♦ Registration fee for Indian participants is Rs.2500/
(It includes life membership of the SPPCSH)

♦ The registration fee for foreign delegates is $ 200/
(It includes life membership of the SPPCSH)

♦T.A., Lodging and Boarding will be provided

CLCIK HERE TO FILL REGISTRATION FORM

Note:

These   rates     are       applicable          till         the        7th        July       2024.
Send D.D. in favour of Secretary, Philosophical Praxis, Counselling and Spiritual Healing Society, Jaipur (Rajasthan)

Post Address: C-207, Manu Marg, Tilak Nagar Jaipur 302004

Or Transfer in the following Bank account:

Pan No. AABAP3656R

Accounts details

Account Name: Philosophical Praxis Counselling And Spiritual Healing Society, Jaipur
Pan No. AABAP3656R
Account No. 674701293437
IFSC Code ICIC0006747
MICR Code 302229018
ICICI Bank, Rajasthan University Campus, JLN MARG, JAIPUR-302004

Contribute your research paper (either in English or in Hindi) on any of the topics mentioned below.

1. Emotions, desires and mental health
2. Methods of cultivating an attitude of letting go
3. Mindful meditation and well-being
4. Emotional Healing: Compassion-focused therapy (CFT)
5. Loving–Kindness Meditation as a Path for Healing
6. Transformational value of Eightfold paths
7. Buddhist Philosophy of life and Buddhist practices
8. Emotional life, and Buddhist model of therapy
9. The wisdom and Afflictions
10. Ethical Awareness: Constructive Thoughts and Behaviours
11. Role of communication (Samyak Vak) in social and interpersonal relationships
12. Mind and Mind training practices
13. Therapeutic value of Bhavana Marg
14. Enlightenment process and healing process
15. Resilience and Buddhist-derived interventions

The above-listed sub-topics are only indicative and not exhaustive. Participants are free to present views on any aspect they consider associated with the general theme.

Note:

The final date of submission of your paper is 07th July 2024  
For detailed information visit our website: www.philosophicalcounsellingindia.org

Dr. Raj Kumar
(Coordinators)

E-mail :  1. rjkdarshan@gmail.com
M: 8279258985

Dr. Manish Sinsinbar
(Coordinators)

E-mail : 1. manish.philosophy@gmail.com
M: 85608 25276

Thanks

Concept Note of the Seminar
BUDDHIST THERAPEIA :
RELEVANCE OF BUDDHIST THOUGHT IN PHILOSOPHICAL PRACTICE (COUNSELLING)
Introduction

The idea of dealing philosophically with everyday life is, of course, hardly new. Throughout the 2,500-year history of Indian and Western philosophy, philosophers were concerned with philosophy’s applications in solving concrete issues of life, and developed a consortium of knowledge on how life should be understood and lived.

Philosophy was used to relieve human suffering. For instance, Dukkha in the Samkhya system of Indian thought was considered central to human existence and could not be decidedly removed by drugs, medicines, or scriptures. The Samkhya-Karika believed that human bondage and suffering arose out of false understanding and wrong identification with that which is not -conscious such as body, mind, intellect, etc. The Samkhya prescription for the removal of suffering is the way of knowledge, the way of right understanding which separates pristine consciousness from everything that is not consciousness. Similarly, Epicureans and Stoics in ancient Greece, Rome, and many others shaped the lives of individuals and societies to eliminate suffering through consciousness and removal of false understanding.

To the extent that they were counselling individuals, both Indian and Western were primarily practical in their aim, not theoretical. Wisdom was not identified with the whole of the theoretical knowledge but with happiness or well- being. Ancient philosophy may be seen as an earlier form of counselling. Some examples are- Samkhya, Buddhism, Stoicism, and other schools of thought.

However, present-day philosophical counselling is different from most of these traditional approaches in that it does not seek to provide ready-made theories about how life should be lived. However, there is much to be learned and imbibed from the different Indian schools of thought. The focus of this seminar is going to predominantly be on the Buddhist school of thought.

Modern Day Philosophical Counselling

Philosophical Practice (counselling), different from psychiatry, and psychotherapy, deals with the existential problems of a sane person. Our ways of thinking influence our ways of feeling, desiring, choosing, acting, creating, relating, and being in the world.

Philosophical Practice(counselling) is a collaborative and conversational activity between a trained philosopher and a client in which the client’s life problems are worked through by identifying, examining, and revising as necessary the operating beliefs, values, and habits of action that inform those problems.

Most times, we don't even notice our thinking patterns. They run on auto-pilot, fuelled by old habits and operating assumptions. If we could slow down and reflect on our ways of thinking, we might better understand our orientation of the world and have a chance to ask questions about it, find out how it serves us, and how it trips us up at times. If we could examine our ways of thinking, we might cultivate greater clarity, coherence, breadth, and depth in our worldview.

Regular practice of self-examination and deliberate action – are the cornerstones of philosophical life. The very thing, we pursue together in philosophical counselling, has the power to increase our sense of understanding, meaning, purpose, freedom, and fulfillment in our lives.

