The psychoanalytic unconscious and Buddhist unconscious (alaya-consciousness)
Xianjun Xu
Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy in China December 31, 2023 DOI: 10.33212/ppc.v6.2023.194 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Buddhism |
| Key points | Argues that the unconscious in psychoanalysis and alaya-consciousness in Buddhism are largely compatible, that both view consciousness as a small part of the mind, and that Buddhist theory is deeper and more systematic, offering potential improvements to psychoanalysis and a route to modernising Buddhism. |
Abstract
The unconscious is a central concept in psychoanalysis, and alaya-consciousness is a central concept in Buddhism. Although the unconscious is not a dominate concept in Western philosophy and psychology, there is a great deal of correspondence between the unconscious in psychoanalysis and alaya-consciousness in Buddhism. Psychoanalysis and Buddhism agree that the conscious is only a small part of the human mind, and that the vast majority of it is not the conscious. The compatibility of the unconscious in psychoanalysis and alaya-consciousness in Buddhism provides an important way to localise psychoanalysis in China. The Buddhist theory of alaya-consciousness is deeper and more systematic than the psychoanalytic theory of the unconscious, and this difference also provides the possibility of improving theory and technology of psychoanalysis from a Buddhist perspective. In addition, the integration of Buddhism and psychoanalysis is an important way to modernise Buddhism.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on buddhism, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mental balance and well-being: Building bridges between Buddhism and Western psychology. | 2006 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Buddhist Modernism and the Rhetoric of Meditative Experience | 1995 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Buddhist and Psychological Perspectives on Emotions and Well-Being | 2005 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Too Early to Tell: The Potential Impact and Challenges—Ethical and Otherwise—Inherent in the Mainstreaming of Dharma in an Increasingly Dystopian World | 2017 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| From self to nonself: The Nonself Theory | 2016 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |