دار بيبليون
Spiritual Psychology, Modern Psychology, Sufism and Buddhism, Notes from a VisioConference By Lwiis Saliba on Zoom, 6/11/2024
In this presentation, we will discuss obsessive-compulsive disorder, OCD, not only as an illness, but also as a thought mechanism adopted by most people, and who among us has not suffered from OCD at one time or another in his or her life? The Koran, as we have already mentioned, talks about it in its last sura (Sura of the People 114). The school of psychology that has shown decisive results in the treatment of obsessions in general and OCD in particular is cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). In this presentation, we will see how this school is close to and inspired by Buddhist psychology.
Our 1st reference is the book “Break free from OCD” of Dr Fiona Challamcombe & others. This is perhaps the most important work on the subject existing in Arabic, as the authors are eminent international specialists in the treatment of OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder). As we have already mentioned in a previous article, the symptoms of this psychological disorder are not limited to those who suffer from it, but it is a thought mechanism for the overwhelming majority of people, albeit not to the degree of the disease, and the difference between a normal person and a patient is not in the quality and nature of the obsessions, but in their quantity and the degree of their frequency and repetition. In this respect, the authors say (p. 256) ‘We are all predisposed to feel anxious, and it is useful and necessary to worry, but in a normal proportion. Worrying thoughts cannot be destructive. Thinking that worrying thoughts can damage the brain is an OCD trap’.
The authors treat their patients with cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). They state (p. 283): ‘The treatment of choice for OCD in children and adults is cognitive behavioural therapy. It is a type of talk therapy that includes exposure and response prevention (ERP)’.
They define it as follows (p.15): ‘Aaron Tim Beck (1921-2021) is the creator of cognitive theories and cognitive therapy. Beck tried to make Freud’s theories work. It seemed to him that psychoanalysis didn’t work when he was trying to help his patients’. The authors go on to explain (pp. 16-17): ‘In short, Beck’s theory suggests that people don’t feel anxious, upset, angry or sad because of what happened to them, but rather because of what they thought it meant. Beck showed that depression does not come directly from what has happened to people, but from the way they have interpreted events. Furthermore, Beck showed that the way people perceive and interpret what has happened to them is linked to a belief about themselves and the world in general, as well as their beliefs about the future. People think in a certain way because of experiences that have affected what they believe about themselves and the world’.
In this, Beck coincides completely with Buddhist spiritual psychology, whose view of the world was summed up by the philosopher Schopenhauer in a famous saying: ‘The world is my perception of it’ (is my representation).
On the mechanism of obsessions and how to treat them, the authors explain (p. 98): ‘Trying to avoid thoughts is in itself an essential part of OCD. It is very difficult for most people not to think about something; to get a thought out of your mind, you have to think about it. The irony of trying to suppress a thought is that it makes it more important. Trying to avoid thoughts is not only difficult, it’s futile and counter-productive.
Here’s a well-known Zen story: ‘The disciple asks his master to teach him to transcend. The master replied ‘just don’t think about monkeys’. The disciple thought it was easy, but he was trapped in this paradox: in fact, while trying not to think about a monkey, he was actually thinking about one. He ended up becoming obsessed with monkeys. He told his master about this problem, saying: ‘Master, I don’t give a damn about transcendence, but deliver me from monkeys!
It was an effective and skilful paradoxical way from the master to teach his disciple that: 1-Transcending is neither thinking nor not thinking, but rather going beyond thoughts, and through the mind we transcend the mind itself. 2-Fighting against thoughts means feeding them and giving them more energy. Instead of trying to chase thoughts away, all you have to do is observe their movement, and they will disappear naturally.
The Behaviourists (CBT Psychologists) go on to warn of the harmful consequences of repression (p. 254): ‘Trying to suppress thoughts only makes them more likely to come back to mind. Reassurance may give you temporary relief, but it inevitably undermines your confidence because you will always find gaps in the response. Take the example of the enemy who comes to annoy you at a party. If you shout at him, everyone will take his side to defend him, but if you pretend he’s not there, things will get better. He won’t have a grip and will go away, leaving you in peace.
These shortcomings are often the result of doubt, which is the main characteristic of OCD, and in fact its greatest disaster (p. 269): ‘OCD is sometimes known as the disease of doubt. One of the damaging doubts associated with OCD is whether or not your real problem is OCD.’
Behavioural psychologists say that once we realise we’re suffering from OCD, we’re more than halfway through the treatment process. In shamanism, once the demon has been recognised and named, its power diminishes and it disappears as soon as it has been discovered and unmasked. It is interesting to note that in the Koranic and Sufi sense, obsession: wasswâs and satan are synonymous: wasswâs is an inner conversation, like a hidden voice, and it is also Al-Khanâs (sura Al-Nas 114/4). As soon as you discover wasswâs and realise its inner workings in the soul, it weakens and begins to disappear! The mechanism of waswasa is like an inner devil, a nafs ammâra نفس أمّارة: evil that works both within you and against you!
Regarding OCD sufferers’ doubts, the authors say (p. 255), ’It is impossible to achieve certainty about obsessive doubts. The more you try to achieve certainty, the less sure you will be, and you will then fall into a vicious circle.’
The solution is to endure the doubts. For we live in a world devoid of certainty, and the Sufis affirm that the only certainty in this worldly life is death, and they say in the interpretation of the Koranic verse: {Worship your Lord until certainty comes to you} (Al-Hajar 15/99) that what is meant is death. The authors, and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) in general, are not far removed from this Sufi psychology, as they say (p. 209): ‘The idea of tolerating doubt is an important part of the treatment of OCD. OCD can drown you in a sea of doubt (…) In behavioural experiments, it is important to tolerate doubt and uncertainty. Uncertainty is an integral part of life, as we all live with the uncertainty of death, illness or what the future holds. If we’re not sure, that doesn’t mean we’re totally lacking in certainty. Obsessive-compulsive disorder may have convinced you that you need to be 100% sure of everything. But this is often impossible.
Doesn’t the Buddha’s silence and his refusal to engage in metaphysical questions and to answer questions related to the invisible world mean that he is always and inevitably subject to scepticism? The Buddha’s noble silence about the great metaphysical questions is also a way of accepting uncertainty, for example about the eternity of the world, the existence of spirits and the soul. He refused to answer a monk’s questions on this subject. Ananda asked him why he didn’t answer. The Buddha replied: ‘If I had told him that the world was eternal, he would still have doubted it”. There is a similarity with the Sufi point of view: two certainties are essential: the present moment – the Sufi is the son of the moment – and death. This is very similar to the Buddhist perspective. Everything else is uncertain, yet most people are distracted by the possibilities of metaphysical constructs rather than face the present moment and the hour of death. This is a major common ground between CBT (behaviourism) and Buddhism and Sufism. It gives good results in the treatment of OCD, anxiety and phobias. It has also avoided getting bogged down in analytical detail. CBT specialists are regularly inspired by Buddhist psychology.