It also can transform many of the emotional culprits that cause us suffering – fear, dread, anger, sadness, excessive attachment, jealousy, resentment, and guilt.

The ultimate goal of philosophical counselling is to help the client conduct an inquiry into their own life, to develop

their own coherent, empowered, and fulfilling philosophy of life, and to live it! Minimally, what a client can expect to get out of philosophical counselling is greater self-knowledge and understanding of their problems. Maximally, they can become empowered to solve those problems, relieve suffering, and create greater fulfillment.

Viewing philosophical counselling through the Buddhist Lens

The basic doctrines of early Buddhism, which remain common to all Buddhism, include the four noble truths: existence is suffering (dukkha); suffering has a cause, namely craving and attachment (Trishna); there is a cessation of suffering, which is nirvana; and there is a path to the cessation of suffering.

The common themes of Buddhism are: that all things are impermanent (sarvam kshanikam), lack independent existence (prititysamutpad) and the world is the unceasing flux of interconnected phenomena (sarvam prthkam, nirntara pravaahman). Our affective (emotional) states are closely connected to our views and desires (unwholesome or Akushal desires). The erroneous opinions have negative effects on our values. We give importance to insubstantial phenomena. This leads to attachment towards them and makes them desirable. The erroneous beliefs lie at the root of human suffering (unhappiness). Attachment towards external things such as wealth, fame, friends, family, and so on is not only problematic but leads to a series of transient events that cause suffering.

Buddha- the great physician/Bhesaja Guru,( Yakushi-the Medicine Buddha) is understood to be a doctor who offers medicine to cure the spiritual ills of the suffering world. He prescribes medicine to spiritual as well as worldly people and provides treatment to those illnesses that are produced by (false) beliefs and (unwholesome) desires. Buddhist counseling is a process of reducing suffering in individuals using wisdom and interventions from Buddhism, which aims to train the human mind to attain a state of equanimity, joy, and happiness.

His teachings are Healing treatment- Cure of Ignorance. His teachings are practical- focused on the reality of suffering and the need to identify and overcome its causes (See Middle Length Discourses of Buddha-translated by Bhikhu Nanamoli and Bhiku Bodhi).

Over the past two decades, there has been a renewed interest in the clinical utility of Buddhist-derived interventions (BDIs). There is an increased discourse around the basic premises and principles of Buddhism that is not limited to mindfulness meditation. The scientific investigation of interventions that integrate other Buddhist principles such as compassion, loving-kindness, and “non-self” could be used to help counselees achieve much more of their full human potential.

The purpose of this seminar is to highlight the Buddhist form of therapy* in modern-day philosophical counselling and the use of Buddhist-derived interventions (BDIs).

Topics for discussion:

1. Emotions, desires and mental health
2. Methods of cultivating an attitude of letting go
3. Mindful meditation and well-being
4. Emotional Healing: Compassion-focused therapy (CFT))
5. Loving–Kindness Meditation as a Path for Healing
6. Transformational value of Eightfold paths
7. Buddhist Philosophy of life and Buddhist practices
8. Emotional life, and Buddhist model of therapy
9. The wisdom and Afflictions
10. Ethical Awareness: Constructive Thoughts and Behaviours
11. Role of communication(Samyak Vak) in social and interpersonal relationships
12. Mind and Mind training practices
13. Therapeutic value of Bhavana Marg
14. Enlightenment process and healing process
15. Resilience and Buddhist-derived interventions

The above-listed sub-topics are only indicative and not exhaustive. Participants are free to present views on any aspect they consider associated with the general theme.

*The term Therapy is used as a method of treating medically defined mental illnesses. In the Buddhist context, the term therapy refers to the treatment of deep-seated dissatisfaction or confusion that afflicts us all. Buddhist therapy aims to let the client understand his mind, emotions, and body and see them as one.

References

A.L.Herman, A solution to the Paradox of Desire in Buddhism, Philosophy East and West, Vol.29, No.1, 1979

Bhikkhu Bodhi: Mahā Satipaṭṭhāna sutta De Silva: An Introduction to Buddhist Psychology, Palgrave Macmillan. 4th edn. 2005

De Silvia, Padmasiri De Theoretical Perspectives on Emotions in Early Buddhism, In Emotions in Asian Thought, edited by Joel Marks and Roger T. Ames, 1995

Jinpa, Thubten : Mind Training: The Great Collection. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2011

Lobsang Rapgay: The Tibetan Book of Healing, Lotus Press 2000

Minh Tanh and P.D.Leigh: Sutra of the Medicine Buddha,International Buddhist Monastic Institute, 2001 Nanamoli and Bodhi ( Translators): Majjhima Nikaya

Kate Crosby and Andrew Skilton (Translators): Bodhicaryavatara ( A Guide to the Buddhist Path to Awakening), Oxford Press 1998

Raoul Birnbaum, The Healing Buddha, Philosophy East and West Vol. 32(3), 1982

Tsong-Kha-Pa: The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment, The Lamrim Chenmo Translation Committee, 2014(Three Vols.)