the Wooden Fish ( Mu Yu). She said the most important thing for a nun is to serve the Buddha by chanting every morning, noon and night. Serving the Buddha is the top priority in her life and she has never in the past 20 years. She thought that she should behave perfectly in every chanting without a single mistake to follow the rhythm and rhyme. She would get wet by sweating each time, chanting and would feel relieved after it. She constantly worry that she would not be able to follow the rhythm of the Wooden Fish when chanting and she would miss a note when she is working on the Wooden Fish. She transferred from a big temple to a smaller one since she could no longer take the stress in the big temple. The life pace in the small temple was much slower but she still sought perfection when chanting. When it is her turn to guard the Buddha, she would complete read the whole Jing. She would feel uncomfortable, nervous, trembling, aching in the neck and back, numbness in the legs and feet due to the long sitting. More seriously, she would feel palpitation, shortness of breath, and feelings of impending death. After much thinking, she decided to seek help at the clinic. Therapist asked whether she had consulted other nuns about what she was experiencing. She didn’t find time too since she needed to chant on time every day and the schedule was really tight. The other nuns won’t have time to discuss and deal with personal things since all of them have their own duties and responsibilities in serving the Buddha, Therapist asked again about the purpose of chanting and whether she could describe her situation in the Buddhism language? She answered after she thought for a while, “ I could be too fixated.” It is possible that what she meant is that she has been fixated on the attitude and the way of chanting. 1.1.3 Mr. Z, the one who seeks sexual satisfaction Mr. Z has been diagnosed for neurotic depressive disorder for more than 10 years. After two years of psychoanalytical psychotherapy, his mood was lifted, and his passion for life returned. He wanted to relive a normal life with sexual satisfaction. He told the therapist:“ I know that I am no longer obsessed with my narcissistic needs and felt much relieved. I think that a normal life should be one that with a woman. It is terrible for a man to not even have sexual desire. But every time, I felt that my penis was not hardened or long enough and didn’t sustain for long enough, I worry more that I won’t be able to be sexually satisfied. Though my girlfriend has never complained, she even encourage and compliment me, I still worry about my sexual prowness. I found many sexologists, they told me that there was no problem. I started to wonder what was going on in my internal world? After several sessions, he realized that he still hadn’t worked through his narcissism, thus he was incapable of establishing a secure, harmonious, delightful and satisfying interpersonal relationship. Sexual satisfaction is mutual between two partners, however, he considered it his own business. In more detail, he thought satisfaction is all about his penis and forgot that true sexual satisfaction is rooted in the satisfaction of the relationship between two partners. He proclaimed, “ It seems that I entered the state of Zhu-xiang according to Jin Gang Jing.” 1．1.4 Mr. B who seeks perfection Mr. B said that his life has been a mess for a long time. He described his life as follows: everyday, I made myself very busy. I make plans to discipline myself, but at the same time, I keep negating what I’ve been doing, feeling that I don’t want my life to be like this. I should be in a better state. Then I redesign my plans, but I’ve never accomplished anything. I repeated doing this over and over, trying to find the “best point” in life. Mr. Be remembered one incident in his childhood that was analogous to what he was doing now.“One day when I was a child, I was left home alone while my mother went out to run errands. My mother told me to stay home and not to go out play. My desire of going out play grew stronger and stronger, however, I need to be back home before my mother came back. However, my mother didn’t leave the key to me. I stepped outside the door and tried to figure out how to close the door without locking it. I wanted to close the door in the way that it looked it was locked, but actually, it wasn’t. I almost spent an hour trying to find that “best point”. Did you find that POINT? Mr. B laughed at himself, “It’s impossible to find that POINT”. What happened next? B: the door was locked. I waited for my mother to come back without going anywhere, depressingly. It seems as if I’ve been repeating the same thing, unable to stop. In therapy, Mr. B continues to fixate on one POINT: he couldn’t get started on anything until he is able to regulate himself to the best state. He realized that was hard to reach that ideal state, but he didn’t give up his pursuit and was constantly hoping and searching for it. 2.Zhu-xiang as resistance in Chan practice and psychoanalysis 2．1 The characteristics of resistance in Zhuxiang The 4 cases illustrated one phenomena in therapy: resistance. That is, the therapy reached stalemate and could not proceed. The content of the conversation became highly repetitive, the understanding of the problem became fixated, the discussion between A and P became intellectualized, free association is disenabled. There is not much emotional or experiential factors involved. This type of resistance is analogous to Zhu-xiang in Chan. Zhu-xiang resistance hinders the integration of a client’s feeling and thinking. The client was unable understand the association between how he feels and thinks. The treatment can only be carried out at a conscious level, but not at a deeper, unconscious level. Resistance in therapy can be manifested as lack of communication, lack of confrontation, lack of insight and lack of change. Zhu-xiang resistance is very similar to lack of insight. 2．2 Zhu-xiang in Chan Buddhism According to Chan, while practicing Chan, a person may encounter a difficult situation which will hinder him from true awakening. This stated is called: Zhu-xiang, which means “fixation on form”. Zhu-xiang was originally described in < Jin Gang Jing>--a Chan classic reading. Zhu-xiang, also known as Fa-xiang, refers to a type of rigid cognitive style. When in this state of mind, the person’s thinking is fixated on some concepts or forms at a conscious level, he tries to find answers through intellectualization. The impact of emotional situations or experiences is reduced or even neutralized by dealing with them on an ideational rather than emotional level. Xiang: the form, shape of something. It also can mean concept or manifestation. Zhu means “fixate”, or “ stubbornly hold on to”. Zhu-xiang used in this paper shares the similar meaning with Zhu-xiang in Jin Gang Jing. However, Zhu-xiang (住相)is a noun vs. Zhu-xiang ((驻相)is more likely to be used as a verb. Zhu-xiang (驻相) delineates more vividly the dynamics in therapy as well as in Zen practice. For example: someone saw a beggar on the street and quite a few people were giving small changes to the beggar. He feels that he should also give the poor man some money or something. Otherwise, he feels he lacks a loving heart. So he gave the beggar some money when other people are present. Later that night, on his way back home, he saw a drunkard fell down onto the ground. He felt relieved when he ran away from the drunkard, didn’t bother to 120 to report the incident. People quite often don’t really know what they are searching for. Sometimes, what we do is manifestation of some deeper motivation. When one speaks ill of another person, one would say that “ Mr.xxx has kowtowed once in front of the Buddha but farted twice behind the Buddha. His bad deeds outweighed his good ones.” Or still another person enjoys claiming to be a good-hearted man who only does good things. He ignites the incense, chants, meditates and only eats vegetables before the Buddha. However, in real life, he is very caculating, he spreads rumors and brings damage to other people’s reputation. This kind of person is not real good-hearted. “The self-claimed good-hearted man’s heart weighs half-pound heavier than others”. Chan emphasizes “emptiness” and reminds its followers to pay attention to another manifestation of Zhu-xiang. “ I dust the Statue of Buddha day after day so that no dirt will ever be piled on it.” When the Buddha is treated as only an idol made out of mud, rather than complete awareness of the mind, dusting the Statue of Buddha becomes a daily necessity. The Sixth Patriarch of Chan, Hui-neng once said, “ Only emptiness resides in the heart, where can dust pile up?” Thus those who practice Chan should avoid fixating on the Statue of Buddha, which is made out of mud. The purposeful pursuit of “formlessness” and “none object” is itself a state of Zhu-xiang. Both fixation on form and fixation on emptiness should be abandoned. If your mind is not fixated, there would be no difference in things and clarity will eventually be realized. The doctrines of Chan advise the disciples to be obsessed neither with sound, taste, and touch, nor with “virtue”. The understanding and interpretation of Zhu-xiang has indeed very rich meanings for us Chinese who are greatly influenced by the Chan culture. 2．