Encyclopedia of psychology and religion

Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion David A Leeming, Kathryn Madden, Stanton Marlan (Eds.) Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion With 15 Figures and Tables Editors-in-Chief: David A Leeming, Ph.D Blanton-Peale Institute West 29th Street New York, NY 10001 USA Kathryn Madden, Ph.D National Institute for the Psychotherapies 250 West 57th Street, Suite 501 New York, NY 10019 USA Stanton Marlan, Ph.D Pittsburgh Center for Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis 4527 Winthrop Street Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3722 USA A C.I.P Catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress Library of Congress Control Number: 2009934794 ISBN: 978-0-387-71801-9 The electronic version will be available under ISBN 978-0-387-71802-6 The print and electronic bundle will be available under ISBN 978-0-387-71803-3 ß Springer Science+Business Media LLC 2010 (USA) All rights reserved This work may not be translated or copied in whole or in part without the written permission of the publisher (Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, 233 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013, USA), except for brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis Use in connection with any form of information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed is forbidden The use in this publication of trade names, trademarks, service marks, and similar terms, even if they are not identified as such, is not to be taken as an expression of opinion as to whether or not they are subject to proprietary rights springer.com Printed on acid-free paper SPIN: 11528708 2109 — Preface Mr Kenneth Giniger some time ago suggested to Dr Holly Johnson, then President of Blanton-Peale Institute, New York, NY, that Blanton-Peale compile an encyclopedia of psychology and religion, a comprehensive reference work consisting of articles contributed by scholars of importance in the fields of religion, psychology, psychology and religion, and psychology of religion Dr Johnson also saw the need for such an information source and began planning work on the project with the assistance of Blanton-Peale colleagues, Dr Walter Odajnyk and Dr David A Leeming Long working together with Blanton-Peale on behalf of Journal of Religion and Health, Springer Science+Business Media became publisher, with Dr Leeming, Dr Kathryn Madden, and Dr Stanton Marlan named as Editors-in-Chief Dr Leeming became Managing Editor of the project He has taught courses in myth, religion, and literature for many years and has published several books on these subjects, including the Oxford Companion to World Mythology, and until recently was Editor-in-Chief of the award-winning Journal of Religion and Health and Dean of Blanton-Peale’s Graduate Institute He is currently President of Blanton-Peale Institute Dr Madden served as Dean and later President of Blanton-Peale, was Associate Editor and later Executive Editor of the Journal of Religion and Health, and has recently published Dark Light of the Soul (Lindisfarme Books) She teaches and lectures regularly and is in private practice She received her M.A., M.Phil., and Ph.D degrees in Psychology and Religion from Union Theological Seminary in New York City She has published many articles in her field and is Editor of Quadrant Dr Marlan is a clinical psychologist in private practice He is a training and supervising analyst for the Inter-Regional Society of Jungian Analysts and is President of the Pittsburgh Society of Jungian Analysts He is also Adjunct Clinical Professor of Psychology at Duquesne University and holds diplomates in both Clinical Psychology and Psychoanalysis from the American Board of Professional Psychology He has been Editor of the Journal of Jungian Theory and Practice and is the author of numerous articles and books in the field of Jungian psychology Parentage of the Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion comes naturally to the BlantonPeale Institute Founded in 1937 by Dr Norman Vincent Peale and psychologist Smiley Blanton, the Institute is a mental health clinic and psychological training institute dedicated to the constructive integration of religion and psychology The Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion provides a crucial new resource for the collaboration and mutual illumination of these two fields Entries are drawn from a wide variety of religious traditions, not only modern world religions, such as Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism, but also, for example, African Animism, pre-Christian Celtic and Germanic traditions, Egyptian, Greek, Gnostic, and Native North American and Mesoamerican religious movements Approaches to the subjects demonstrate a broad range of methodologies Each entry is intended to create a tension of meaning between traditional religious terms and psychological interpretations The goal is not to impose the correct or definitive meaning, but to explore new and latent deposits of meaning that bear implications for human self-understanding, cross-cultural interpretation, and therapeutic possibilities Occasionally, more than one article on a given subject is included to present different points of view Extensive crossreferencing allows the reader to enhance understanding of particular subjects through direct access to related topics The Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion will serve as a valuable and accessible reference work in both electronic and print versions for academic libraries and their patrons and will be of particular use to the growing community of researchers, academics, teachers, clergy, therapists, counselors, and other professionals who are involved in the developing reintegration of the fields of religion and psychology Acknowledgment The Editors and Blanton-Peale Institute thank the members of Springer Science+Business Media staff in both Germany and the United States for their support on this project We are particularly grateful to Carol Bischoff, Thomas Mager, Susanne Friedrichsen, Heike Richini, and Christine Hausmann for their consistent help and support David A Leeming, Kathryn Madden, and Stanton Marlan Introduction The world’s great religions have always served as the repository of the psychological truths and values of mankind Religions address the fundamental questions of human existence: the purpose and meaning of life; our relationship with God; the nature of the soul; the existence of evil, suffering, and death; ethical behavior and conscience; our search for happiness, redemption, and salvation In previous centuries theologians and religious philosophers were not inclined to differentiate between matters of ‘‘soul’’ or ‘‘psyche.’’ Figures such as St Paul, St Augustine, Martin Luther, Pascal, and Kierkegaard were people of faith who also grappled with the mysteries of human interiority, will, and motivation In the course of addressing these issues, every religion has developed a definition of human nature and examined our fundamental motivations, drives, and desires Religions have been crucibles for the time-tested psychological principles that assure a sense of identity, community, and meaningful life All religions, for example, have discovered that negative psychological states, such as pride, anger, hatred, lust, envy, ignorance, selfishness, and egotism, lead to personal and social conflict, injustice, and pain On the other hand, positive mental and emotional attitudes, such as love, altruism, forgiveness, compassion, generosity, humility, equanimity, and wisdom, lead to a sense of personal well-being and social harmony From a psychological perspective, religions are all-encompassing therapeutic systems that deal with major life events, transitions, and crises and respond in a healing, often life-saving way to the travails of the suffering soul and the impoverished spirit With the emergence and then dominance of scientific rationalism, however, the fields of religion and psychology diverged and entered into a relation of mutual suspicion Beginning with the Enlightenment and its materialistic, secular, and rationalistic weltanschauung, the previously generally accepted religious and spiritual delineation of human nature was seriously challenged In time, a split occurred between studies of human nature based on secular definitions and the age-old religious knowledge of the human soul and spirit The two fields that should have been allied and in creative dialogue instead became estranged from each other, and often ignored or rejected the knowledge that each could have contributed to the enterprise of understanding human nature Purely secular notions of human nature emerged: human beings were seen as rational animals; a person was born a tabula rasa, neither good nor evil, with parenting and education forming the personality; human beings were a composite of their economic and social relations; human beings were initially motivated by instinctive, irrational, and unrealistic drives and desires; all human behavior, emotions, and motivations and those most sublime cultural creations, religious beliefs and experiences, were the result of complex organic, neurological, and biochemical interactions The tradition inspired by Sigmund Freud tended to view religion as an illusion, a cultural vestige of immaturity and projection Consequently, those in the religious camp came to view psychology as a reductionist enterprise that denied the sacred and transcendent aspects of reality While some continue to subscribe to