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Thoughts Without A Thinker: Psychotherapy from a Buddhist Perspective Kindle Edition

by Mark Epstein (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 341 ratings
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Blending the lessons of psychotherapy with Buddhist teachings, Mark Epstein offers a revolutionary understanding of what constitutes a healthy emotional life

The line between psychology and spirituality has blurred, as clinicians, their patients, and religious seekers explore new perspectives on the self. A landmark contribution to the field of psychoanalysis, Thoughts Without a Thinker describes the unique psychological contributions offered by the teachings of Buddhism. Drawing upon his own experiences as a psychotherapist and meditator, New York-based psychiatrist Mark Epstein lays out the path to meditation-inspired healing, and offers a revolutionary new understanding of what constitutes a healthy emotional life.
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  1. Print length
    274 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Basic Books
  5. Publication date
    July 30, 2013
  6. File size
    1226 KB
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From the Publisher

Thoughts Without A Thinker

Thoughts Without A Thinker

Thoughts Without A Thinker

Editorial Reviews

Review

"One of the most sophisticated integrations of the therapeutic and spiritual disciplines."―Daniel Goleman, New York Times

"Eloquent yet down-to-earth, this gem offers an exhilarating and expansive perspective on the therapeutic process."―Booklist

"A highly personal, thoughtful, illuminating synthesis.... Patients, psychologists, and mediators...will find much spiritual nourishment."―Publishers Weekly

"Mark Epstein's book is inspired by its lucidity.... After Thoughts Without a Thinker, psychotherapy without a Buddhist perspective looks like a diminished thing."―Adam Phillips, author of Missing Out: In Praise of the Unlived Life

"A groundbreaking work.... The book will take its place among the classics of the literature of meditation."―Jon Kabat-Zinn, author of Mindfulness for Beginners

"Epstein tries bravely and earnestly to make such matters of the mind and heart as clear as possible."―Robert Coles, New England Journal of Medicine

"Epstein's solid book offers another example of contemporary efforts to revitalize psychotherapy."―Spirituality and Practice

"A marvelous book that is at once scholarly and fresh, informative and personal."―Stephen A. Mitchell, author of Can Love Last?

"A most lucid and expert account of the wedding of psychotherapy and meditation. An Eastern-Wester psychology that truly speaks from the inside of both worlds."―Jack Kornfield, author of Meditation for Beginners

"I loved Thoughts Without a Thinker. Mark Epstein has given us a brilliant account of how an ancient science of mind, based on a rich meditative tradition, can complement therapy and lead to new dimensions of wisdom and wholeness."―Joan Borysenko, author of Fried: Why You Burn Out and How to Revive

About the Author

Mark Epstein, M.D., is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Medical School whose other books include Going to Pieces Without Falling Apart, Going on Being, and Open to Desire. He practices psychiatry in New York City, where he lives.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00DZ241SW
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Basic Books (July 30, 2013)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ July 30, 2013
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1226 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 274 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 341 ratings

About the author

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Mark Epstein

Mark Epstein

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Mark Epstein (born 1953) is an American author and psychotherapist, integrating both Buddha's and Sigmund Freud's approaches to trauma, who writes about their interplay. In his most recent book, The Trauma of Everyday Life, he interprets the Buddha’s spiritual journey as grounded in Buddha's personal childhood trauma.

Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Photo by Jan Benda (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
341 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

LFM
5.0 out of 5 stars If you're Buddhist, or open minded, or at least not rigidly opposed to religious beliefs, this is a *phenomenal* book
Reviewed in the United States on April 29, 2015
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Excellent book. The author is a faithful, well trained (seemingly; I am not, so he could be full of it, but he's convincing!) Buddhist, and he makes clear, compelling ties between Buddhist concepts, psychiatric issues and addressing said issues. It is worth noting that I, someone who does _not_ buy some of the more mystical claims of some Buddhist sects and finds mystical notions to be off-putting, do not recall finding anything objectionable or ludicrous; that is, if there is any discussion of rebirth or god-like monks doing physically impossible things, or gods born into infants, etc, it is rare enough that I didn't toss the book in the recycling bin... and that move has a hair trigger!

It's not necessarily an "easy read," however -- it's more technical than many pop-press, feel-good books (if a book taking religion as truth can be technical). Further, iif one is inclined to disregard the faithful, it could be tough to get through. But, while I like a lot of what they have to say, I am not a Buddhist, yet I enjoyed, learned from, grew from, and found some peace in this book. It provides a tremendous amount to chew on, and I have it dog-eared, underlined, and annotated heavily.

If you're interested in the topic, and open to hearing about some religious beliefs and mythology as presented by a Firm Believer, this is a terrific book, and I am grateful to have found it, even if I might not totally embrace the author's belief set.
6 people found this helpful
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Jocelyn & Christopher Gerrits
4.0 out of 5 stars This book is like an onion
Reviewed in the United States on October 25, 2011
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This book can be tough to read in spots if you don't have a basic grasp of psychology and know some of the big names in psychology and what their theories were, but that doesn't take away from the insight and inspiration that this book delivers.

I'm an engineer by degree and career path. I know very little about Frued, Winnicott and others, but the way the Buddhist principles were related to all of the scientific theories in the book drove me to do some low level wikipedia research to expand my understanding of what the book talks about. It unlocked a deeper level of understanding to this material.

I am analytical and mathematical by nature, but my spiritual side has always longed to come out. This book provides another bridge in between these two seemingly opposite things and shows how they can work together to achieve a better understanding of my place in the world.
13 people found this helpful
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Joyce
5.0 out of 5 stars An exceptional book
Reviewed in the United States on November 13, 2012
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Epstein, who was exploring Buddhism and studying psychotherapy at the same time, is an ideal person to relate the two. His book is both scholarly and personal as he presents his own struggle to reconcile them.

Stating that the Buddha may have been the original psychoanalyst, Part I of the book, "The Buddha's Psychology of Mind," introduces the Buddha's psychological teachings in the language of Western psychodynamics. To begin with, Freud and the Buddha agreed that we can't "find our enlightened minds while continuing to be estranged from our neurotic ones." We must have the courage to experience our suffering. The first truth of the Buddha is (in Epstein's words) "the inevitability of humiliation." Doubts about the self are inevitable. The maturational process is to go into the doubt rather than away from it. Finally, the Buddha had a "vision of a psyche freed from narcissism." Epstein weaves stories of himself and his patients throughout this section.

In part II, "Meditation," he explains, in psychodynamic terms, the basic Buddhist strategy of bare attention, showing the relevance these techniques still have for us. "It is the fundamental tenet of Buddhist psychology that this kind of attention is, in itself, healing." The challenge of this method is clear in this sentence: "What the meditator must keep confronting is her own capacity for conceit or pride, her own instinctive thirst for certainty, her own ability to co-opt the meditative process for narcissistic ends. Meditation is a means of indefatigably exposing this narcissism." This section is wonderfully descriptive of the experience of meditation.

Part III, "Therapy," uses Freud's treatise on the practice of psychotherapy to consider how to integrate the Buddha's teachings into that practice. What Epstein discovered is that the practice of Buddhist meditation helps develop the presence and the nonjudgmental attention that are crucial for a therapist. This is an exceptional book.
20 people found this helpful
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Stargazer
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing!
Reviewed in the United States on November 22, 2021
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This is no doubt a book intended for psychiatric professionals with a Buddhist background, or the other way around. I am neither. Not only that, but English is not my first language. Nevertheless I have gotten so much out of this book that I felt compelled to write a review.
First, the book is written in a language easy to understand. It is divided in a way that takes you by the hand from beginning to end. I loved that.
I am an 80-year old lady. I have spent most of my life trying to understand the hurts done to me and by me, reading books galore and being in therapy for ten years or more.
It was not until I read this book that I started to understand the whys of everything. It is just a start but now that I have read the book from beginning to end I will read it over one more time. But now I have a goal in mind. I will be dissecting each and every part of me to arrive at the place I have been looking for all these years. Thanks to Mark Epstein for this incredible book!
28 people found this helpful
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Trisha Lord
3.0 out of 5 stars Thought-provoking and stretching
Reviewed in the United States on October 28, 2015
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I loved Mark's other book on the intersection of psychotherapy and Buddhism. This one, written earlier, I found less easy to access and have not yet finished it many months after starting. What I will say, though, is that his writing is always deeply and profoundly thought-provoking, and I learn and grow every time I read his writing
One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Amelie
5.0 out of 5 stars Interessantes Buch
Reviewed in Germany on November 3, 2023
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Ich fand das Buch sehr interessant. Teilweise habe ich es nicht so gut verstanden. Vielleicht weil ich keine Therapeutin bin, vielleicht weil ich mich mit dem Thema Buddhismus noch nicht so viel beschäftigt habe. Dennoch konnte ich immer wieder eine gute Einsicht aus dem Buch ziehen
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Jaime
5.0 out of 5 stars Read and reread
Reviewed in Canada on August 29, 2021
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I remember reading this book 20 years ago in grad school… it was gratefully remembered over time. Reading it again underscores its significance given the deepening of my practice and therapeutic experience. I look forward to sharing it with young therapists as it was shared with me.
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Jean-Baptiste Martin
4.0 out of 5 stars Food for thought
Reviewed in France on May 14, 2015
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Exquisite blend of Buddhism and Western psychotherapy. Also a combination of thorough research and personal anecdotes. A definite opening onto meditation. Again: wonderful, enlightening reading! Thank you, Mark Epstein.
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Amina
5.0 out of 5 stars Marvelous
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 12, 2013
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Absolutely marvelous read into the links between the principles of psychotherapy and those of Buddhism. For those who have no exposure to psychotherapy it may be a little dense in places but the writing is otherwise clear and flowing. I recommend this to anyone who is seeking to bridge the approaches of West and East in their quest for a deep sense of wellbeing and understanding of the "self".
5 people found this helpful
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John Fioravanti
5.0 out of 5 stars Great guidance and healing
Reviewed in Germany on February 4, 2020
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This book is a great aid as I carry on with psychoanalysis and begin developing a meditation practice. So many lines of wisdom. Highly suggested!
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