
Open to Desire
The Truth About What the Buddha Taught
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed

Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $15.75
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Mark Epstein MD
-
By:
-
Mark Epstein MD
About this listen
“A masterpiece. . . . It teaches us how not to fear and repress, but to rechannel and harness the most powerful energies of life toward freedom and bliss.”—ROBERT THURMAN
It is common in both Buddhism and Freudian psychoanalysis to treat desire as if it is the root of all suffering and problems, but psychiatrist Mark Epstein believes this to be a grave misunderstanding. In his controversial defense of desire, he makes clear that it is the key to deepening intimacy with ourselves, each other, and our world.
Proposing that spiritual attainment does not have to be detached from intimacy or eroticism, Open to Desire begins with an exploration of the state of dissatisfaction that causes us to cling to irrational habits. Dr. Epstein helps listeners overcome their own fears of desire so that they can more readily bridge the gap between self and other, cope with feelings of incompletion, and get past the perception of others as objects. Freed from clinging and shame, desire’s spiritual potential can then be opened up.
©2005 Mark Epstein, MD (P)2024 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
-
Advice Not Given
- A Guide to Getting Over Yourself
- By: Mark Epstein MD.
- Narrated by: Mark Epstein MD.
- Length: 6 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Our ego, and its accompanying sense of nagging self-doubt as we work to be bigger, better, smarter, and more in control, is one affliction we all share. In Advice Not Given, Dr. Mark Epstein reveals how Buddhism and Western psychotherapy, two traditions that developed in entirely different times and places and, until recently, had nothing to do with each other, both identify the ego as the limiting factor in our well-being, and both come to the same conclusion: When we give the ego free reign, we suffer; but when it learns to let go, we are free.
-
-
This book needs to be Me Too#ed out of existance
- By amanda on 04-11-19
By: Mark Epstein MD.
-
What the Buddha Felt
- A Buddhist Psychiatrist Points the Way to Uncommon Happiness
- By: Mark Epstein MD
- Narrated by: Mark Epstein
- Length: 3 hrs and 5 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Where do we find the tools we need to heal - and then go further - to create a life of uncommon and authentic happiness? The answer, teaches Mark Epstein, may lie in the insights of one of the world's greatest psychologists - the Buddha. What the Buddha Felt uncovers a quiet revolution occurring in the West today: the merging of modern psychotherapy and ancient Buddhist meditation techniques to help us face even the most challenging emotional obstacles.
-
-
great read
- By Tiffany on 06-15-17
By: Mark Epstein MD
-
The Zen of Therapy
- Uncovering a Hidden Kindness in Life
- By: Mark Epstein M.D.
- Narrated by: Mark Epstein M.D.
- Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For much of his career, Dr. Mark Epstein kept his beliefs as a Buddhist separate from his work as a psychiatrist. But as he became more forthcoming with his patients about his personal spiritual leanings, he was surprised to find how many of them were eager to learn more. The divisions between the psychological, emotional, and the spiritual, he soon realized, were not as distinct as one might think.
-
-
Interlocking centers
- By Matthew Bond on 12-07-22
-
Going on Being
- Buddhism and the Way of Change
- By: Mark Epstein M.D.
- Narrated by: Mark Epstein M.D.
- Length: 3 hrs and 24 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Going on Being is Mark Epstein's memoir of his early years as a student of Buddhism and of how Buddhism shaped his approach to therapy, as well as a practical guide to how a Buddhist understanding of psychological problems makes change for the better possible.
-
-
Blissfull commuting
- By Joseph on 02-25-03
-
The Trauma of Everyday Life
- By: Mark Epstein M.D.
- Narrated by: Mark Epstein M.D.
- Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Trauma does not just happen to a few unlucky people; it is the bedrock of our psychology. Death and illness touch us all, but even the everyday sufferings of loneliness and fear are traumatic. In The Trauma of Everyday Life renowned psychiatrist and author of Thoughts Without a Thinker Mark Epstein uncovers the transformational potential of trauma, revealing how it can be used for the mind’s own development.