3 Defense mechanism of Zhu-xiang as resistance Resistance is a manifestation of the client’s defense mechanism. Defense mechanism is the function of the Ego to cope with the conflicts and anxiety in the unconsciousness. Resistance takes many forms and may be conscious, preconscious or unconscious. All resistance has in common an attempt to avoid unpleasant feelings. Zhu-xiang as resistance involves many defense mechanisms, mostly immature and neurotic, such as intellectualization, isolation, displacement, dissociation, inhibition, reaction formation, projection and regression. Quite often, a few of the defense mechanism constitute a stable personality style. Zhu-xiang can be manifested in Obsessive-compulsive disorder, somatic disorder and paranoid-schizoid state. 2.4 Zhu-xiang from the object-relationship point of view The thought of W.R.Bion, an analyst of Object-relationship school, is similar to the Chan Buddhism in Orient culture. In his opinion, we could never touch the essence in our inner mind (was signed a “O”), but could try to near close it. As a observer, the therapist can only look about a link between subject and object, by way of the link we could understand our inner world. During the therapy, the link is relationship between therapists and patient, it also is the subject-object relationship in one’s growing period. Bion thought the link between subject and object include three factors, named Love, Hat and Knowledge. Each of factors has its positive form (L, H, K ), which can be felt and expressed .and negative form ( -L, -H, _K) , which is difficult to feel and express . Bion took signs for the situation of each factors, wuich is better for him to expatiate the meaning of the situation. The task of therapist is to help the patient to understand and name the situations of them. According to the description of Bion the Knowledge is not only understand something in consciousness, but also integrate one’s emotional feeling in unconsciousness. When the - K situation happened in the therapy, usually patient only understand the problem in rational and logical thinking. Indeed it due to the patient refuses to accept the explanation of therapist gives him, -k helps him to hide his several negative feelings, such as -L and -H etc. the patient in first case said “ at that moment, I don't feel anything! ”, it means that lots of her feelings in love and hat was covered and sunk deeply in her inner mind, it is very hard to emerge on her consciousness. The patient is -K situation because of resistance, but he has abilities to K. This -k situation is just like Zhuxiang situation in Chan. Bion has observed that many personality disorder has got the -L,-H and -K situations. Bion’s observation and understanding happened in the non-verb relationship of psychotherapy, which could help the therapist to make out the model of thinking and feeling of patient. It is more useful for therapy once a patient is not easer to expression their emotional feelings. In his opinion, the therapeutic relationship is containing, the therapist is just like a container to contain the whole content of Patient. There are some people is not intelligence, who is short ability to understand. That is not Zhuxiang or not –K either, it is No K in Bion’s viewpoint. From her work with children, Melanie Klein concluded that infant assumes in relations to the external world in two positions: the depressive position and paranoid-schizoid position. In the paranoid-schizoid position, the relationship to the object is to a part object, split into the good and the bad. Though there is an innate need of integration since birth, infant is only able to relate to a part object. In some people, the state of splitting can continue well into adulthood. Splitting is a primitive, unconscious defense mechanism which compartmentalizes everyone in the environment as “all good” or “all bad”. Patient would have very extreme attitudes toward the object: either in a anxious, persecutory attitude toward a bad object, and generalize it to all people, feeling that every one is attacking him, and no one is good; or the object is excessively idealized into one that can satisfy all his fantasy . In this paranoid-schizoid position, patient is not able to integrate the two extremes, an object both good and bad, both loved and hated. Patient with borderline personality disorder or other psychotic patients would be in this paranoid-schizoid state most of the time. Clinically, they would idealize their therapists if their own needs have been met. But if unsatisfied, the same the same therapist could be the worst. This basic paranoid-schizoid state is quite often manifested through Zhu-xiang. 