such stereotypes, a more sophisticated understanding of religion – particularly as advanced by the field of depth psychology – has done much to overcome them The secular paradigm that has ruled the domain of psychology for the past centuries was challenged early on by pioneers such as William James, C G Jung, Roberto Assagioli, Viktor Frankl, Erik Erikson, and the humanistic psychologists Gordon Allport, Erich Fromm, and Abraham Maslow During the 1970s, these thinkers were joined by the transpersonal psychologists, who have sought a synthesis between secular psychology and the great spiritual traditions While they have accepted the stages of personal development described by various exponents of secular psychology, they have added the stages of transpersonal development evidenced in the world’s contemplative and meditative traditions Because of the cultural shift represented by the above and the persistence of religious beliefs in the vast majority of populations worldwide, contemporary psychologists are beginning to recognize that a purely secular approach to the study and treatment of human beings is inadequate A science dedicated to the exploration of the basic characteristics and strivings of human beings and to the classification of the laws of human behavior needs to be inclusive and not exclusive of the religious dimension The need to address religious and spiritual problems is now deemed not only legitimate, but also clinically and ethically imperative The 1994 edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders published by the American Psychiatric Association, for example, contains a new classification, ‘‘Religious or Spiritual Problems.’’ This Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion grows out of the developing awareness of the need to reintegrate the sciences of the mind with the science of the spirit By bringing together the disciplines of psychology and religion, it viii Introduction unites the two areas of study concerned with the behavior and motivations of human beings and provides a crucial new resource for the collaboration and mutual illumination of these two fields For those in the study of religion, it offers new tools for understanding the images, structures, symbols, and rhythms that constitute the vocabulary of religious experience For those in the field of psychology it reveals deep patterns of meaning and practice that inform human culture and the personal identity of millions This Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion illustrates, even to the skeptical, the vital importance of religion in our world and the serious depths of its symbolic universe For those already immersed in religious studies, it demonstrates layers of meaning that are enriched – not reduced – by the tools of psychological investigation We trust this encyclopedia provides comprehensive timely accessible information from a multi-faceted perspective that reflects the intersection and the growing synthesis of psychology and religion David A Leeming, Kathryn Madden, and Stanton Marlan Editors-in-Chief David A Leeming Blanton-Peale Institute West 29th Street New York, NY 10001 USA Kathryn Madden National Institute for the Psychotherapies 250 West 57th Street, Suite 501 New York, NY 10019 USA Stanton Marlan Pittsburgh Center for Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis 4527 Winthrop Street Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3722 USA Managing Editor David A Leeming Blanton-Peale Institute West 29th Street New York, NY 10001 USA Associate Managing Editor Felice Noelle Rodriguez Blanton-Peale Institute West 29th Street New York, NY 10001 USA Wounded Healer, The centers and 12 step groups find a home for their activities within the walls of churches and other religious institutions Though it is unfortunate that the Emmanuel Movement could not survive without Elwood Worcester’s inspired leadership its symbolic importance and actual contributions should never be forgotten or overlooked See also: > Pastoral Counseling > Psychotherapy W 983 they counseled He called this book The Wounded Healer While the concept of the wounded healer wasn’t new, the book’s title captured, in a phrase, a perspective of the therapeutic relationship that crosses counseling theories and treatment modalities Research of the literature suggests that regardless of the counseling theory or technique in play, a therapist who is aware of, and has worked to accept his own wounds, has much to offer a client Bibliography Historical Framework Gifford, S (1997) The Emmanuel movement: The origins of group treatment and the assault on lay psychotherapy Boston, MA: Harvard University Press Kurtz, E (1991) Not-God: A history of alcoholics anonymous Center City, MN: Hazelden Powell, R (1974) Healing and wholeness: Helen Flanders Dunbar (1902–1959): An extra medical origin of the American psychosomatic movement 1906–1936, Durham, NC: Duke Worcester, E (1932) Life’s adventure New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons World Center > Axis Mundi World Tree > Axis Mundi Wounded Healer, The The concept of the wounded healer is quite old Seen throughout ancient Greek mythology, healers are portrayed as inseparable from their own persistent wounds The figures of Chiron and Asklepios are especially prominent as Greek gods and healers who themselves are wounded Chiron, a centaur, and master of the healing arts, was hit with a poisioned arrow by Heracles He could not heal himself and thus gave up his immortality Asklepios is struck by lightning while trying to raise the dead; Asklepios’ son is wounded in battle while striving to heal others (Kirmayer, 2003) The concept of the wounded healer appears in medieval Europe in the myth of Parsifal and the Fisher King The Fisher King, who despite possessing the Holy Grail which can cure all ills, cannot cure his own wound until the Holy Grail is liberated (Miller and Baldwin, 2000) In many primitive societies, the concept is visible in the tradition of the shaman, a healer and often a priest, who represents the wounded healer In Shamanism, being wounded is linked to knowledge, and the display of wounds represents an authenticity of skills (Miller, Wagner, Britton and Gridley, 1998) According to Miller and Baldwin (2000), the shaman might be referred to as the ‘‘ultimate’’ wounded healer because he is viewed as actually taking on himself the wounds and illnesses of his people One of the first of the modern healers responsible for advancing the wounded healer paradigm was Carl Jung ‘‘Only the wounded doctor can heal’’ (Jung, 1951, as cited in Miller & Baldwin, 2000: 246) In 1985, psychologists Remen, May, Young and Berland described wounded healers as those with resolved emotional experiences that sensitized them to working with others (as cited in Gladding, 2004) W Bonnie Smith Crusalis Polarities In 1972, a Catholic priest and psychologist, Henri Nouwen, wrote a book that urged ministerial counselors to make their own emotional wounds a source of healing for those Fascination with the polarities of life, along with attempts to resolve and connect them, is as old as recorded time Many cultures created single deities to name opposites, 984 W Wounded Healer, The such as Kali in India, the goddess of both pox and the healer (Miller and Baldwin, 2000) The bridging of these polarities in one’s personality is of central importance in the wounded healer model Jung suggests the critical nature of these bridges often, especially in his writings referring to embracing the ‘‘shadow,’’ the distinct, ‘‘bad/ineffective/wrong’’ part of one’s personality According to Jung, it is necessary to accept and embrace the shadow as a step toward self actualization (Dunne, 2000) In considering the bridging of polarities as a facet of healing, it is useful to mention the origin of the word ‘‘heal,’’ which derives from the Anglo-Saxon word hal, meaning whole To heal is to make whole through a process of unifying all of the elements in a person, good and bad, sick and well (Miller and Baldwin, 2000) Gestalt therapy, with its emphasis on unification, and alcohol and drug counseling, where often the most effective counselors are those who have themselves survived addiction, are examples of this process (Miller and Baldwin, 2000) Environments in the counseling setting that support wholeness in healers, however, are often difficult to come by A survey of 229 nurses who experienced depression revealed that 30% did not disclose their condition to their colleagues even though as individual nurses, they expressed the importance of healing from within as having great potential to make an impact on the healing of patients (Jackson, 2004) In a study by Cain (2000), 10 psychotherapists with a history of psychiatric hospitalization reported the stigma associated with their psychiatric histories as the reason for not revealing their illnesses According to the study’s participants, reduced stigma would encourage the disclosure of one’s problems and thereby increase the possibility for therapists to explore their own wounds as a means of self-healing and as a technique to use in their professions The Inner Healer Archetype Another concept that emerges in the wounded healer paradigm is that of inner healer This is the concept that describes a part of the process that promotes healing in either a patient or therapist It is labeled an archetype because it implies an elemental or universal quality that reflects basic human patterns (Kirmayer, 2003) The archetype of the inner healer is activated whenever a person becomes ill, and healing occurs only