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    Thoughts Without a Thinker: Psychotherapy from a Buddhist Perspective
    Thoughts Without a Thinker: Psychotherapy from a Buddhist Perspective
    Thoughts Without a Thinker: Psychotherapy from a Buddhist Perspective
    Audiobook7 hours

    Thoughts Without a Thinker: Psychotherapy from a Buddhist Perspective

    Written by Mark Epstein, M.D. and His Holiness the Dalai Lama

    Narrated by Mark Epstein, M.D.

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    Upon its first publication, this pathbreaking book launched an explosion of interest in how Eastern spirituality can enhance Western psychology. Since then, the worlds of Buddhism and psychotherapy have been forged into a revolutionary new understanding of what constitutes a healthy emotional life. In his insightful introduction, Mark Epstein reflects on this revolution and considers how it is likely to evolve in the future.

    “Mark Epstein’s book is inspired in its lucidity…After Thoughts Without a Thinker, psychotherapy without a Buddhist perspective looks like a diminished thing.” —Adam Phillips, author of On Kissing, Tickling, and Being Bored

    “A groundbreaking work…The book will take its place among the classics of the literature of meditation.” —Jon Kabat-Zinn, author of Wherever You Go, There You Are

    “A marvelous book that is at once scholarly and fresh, informative and personal.” —Stephen A. Mitchell, author of Freud and Beyond

    “A most lucid and expert account of the wedding of psychotherapy and meditation. And Eastern-Western psychology that truly speaks from the inside of both worlds.” —Jack Kornfield, author of A Path with Heart

    “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 Minding the Body, Mending the Mind

    “Instructive and impressive.” —Robert Coles, author of The Mind’s Fate

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateAug 7, 2012
    ISBN9781469203775
    Thoughts Without a Thinker: Psychotherapy from a Buddhist Perspective
    Author

    Mark Epstein, M.D.

    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.

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    Reviews for Thoughts Without a Thinker

    4/5

    136 ratings8 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Is good. Read it. I need to write 6 more words.

      2 people found this helpful

    • 3/5
      While I appreciate Epstein's attempt to draw parallels between Buddhist practice and psychotherapy, the overlap can seem a bit superficial at times. Western psychology- and in particular psychoanalysis- is too firmly rooted towards a conception of an underlying self. This is ultimately at odds with the Buddhist deconstruction of an essential, permanent self. Admittedly, Thoughts Without A Thinker is not making a structured argument as to the equivalence of these Western and Eastern approaches, but rather calling attention to the ways in which the Buddhist practice can benefit the therapeutic process. Epstein does provide a very accessible introduction to Buddhist philosophy in general and to some of the more open and contemporary versions of psychoanalysis that go beyond the limited Freudian approach. Definitely worth a read for those familiar with Western therapeutic processes and interested in- but without much prior knowledge of- Buddhist thought.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      Good complementing between Buddhism and therapy. I recommend this book for people who want to link both items.
    • 1/5
      Author read audiobooks are invariably very poorly read. This is no exception. Lifeless reading.
    • 5/5
      Excellent. Helpful, compassionate understanding of the best use blending of western psychotherapy and Buddhist mindfulness.
    • 5/5
      Loved the book...great viewpoint for understanding conection between benefits of meditation and its aplication in solving psychological issues...
    • 4/5
      Epstein is a meditation teacher as well as a psychotherapist, and he draws on both traditions to help explain how we get ourselves so stuck in suffering, and then how we can find a way out. Insightful and engaging.
    • 4/5
      The blurb inside the dust jacket describes Thoughts Without a Thinker as “…a major contribution to the exploration of discussion about how Eastern spirituality can enhance Western psychology” and indeed it is. This book was probably a mind-blowing breakthrough when it was originally published…and it still has value more than ten years later. I have no idea how this book wound up in my TBR pile, but I’m glad it did. Epstein, a psychotherapist by trade (and mediatator and Buddhist practitioner as well) draws from his own personal experience, the experiences of his patients, and his experience as an accomplished psychotherapist to illustrate how Eastern spiritual practices can enhance the therapeutic process for Westerners. Readers may want to have some familiarity with psychological terms (particularly those related to psychotherapy) and a bit of knowledge about Freud and his contemporaries wouldn’t hurt. The book is accessible even if a reader isn’t already familiar with these terms, concepts and people (especially with the computer and internet available to Google while reading). This isn’t really an introduction to meditation, mindfulness, or any tangible Buddhist practices, it does give an overview of the basics (enough so that the reader can understand it in the broader context of the book). For those people seeking an introduction to actual Buddhist practices and in depth discussion of the ideas behind it, one would definitely not want this to be the starting point. Thoughts Without a Thinker is more geared toward enlightening people about how these esoteric practices can be beneficial to and integrated in modern (Western) therapeutic practice. It was an interesting and thought provoking read that I would definitely recommend. I give it 4 stars.