Vision and Virtue in Psychoanalysis and Buddhism: Anatta and Its Implications for Social Responsibility

Abstract

Buddhism and psychoanalysis have long been accused of privileging internal transformation over active social and political engagement. Yet, as representatives of non-theistic and secular paths toward the realization of human potential, both traditions embody an important aspect of the Romantic quest for progress, that is, the transcendence of internal and external division. Insight into the Buddhist notion of self as ontologically interdependent and non-dualistic optimally yields not only personal transformation but also an expanded circle of identification, with important implications for social responsibility. Erich Fromm, in interpreting the influential work of D. T. Suzuki, represents a historical and philosophical link between the psychoanalytic legacy of social responsibility and the Buddhist concept of Enlightenment.

With dewdrops dripping,

I wish somehow I could wash

this perishing world.

—Basho (1643–1694)

Notes

¹The term “engaged Buddhism” was originally coined by the Vietnamese Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh during the Vietnam War to refer to an application of the inner work of meditation to the external conditions giving rise to suffering. The engaged Buddhist movement now comprises several international organizations devoted to social and political change, including the Buddhist Peace Fellowship and the International Network of Engaged Buddhists.

²Fromm's emphasis on social responsibility emerged out of his long-standing immersion in Judaism, not Buddhism, a point expressed most persuasively by Lewis Aron (personal communication, March 14, 2006).