The Empathic Ground: Intersubjectivity and Nonduality in the Psychotherapeutic Process

Introduction

Introduction THIS BOOK EXPLORES how the psychotherapeutic process can be enhanced through accessing a subtle dimension of nondual—or unitive —consciousness described in some schools of Asian nondual philosophy . It also examines how the psychotherapeutic process can facilitate nondual realization. Many different types of nondual realization are described in the Asian spiritual literature. One type, for example, experienced in deep meditative absorption, is a state of pure consciousness, in which one has no perception of any sort of phenomena. In this book, however, nondual realization refers to the experience of pure (or empty) consciousness and phenomena at the same time. It is the realization of one’s own nature as an unbounded expanse of subtle consciousness, pervading one’s internal and external experience as a unity. My main premise is that as human development progresses, psychological and spiritual maturity become inseparable. They both involve the same accomplishments of deepened contact with oneself and others, emotional resilience, and authenticity. The advanced stages of psychological and spiritual maturity both arrive at a radical openness to experience that is felt as a continuity or oneness between oneself and one’s environment.This sense of continuity is based on the realization (or the laying bare) of nondual consciousness. Although several important studies have applied Buddhist practices to psychotherapy (Epstein, 1998; Rubin, 1996; Safran, 2003; Suler, 1 1993,Welwood, 2000, among others), not much has been written about the integration of psychotherapy with the realization of nondual consciousness . This particular type of spiritual experience is described in both Hindu and Buddhist teachings, but, because of its subtlety, it is not yet as well known in the West as mindfulness or other Asian practices. However, in my work as a psychotherapist and nonduality teacher, I have found that many people can discover nondual consciousness easily. It requires a refinement of one’s sensitivity and a deepening of one’s inward contact with oneself. Access to this subtle unified dimension of consciousness develops both our individual human capacities, such as perception, understanding , love, and physical pleasure, and our relationships with other people. It thus has profound significance for both psychological healing and development, and for the relationship of psychotherapist and client. I N T E R S U B J E C T I V I T Y T H E O R Y I chose to focus on intersubjectivity theory, as developed by Robert Stolorow and his collaborators (1979, 1987, 1992, 1997, 2002), rather than on other forms of psychotherapy, because of its clear articulation of the mutuality of the psychotherapeutic relationship.This articulation comes close to the description of self/other oneness in Asian nondual philosophies.Yet, at first glance, the small distance between these two views seems both practically and conceptually insurmountable. I will attempt to show how the intersubjective field of self and other described in intersubjectivity theory can also be experienced as the nondual (unified) field of self and other described in Asian philosophies . Nondual realization is a more subtle attunement and greater openness to the intersubjective field. Intersubjectivity theory is a field or systems theory of psychotherapy . It is concerned primarily with the mutual reciprocity of the psychotherapeutic relationship. It “seeks to comprehend psychological phenomena not as products of isolated intrapsychic mechanisms, but as forming at the interface of reciprocally interacting subjectivities” (Stolorow & Atwood, 1992, p. 1). Intersubjectivity theory considers all experience to be subjectively organized: “to experience is to organize 2 T h e E m p a t h i c G r o u n d the given” (Orange, 1995, p. 87). It views the purpose of psychotherapy to be the development of the client’s ability to form new, more flexible organizations in the context of his or her relationship with the psychotherapist. In its basic principle that all experience is subjectively organized, intersubjectivity theory is aligned with the postmodern constructivist view.This means that its conceptual framework does not allow for the possibility of unmediated or unconstructed experience—experience that is not shaped by one’s psychological, cultural, and linguistic background . It would thus seem the antithesis of the view, found in Asian nondual philosophy and other mystical systems, that human beings have an innate and therefore universal potential to experience an unconstructed (self-existing), nonintentional dimension of consciousness . However, as we will see, the “direct perception” described in Asian philosophy does not eradicate the cultural or linguistic influences that concern Western constructivist philosophers...