Prescribing the Dharma This page intentionally left blank Prescribing the Dharma | Psychotherapists, Buddhist Traditions, and Defining Religion | ira helDerman The UniversiTy of norTh Carolina Press ChaPel hill This book was published with the assistance of the Lilian R. Furst Fund of the University of North Carolina Press. © 2019 The University of  North Carolina Press All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America Designed by April Leidig Set in Minion by Copperline Book Services, Inc. The University of North Carolina Press has been a member of the Green Press Initiative since 2003. Cover illustration: © iStockphoto.com / justhavealook Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Helderman, Ira, author. Title: Prescribing the Dharma : psychotherapists, Buddhist traditions, and defining religion / Ira Helderman. Description: Chapel Hill : The University of North Carolina Press, [2019] | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: lccn 2018029732| isbn 9781469648514 (cloth : alk. paper) | isbn 9781469648521 (pbk : alk. paper) | isbn 9781469648538 (ebook) Subjects: lcsh: Dharma (Buddhism) | Psychotherapists. | Psychotherapy— Religious aspects—Buddhism. | Buddhism and psychoanalysis. | Buddhism—Psychology. | Psychology and religion. Classification: lcc bq4570.p755 h45 2019 | ddc 294.3/3615—dc23 lc record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018029732 contents Acknowledgments vii introDuction 1 one Coming to Terms with Our Terms 23 two Look but Don’t Touch: Therapizing Religion Approaches 53 three Research Tested, Science Approved: Filtering Religion Approaches 79 Four Black Boxes and Trojan Horses: Translating Religion Approaches 113 Five Keeping Meditation Religious and Psychotherapy Secular: Personalizing Religion Approaches 147 six With Rigor: Adopting Religion Approaches 179 seven Over the Borderline: Integrating Religion Approaches 209 conclusion 241 Notes 265 Works Cited 285 Index 305 acknowleDgments This book was created out of relationships. Perhaps such a sentiment would be expected, coming as it does from a religious studies scholar who also maintains a full- time psychotherapy practice. But it seems to me to be merely a descriptive statement; this book was written relationally, through listening curiously and openly and through, thankfully, being truly heard by others as I shared my own curiosities and concerns. This started with Howard Roback, my benefactor at nearly every stage of my career, and continued through advisers and friends at Vanderbilt Uni- versity beginning with Volney Gay, Jay Geller, Rob Campany, Bonnie Miler- McLemore, Ruth Rogaski, Tony Stewart, Nancy Lin, and Bryan Lowe. Furthermore, throughout conducting this research I have been struck by the willingness of others to respond when I would “cold call” (or, rather, “cold email”) them, reaching out for support, insight, and engagement. This book would, of course, have been impossible if my interviewees had not decided to participate when I contacted them. I will always appreciate their generos- ity, for trusting me to hear them: Harvey Aronson, Paul Cooper, Christopher Germer, Steven Hayes, Pilar Jennings, Joe Loizzo, Barry Magid, Melvin Miller, Susan Pollak, Jeffrey Rubin, Ron Siegel, Jan Surrey, Gay Watson, Karen Kissel Wegela, and Polly Young- Eisendrath. Further, I am grateful to many others in the field of religious studies who also responded when I reached out. A few have become mentors and friends who, from the very first steps that ultimately led to this book, have offered me deep engagement beyond only exchanging ideas or comments on drafts: David McMahan, Ann Gleig, Pierce Salguero, and Anne Harrington. But this gratitude extends to the many others who have also taken the time to give their perspective in conversation (Linda Barnes, Kin Cheung, Nalika Gajaweera, Lance Laird, Sonya Pritzker, James Robson, Michael Stanley- Baker, and Jeff Wilson), some of whom were also able to give helpful feedback on chapters and drafts of this book (Erik Braun, Francisca Cho, Rainer Funk, Pamela Klassen, Brent Nongbri, and Robert Sharf). viii acknowleDgments This work has also benefitted immeasurably from the feedback of the two readers at University of North Carolina Press, Wendy Cadge and William Parsons. I am deeply grateful for their thoughtful and considered responses, which helped both open this book up and give it more texture. And I greatly appreciate all the help of the staff at University of North Car- olina Press for the expertise (and patience) of Mary Carley Caviness, Dino Battista, April Leidig, Karen Carroll, and Andrew Winters, and, especially, the guidance, enthusiasm, and encouragement of my editor, Elaine Maisner. But, of course, it is the relationships that sustain me on a daily basis upon which this book is truly grounded: my family, friends, and “circle” who have supported me—even through their surprise when, many years ago now, I shared with them that I had decided to take up religious studies scholarship. And, to my wife, Jennifer Bailey Helderman, whose love and encourage- ment lifts me up and carries me along, whose own work healing the world never ceases to inspire and amaze me. Finally, this book is dedicated to the many courageous colleagues, super- visees, students, and friends I have had the privilege of connecting with over more than a decade and a half of working in mental health, who, every day, sit down in their offices and bring care and compassion to suffering people. They breathe between each line of this book. Interspersed throughout this book are ideas and language that previously ap- peared in the articles “Drawing the Boundaries between ‘Religion’ and ‘Secu- lar’ in Psychotherapists’ Approaches to Buddhist Traditions in the United States” published in the Journal of the American Academy of Religion and “ ‘The Conversion of the Barbarians’: Comparison and Psychotherapists’ Ap- proaches to Buddhist Traditions in the United States” published in Buddhist Studies Review. A final note that, due to the constraints of academic publishing, the refer- ences for this book are limited to works cited; the depth and breadth of works that my research is founded upon far exceed those listed therein. Prescribing the Dharma