On Being “No-thing-ness”: An Existential Buddhist Exploration Of The Self As The Struggle To Exist
Teacher: Jason Ross
Cost: 3 days accommodation + R350 surcharge
Dates: Friday 25 October 2024 - Monday 28 October 2024
Many people arrive at a retreat setting with an underlying struggle that they may hope to address. Western Psychology has many diagnostic terms, explanations, and treatment strategies for these struggles. Psycholog has also increasingly incorporated Buddhist methods, primarily “mindfulness”, into its treatment strategies. This, however, introduces a contradiction in how the “self” is understood. Western Psychology conceives of the self as a “thing” that can be treated. Whereas Buddhism views attachment to the idea of this self as a cause of our suffering. In a move away from traditional psychology and through a critical comparison of Existential philosophy and Buddhist practices, this retreat wil explore the sense of self as the “struggle”. We will explore the therapeutic value of sitting, walking and talking, with an attitude of “being with what is”, as a means of addressing this struggle. The retreat is intended as a therapeutic experience and will involve philosophical discussion, sitting and walking practices, basic yoga (no experience required), written reflection, and therapeutic group discussion.
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Jason Ross is a decidedly non-clinical psychologist practising in KwaZulu Natal. He has worked extensively in the fields of sexuality, relationships, addiction, and trauma. He first began studying Buddhism under the guidance of Rob Nairn in 1997, over the years he has been increasingly influenced by figures such as Stephen Batchelor and has developed a particularly secular practice of Buddhism. He is currently completing a PhD in Philosophy and Psychoanalysis through the Global Centre for Advanced Studies where he is exploring the potential relationship between Buddhist practices and Existential Practice in carving out a new therapeutic method. He explores how Existential Buddhist notions of “emptiness” and “non-self” challenge the conventions of Western Psychology. This has led to the development of a “Contemplative Existential Analysis” that is post-Buddhist and post-psychological in theory and method. Jason, therefore, offers a more radical approach to both therapy and Buddhism. He and his partner, Fiona Brittion, have set up The Centre for Purposeful Living, a suburban retreat centre on the North Coast of KZN that offers retreat-style live-in therapy stays as analternative to conventional therapy and the clinic setting.
