Emotions and Zen (therapy, issues)

[Motion]

Has anyone been exposed to Zen? This guy talks about how he applies Zen to his emotions.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3CCDaF_RF8

[kevxu]

Originally Posted by Motion

Has anyone been exposed to Zen? This guy talks about how he applies Zen to his emotions....

Yes, I participated in a center near my home for a couple of years.

Some observations of mine.

* An interesting talks with useful techniques suggested in a once over lightly fashion.

* The title is a bit funny--put into Christian terms it is a bit like say "Handle Your Emotion Like the Pope" or ".....like You Were a Born-Again Christian." Catchy, but in the end beside the point, IMO.

* "Zen." This is a blanket term for a particular branch of Mahayana/Far Eastern Buddhism, and there were historically numerous famous teachers and schools (as they are usually referred to.) In the present-day there are two well-known schools, Rinzai and Soto, which developed in Japan though they originated in China in the past. There is a third considerably less well-known school...can't remember the name.

So, there's my own once-over-lightly.

[Ruth4Truth]

Some of this is normal stuff--work out your frustrations at the gym, or chopping wood, or some other physical activity.

He mentions "talking to yourself" in the segment about talking to others about how you're feeling. What he means in "talking to yourself", I think, is meditation. Buddhist meditation is about working out your issues in a mildly altered state of consciousness brought about by meditation. This helps you access your subconscious, which he also mentions in that segment. That can bring up memories of the root causes of what's triggering your emotions in a given situation, so you can resolve your core issues. Like psychotherapy you do with yourself, instead of paying someone to help you figure it out.

But the basic premise he's presenting is to not keep your emotions bottled up. Find a constructive outlet for them. And hard physical activity is a good way to burn off emotional energy, like frustration, anger, etc.

There's really not much that's new here; mostly it's the packaging.

[Motion]

Something that's similar to this is 'Acceptance and commitment therapy' or ACT. This therapy may have been influenced by Zen.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/b...itment-therapy