심리치료를 위한 ‘我’에 관한 一考察

Abstract

As you know, the first Hwa-du on doing the buddhist practice is "What am I?". We've experienced lots of suffering or dukkha every moment. As Bodhi Dharma said to his disciple, it is the very enlightenment to get to the calmness in your mind. "What am I?", I feel that it is necessary to comparative on the theories of '我(attan, self)' between the East and the West. The buddha's teaching of 我(attan) is different from the western psychology and psychotherapy. However, Ken Wilber who has established the theory of Transpersonal Psychotherapy, has very closed to the buddhist theory of anattan(無我論). On the early buddhist texts, the meaning of 我(attan) is same with Brahman and eternal 'I'. It means both a changeable 'I' against the others in moment to moment and eternal 'I' as a permanent substance. It is just the theory of A̅tman as a immortal soul, which has resulted from Brahmanism. Maybe, the ancient Indians had needed to depend on such a holy God. However, Buddha was against the Brahmanism. He had stressed on being now, not the future. Buddha insisted that 'I(attan, self)' who I know is not a real 'I'[非我], but only a changeable being, so the real 'I' as a substance is just 'anattan(無我, no-self)'. If you attach to the thinking of 'I', it will be caused to make sufferings[dukkha]. According to the Buddha's teachings, 'I' is composed of 5 skandhas[五蘊]. In the Heart Sutra, there is "That which is form is emptiness, that which is emptiness form. The same is true of feelings, perceptions, impulses, consciousness." Any kinds of things or thinkings are caused by your mind and body are fundamentally empty. Your mind is not separated from the body. We can also find such a nondualistic viewpoint on the modern psychiatry. A psychoanalyst said that the mind is not separated from the body, otherwise the mind is just fulfilling the brain's function. So, 'I(attan, self)' is not permanent definitely, but very changeable dynamically by moment to moment. It is the very emptiness(空) that we're trying to get enlightenment or to get the ideal goal for psychotherapy. Keep going the practice, you would be felt the oneness correlated with the others, the world, and the universe entirely, and would be realized the peace and liberation with heartily.