-
Original Love
- The Four Inns on the Path of Awakening
- By: Henry Shukman
- Narrated by: Henry Shukman
- Length: 11 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An increasing number of people today feel disconnected, disengaged, and lonely. Many of us are seeking solace, beginning with ourselves. Original Love is the secular spiritual handbook we need to ease our troubles and find the highest possible happiness. Henry Shukman, spiritual director of Mountain Cloud Zen Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico, provides a way forward based on four paths—Mindfulness, Support, Absorption, and Awakening—that promote growth and healing through meditation for practitioners of any level.
-
-
An important book in this day and age, or other ages for that matter
- By Per Kjellsen on 07-16-24
By: Henry Shukman
-
Advice Not Given
- A Guide to Getting Over Yourself
- By: Mark Epstein MD.
- Narrated by: Mark Epstein MD.
- Length: 6 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Our ego, and its accompanying sense of nagging self-doubt as we work to be bigger, better, smarter, and more in control, is one affliction we all share. In Advice Not Given, Dr. Mark Epstein reveals how Buddhism and Western psychotherapy, two traditions that developed in entirely different times and places and, until recently, had nothing to do with each other, both identify the ego as the limiting factor in our well-being, and both come to the same conclusion: When we give the ego free reign, we suffer; but when it learns to let go, we are free.
-
-
This book needs to be Me Too#ed out of existance
- By amanda on 04-11-19
By: Mark Epstein MD.
-
What the Buddha Felt
- A Buddhist Psychiatrist Points the Way to Uncommon Happiness
- By: Mark Epstein MD
- Narrated by: Mark Epstein
- Length: 3 hrs and 5 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Where do we find the tools we need to heal - and then go further - to create a life of uncommon and authentic happiness? The answer, teaches Mark Epstein, may lie in the insights of one of the world's greatest psychologists - the Buddha. What the Buddha Felt uncovers a quiet revolution occurring in the West today: the merging of modern psychotherapy and ancient Buddhist meditation techniques to help us face even the most challenging emotional obstacles.
-
-
great read
- By Tiffany on 06-15-17
By: Mark Epstein MD
-
The Zen of Therapy
- Uncovering a Hidden Kindness in Life
- By: Mark Epstein M.D.
- Narrated by: Mark Epstein M.D.
- Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For much of his career, Dr. Mark Epstein kept his beliefs as a Buddhist separate from his work as a psychiatrist. But as he became more forthcoming with his patients about his personal spiritual leanings, he was surprised to find how many of them were eager to learn more. The divisions between the psychological, emotional, and the spiritual, he soon realized, were not as distinct as one might think.
-
-
Interlocking centers
- By Matthew Bond on 12-07-22
-
Going on Being
- Buddhism and the Way of Change
- By: Mark Epstein M.D.
- Narrated by: Mark Epstein M.D.
- Length: 3 hrs and 24 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Going on Being is Mark Epstein's memoir of his early years as a student of Buddhism and of how Buddhism shaped his approach to therapy, as well as a practical guide to how a Buddhist understanding of psychological problems makes change for the better possible.
-
-
Blissfull commuting
- By Joseph on 02-25-03
-
The Trauma of Everyday Life
- By: Mark Epstein M.D.
- Narrated by: Mark Epstein M.D.
- Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Trauma does not just happen to a few unlucky people; it is the bedrock of our psychology. Death and illness touch us all, but even the everyday sufferings of loneliness and fear are traumatic. In The Trauma of Everyday Life renowned psychiatrist and author of Thoughts Without a Thinker Mark Epstein uncovers the transformational potential of trauma, revealing how it can be used for the mind’s own development.
