Complicated Psychology
I often realize that we make things more complicated than they need to be. This is especially true in my field of clinical psychology, where there can be a big gap between the scientific language used in research and the way therapists talk with their clients.
Lost in Translation
When I arrived in the United States in 2007 to begin a Master’s in Psychology program at New York University, I felt right at home with the challenging readings from books, book chapters, research studies, and other academic materials. It was exciting to learn big ideas and complex theories in psychology, but when I tried to explain them to people outside the field, it became difficult and not very useful. Moving on soon after to my PhD program in Clinical Psychology at St. John’s University, New York, this problem got even worse. Although I loved learning about the various aspects of clinical psychology, it seemed that the more specialized knowledge I gained, the more difficult it became to communicate this to others. It often felt like translating from one language to another!
An Inspiring Story
This reminded me of an inspiring story about the Buddha, who was raised and educated in the Sanskrit language, used by the scholarly Brahmins in India at that time. After deciding to become a teacher, the Buddha shared his teachings not in Sanskrit, but in the Pali language, used by the everyday people of his time, so that his message would be clear and easy to understand. The irony is that many of these simple messages, related to universal principles for managing the mind, have themselves become specialized knowledge, available only in special places, such as religious centers.
Ancient Ideas and Modern Practice
This leads me to another insight, which I often had in my study of Western psychotherapy models and theories. Growing up in India, I saw many traditions, including Hinduism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism, and Zoroastrianism. I would often read their literature and engage in interesting discussions about it. However, I could not use these ideas in real life because the language in the texts was no longer simple. The core messages seemed to be covered in mysticism or scholarly commentary and were no longer a practical guide to be used in daily life. Years later, as I studied psychology, I was amazed at how similar many ancient ideas were to modern views on mental health. I wanted to share these connections in a simple and practical way, which became the purpose of writing these articles.
Rediscovering Ancient Wisdom
In many ways, this has already started to happen in mainstream culture. For example, many young people are interested in the link between a popular form of psychotherapy, cognitive-behaviour therapy (CBT), and the two-thousand-year-old Greek philosophy of Stoicism. Books written two thousand years ago by famous Stoic philosophers, such as Marcus Aurelius (Meditations) or Seneca (Letters from a Stoic), have become bestsellers in the last decade. The Pali language teachings of the Buddha are now labelled as mindfulness, and these are now a part of almost every modern psychotherapy system, such as acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), dialectical-behaviour therapy (DBT), and internal family systems (IFS), to name a few. There has been a big rise in the popularity of mindfulness-related books, such as Radical Compassion by Tara Brach or Self-Compassion by Kristin Neff, podcasts such as Be Here Now or Heart Wisdom, and apps such as Insight Timer or Calm. It seems our culture is rediscovering wisdom that people once knew well.
Purpose of This Blog
The purpose of this blog is to connect ancient wisdom with modern ideas and share my personal reflections on them. It is also my hope to provide simple, practical explanations of psychological ideas and bring them all together in an easily readable format for the benefit of everyday readers. However, if something doesn’t feel accurate, I invite readers to simply set it aside as just another opinion. My own journey in the mental health field has been both intellectually and emotionally rewarding, and I hope sharing these insights can help others on their own paths.
