Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Ultimate Rx: Cutting Through the Delusion of Self-cherishing

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Handbook of Mindfulness

Part of the book series: Mindfulness in Behavioral Health ((MIBH))

Abstract

Western and Buddhist psychologies acknowledge the significant role distorted self-narratives play in poor mental health. But these two disciplines hold divergent views on the utility of “cherishing the self.” Western psychology claims high self-esteem is a requirement for self-confidence, happiness, and success. Buddhist psychology asserts wisdom and compassion are the forerunners of genuine confidence and sustainable personal and collective well-being. It further states that endemic self-cherishing—the habitual reification of distorted hyper-egoic self-narratives—is a primary source of mental and emotional affliction. Yet, Buddhist psychology also affirms the innate capacity of all human beings to end the mental suffering of self-cherishing. This chapter explicates Western and Buddhist psychological models of self, Buddhist theories of not-self, and conventional and ultimate self-cherishing, and outlines a somatopsychotherapeutic clinical approach for helping individuals struggling with depressive, anxious, trauma-related symptoms, and addictions, to recognize self-cherishing mentation and lessen its deleterious effects.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 249.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Adler, A. (1964). Individual psychology of Alfred Adler (Vol. 1154). New York: Harper Collins.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bargh, J. A., & Morsella, E. (2008). The unconscious mind. Perspectives on psychological science, 3(1), 73–79.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Barsalou, L. W. (2008). Grounded cognition. Annual Review of Psychology, 59, 617–645.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Baumeister, R. F., Campbell, J. D., Krueger, J. I., & Vohs, K. D. (2003). Does high self-esteem cause better performance, interpersonal success, happiness, or healthier lifestyles? Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 4(1), 1–44.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Baumeister, R. F., & Vohs, K. D. (2012). Self-regulation and the executive function of the self. In M. R. Leary & J. P. Tangney (Eds.), Handbook of self and identity (2nd ed., pp. 180–197). New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beck, A., Crain, A. L., Solberg, L. I., Unützer, J., Glasgow, R. E., Maciosek, M. V., et al. (2011). Severity of depression and magnitude of productivity loss. The Annals of Family Medicine, 9(4), 305–311.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Beck, A. T. (1979). Cognitive therapy and the emotional disorders. New York: Penguin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bieling, P. J., Hawley, L. L., Bloch, R. T., Corcoran, K. M., Levitan, R. D., Young, T. L., et al. (2012). Treatment-specific changes in decentering following mindfulness-based cognitive therapy versus antidepressant medication or placebo for prevention of depressive relapse. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 80(3), 365–372.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Bodhi, B. (2000). The connected discourses of the Buddha: A translation of the Samyutta Nikāya (p. 325). Boston, MA: Wisdom Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bodhi, B. (Ed.). (2003). A comprehensive manual of Abhidhamma: The Abhidhammattha Sangaha. Onalaska, WA: Pariyatti Editions.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bosson, J. K., Lakey, C. E., Campbell, W. K., Zeigler-Hill, V., Jordan, C. H., & Kernis, M. H. (2008). Untangling the links between narcissism and self-esteem: A theoretical and empirical review. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 2(3), 1415–1439.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brefczynski-Lewis, J. A., Lutz, A., Schaefer, H. S., Levinson, D. B., & Davidson, R. J. (2007). Neural correlates of attentional expertise in long-term meditation practitioners. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 104(27), 11483–11488.

    Google Scholar 

  • Briere, J. N., & Scott, C. (2014). Principles of trauma therapy: A guide to symptoms, evaluation, and treatment. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, J. D. (2014). Self-esteem and self-evaluation: Feeling is believing. Psychological Perspectives on the Self, 4, 27–58.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, K. W., & Ryan, R. M. (2004). Perils and promise in defining and measuring mindfulness: Observations from experience. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 11(3), 242–248.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bushman, B. J., Baumeister, R. F., Thomaes, S., Ryu, E., Begeer, S., & West, S. G. (2009). Looking again, and harder, for a link between low self-esteem and aggression. Journal of Personality, 77(2), 427–446.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bushman, B. J., Moeller, S. J., Konrath, S., & Crocker, J. (2012). Investigating the link between liking versus wanting self-esteem and depression in a nationally representative sample of American adults. Journal of Personality, 80(5), 1453–1469.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Butler, A. C., Chapman, J. E., Forman, E. M., & Beck, A. T. (2006). The empirical status of cognitive-behavioral therapy: a review of meta-analyses. Clinical Psychology Review, 26(1), 17–31.

    Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, W. K., Rudich, E. A., & Sedikides, C. (2002). Narcissism, self-esteem, and the positivity of self-views: Two portraits of self-love. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28(3), 358–368.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark, D., Schumann, F., & Mostofsky, S. H. (2015). Mindful movement and skilled attention. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 9, 297.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Colombetti, G. (2010). Enaction, sense-making and emotion. Enaction: Toward a New Paradigm for Cognitive Science, 145–164.

    Google Scholar 

  • Condon, P., et.al. (2015). http://epublications.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1021&context=smv_imf

  • Dahl, C. J., Lutz, A., & Davidson, R. J. (2015). Reconstructing and deconstructing the self: Cognitive mechanisms in meditation practice. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 19(9), 515–523.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Damasio, A. (2012). Self comes to mind: Constructing the conscious brain. New York: Vintage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dambrun, M., & Ricard, M. (2011). Self-centeredness and selflessness: A theory of self-based psychological functioning and its consequences for happiness. Review of General Psychology, 15(2), 138.