-
Original Love
- The Four Inns on the Path of Awakening
- By: Henry Shukman
- Narrated by: Henry Shukman
- Length: 11 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An increasing number of people today feel disconnected, disengaged, and lonely. Many of us are seeking solace, beginning with ourselves. Original Love is the secular spiritual handbook we need to ease our troubles and find the highest possible happiness. Henry Shukman, spiritual director of Mountain Cloud Zen Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico, provides a way forward based on four paths—Mindfulness, Support, Absorption, and Awakening—that promote growth and healing through meditation for practitioners of any level.
-
-
An important book in this day and age, or other ages for that matter
- By Per Kjellsen on 07-16-24
By: Henry Shukman
-
Open to the Passions
- By: Mark Epstein
- Narrated by: Mark Epstein
- Length: 2 hrs and 32 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is common in both Buddhism and Freudian psychoanalysis to treat desire as if it is the root of all suffering and problems, but psychiatrist Mark Epstein believes this to be a grave misunderstanding. In his controversial defense of desire, he makes clear that it is the key to deepening intimacy with ourselves, each other, and our world.
-
-
Not a book
- By Francisco Landeros on 12-20-21
By: Mark Epstein
-
A Path with Heart
- A Guide Through the Perils and Promises of Spiritual Life
- By: Jack Kornfield
- Narrated by: Jack Kornfield
- Length: 3 hrs and 16 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jack Kornfield's A Path with Heart has been acclaimed as the most significant book yet about American Buddhism, a definitive guide to the practice of traditional mindfulness in America today. On this audio edition, Kornfield teaches the key principles of Buddhism's cherished vipassana (insight) tradition and puts them into direct service, with the unique needs of the contemporary seeker in mind.
-
-
NOT THE BOOK
- By E Carroll on 06-07-18
By: Jack Kornfield
-
Radical Acceptance
- Embracing Your Life with the Heart of a Buddha
- By: Tara Brach
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 12 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"Believing that something is wrong with us is a deep and tenacious suffering," says Tara Brach at the start of this illuminating book. This suffering emerges in crippling self-judgments and conflicts in our relationships, in addictions and perfectionism, in loneliness and overwork - all the forces that keep our lives constricted and unfulfilled. Radical Acceptance offers a path to freedom, including the day-to-day practical guidance developed over Dr. Brach's 20 years of work with therapy clients and Buddhist students.
-
-
Sublime Guidance
- By Rich on 11-21-15
By: Tara Brach
-
A Still Forest Pool: The Insight Meditation of Achaan Chah
- Quest Book
- By: Achaan Chah, Paul Breiter, Ajahn Chah
- Narrated by: Tim H. Dixon
- Length: 4 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Buddhist master Achaan Chah spent years meditating in a forest monastery of Thailand. This remarkable book reflects his simple and powerful message as well as the quiet, joyful Buddhist practice of dhudanga, or "everyday mindfulness", with profound insights for the West.
-
-
Not sure if I wanted this
- By Melané Fahner on 04-26-22
By: Achaan Chah, and others
-
Going to Pieces Without Falling Apart
- A Buddhist Perspective on Wholeness
- By: Mark Epstein M.D.
- Narrated by: Mark Epstein M.D.
- Length: 5 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For decades, Western psychology has promised fulfillment through building and strengthening the ego. We are taught that the ideal is a strong, individuated self, constructed and reinforced over a lifetime. But Buddhist psychiatrist Mark Epstein has found a different way. Going to Pieces Without Falling Apart shows us that happiness doesn't come from any kind of acquisitiveness, be it material or psychological.
-
Psychotherapy Without the Self: A Buddhist Perspective
- By: Mark Epstein MD
- Narrated by: Dean Sluyter
- Length: 7 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Immersed in Buddhist psychology prior to studying Western psychiatry, Dr. Mark Epstein first viewed Western therapeutic approaches through the lens of the East. This posed something of a challenge. Although both systems promise liberation through self-awareness, the central tenet of Buddha's wisdom is the notion of no-self, while the central focus of Western psychotherapy is the self. This book wrestles with the complex relationship between Buddhism and psychotherapy.
