Zen practice and the practice of Lacanian psychoanalysis

Transference and the Gateless Barrier: A Relational Approach to Contemplative Education

“…Psychoanalytically oriented Buddhist scholars have found resonances between the illusory nature of loss and Lacanian notions of ego and desire (D’Amato, 2014; Moncayo, 2012; Purser, 2011). Lacanian theory on the formation of the ego in childhood in the so-called mirror phase (Lacan, 2001) is a case in point.…”

“…Both also deem the ego to be misconstrued as bounded and having a lasting, independent existence (D’Amato, 2014). Finally, both the parable from the Lin-chi collection and the Lacanian account of the formation of the ego arrive, albeit in different ways, at accounts of illusory loss as the cause of an erratic search for something lost (Magid, 2013; Moncayo, 2012).…”

“…Several psychoanalytically trained Buddhist intellectuals have noted that these transferential illusions are also common in Buddhist teacher–student relations. Students may fantasize that their spiritual teachers are parental figures, expecting them to provide care, recognition, and an existential sense of security (Magid, 2013; Moncayo, 2012).…”

“…This state of anxiety is named Zen sickness: The student is caught in a loop of desperately seeking to attain something that she or he does not have—happiness, harmony, or deep understanding—which seems to only result in further disappointment and self-criticism. According to Buddhist psychoanalytic theorists, this kind of attunement may only support the ideal ego (Moncayo, 2012; Phillips, 2015) “as the acme of personal perfection, with all mental defilements…and fetters…eradicated” (Engler, 2003, p. 37). However, while an inflated ideal ego may hinder spiritual development in Zen training, I shall now illustrate that anxiety and frustration may also indicate inevitable transferential errors that pave the way toward transformative experience.…”

“…Although considered a normal feature in interpersonal relations, transference can also take pathological and otherwise socially or personally harmful forms. While it has proven a significant concept especially in Freudian and Jungian traditions, my interpretation of transference and its presence in contemplative training draws from the Lacanian psychoanalytic and philosophical tradition and its widely recognized resonances—although not always direct influences—with Buddhist views of the ego and the nature of suffering (Jagodzinski, 2002; Moncayo, 2003, 2012; Purser, 2011). With the concept of transference, I seek to highlight the dynamic, relational nature of personal transformation, irreducible to individualistic and rationalistic constructions of learning.…”