if the patient gets help from his inner healer (Guggenbuhl-Craig, 1978, as cited in Miller and Baldwin 2000) This does not always happen, however, according to Grosbeck (1975, as cited in Miller and Baldwin, 2000), because the discomfort of his wounds blocks the patient from reaching an awareness of his healer within The patient instead projects the responsibility of healing onto the therapist The task of the therapist, then, is to help release the inner healer in the patient, a process characterized as ‘‘activating dormant or malfunctioning mechanisms of healing and resilience’’ (Kirmayer, 2003: 250) He says alternately the healer can acknowledge his own wounds as a way of helping the patient to mobilize his inner healer However activated, functioning inner healers are vital in both the patient and therapist (Miller and Baldwin, 2000) Wounded Healers Cain’s study (2000) of psychotherapists with personal histories of psychiatric hospitalization reports that Carl Jung was just one of several mental health theorists who sought help in a quest for mental well-being and relief from suffering Others include Sigmund Freud, Alfred Adler, and Henry Stack Sullivan Jung might be considered the classic example of the wounded healer, because much of his work was devoted to describing his life struggles or wounds and how he used these struggles to develop his skills as a healer (Dunne, 2000) In her recent biography of Jung, Dunne (2000) describes the wounds and later the healing associated with Jung’s troubled childhood, his break with Freud who had designated Jung as his heir apparent, and Jung’s efforts to establish his own psychological theories Albert Ellis (2004) describes himself as ‘‘anxious’’ in an essay entitled ‘‘Why I (really) became a therapist.’’ He says that while he wanted to help others and in so doing create a better world, foremost in his choice of psychotherapy as a career was to study and experiment with techniques to help himself He describes a childhood and adolescence rife with phobias about speaking in public and rejection by girls He says that having figured out how to solve these phobias in himself, he was able to develop a theory and techniques that could be applied in the healing of others On ‘‘Wounded’’ Healing Carl Jung’s view that only wounded doctors can heal is shared by Miller and Baldwin (2000), who say that only healers deeply touched by personal experience of illness can truly heal, and that vulnerability is an integral part of this process (Miller and Baldwin, 2000) They say that an awareness of one’s own wounds or conflicts leads to a state of vulnerability which in turn connects the patient and Wounded Healer, The therapist According to Kirmayer (2003) that connection, and the woundedness and healing in both the patient and therapist, serve as a mechanism for mobilizing the allimportant inner healer of each It is intuitive that someone who has been afflicted and survives is in the best position to understand illness and cures (Kirmayer, 2003) Kirmayer describes five stages in the development of wounded healers The first is the healer who will not, can not, or does not confront his own woundedness and instead identifies with the power of healing, seeing himself as different from the patient The second stage brings the healer into contact with his own problems The third describes an overwhelming and dark stage where the healer sees himself only as his wounds, loses his identity as healer, sees himself as incurably wounded, identifies with the patient and seeks help The fourth stage describes the acceptance of the wound which invokes the inner healer In the fifth stage, the healer realizes that wounding can only be partly healed and that he must descend again and again into his suffering He realizes that his strengths and weaknesses are one and the same It is important to note that healing does not occur as a result of the healer describing his own pain or stories about illness and pain to the patient (Nouwen, 1972) Nouwen says healing happens when healer and patient are able to share the depth of pain and together experience the action of rising from it It is this connection, at its deepest level between therapist and patient that is responsible for healing the wounds universally caused by alienation, separation, isolation and loneliness ‘‘I recognize some of the same issues that I grapple with for myself and I discover our shared human condition, even though it is lived somewhat differently by each of us’’ (van Deurzen, 2001: 49) Thus, a clinician’s willingness to remain in contact with the parts of self that are wounded or in pain allow him to meet the patient where the process of true healing may begin (Kirmayer, 2003) Implications of the Wounded Healer in Counseling A major concept, which must be emphasized when discussing the wounded healer in the counseling setting, is that of self-knowledge Miller and Baldwin (2000) describe a medical resident who had grown up with an alcoholic father and who was unsuccessful in counseling an alcoholic patient because of his own anger Mander (2004) says self- awareness, evidence of the ability to empathize, and life experience are major qualities sought W 985 in candidates applying for professional counseling training programs Mander (2004) notes that while on the surface there seems to be a recognizable difference between those wanting to study to be therapists and those who want to enter into therapy, both groups are in fact quite similar because both express a desire to understand the psychic process, to explore internal conflict and to repair life wounds In the counseling setting, if the wounded side of the healer is devalued, the clinical experience is likely to be distorted (Kirmayer, 2003) Thus it is vital that counseling training and practice environments encourage safety for the expression of a clinician’s wounds and vulnerabilities (Mander, 2004) and that practitioners regularly be not only encouraged, but required, to engage in regular selfcare behaviors (Jackson, 2004) Another side of the wounded healer which must be attended to is that of unresolved conflict A healer’s own neglected wounds can result in an inability to activate the inner healer in both the therapist and the patient and in the pathologizing of a patient by the therapist (Kirmayer, 2003) In addition, therapists must always be watchful for their own motivations in the counseling relationship and recognize whether a wish to help is really motivated by immature narcissism (Mander, 2004) The great challenge for healers is to learn to live with their brokenness as a blessing rather than a curse (Nouwen, 1972) Study findings clearly support the value of ‘‘wounded healers’’ in the field of counseling because consumer/ professionals have the potential for modeling collaborative treatment and recovery (Cain, 2000), and because an acceptance by the therapist of his own wounds, through conscious awareness of his own vulnerability, leads to wholeness, which enables a patient to achieve wholeness too (Miller and Baldwin, 2000) Kirmayer (2003) paraphrases a Pablo Neruda poem when he says that to accept the power of the archetypes of inner healer and wounded healer, we must turn inward to our darkest place and experience confusion until that which hides in us comes out " A bough of fruit falls from the sun on your dark garment The great roots of night Grow suddenly from your soul And the things that hide in you come out again (Neruda, 1969, as cited in Kirmayer, 2003) See also: > Archetype > Daimonic > Dark Night of the Soul > Forgiveness > Holy Grail > Jung, Carl Gustav > Psychotherapy > Shamanic Healing > Shamans and Shamanism W 986 W Wounded Healer, The Bibliography Cain, N R (2000) Psychotherapists with personal histories of psychiatric hospitalization: Countertransference in wounded healers Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, 24, 22–28 Dunne, C (2000) Carl Jung: Wounded healer of the soul New York: Parabola Books Ellis, A (2004) Why I (really) became a therapist Journal of RationalEmotive & Cognitive Behavior Therapy, 22, 73–77 Gladding, S T (2004) Counseling a comprehensive profession Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc Jackson, C (2004) Healing ourselves, healing others Holistic Nursing Practice, 18, 199–210 Kirmayer, L J (2003) Asklepian dreams: The ethos of the woundedhealer in the clinical encounter Transcultural Psychiatry, 40, 248–277 Mander, G (2004) The selection of candidates for training in psychotherapy and counseling Psychodynamic Practice, 10(2), 161–172 Miller, G A., Wagner, A., Britton, T P., & Gridley, B E (1998) A Framework for understanding the wounding of healers Counseling and Values, 42, 124–132 Miller, G D., Baldwin, D.C., Jr (2000) Implications of the woundedhealer paradigm for the use of self in therapy In M Baldwin (Ed.), The use of self in therapy (pp 243–261) Binghamton, NY: Haworth Press Nouwen, H J (1972) The wounded healer New York: Doubleday Press Van Deurzen, E (2001) Paradox and passion in psychotherapy Chichester, England: Wiley Y Yahweh > God > Judaism and Psychology Yggdrasill > Axis Mundi Yoga Magda Schonfeld As yoga has swept the west, it is now estimated that nearly 20 million people in the United States practice some physical aspect of yoga But beneath yoga’s modern popularity lies an ancient tradition that illuminates knowledge of the Self Definition of Yoga Yoga deals with the most profound of mysteries, the essential nature of the human being in relation to the universe The term Yoga has its root in the Sanskrit word ‘‘yuj’’ which means to yoke, unite, integrate What is being united? Yoga is the union between the individual soul and the universal soul It is the split between the two that is viewed as the root of all suffering Many paths evolved in the yoga tradition, originating in India These include: bhakti yoga, the yoga of devotion, karma the yoga of selfless service, jnana yoga, the yoga of wisdom, and raja yoga, also known as the ‘‘royal union.’’ Within the umbrella of raja yoga is the eightfold path (astanga yoga) outlined by the great sage, Patanjali, in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, a treatise written about 200 BC Astanga Yoga, the eight limbed path offers a systematic way of cultivation of the mind so as to ultimately achieve liberation The first four limbs guide the seeker on a path toward evolution of consciousness, including: yamas, ethics and morals that teach about living in relationship, niyamas, individual practices necessary to build character, asana, physical postures, and pranayama, breath control The second four limbs teach the path of involution and relate to the true state of Yoga These include: pratyahara, withdrawal of the senses, dharana, concentration, keeping the mind collected, dhyana, meditation, and Samadhi, profound meditation or complete absorption It is interesting to note that Patanjali pays only passing attention to the practice of asana, the third limb of yoga, also known as Hatha yoga Yet, it is Hatha Yoga, the practice of postures, or asana that has so gripped modern attention Many individuals are initially drawn to hatha yoga for truly tangible benefits such as stress reduction, increased flexibility, stamina, improved concentration, and overall health and well-being Hatha Yoga, also refers to the yoga of willpower It is the way toward realization through rigorous discipline The power aroused by this discipline clears the energy centers of the body/mind so that union with the supreme is possible Patanjali defines yoga more specifically, as yogas citta vritti nirodahah: yoga is the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind What are these mind fluctuations? All the stuff of the mind, memories, thoughts, feelings, beliefs, judgments, the many objects of awareness It is identification with these objects of awareness that causes suffering In his yoga sutras, Patanjali shows us a way to free ourselves of this suffering Is Yoga a Religion? Is Yoga a religion? BKS Iyengar (1979), master teacher of Hatha Yoga, whose book Light on Yoga has been a foundation text for the practice of Yoga, says the following: D A Leeming, K Madden, S Marlan (eds.), Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion, DOI 10.1007/978-0-387-71802-6, # Springer Science+Business Media LLC 2010 988 Y " Yoga Yoga is a subject which cultures the mind and the intelligence of the individual to develop religiousness through practice It has nothing to with the man-created religious order; yet it is a religion of human beings, a religion of humanity, as it is filled with the message of goodwill to one and all Instead of prayer to a particular god, Patanjali’s sutras offer a pathway towards opening to the divine This divine is referred to as Ishvara, the Universal Soul This divine essence is not bound by place, space or time, not subject to cause and effect, not subject to suffering or the seeds of suffering This divine nature is, however, not of this religion or that It is instead a universal truth understood by all religions Yoga and Psychology Patanjali, in a clear, systematic way put forth a treatise to help us understand the nature of mind, its many pitfalls and misidentifications that are the roots of day to day suffering In modern psychology, we try to comprehend the impact of trauma, archetypal defenses, dissociation as a form of survival, projection, individuation, etc We have on the other hand, an examination of the mind written centuries ago that sheds light upon the nature of the psyche But Patanjali takes us beyond psychology to a path of freedom from the entanglements of the mind The Five Afflictions Patanjali enumerates five afflictions (klesas) that disturb the equilibrium of consciousness and perpetuate a state of bondage or suffering The first is ignorance, avidya, which is the root cause of all affliction This is the ignorance of our own true nature We make the mistake of identifying that which is impermanent as permanent It is taking the day to day self we know, the self that works each day, the self that raises children, the self that succeeds in the world or fails it, the self that takes pride in great accomplishment and the self that feels defeated; it is believing that all these various selves are more real than that which unites them into wholeness The second affliction is asmita, or pride, ego, which is called an affliction when we misidentify with the ego A sense of confidence and belief in who you are, is essential to accomplish anything in the world But ego can trap you into ‘‘you’re not good enough; you don’t deserve to be here,’’ or ‘‘you’re so great, they don’t know anything.’’ The ego can ensnare you in the ‘‘greatness’’ of your accomplishments, or minimize you into a small suffering being, and lead you into endless comparison between you and the rest of the world Patanjali warns us not to get ensnared by these voices of ego, for these voices affirm separateness rather than wholeness The third and fourth afflictions, raga and dvesa, attachment and aversion, likes and dislikes, can easily rule our lives and utterly exhaust us We run toward what we like and run from what we don’t like Once we attain the possessions we long for, we fear losing them In order to avoid the pain of what we don’t like, or avoid the pain of past suffering, complex defense systems might surface, like acting aggressive when you feel vulnerable, dissociating, disappearing when threatened, turning to addictions like food or alcohol when life doesn’t offer what you long for Chasing after what we long for and running from what we wish never came, keeps us in a state of agitation, restlessness, yearning Yet if we can practice stillness, witnessing mind with its potent pull in one direction and another, if we can, as referred to in Jungian psychology, hold the tension of the opposites, freedom from misidentification, freedom from suffering is possible The fifth and final affliction, abhinivesah, is clinging to life or fear of death It is the subtlest of all afflictions Even the wisest of beings are plagued by this affliction and naturally so, it is our instinct to stay alive at all costs ‘‘While practicing Yoga, the aspirant penetrates deep within himself and realizes the life-force, active while one is alive, merges with the universe when it leaves the body at death Through this understanding, the aspirant can lose his attachment to life and conquer the fear of death’’ (Iyengar, 1996) In summary, Patanjali discusses the false identification of thoughts and Self He teaches that false identification is at the root of all misery He further teaches that the practices of yoga are about dissolving this false identification Asana Practice or Hatha Yoga Since the western world has embraced yoga as a mainstream activity, it is worthwhile to examine the nature of asana practice How can the practice of asana teach us about false identification? Often as we move into a pose, the various tight and resistive places in the body reveal themselves These places of resistance can easily stay hidden from us, if not challenged by touch, movement or some method of conscious awareness The body, Yoga connected to matter, to earth, readily houses our struggles in patterns of tension These patterns deepen over time and if left unaddressed (unconscious) long enough, will ultimately lead to disease The body is an extraordinary reflection of the mental/emotional patterns of mind Yogic practice can help heal the split between the two Tightness and resistance can come from many sources and often interweave with one another: (1) physical – structural tightness, injury, repetitive wrong actions, habit patterns, overdoing (2) chemical – improper diet, drugs, environmental toxins, (3)emotional – distressing thoughts, feelings, memories, anxieties, (4) spiritual – disconnection from the source of one’s being Whatever the source of resistance is, the body will attempt to express it, often in the manifestation of pain Whenever we resist the present moment and try to deny what we are experiencing, a split occurs This split holds energy It holds tension It manifests as suffering By connecting to the body, by witnessing the split, this cut off energy can return to us as wholeness Asana practice offers us the opportunity to return to ourselves Sometimes in practicing an asana, we want to come out of the pose, to jump away from the discomfort that might rise Or we use too much willfulness and harden the body so that we overdo Here lies a marvelous analogy to Jung’s ‘‘holding the tension of the opposites.’’ This has to with the willingness to be in the pose, the willingness to be with the difficulty or ease and not identify with either ‘‘If we are able to be with what rises, that is remain still long enough to perceive the discomfort, rather than react to it, we can begin the path toward union, Yoga’’ (Lasater, 2001) Asana practice can change physiology, brain chemistry and organic function Backbending poses open the heart, forward bending poses support the digestive organs, twists ring out toxins from the liver and kidneys, inversions support circulation, clear the mind and rejuvenates one from fatigue ‘‘Yoga was invented by our sages in order to overcome bodily impediments, emotional and environmental disturbances of the mind and the wavering qualities of the intelligence, so that the practitioner comes closer and closer to the Self ’’ (Iyengar, 2001) How can asana bring one closer to the Self? For example, we can look at adho muka virasana, (downward facing hero’s pose, sitting with legs folded under you and forehead to the floor); if done with full presence of being, this pose evokes a sense of humbleness The pose has its own offering Another pose, Virabhadrasana II translated as warrior pose, where one stands with legs wide apart, arms fully extended, legs firm, chest and heart open, expansive Y 989 The pose itself invokes a sense of power, extension, and stability, the feet rooted and core of body centered over the pelvis When fully entering this pose, empowerment manifests, inertia is shed, a sense of energy and will to go forth into the day with vitality rises up The notion that poses generate particular patterns in the mind is a more modern interpretation of the powers of yoga Such ideas are not mentioned by Patanjali Yet as asana practice has evolved in modern times, we can see that each asana has the capacity to teach us the art of silence Silence in the brain allows for effortless work If the effort offered to a pose is done wholeheartedly, effortless practice manifests Yoga and Jung Our past experiences, perceptions impact the nature of our practice These experiences, instincts and hidden or subliminal impressions make up what is known in Sanskrit as samskaras If these imprints are good, they act as stimuli to maintain the high degree of sensitivity necessary to pursue the spiritual path If the imprints are not good, rooted in trauma, abuse or neglect, the seeker has a more complicated journey of learning to see, to perceive habitual reactions to life’s events This might be paralleled to Jung’s notion of the ‘‘complex,’’ which when activated, triggers an individual to react in a way similar to the initial imprint of wounding The process of integrating past impressions, so that they no longer trigger unconscious behavior is an important goal in psychotherapy The yogic tradition understood this long ago As long as one stays rooted in reactivity to life’s phenomena, one is caught in the wheel of ‘‘dharma,’’ or an existence bound in cause and effect But through practice, these imprints can be transformed Practice involves the eight limbs of yoga discussed earlier, asana practice being the third limb Practice, abhyasa involves repeated, committed, devoted effort Patanjali points out that one must not only practice, but practice with detachment, ‘‘vairagya’’ the discarding of ideas which obstruct progress Vairagya is a practice where one learns to gain freedom from desires and to cultivate non-attachment to things which hinder pursuit of union with the soul It is important here to clarify the difference between the psychological term dissociation and the use of detachment in the sutras Sometimes withdrawing sense awareness, turning inward, practicing yoga, meditation, silence, can appear as if one was withdrawing from the world at large, retreating from society This withdrawal, Y 990 Y Yoga this penetration into silence is necessary to hear the internal voice, the voice of the soul But if one gets so captivated by that silence, or so dependent upon it that withdrawal becomes the end of the journey rather than a pathway, the seeker has then cultivated withdrawal as an end rather than the means of realizing the Self Practice and detachment are the means to still the movements of consciousness This sutra brings us back to Pantanjali’s earlier definition of yoga Yoga is the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind Whenever the mind is fully focused, one pointed, and one is acting in harmony with the nature of all things, one is practicing yoga Life is filled with moments to enliven this practice See also: > Hinduism therapy > Self > Jung, Carl Gustav > Psycho- Bibliography Arun, H S (2007) Yoga is beyond religion, Iyengar, the yoga master (B Kofi, Ed.) Boston, MA: Shambala Coulter, H (2001) David, anatomy of hatha yoga Honesdale, PA: Body & Breath Feuerstein, G (2001) The Yoga tradition, its history, literature, philosophy and practice Prescott, AZ: Hohm Press Iyengar, B K S (1966) Light on Yoga: Yoga Dipika New York: Schocken Books Iyengar, B K S (1996) Light on the Yoga sutras of Patanjali San Francisco, CA: Thorsons Iyengar, B K S (2001) Astadala Yogamala (Vol 2) Mumbai, India: Allied Publishers Kraftsow, G., & Yoga, K (2007) Transformation through practice, Iyengar, the yoga master (B Kofi, Ed.) Boston, MA: Shambala Lasater, J (2001) Understanding the meaning of Asana www.judithlasater com/writings/no6.html Z Zazen > Koan > Zen Zen Paul C Cooper ‘‘I need to repeat that Zen refuses to be explained, but that it is to be lived’’ (Suzuki, 1949: 310) Limitations of Explanation Keeping the limitations of explanation and the value placed on the primacy of experience in mind, the following will provide an outline sketch of Zen Buddhism Zen is the Japanese translation of the Sanskrit term, dhyana, which means concentration meditation or meditative absorption Zen is also known as C’han (Chinese), Thien (Vietnamese), and Seon (Korean) However, as Zen is not a monolithic structure, it is important to keep in mind that while there is an historical continuity between C’han and Zen, and that the terms are typically used interchangeably, there are many fundamental socio-cultural and doctrinal differences between these systems as they developed regionally and that integrated various influences of indigenous religions For example, C’han incorporates elements of Taoism and Confucianism Recently, a rapidly expanding ‘‘interfaith Zen’’ movement in the United States has integrated many Christian elements (Johnston, 1976; Kennedy, 1996) History Historical accounts attribute the Indian monk Bodhidharma with the introduction of C’han into China during the sixth Century Bodhidharma taught what has been described as a mind-to-mind transmission, outside scriptures, and which does not rely upon words or letters His teachings were then transmitted through a series of Chinese patriarchs Given this emphasis on direct transmission, the role of the teacher is essential and supercedes the study of the scriptures This direct teacher to student ‘‘dharma transmission’’ follows a lineage that can be traced back to preceeding generations to the historical Buddha Thus, not unlike psychotherapy, Zen is interpersonal, experiential and relies on direct dialog Practice and Religious Salvation The primary experiential activities of Zen are zazen (sitting meditation), dialogues with a teacher, koan study, and moment-to-moment mindfulness during all daily activities and chores Zen practices engender a liberating awareness of reality through an alteration of perception that includes the derailment of cognitive linear thought From the Zen perspective, this liberating awareness can be known or intuited experientially, but not known in the cognitive sense This salvational intention, expressed in the notion of satori (enlightenment, literally: ‘‘to understand’’) and engendered through personal experience, qualifies Zen as a religious endeavor However, it is not a religion in the sense of the word that religion is typically understood in a Western civilizational context On this point Masao Abe writes, ‘‘In one sense, Zen may be said to be one of the most difficult religions to understand, for there is no formulated Zen doctrine or theological system by which one may intellectually approach it’’ (1985: 3) This soteriological intention along with supporting practices defines Zen as a religion The striving for satori (enlightenment) reflects this salvational goal and has resulted in an emphasis on the wisdom or insight aspect of meditation This emphasis has generated a critique of quietist leanings among certain Buddhist sects Without an emphasis on the wisdom aspect of zazen, such critics assert that meditation becomes an empty and useless endeavor that can be equated, for example, as ‘‘polishing a brick to make a mirror.’’ D A Leeming, K Madden, S Marlan (eds.), Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion, DOI 10.1007/978-0-387-71802-6, # Springer Science+Business Media LLC 2010 992 Z Zen Regarding salvation, the Zen scholar D T Suzuki notes: ‘‘As I have repeatedly illustrated, Buddhism, whether primitive or developed, is a religion of freedom and emancipation, and the ultimate aim of its discipline is to release the spirit from its possible bondage so that it can act freely in accordance with its own principles’’ (1949: 74) Zen and Psychoanalysis The influence of Zen has run through psychoanalysis for over a half of century as a result of D T Suzuki’s involvement with Eric Fromm (1950, 1956), Fromm, Suzuki & DeMartino (1960), Karen Horney (1945), Harold Kelman (1960), and others This group of psychoanalysts have approached Buddhist religious experience and associated meditation practices with the true spirit of open-minded inquiry distinctive of the psychoanalytic dialog that Freud fathered and began to look eastward in a search for expanding their psychoanalytic vision Karen Horney, for example (1945: 163) discusses the ‘‘impoverishment of the personality’’ and refers to the Buddhist notion of ‘‘wholeheartedness’’ or ‘‘sincerity of spirit.’’ Susan Quinn (1987), Karen Horney’s biographer, chronicles a close association between Horney and D T Suzuki Harold Kelman, a close colleague of Horney argued in his paper ‘‘Psychoanalytic Thought and Eastern Wisdom’’ (1960), that psychoanalysis is experientially ‘‘eastern.’’ While deriving from fundamentally different theoretical assumptions, Kelman observed that Buddhist thought and technique can deeply enhance psychoanalytic technique, particularly regarding the analyst’s attentional stance Erich Fromm, who was deeply interested in Zen Buddhism, also shared a close association with D T Suzuki He included detailed meditation instructions in his very popular book, The Art of Loving (1956) Fromm believed that meditative experience can expand the psychoanalytic process through a positive conceptualization of human potential that goes beyond addressing symptoms When asked about the benefits of Zen meditation in relation to mental health, Fromm reportedly responded that ‘‘It’s (Zen) the only way to enduring mental health’’ (quoted in Kapleau, 1989:14) He viewed both systems as potentially mutually enhancing A thirst for expanding their vision and looking eastward to so forms a common thread that ties together the above representative psychoanalysts They thus paved the way for contemporary contributions, which has expanded to include a wide range of applications from a Zen-influenced short-term crisis intervention (Rosenbaum, 1998) to depth psychoanalysis that integrates basic Zen principles with contemporary Intersubjectivity theory and Self Psychology (Magid, 2000) An examination of the ‘‘foundational’’ (Nagao, 1989) Buddhist principles of emptiness and dependent-arising reveals parallels to the ‘‘totalistic’’ (Kernberg, 1976) understanding of countertransference and can serve as a link between classical and totalistic models That is, that all experience, including the psychotherapeutic encounter emerges contextually, subject to causes and conditions The thirteenth Century Japanese monk Dogen’s notion of gujin or ‘‘total exertion’’ holds important treatment implications for the psychotherapist who is informed by Zen practice That is, as the philosopher Joan Stambaugh writes, ‘‘Looked at from the standpoint of the situation itself, the situation is totally manifested or exerted without obstruction or contamination’’ (1999: 6) With regard to the psychoanalytic situation the notion of goal or a stance of removed passivity both contaminate the situation and interfere with presence Stambaugh asserts that, ‘‘The person experiencing the situation totally becomes it He is not thinking about it; he is it When he does this, the situation is completely revealed and manifested.’’ (1999: 6) Thus total exertion refers to an opening that calls for a response that ‘‘ is never anything passive but can be quite strenuous’’ (Op Cit 1999: 7) From this perspective, the psychotherapist’s activity becomes decisive, clean, clear and precise, not encumbered by guilt, anxiety, convention or goals In recent years, the conversation between Zen and psychotherapy has been continuously expanding and holds promise for a mutually beneficial cross-fertilization through the open-minded spirit of inquiry that characterizes present studies See also: > Buddhism > Psychoanalysis > Self > Chinese Religions Psychology > Taoism > Koan Bibliography Abe, M (1985) Zen and Western thought Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press Fromm, E (1950) Psychoanalysis and religion New Haven, CT: Yale University Press Fromm, E (1956) The art of loving New York: Harper-Collins Publishers Fromm, E., Suzuki, D T., & DeMartino, R (1960) Zen Buddhism and psychoanalysis New York: Harper & Brothers Horney, K (1945) Our inner conflicts New York: Norton Johnston, W (1976) Silent music New York: Harper & Row Kapleau, P (1989) The three pillars of Zen New York: Random House Kelman, H (1960) Psychoanalytic thought and Eastern Wisdom In J Ehrenwald (Ed.), The history of psychotherapy New York: Jason Aronson Zionism Kennedy, R (1996) Zen spirit, Christian spirit: The place of Zen in Christian life New York: Continuum Publishing Group Kernberg, O (1976) Object relations theory and clinical psychoanalysis New York: Jason Aronson Magid, B (2000) Ordinary mind: Exploring the common ground of Zen and psychotherapy Boston, MA: Wisdom Publications Nagao, G (1989) The foundational standpoint of Madhyamika philosophy Albany, NY: State University of New York Press Quinn, S (1987) A mind of her own: The life of Karen Horney New York: Summit Books Rosenbaum, R (1998) Zen and the heart of psychotherapy Philadelphia, PA: Brunner/Mazel Stambaugh, J (1999) The formless self Albany, NY: State University of New York Press Suzuki, D T (1949) Essays in Zen Buddhism (First Series) London: Rider & Co Zionism Kate M Loewenthal What is Zionism? Does psychology of religion have anything to offer to the understanding of Zionism? What is Zionism? The term Zion has traditionally been viewed as synonymous with Jerusalem (Roth and Wigoder, 1971) The most commonly understood use of the term Zionism is the belief that the land of Israel is the homeland of the Jewish people, and every effort is to be made to return Jewish people to the land There is a detailed biblical definition of the territory in Numbers 34, 1–15, and the territory was then expanded in the time of David and Solomon The historical precursors of Zionist ideology are to be found in Jewish history from biblical times, including promises that the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Israel) will inherit the land of Canaan, the process of Jewish settlement of the land, and various persecutions and forced movements of population Despite the destruction of the second Temple in 70 CE and the creation of diaspora Jewish communities in the former Roman Empire there continued to be Jewish communities in Israel (called Palestine by the Romans) until the present This included the retention of important Jewish intellectual centres Z Thousands of Jews in Jerusalem were killed by the Crusaders in 1099, who accused them of helping the Arabs During the later Middle Ages the holy sites in the land and particularly Jerusalem were the focus of pilgrimages and the Jews who lived in Palestine were supported by charitable donations from diaspora communities References to Israel, Jerusalem and Zion, and the hoped-for return, occur prolifically throughout Jewish liturgy and sacred texts, and the direction of prayer has been towards Jerusalem following a verse in Daniel (6: 11) In the sixteenth century the northern city of Safed became an important intellectual center, with leading scholars of all traditionalist aspects of Jewish thought among its inhabitants, and this became a significant model for later Cultural Zionism In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, the pace of Jewish return to Israel speeded up with the expansion of the settlements of pious Jews (Hasidim, and also followers of the Vilna Gaon), particularly in Safed, Tiberias and Jerusalem The Hibbat Zion (Love of Zion) movement was prominent in supporting such settlements philanthropically Later in the nineteenth century, in the face of persistent pogroms and other persecution in the European diaspora Zionist passion assumed a new, politicised form, sometimes known as ‘‘synthetic’’ Zionism, with active attempts to achieve a political solution, and to develop and support Jewish agricultural settlements ‘‘Cultural’’ Zionism developed Jewish national awareness and support for the Jewish homeland among diaspora Jews Landmarks in the history of modern Zionism include the first Zionist congress in 1897 in Switzerland, the Balfour Declaration (1917), asserting the support of the British government for a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine, the founding of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem in 1925, the UN vote to partition the land between Arabs and Jews (1947), followed by war since the Arabs did not accept the partition, and the declaration of the state of Israel (1948) This beleaguered state remains the focus of Jewish immigration from all parts of the diaspora, and also of hostility and repeated attacks from surrounding Arab neighbours Zionist philosophy has continued to develop pragmatically in response to these developments (Seliktar, 1983) Secular forms of Zionism, sometimes with a socialist flavor, sometimes purely nationalist, proposed that Jewish religious observance was only needed to preserve Jewish identity (and longing for Zion) while in the diaspora But once in the Jewish state, Jews were said to no longer need religious observance in order to maintain their identity as Jews Some observers of the contemporary Israeli scene believe that secular Zionism is no longer the force that it once was, and love of the land is 993 Z 994 Z Zionism tempered by the complex political difficulties with Arab neighbours, particularly the urgent need to keep peace and survive Thus modern secular Zionism may entail a willingness to make territorial concessions for the sake of peace Religious Zionism is based on the philosophy of Rabbi Kook (e.g., 2005), and involves settlements in territories that fall within the biblically-defined boundaries of Israel Religious Zionism is associated with the view that national security is best served by preserving the biblical boundaries Zionist Attitudes Anti-Zionist attitudes have been noted among Jews Some strictly orthodox Jews, mainly associated with the Satmar group of Hasidim, believe that the time for the establishment of the Jewish state of Israel is premature, and can only happen after the coming of the Messiah At another point on the religious spectrum, early Reform Judaism eliminated