2.5 Zhuxiang from the perspective of the Lacanian School F. de Saussure believes that linguistic symbols are the basic units of a particular language. A linguistic symbol consists of a concept and its associated sound and image, i.e. the connection between “the signified” and “the signifier”. Saussure believes that this connection is the product of a “habitual contract”, i.e. there exists no necessary connection between the language that expresses the concept and the concept expressed. The relationship between the signified and the signifier is arbitrary, i.e. the linguistic symbols are arbitrary. This arbitrariness causes the split between the signified and the signifier. Lacan agrees with saussure’s theory, furthermore he believes that the signifier is more important than the signified. The signifier, Lacan believes, has an active and controlling power: the signified quietly shifts under the signifier, and it successfully defends against our attempts at defining its position and boundaries. The horizontal line between the signifier and the signified emphasizes the separation and split between the two. Lacan describes it as a resistance – type obstacle, and it is precisely through this split (a signifier cannot immediately follow another) that certain features of the subject’s unconsciousness are revealed. Lacan believes the arbitrariness of linguistic symbols implies that from the signifier to the signified, i.e. from language to meaning or from human behavior to its psychological significance there are no necessary or self – evident paths. In psychoanalysis one needs to focus on the split and the unstable relationship between the signifier and the signified. The behavior or action of a person does not particular have a specific and obvious associated meaning. In other words, what we can control is only the signifier part, but the signified part is hidden within the complex structure of the unconsciousness. A person with Zhuxiang always expects to reach the entire essence of the signified part with a particular signifier, and thus ignores the path that reaches the unconsciousness through the split. Therefore he has no means of experiencing the rich connections within the unconsciousness. 2.6 Zhu-xiang from the view of self-psychology Zhu-xiang is a narcissistic state. Zhu-xiang in the therapy relationship denotes that the client was unable to direct his drive toward the object. He focuses on himself exclusively, unable to empathize with other people’s feeling, understanding of others is often projection. This is a state with severe “self-focus” or “self-fixation”, a concept very similar to self-will. 2．7 Zhuxiang From the perspective of cognitive psychology, Zhu-xiang is a cognitive process that fixates on the details of the object with the lack of metacognition. The change of cognitive schema is analogous to the change from the “ Fa State” to “Non Fa State”. This change from “Fa Xiang” to “non Fa Xiang” includes both cognitive and experiential components. If the change happens only at a cognitive level, this is still a state of Zhu-xiang. Thus all the change should happen from the level of metacognition. 3. The role of psychoanalyst and the Chan Master 3.1 Sudden enlightment and Gradual enlightment in Chan Practice There are two approaches to enlightment in Chan practice: Dun Wu (sudden enlightment) and Jian Wu (gradual enlightment). The Sixth Master Hui-neng represented the former while Shen-xiu represented the latter. There were no-communicatable techniques or methods to be taught to realize Sudden enlightment. The uncommunicabality was reflected in Hui-neng’s poet: Pu ti is not a tree, the shining mirror is not an altar, there is only nothingness from the very beginning, where can the dust pile up? On the contary, Jian wu, the gradual enlightment can be realized through practice following certain methods and techniques. The poet of Shen-xiu reflected this attitude: the body is the Pu Ti tree, the heart is the altar, serving the buddha diligently day after day, so the dust won’t pile up. There were six cardinal virtues of the Chan-man, they are: Dana-charity—to give away for the benefit and welfare of all beings anything and everything one is capable of giving; Sila-precepts – is to observe the precepts, given by Buddha, which are conducive to moral life; Ksanti-humility—means “patience”, to go through deeds with humiliation; Virya—energy— to be devoted and energetic in carrying out everything that is in accordance with the Dharma; Dhyana—meditation – is retaining one’s tranquil state of mind in any circumstance, unfavorable as well as favorable, and not being at all disturbed or frustrated even when adverse situations present themselves one after another. Prajna—wisdom—the experience a man has when he feels in its most fundamental sense the infinite totality of things. The goal in psychoanalysis is to reach a state similar to Dhynana (meditation), a tranquil state of mind beyond disturbance under all circumstances. 3.2 Two attitudes regarding the role psychoanalyst plays in therapy The view of Lacan is that the analyst is a silence listener and don’t do any interpretation . Classical Freudian psychoanalysis held the attitute that the therapsit should be a detached oberver, the patient being the one observed. The participantion of the therapist in the session should be minimal. S. Ferenczi held a different view, stating that the analyst should love (non-erotic love) the patient, to provide corrective experience of being loved and cared which the patient hasn’t experienced in his/her childhood. H.S.Sullivan sieht den Analytiker als teilnehmenden Beobachter, According to Fromm, the analysist is an oberving participant. Still M. Clein held that analysist became the object of patient’s objective identification. Bion’s viewpoit is that the Analyst is a container for patient , he should contain the whole emotional feelings and reactions of patient . analyst can only interprete the situation of patient ,seldom the reason of inner mind. 4. Therapist in Zhu-xiang 4．1 The manifestation of the therapist’s Zhu-xiang 4．1．1. fixated on symptoms and details of stressful event in daily life—similar to patient’s Zhu-xiang The therapist and patient discuss about issues on a intellectual level, fixating on the details of difficulties the patient has encountered in daily life, without touching on what was associated behind the problems, i.e. the relatedness of symptoms and conflicts, interpersonal relationship, personality and growth. Fixation on details of behaviors without much emotional involvement or experience. 4．1．2． Preoccupation of theories and techniques—intellection as resistance against Zhu-xiang Equipped with theories and techniques, the therapist is vulnerable to intellectualization and tends to think that it is his destination to promote change in the patient. The real, internal experience of patient is ignored, the patient as a subject disappears. The patient only bears the symbolic meaning in the therapist’s problem solving process. This is all due to a cognitive style which focus only on the object at the conscious level. 4．1．3 Experience and change the patient—using Zhu-xiang against Zhu-xiang When trying to overcome the patient’s Zhu-xiang resistance, the therapist may realize that he shouldn’t be struggling with the patient on a intellectual level but instead he should arouse the patient’s emotion in a more natural and relaxing manner. Thus the therapist puts effort to “chat” with the patient in a “relaxing and natural manner”. Though the therapist knows that the patient still lacks emotional experience, he is nevertheless very eager to elicit the patient’s feelings. The therapist is trying hard to elicit the emotion of the patient, however, the therapist is incapable of feeling the “emotion” himself, but still relies on theories and becomes too technical. If the patient’s problem lies in the blockage of emotional engagement in interpersonal relationship, the patient is very likely to become emotionally detached from the therapist. The patient would think that the therapist is trying hard to show off his ability and skills, which has nothing to do with the patient himself. 4．2 the reasons for therapist’s Zhu-xiang 4．2．1 projective identification In projective identification, the patient projects part of himself onto the therapist and uses the therapist’s identification to control the process of therapy. Working with patients in Zhu-xiang, the therapist unconsciously identifies with the Zhu-xiang state projected onto him by the patient. Therapist becomes a brave general, charging the enemy line—the patient’s Zhu-xiang state. The therapist defeats one enemy after another, yet there is always more coming. The therapist gets confused: he can no longer recognize what problems are from the patient, what problems are from himself. Due to projective identification, the therapist is eager to promote patient’s understanding, provide interpretation and analysis. The therapist needs some powerful theories to support his thinking and ideas, or need a scientific identity. These needs are rooted in Zhu-xiang state and the therapist goes extra miles to meet people’s scientific needs, using formula in math or physics to explain psychological state. 4．2．2 the function of counter transference Countertransferential reactions can be a mix of the therapist’s own unique history (his own object relation development in his life) and an inevitable entanglement in the patient’s dysfunctional interaction. From an interactive point of view, the therapist cannot help becoming hooked in the dysfunctional interaction like other significant people in the patient’s life. This Zhu-xiang countertransference can result in resistance. At this moment, the therapist is like mother feeding her baby. The baby does not have appetite and does not want to eat, the mother waves the spoon and the bowl in front of the child, singing, dancing, making faces to make the child happy and take a bite of what she wants to feed. She becomes very happy when the baby takes the first bite but the baby throws the up onto the mother’s face. Frustrated and disappointed, the mother tries the best not to show her anger, still saying “good child, please take one more bite.” 5． working through Zhu-xiang resistance in psychoanalytical therapy—breaking the Xiang (form) 5．1 Understanding and interpretation of defense Defense mechanism as a part of patient’s personality should be respected and the function of resistance should be explained prior to the content of resistance. For example, due to defense, a patient was not able to tell the reason for his fear and anxiety. Treatment was fixated on the intellectual level. The therapist suggests that the patient talk about his thinking and feelings freely. The patient asked: “if I tell all my thoughts and feelings, wouldn’t I become a transparent person in front of you?” The question reflected perfectly the patient’s habitual way of expressing his worry and fear. The reason of resistance lies in her defense mechanism. It will take a while for treatment to progress into a new stage when the question mark “Ma “ “?” turns into an exclamation mark “Ya” ”!”. At present, the therapist has to meet where the patient is and respect the client’s defense and help the patient gain some understanding of his reaction to treatment. 5．2 Experiencing, structuring the therapist’s own imagination and fantasy, starting a imaginal dialogue The therapist’s physical and emotional reactions to the patient are a tool itself, which can facilitate the understanding of the client’s problems. Leave the concepts and theories behind; instead assume a natural and cordial attitude to care about what the patient has brought into the therapy. Guide the patient according to the client’s ego strength. While in therapy, the therapist should enter a state in which there is room for free association and construct an image or story. After integration with psychoanalytical theories, these images or stories are then conveyed to the client to facilitate understanding of his own internal state. One patient who has been in therapy for a year, often ended the session with “ I am not sure whether I have explained clearly enough to you?” The patient’s eyes looked misty and lost, yearning for answer. The therapist said, “ Just now, as if I saw a baby in the swaddling clothes, crying persistently. He cried and cried as if he was calling his mother: Mom, I am so afraid, do you know? I am scared.” The patient was touched, nodded to the therapist with tears in eyes, “ I know that you understand me.” 5. 3 Understanding one’s own Zhu-xiang and countertransferece Therapist adopts some structural theories as his framework when working with clients. Yet no structural theory is perfect, there is always some space between the theory and the reality. In this space, individuals lead their real, vivid lives. Though theories can guide the therapist in understanding the patient, the patient’s real life would escape the theoretical net. If the therapist fixates on the theories he believes, he would enter a state of self-fixation ( Wo-xiang). This can be a narcissistic state or a paranoid-schizoid state. When the analyst understands the pattern or characteristic of his own Zhu-xiang, he becomes more aware when he enters the state of Zhu-xiang. For example, the analyst’s projective identification on the one hand can help the analyst experience the patient’s internal world; on the other hand, the analyst could use the patient’s way of coping to cope with the patients unconsciously. When the analyst becomes more alert of what he is doing, it is less likely for resistance to occur, and when resistance does occur, the therapist is in a better position to use the resistance to move the therapy into a new stage. 5. 4 Metaphor as “Gong An” in Chan In Chan practice, metaphor is used very often to help the followers to reach awareness or enlightenment. These recorded metaphors in Chan history are called “Gong An”—public cases. Gong An are stories without definite answers but convey common principles of Chan. Gong An help the Chan-men avoid seeking repression in rational thinking and facilitate followers realize awareness. By using Gong An in psychoanalysis, some of the content in the unconscious can be brought up to the conscious level. This resource can be used in our practice. The use of Gong An doesn’t require the therapist to provide answers, rather it gives the patient an opportunity to reflect and work through his issues. As Freud said that theories and techniques are inseparable, that in the very act of knowing oneself, one transforms oneself. A distinguished