OoT Taiwan Participates in Discourse on Correlation Between Buddhist Philosophy and Psychotherapy

Office of Tibet, Taiwan, Participates in Discourse on Correlation Between Buddhist Philosophy and Psychoanalysis

Taipei: The Office of Tibet in Taiwan participated in a seminar analyzing the correlation between Tibetan Buddhism and Psychology on 16 March 2024 that was organized by Kelsangmind Counseling centre.

Representative Kelsang Gyaltsen Bawa of the Office of Tibet, Taiwan and former President of the Taiwan Psychoanalytic Association, Wang Haowei, delivered inaugural speeches at the opening ceremony of the discourse that Geshe Tenzin Namdol Rinpoche, a Buddhist philosophy teacher from the Office of Tibet, and Consulting Psychologist Chen Jialin, Director of Kelsangmind Counselling, chaired the conference.

During the event’s morning session, Ven Nicholas Vreeland, the former abbot of Rato Monastery, recounted his journey to life of celibacy and shared his thoughts on afflictive sources – attachment and aversion, followed by an address from the Office of Tibet’s former Buddhist philosophy teacher, Geshe Jampel Choezin. The latter discussed the topic of “Hope, Craving, and Hopelessness in Life”, drawing from his experiences of 20 years of academic life in Taiwan and his own monastic life.

Later in the afternoon, clinical psychologist Liu Huiqing threw light on psychoanalysis and therapeutic techniques in the psychoanalysis field while Geshe Zilkar Rinpoche, using examples from Tibetan Buddhist practice and psychotherapy, deliberated on the nature of hope, craving, and hopelessness in Buddhism and differences in dealing with these human emotions in respective disciplines.

The topic Liu Huiqing talked about was further discussed by Ven Nicholas Vreeland, Geshe Zilkar Rinpoche, and Geshe Jampel Choezin and answered the queries brought up by the audience. Likewise, Liu Huiqing and Lin Qiaoxiang debated on the topic addressed by Geshe Zilkar Rinpoche.

The closing ceremony of the discourse was spent onstage, where the speakers and the panellists exchanged questions and answered the audience’s questions. At the same time, the two hosts shared their feelings about the mutual enrichment between psychotherapy and Buddhism.

Before concluding the event, Geshe Tenzin Namdol Rinpoche introduced the noble commitment of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to the gathering.

The organizers also made a special effort to promote the Blue Book to draw support for the Tibetan freedom movement and endorsed Snow Lion Publication’s books during the event.

This was the third series of discussions between the Office of Tibet and Taiwan Psychoanalytic Association, with the goal of encouraging His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s vision of promoting Buddhist-Scientific and Buddhist-Psychology dialogues amongst the Taiwanese community.

– Report filed by Office of Tibet, Taiwan