references to Jerusalem, Israel and Zionism from its liturgy in an attempt to produce truly acculturated citizens of Germany However, the founding of the State induced a contrary trend Attitudes which are generally consistent with Zionism have been reported among the majority of Jews In Seliktar’s (1980) study, 75–81% of the 700 young Israelis surveyed were committed to each of the five aspects of Zionist ideology (enumerated below) The majority of American Jews in Cohen and Kelman’s (2007) survey considered that ‘‘attachment to Israel is an important part of being Jewish,’’ though the percentages agreeing with this statement declined with age: 80% of the over-65s agreed, 60% of the under-35s The themes and concepts of Zionism have had a strong impact outside Judaism In the United States, Zionism is an important feature of fundamentalist Christianity, in which it is held that the settlement of Jews in Israel is foretold by biblical prophecy and is a precursor to the coming of the Messiah This in turn has impacted on foreign policy attitudes (Cummergen, 2000) In sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in Swaziland, Zionism is widely practiced as a religion African Zionism was based originally on Christianity but incorporates many indigenous practices and beliefs including animism (Guth, Fraser, Green, Kellstedt, Smidt, 2000) psychological perspectives which may be brought to bear on Zionism among Jews Territorial claims are often strongly bound up with national and religious identity: social identity theory offers important discussions on this theme (e.g., Hewstone and Stroebe, 2001) Band (2005) has discussed the dilemmas faced by religious Zionists in relation to their identities, amid the political complexities of twenty-first century Israel For example, their pragmatic and religiously-founded wish for peace conflicts with their pragmatic and religiouslyfounded need to maintain the boundaries of Israel The frequent Jewish liturgical and textual references to Israel and Zion reinforce the package of Jewish identity, spirituality and love of the land In Jewish sacred texts, the land of Israel is given to the Jews and said to be imbued with a special level of holiness (e.g., Genesis 15:18; Chronicles 6, 5–6; Shneur Zalman of Liadi, 1973) and given by G-d to the Jewish people There are many specific religious commandments associated with the land, for example relating to its agricultural produce, such as observance of the sabbatical year, specific blessings to be pronounced on fruits for which Israel is renowned, and the priestly blessing, recited daily in Israel, and only on festivals in the diaspora The quantity and spiritual force of biblical and other references to the sacredness of Israel deserve closer study, perhaps using discourse or other linguistic analysis, particularly with the view to the question of the uniqueness of Zionism as a form of nationalist philosophy The possible impact of liturgical and religious textual references was supported in a careful study in political psychology examining the socialisation of Zionist ideology among young Israelis: Seliktar (1980) studied the cognitive and affective aspects of five features of Zionist ideology: loyalty to the state of Israel, continuity (of Israel) across time; unity of the Jewish people; Israel as a Jewish national center; the integrative role of the State of Israel (in absorbing new immigrants) Respondents indicated extent of agreement and of emotional commitment to statements relating to these five features (e.g., ‘‘We should always think of Israel as a continuation of the ancient kingdom of Judea’’) There were significant effects of family religious observance, and of religiosity of the school attended, on strength of commitment to Zionist ideology Zionism and Psychology Conclusions What light can the psychology of religion throw on Zionism? There has been negligible study of Zionism as such by psychologists of religion Nevertheless there are In conclusion, it can be seen that Zionism in all its forms contains powerful ideas about the sacred status of the land of Israel Although the psychological and spiritual impact Zoroastrianism of Zionism have not been studied by psychologists of religion, there are conceptual frameworks – for example in social identity theory, attitude theory, and forms of linguistic analysis – which may facilitate closer study Acknowledgement Grateful thanks are due to Dr Naftali Loewenthal, University College London, for many helpful comments and suggestions on this article See also: Religion > Judaism and Psychology > Psychology of Bibliography Band, M (2005) Religiosity, coping and suicidality within the religious Zionist community of Israel London: London University Cohen, S M., & Kelman, A Y (2007) Beyond distancing: Young adult American Jews and their alienation from Israel The Jewish Identity Project of Reboot: Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies From http:// www.acbp.net/pub/BeyondDistancing.pdf Accessed 16 July 2008 Cummergen, P (2000) Zionism and Politics in Swaziland Journal of Religion in Africa, 30, 370–385 Guth, J L., Fraser, C R., Green, J C., Kellstedt, L A., & Smidt, C E (2000) Religion and foreign policy attitudes: The case of Christian Zionism In J Clifford (Ed.), Religion and the culture wars Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Hewstone, M., & Stroebe, W (2001) Introduction to Social Psychology Oxford, England: Blackwell Jewish Publication Society (1955) The holy scriptures Philadelphia, PA: Jewish Publication Society of America Kook, R A I (2005) When G-d Becomes History: Historical Essays of Rabbi Abraham Isaac Hakoen Kook (B Naor, Trans.) Spring Valley, NY: Orot Roth, C., & Wigoder, G (Eds.) (1971) Zionism In Encyclopedia Judaica Jerusalem: Encyclopedia Judaica Seliktar, O (1980) Socialisation of national ideology: The case of Zionists attitudes among young Israelis Political Psychology, 2, 66–94 Seliktar, O (1983) The new Zionism Foreign Policy, 51, 118–138 Shneur Zalman of Liadi (1973) Likkutei Amarim – Tanya, (Bilingual edition) (N Mindel, N Mandel, Z Posner, & J I Shochet, Trans.) London: Kehot (Original work published 1796) Zoroastrianism Sam Cyrous Zoroastrianism, also called Zarathustrism, Mazdeism or Parsism, is the religion founded by Zoroaster in Ancient Z 995 Persia, with approximately 150–250 thousand believers worldwide, mainly concentrated in India and Iran It is in the Zend-Avesta, which literally means Commentaries on Knowledge, the holy book of Zoroastrainism, that one can find the principle assertions of this faith The Avesta is divided in the three parts: Yasna (sacred Liturgy chapters), Visperad, Vendidad (constituted of purifications laws), and Khorda Zoroaster’s Early Life Zoroaster (or Zarathustra, as He is known in the West, or Zartosht in Persian), is the founder of Zoroastrianism, considered one of the first non-pantheistic and monotheistic religions Zoroaster apparently lived in ancient Persia, at an uncertain time in the first millennium before Christ Joseph Campbell (1962) describes Zoroaster as ‘‘the earliest prophet’’ (7–8) According to Fatheaza´m (1972), even at the age of 15, He was respected by His fellow countrymen because of His charity work and His kindness to the poor and to animals At 20 He left His house, spending years in solitude in a cave in the Persian mountains His family origin, lineage and the context of his birth are unknown, nonetheless it is said that He was born of a virgin mother, like Krishna and Jesus Campbell pinpoints the mythological birthplace of Zoroaster beside the river Daiti, in the central land of the ‘‘seven lands of the earth.’’ Zoroastrian Cosmology Arguing that tradition stagnates and knowledge is movement, Zoroaster preached doubt and the need for inquiry to attain knowledge At the age of 30, he received divine illumination through seven visions that confirmed Him as a demiurge After 10 years of preaching, miracles, cures and only one confirmed disciple (His own cousin), Zoroaster was incarcerated for disturbing tradition and for the influence and confusion His laws and spiritual and scientific principles caused among the people Among these laws was the concept of spiritual duality or cosmic dualism, between the spirit of good Ahura Mazda (or Ormuzd) – meaning Supreme Knowledge – and the spirit of evil Ahriman, both preexistent spirits (according to Dual Theology), or twin brothers born of Zurvan (according to Zurvanism) From this dualism comes the ‘‘complete freedom of choice exerted by spirits and the consequent responsibility that corresponded entirely to Z 996 Z Zoroastrianism this choice’’ (Ling, 2005: 87–88) It is this concept that would distinguish Zoroastrianism from Judaism, Christianity and Islam, inasmuch as individuals in Zoroastrianism were not mere receptacles of superior decisions, but the lords of their own destinies, free to act before life’s conditionings, what could be seen as ‘‘a vision of intentionality’’ (Frankl, 2002: 214), ‘‘without the fundamental supposition that man, simply, ‘is’, but that he always decides what he is going to be at the next moment’’ (Frankl, 2001: 73) Decisions are individual responsibilities, hence it is this individual responsibility that permits his spiritual, mental and psychic growth Possibly the concept of duality is Zoroastrianism’s greatest contribution to modern civilization, manifesting itself in the manifold areas of human knowledge It is, nevertheless, interesting to note that, perhaps due to Persia’s geographical and historical position, we have now what we could speak of as two forms of dualism: oriental dualism, characterized by the intrinsic relationship of good and evil, as in the case of yin and yang, the idea that inside good there is evil and vice versa, according to the principles of mutations; and occidental dualism, in which evil and good are inter-excluding, until, for instance, the final victory of God over the Devil In the field of psychology, one can find examples of human duality in such concepts as Rotter’s internal and external loci of control, Freud’s principle of pleasure vs principle of reality, Piaget’s symbolic and logical thoughts, Jung’s anima and animus, Nuttin’s objectmean and object-end, and Roger’s ideal and real self, among others It is important to underline, however, that these examples are not mere replicas of Zoroastrian dualism Rather, they are simply useful to illustrate that human thought structure appears to be rooted in the concept of categorization by opposition, a reflection of Zoroastrian cosmology therapist to feel and express these feelings to the client, as in the work of Messer and Winokur (1980) whose objective is to be able to help the patient to convert insight into action In Christianity, in the words of Saint James (2:17) ‘‘Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone’’ and, in the Baha´’ı´ religion in a text that Baha´’u’lla´h forwards to a Zoroastrian, ‘‘Words must be supported by deeds, for deeds are true test of words Without the former, the latter can never quench the thirst of the yearning soul.’’ The effect of Zoroaster’s vision was stupendous in human history It allowed the moral, agricultural and economic development of Persian society, inasmuch as its assumptions were based on logic and ethics Zoroastrianism’s best known symbol is fire, an example of the articulation between the material and the immaterial spheres: fire symbolizes true human integrity, in which Zoroastrian psychology is rooted It is by observing the virtues of fire, the symbol of constancy, purity and sustainability of life created by Ahura Mazda, endowed with movement and creative capacity, that human beings can obtain a true example to follow In this sense, hell could not be a place dominated by fire, but by a state of pain: " Human and Social Progress Another traditional Zoroastrian element, as quoted here from the Zend-Avesta, is the need of three things for human progress: ‘‘I celebrate my praises for good thoughts, good words, and good deeds With chanting praises I present all good thoughts, good words, and good deeds, and with rejection I repudiate all evil thoughts, and words, and deeds’’ (Yasna 11, 17) In short, the three elements – thoughts, words and actions – should be coherent and congruent This idea can be found in the lines of Rogerian psychological thought, which postulates the principle of congruence as based on the need of the On the very first time when that deed has been done, without waiting until it is done again, down there in hell The pain for that deed shall be as hard as any in this world: even as if one should cut off the limbs from his perishable body with knives of brass, or still worse; down there the pain for that deed shall be as hard as any in this world: even as if one should naildoubtful his perishable body with nails of brass, or still worse; down there the pain for that deed shall be as hard as any in this world: even as if one should by force throw his perishable body headlong down a precipice a hundred times the height of a man, or still worse; down there the pain for that deed shall be as hard as any in this world: even as if one should by force impale his perishable body, or still worse (Vendidad, Fargard 4, IVb., 49–53) Hell is a state and not a place, because it is a consequence of incorrect thoughts, words and actions that should be prevented before they happen again " The first step that the soul of the wicked man made, laid him in the Evil-Thought Hell; the second step that the soul of the wicked man made, laid him in the Evil-Word Hell; the third step that the soul of the wicked man made, laid him in the Evil-Deed Hell; the fourth step that the soul of the wicked man made, laid him in the Endless Darkness (Hadhokht Nask [2], 33) Zoroastrianism A wise person, therefore, is defined as one who chooses the path of good thoughts, says good words and practices good actions and does not possess useless thoughts, speak lies or practice unjust actions At the social level, Zoroastrianism is perhaps the first religion to recognize total equality among all, regardless of creed, race or gender Zoroaster was also the author of a letter of animal rights and taught that forests should be open, and lands cultivated At an individual level, He also implemented five daily obligatory prayers, preceded, each one, by ablution Zoroastrian Influence in the West Zoroastrian cosmology, philosophy and faith have had definite historical influence In Christian culture, besides the previously described confluence, we find in a brief passage in Matthew (2:1–13), the figure of the Wisemen or Three Kings, possibly members of the sacerdotal order of Magi who, according to some historians, were looking for the ‘‘Holy Saoshyant’’ (Visperad, 22:1), an awaited prophet Historical sources would mention different versions, describing the Magi as being from Persia, Arabia, Chaldea, Yemen, China and other oriental regions, but the term ‘‘Magi’’ itself suggests the astronomically-oriented sacerdotal/philosophical order that articulated, syncretically, Zoroastrianism with its preceding paganism Ancient paintings and mosaics depicted the Magi in Persian outfits, as in the cases of the Basilica of San Vitale and the Basilica of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna, the Nativity Church in Jerusalem, and Rome’s subterranean catacombs During the first century of the Christian era, another development of Zoroastrianism resulted from a meeting of Persian and Roman traditions The result was a form of Mithraism, in which Mithra and Ahura Mazda seemed to be associated with the gods Apollo and Zeus, respectively This new movement became popular among the Roman soldiers who propagated it, through their legions, in Britain, Germany, and elsewhere (Zeppegno, 1980) The sense of fraternity, hope for a new and better life, and equality among all humans before one single God of love seems to have captivated parts of the Roman population (Spoto, 1995) For Romans, Mithra was a divinity born from immaculate conception, on December 25th, the day of the Winter solstice, the same day that, later on, was Z 997 defined as the birthday of Jesus Thus, Zoroastrianism possesses influence, even if indirect, in the context of the yet to be born Christian theology In the Hellenic and Greek world it has been suggested that Socrates was in contact with Zoroastrian clergymen, and also with Hebrews in Palestine, assimilating, there, the principles of divine unity and the soul’s immortality, concepts foreign until that period to his own cultural background In his turn, Heraclitus defined arche´ (world’s constituent element) as fire and described both divine reality and human existence as possessing dual vision by affirming that we descend and don’t descend in the same rivers or that God is day-night, winter-summer, war-peace, satiety-hunger Psychology > Campbell, Joseph Viktor > Freud, Sigmund > Islam > Jesus > Jung, Carl Gustav > Locus of Control > Monotheism > Pantheism > Psychoanalysis > Religion > Taoism > Virgin Birth > Winnicott, Donald Woods See also: > Analytical > Christianity > Frankl, Bibliography Baha´’u’lla´h (2006) The Tabernacle of Unity – Baha´’u’lla´h’s responses to Ma´nikchı´ Sa´hib and other writings Haifa: Baha´’ı´ World Centre Campbell, J (1991) The Masks of God – Oriental Mythology Arkana: Penguin Books (2a edic¸a˜o: 1991) Darmesteter, J (Trans.) (1898a) Avesta: Vendidad in Sacred Books of the East American Edition Darmesteter, J (Trans.) (1898b) Avesta: Fragments (Hadhokht Nask) in Sacred Books of the East American Edition Fatheaza´m, H (1972) O Novo Jardim Parana´: Editora Baha´’ı´ Brasil Frankl, V E (2001) Psicoterapia y existencialismo – Escritos selectos sobre la logoterapia Barcelona, Spain: Editorial Herder Frankl, V E (2002) La voluntad del sentido – Conferencias escogidas sobre logoterapia Barcelona, Spain: Editorial Herder (4a edic¸a˜o em espanhol: 2002) King James Bible Ling, T (1968) Histo´ria das religio˜es Lisboa: Editorial Presenta (2a edic¸a˜o em portugue´s: 2005) Messer, S., & Winokur, M (1980) Some limits to the integration of psychoanalytic and behavior therapy American Psychologist, 35, 818–827 Mills, L H (Trans.) (1898) Avesta: Yasna (Sacred Liturgy and Gathas/ Hymns of Zarathushtra) in Sacred Books of the East American Edition Spoto, S (1995) Misteri e segreti di Ostia antica: Riti magici, giochi proibiti e luoghi di piacere nella Roma «fuori porta» di 2000 anni fa Roma: Rendina Editori Zeppegno, L (1980) Alla scoperta di Roma Sottorranea Roma: Edizioni Colosseum Z ... contributed by scholars of importance in the fields of religion, psychology, psychology and religion, and psychology of religion Dr Johnson also saw the need for such an information source and began planning... Board of Professional Psychology He has been Editor of the Journal of Jungian Theory and Practice and is the author of numerous articles and books in the field of Jungian psychology Parentage of. . .Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion David A Leeming, Kathryn Madden, Stanton Marlan (Eds.) Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion With 15 Figures and Tables Editors-in-Chief: