Buddhism and the West 1. Buddhism in Popular Culture 2. The Dalai Lama 3. Cognitive Therapy: East Meets West

1. Buddhism in Popular Culture

• Buddhism was introduced to North America around the 1890s, but it did not get much attention until the mid-20th century

• Why?

• Canadian and U.S. soldiers who had fought in Asia during the Second World War brought back some ideas of Eastern religions, including Buddhism, after the war

• Popular musicians of the 1960s and after began to explore and spread Buddhist ideas

• For example...

Take 2 minutes…

2. The Dalai Lama • The Dalai Lama is the spiritual leader of

Tibetan Buddhism • He was born Lhamo Dondrub in 1935

Thubten Gyatso - 1933

Lhamo La Tso Lake

Lhamo Thondup – age 2

The test...

• The Dalai Lama is believed to be the 14th reincarnation of Gedun Drupa (1391-1474)

• He is a bhodisattva

• The Dalai Lama has won virtually every humanitarian award, including the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989

Dalai Lama Quotes

3. Cognitive Therapy: East Meets West

• Recently, Buddhist practices such as meditation have become very common in our society

• For many people, it is seen as a way to escape the fast pace and pressures of their daily lives

The Old Eastern Model • Mental illness (ex. depression, anxiety,

addiction) are all fabrications of the mind

The Old Western Model • Those same mental illnesses are triggered

by physical or chemical problems in the brain

• Balance can be restored with the use of drugs or other measures such as ECT

• Remember Siddhārta and the sitar! • Cognitive therapy has had some success

by trying to find a middle ground between these two views

• Depression, anxiety, and addiction can be triggered by processes in your brain, but you can control some of the symptoms through exercises in mind control

• In other words, maybe you can’t control your brain, but you can control your response to it