-
-
Challenging and Enlightening
- By Constant reader on 10-07-12
By: Mark Epstein MD
-
Mahamudra
- How to Discover Our True Nature
- By: Lama Thubten Yeshe
- Narrated by: Robina Courtin
- Length: 3 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lama Yeshe tells us that mahamudra is “the universal reality of emptiness, of nonduality” and its unique characteristic is its emphasis on meditation: “With mahamudra meditation there is no doctrine, no theology, no philosophy, no God, no Buddha. Mahamudra is only experience.” As always, Lama Yeshe’s words are direct, funny, and incredibly encouraging. He gets us to go beyond ego’s addiction to a limited sense of self and to taste the lightness and expansiveness of our own true nature.
-
-
Illuminating
- By Daniel Pryor on 03-08-23
-
The Keys to the Enneagram
- How to Unlock the Highest Potential of Every Personality Type
- By: A. H. Almaas
- Narrated by: Robbie Stevens
- Length: 6 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
More than just a tool to diagnose your personality type, the Enneagram was originally developed to help people find the ultimate freedom of consciousness and achieve spiritual liberation. A. H. Almaas brings us back to this original mission as he shares the essential keys that will help listeners break free from the limitations and distortions of each type’s fixation—and to express their true spiritual nature in everyday life.
-
-
Loved it
- By Amazon Customer on 11-14-24
By: A. H. Almaas
-
Thoughts Without a Thinker
- Psychotherapy from a Buddhist Perspective
- By: Mark Epstein M.D., His Holiness the Dalai Lama - foreword
- Narrated by: Mark Epstein M.D.
- Length: 7 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Upon its first publication, this path breaking book launched an explosion of interest in how Eastern spirituality can enhance Western psychology. Since then, the worlds of Buddhism and psychotherapy have been forged into a revolutionary new understanding of what constitutes a healthy emotional life. In his insightful introduction, Mark Epstein reflects on this revolution and considers how it is likely to evolve in the future.
-
-
Content limited by presentation
- By Kindle Customer on 02-28-15
By: Mark Epstein M.D., and others
-
The Wise Heart
- A Guide to the Universal Teachings of Buddhist Psychology
- By: Jack Kornfield
- Narrated by: Jack Kornfield
- Length: 7 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
You have within you an unlimited capacity for extraordinary love, for joy, for communion with life, and for unshakable freedom - and here is how to awaken it. In The Wise Heart, celebrated author and psychologist Jack Kornfield offers an accessible, comprehensive, and illuminating guide to the universal teachings of Buddhist psychology. He shows you how to use powerful Buddhist insights and practices to go beyond the trap of "self-improvement".
-
-
Awesome!
- By Nik LaCroix on 05-01-15
By: Jack Kornfield
-
Existential Kink
- Unmask Your Shadow and Embrace Your Power; A Method for Getting What You Want by Getting Off on What You Don't
- By: Carolyn Elliott PhD
- Narrated by: Carolyn Elliott PhD
- Length: 6 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Each of us has a dual nature: we are light (conscious) and dark (unconscious). The dark side of our personality - the “other,” the shadow side - is made up of what we think is our primitive, primal, negative impulses - our “existential kink.” Our existential kink also drives the dark or negative repeating patterns in our life: always choosing the abusive partner or boss, settling for less, thinking that we’re undeserving, not worthy. But it also is the source of our greatest power.
-
-
Personal Experience Based Pseudoscience
- By The Humble Housewife on 11-02-21
-
At the Left Hand of God
- Aghora, Book 1
- By: Dr. Robert Svoboda
- Narrated by: Dr. Robert Svoboda
- Length: 11 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The first book in the Aghora trilogy containing the teachings of Dr. Svoboda’s mentor, the Aghori Vimalananda. Written almost entirely in Vimalananda’s own words, it presents events from his life, tenets of his philosophy, and highlights from his spiritual practices. Designed partly to shock and partly to comfort, but wholly as an offering to his Beloved, Aghora is a picture of a man who was a riddle wrapped up in an enigma.
-
-
Holy Shit
- By Bailey on 05-12-24
Critic reviews
“A fascinating look at the urge for pleasure, with the goal of helping readers accept the sensation of wanting into their lives in ways that are helpful both spiritually and psychologically.”—Body and Soul
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
Thoughts Without a Thinker
- Psychotherapy from a Buddhist Perspective
- By: Mark Epstein M.D., His Holiness the Dalai Lama - foreword
- Narrated by: Mark Epstein M.D.
- Length: 7 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Upon its first publication, this path breaking book launched an explosion of interest in how Eastern spirituality can enhance Western psychology. Since then, the worlds of Buddhism and psychotherapy have been forged into a revolutionary new understanding of what constitutes a healthy emotional life. In his insightful introduction, Mark Epstein reflects on this revolution and considers how it is likely to evolve in the future.
-
-
Content limited by presentation
- By Kindle Customer on 02-28-15
By: Mark Epstein M.D., and others
-
The Trauma of Everyday Life
- By: Mark Epstein M.D.
- Narrated by: Mark Epstein M.D.
- Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Trauma does not just happen to a few unlucky people; it is the bedrock of our psychology. Death and illness touch us all, but even the everyday sufferings of loneliness and fear are traumatic. In The Trauma of Everyday Life renowned psychiatrist and author of Thoughts Without a Thinker Mark Epstein uncovers the transformational potential of trauma, revealing how it can be used for the mind’s own development.
-
Advice Not Given
- A Guide to Getting Over Yourself
- By: Mark Epstein MD.
- Narrated by: Mark Epstein MD.
- Length: 6 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Our ego, and its accompanying sense of nagging self-doubt as we work to be bigger, better, smarter, and more in control, is one affliction we all share. In Advice Not Given, Dr. Mark Epstein reveals how Buddhism and Western psychotherapy, two traditions that developed in entirely different times and places and, until recently, had nothing to do with each other, both identify the ego as the limiting factor in our well-being, and both come to the same conclusion: When we give the ego free reign, we suffer; but when it learns to let go, we are free.
-
-
This book needs to be Me Too#ed out of existance
- By amanda on 04-11-19
By: Mark Epstein MD.
-
Going to Pieces Without Falling Apart
- A Buddhist Perspective on Wholeness
- By: Mark Epstein M.D.
- Narrated by: Mark Epstein M.D.
- Length: 5 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For decades, Western psychology has promised fulfillment through building and strengthening the ego. We are taught that the ideal is a strong, individuated self, constructed and reinforced over a lifetime. But Buddhist psychiatrist Mark Epstein has found a different way. Going to Pieces Without Falling Apart shows us that happiness doesn't come from any kind of acquisitiveness, be it material or psychological.
-
Psychotherapy Without the Self: A Buddhist Perspective
- By: Mark Epstein MD
- Narrated by: Dean Sluyter
- Length: 7 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Immersed in Buddhist psychology prior to studying Western psychiatry, Dr. Mark Epstein first viewed Western therapeutic approaches through the lens of the East. This posed something of a challenge. Although both systems promise liberation through self-awareness, the central tenet of Buddha's wisdom is the notion of no-self, while the central focus of Western psychotherapy is the self. This book wrestles with the complex relationship between Buddhism and psychotherapy.
-
-
Challenging and Enlightening
- By Constant reader on 10-07-12
By: Mark Epstein MD
-
The Zen of Therapy
- Uncovering a Hidden Kindness in Life
- By: Mark Epstein M.D.
- Narrated by: Mark Epstein M.D.
- Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For much of his career, Dr. Mark Epstein kept his beliefs as a Buddhist separate from his work as a psychiatrist. But as he became more forthcoming with his patients about his personal spiritual leanings, he was surprised to find how many of them were eager to learn more. The divisions between the psychological, emotional, and the spiritual, he soon realized, were not as distinct as one might think.
-
-
Interlocking centers
- By Matthew Bond on 12-07-22
-
Thoughts Without a Thinker
- Psychotherapy from a Buddhist Perspective
- By: Mark Epstein M.D., His Holiness the Dalai Lama - foreword
- Narrated by: Mark Epstein M.D.
- Length: 7 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Upon its first publication, this path breaking book launched an explosion of interest in how Eastern spirituality can enhance Western psychology. Since then, the worlds of Buddhism and psychotherapy have been forged into a revolutionary new understanding of what constitutes a healthy emotional life. In his insightful introduction, Mark Epstein reflects on this revolution and considers how it is likely to evolve in the future.
-
-
Content limited by presentation
- By Kindle Customer on 02-28-15
By: Mark Epstein M.D., and others
-
The Trauma of Everyday Life
- By: Mark Epstein M.D.
- Narrated by: Mark Epstein M.D.
- Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Trauma does not just happen to a few unlucky people; it is the bedrock of our psychology. Death and illness touch us all, but even the everyday sufferings of loneliness and fear are traumatic. In The Trauma of Everyday Life renowned psychiatrist and author of Thoughts Without a Thinker Mark Epstein uncovers the transformational potential of trauma, revealing how it can be used for the mind’s own development.
-
Advice Not Given
- A Guide to Getting Over Yourself
- By: Mark Epstein MD.
- Narrated by: Mark Epstein MD.
- Length: 6 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Our ego, and its accompanying sense of nagging self-doubt as we work to be bigger, better, smarter, and more in control, is one affliction we all share. In Advice Not Given, Dr. Mark Epstein reveals how Buddhism and Western psychotherapy, two traditions that developed in entirely different times and places and, until recently, had nothing to do with each other, both identify the ego as the limiting factor in our well-being, and both come to the same conclusion: When we give the ego free reign, we suffer; but when it learns to let go, we are free.
-
-
This book needs to be Me Too#ed out of existance
- By amanda on 04-11-19
By: Mark Epstein MD.
-
Going to Pieces Without Falling Apart
- A Buddhist Perspective on Wholeness
- By: Mark Epstein M.D.
- Narrated by: Mark Epstein M.D.
- Length: 5 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For decades, Western psychology has promised fulfillment through building and strengthening the ego. We are taught that the ideal is a strong, individuated self, constructed and reinforced over a lifetime. But Buddhist psychiatrist Mark Epstein has found a different way. Going to Pieces Without Falling Apart shows us that happiness doesn't come from any kind of acquisitiveness, be it material or psychological.
-
Psychotherapy Without the Self: A Buddhist Perspective
- By: Mark Epstein MD
- Narrated by: Dean Sluyter
- Length: 7 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Immersed in Buddhist psychology prior to studying Western psychiatry, Dr. Mark Epstein first viewed Western therapeutic approaches through the lens of the East. This posed something of a challenge. Although both systems promise liberation through self-awareness, the central tenet of Buddha's wisdom is the notion of no-self, while the central focus of Western psychotherapy is the self. This book wrestles with the complex relationship between Buddhism and psychotherapy.
-
-
Challenging and Enlightening
- By Constant reader on 10-07-12
By: Mark Epstein MD
-
The Zen of Therapy
- Uncovering a Hidden Kindness in Life
- By: Mark Epstein M.D.
- Narrated by: Mark Epstein M.D.
- Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For much of his career, Dr. Mark Epstein kept his beliefs as a Buddhist separate from his work as a psychiatrist. But as he became more forthcoming with his patients about his personal spiritual leanings, he was surprised to find how many of them were eager to learn more. The divisions between the psychological, emotional, and the spiritual, he soon realized, were not as distinct as one might think.
-
-
Interlocking centers
- By Matthew Bond on 12-07-22