professor took on his last student before he retired and he had higher expectations for this student. One day, the professor learned that this student was planning to marry a bartender. He got very upset. He felt ridiculous for a graduate student to marry a bartender. He has had many students who did very well in their positions. He got upset that this last student was going to bring shame on him and it means his failure in educating the student. So he scheduled an appointment and tried to persuade the student to give up the plan. It seemed in the beginning, the student changed his mind. But not for long, the student went back to the girl again and insisted that they get married. The professor was very disappointed and talked to the student for 10 hours. As a result, the student left him. The professor was so angry that he fainted and fell on to the ground. He was sent to hospital. In the following few months, he suffered insomnia and anxiety. He was frustrated and restless. Medications didn’t work. Any advice that he shouldn’t have taken this so seriously didn’t work. The therapist asked the professor to lie down on the couch after that he finished talking about what happened. The therapist told a story while hypnotizing him. Once upon a time, there was a believer in Buddhism. His biggest wish in his life was to worship the Buddha at the big temple in the sacred city. One day, he left his family and started his pilgrim to the temple. This was not an ordinary pilgrim. He needed to lie prostrate each step for the whole course until he reached the destiny. Only when he did this, could he express his reverence and piousness. He was so determined that nothing could change his mind. After two years on the way to the temple, he eventually arrived at the Sacred city. He was happy and excited—his wish had been actualized, he would see the most Sacred Buddha in his heart. All the hardship he had experienced on the pilgrim was worthwhile. Proud and excited, he approached the Buddha, his heart filled with a profound feeling of holiness. However, when he was throwing himself on his knees to worship the Buddha, he heard a loud sound— the man farted… The therapist stopped. Silence filled the room as if the air was still. After a long pause, the therapist asked: what would the Buddha say to that man? The professor answered: “ The Buddha won’t blame him.” 6. Psychoanalysis and Chan Psychoanalysis is the product of Western Humanism and Rationalism. It is an experimental, interpretive psychology. It’s a method of psychological therapy in which free association, dream interpretation, and analysis of resistance and transference are used to explore repressed or unconscious impulses, anxieties, and internal conflicts, in order to free psychic energy for mature love and work. The goal of psychoanalysis is similar to the six cardinal virtues of Chan-man. The psychoanalyst and the patient are equally important as observer, participant, and the one who experiences and interprets. Chan Buddhism is a form of Taoism that borrows from Buddhism. Primarily a Chinese religion, founded 1500 years ago, it uses meditation as the way to observe the world without mental comment: things are as they are, and thoughts simply flow through the mind without leaving a trace. Spiritual exercise or discipline is useless, because freedom of the mind comes through direct and instant insight. The introduction of psychoanalytical psychotherapy to China would inevitably encounter the question of how to integrate it with the Chinese indigenous culture. This integration is a process in which the Chinese practitioners of psychoanalytical psychotherapy experiment, experience, and understand what they are practicing and what they encounter in the therapy. Resistance in therapy and Zhu-xiang in Chan practice both are phenomena that exist around insight or awakening. This is a very important contact point. Psychoanalysis and Chan can borrow from each other to help people gain insight or become enlightened. Psychoanalysis can help Chan-men avoid blockage, remove pseudo-enlightenment and make the focus of awakening clearer, and individualized. Chan thinking can deepen and widen the view of the psychoanalysts, overcome the rationalism and coldness in scientific therapy to make it more human, more natural and vivid. Our ultimate goal is to promote the perfect integration of Chan and Psychoanalysis. We know how the different schools of psychotherapy have become integrated and at the same time innovated. It is the time now that we put more effort to learn the theories and techniques of Chan and Psychoanalysis before we can integrate these two. Translated By Dr. Tong, Huiqi , Los Angeles , USA. E-mail: Victoria-tong@hotmail.com |
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