A mental state deemed healthy by Western psychotherapeutic standards is likely to be regarded as pathological by Buddhists. The Western model for mental health is fairly simplistic. Psychotherapists attempt to decipher the contents of the patient's conscious mind and establish self-identity. Goleman (1991) cites Freud's assessment of the Western methodology: "Freud once said that the most we could hope for from psychoanalysis or psychotherapy was to replace neurotic conflict with everyday unhappiness" (p. 101). Buddhism reaches beyond this goal and focuses on empowering the individual to alter the process of his or her consciousness.
Despite its religious foundation, the non-secular community considers Buddhism a branch of psychology because Buddhists do not believe in God. Buddhists believe that humans are fundamentally good. The basic philosophy of Buddhism is that humans are already enlightened and possess the capacity to experience the Buddha within. Blockages to this experience of enlightenment are due to imprisonment by the emotions or "afflictive mental factors" (Goleman, 1991, p. 93).
In contrast, the concept of "original sin" permeates the doctrine of Western psychology to the same extent that it is the foundation of Western religion. The average Westerner is overburdened with basic feelings of guilt. This sense of guilt and impending punishment for inherent mistakes is transmitted from one generation to the next: "Whether or not such people actually believe in the idea of original sin, or in God for that matter, they seem to feel that they have done something wrong in the past and are now being punished for it" (Chogyam Trungpa, 1991, p. 9).
Sidartha Gutama, the first Buddha, expounded on the tragedy of the human condition in his first sermon. The resulting "Four Noble Truths" form the foundation of Buddhism. The Truth of Suffering acknowledges the reality of depression, fear, and anxiety. The C...