Buddhism and Modern Psychology

Ernest Becker famously characterized human character as a “vital lie,” a futile attempt to forestall dissatisfaction and mortality. How might this be so and what, if anything, can be done about it? We will discuss such challenging questions by examining traditional Buddhist theories of mind and meditation in dialogue with modern neuroscience, psychology, and psychotherapy. We will investigate early Buddhist practices of mindfulness and their modern medical applications, neuroscience and meditative practice, depth psychology in Buddhism and Freud, and current attempts to integrate all of these theoretically and therapeutically.