    Google Scholar 

  • Desbordes, G., Negi, L. T., Pace, T. W., Wallace, B. A., Raison, C. L., & Schwartz, E. L. (2012). Effects of mindful-attention and compassion meditation training on amygdala response to emotional stimuli in an ordinary, non-meditative state. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 6.

    Google Scholar 

  • Di Giunta, L., Alessandri, G., Gerbino, M., Kanacri, P. L., Zuffiano, A., & Caprara, G. V. (2013). The determinants of scholastic achievement: The contribution of personality traits, self-esteem, and academic self-efficacy. Learning and Individual Differences, 27, 102–108.

    Google Scholar 

  • Di Paolo, E. (2009). Extended life. Topoi, 28(1), 9–21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Di Paolo, E. A., & De Jaegher, H. (2015). Toward an embodied science of intersubjectivity: Widening the scope of social understanding research. Frontiers in Psychology, 6.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eagleman, D. (2011). Incognito: The hidden life of the brain. New York: Random House.

    Google Scholar 

  • Farb, N. A., Segal, Z. V., & Anderson, A. K. (2013). Attentional modulation of primary interoceptive and exteroceptive cortices. Cerebral Cortex, 23(1), 114–126.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Farb, N. A., Segal, Z. V., Mayberg, H., Bean, J., McKeon, D., Fatima, Z., et al. (2007). Attending to the present: Mindfulness meditation reveals distinct neural modes of self-reference. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 2(4), 313–322.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Garfield, J. L. (2014). Engaging Buddhism: Why it matters to philosophy. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldstein, J. (1993). Insight meditation. Boston: Shambhala Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Halifax, J. (2012). A heuristic model of enactive compassion. Current Opinion in Supportive and Palliative Care, 6(2), 228–235.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hillis, K., Paasonen, S., & Petit, M. (2015). Networked affect. Boston: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hillman, J., & Ventura, M. (1992). We’ve had a hundred years of psychotherapy–And the world’s getting worse. San Francisco: Harper Collins.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hofmann, S. G., Grossman, P., & Hinton, D. E. (2011). Loving-kindness and compassion meditation: Potential for psychological interventions. Clinical Psychology Review, 31(7), 1126–1132.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Horney, K. (1950). Neurosis and human growth: The struggle toward self-realization. New York: WW Norton & Company: New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Horowitz, S. (2014). T’ai Chi and Qigong: Validated health benefits. Alternative and Complementary Therapies, 20(5), 263–269.

    Google Scholar 

  • James, W. (1890). The consciousness of self. The principles of psychology, 8. New York: Dover.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jinpa, T. (Ed.). (2011). Essential mind training. New York: Simon and Schuster.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, D. C., Thom, N. J., Stanley, E. A., Haase, L., Simmons, A. N., Pei-an, B. S., … & Paulus, M. P. (2014). Modifying resilience mechanisms in at-risk individuals: A controlled study of mindfulness training in Marines preparing for deployment. American Journal of Psychiatry.

    Google Scholar 

  • Judge, T. A., & Bono, J. E. (2001). Relationship of core self-evaluations traits—self-esteem, generalized self-efficacy, locus of control, and emotional stability—with job satisfaction and job performance: A meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86(1), 80.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kabat-Zinn, J., & Davidson, R. (Eds.). (2012). The mind’s own physician: A scientific dialogue with the Dalai Lama on the healing power of meditation. Oakland: New Harbinger Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klein, S. B. (2012). The two selves: The self of conscious experience and its brain. In M. R. Leary & J. P. Tangney (Eds.), Handbook of self and identity (2nd ed.). New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kongtrul, D., & Schmidt, M. B. (2009). Uncommon Happiness: The path of the compassionate warrior. Kathmandu: Rangjung Yeshe Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Konrath, S. H., O’Brien, E. H., & Hsing, C. (2011). Changes in dispositional empathy in American college students over time: A meta-analysis. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 15(2), 180–198.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuyken, W., Hayes, R., Barrett, B., Byng, R., Dalgleish, T., Kessler, D., … & Byford, S. (2015). Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy compared with maintenance antidepressant treatment in the prevention of depressive relapse or recurrence (PREVENT): a randomised controlled trial. The Lancet.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leary, M. R., & Tangney, J. P. (2003). The self as an organizing construct in the behavioral and social sciences. Handbook of Self and Identity, 3–14.

    Google Scholar 

  • Levine, P. A. (2003). Panic, biology and reason: Giving the body its due. US Association Body Psychotherapy Journal, 2, 5–21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Levine, P. A. (2010). In an unspoken voice: How the body releases trauma and restores goodness. Berkeley: North Atlantic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • List, J. A., & Samak, A. C. (2013). Exploring the origins of charitable acts: Evidence from an artefactual field experiment with young children. Economics Letters, 118(3), 431–434.

    Google Scholar 

  • Luna, R. A., & Foster, J. A. (2015). Gut brain axis: Diet microbiota interactions and implications for modulation of anxiety and depression. Current Opinion in Biotechnology, 32, 35–41.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lutz, A., Jha, A. P., Dunne, J. D., & Saron, C. D. (2015). investigating the phenomenological and neurocognitive matrix of mindfulness-related practices. American Psychologist, 70(7), 632–658.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lutz, A., Slagter, H. A., Rawlings, N. B., Francis, A. D., Greischar, L. L., & Davidson, R. J. (2009). Mental training enhances attentional stability: Neural and behavioral evidence. The Journal of Neuroscience, 29(42), 13418–13427.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Maslow, A. H. (1973). On dominance, self-esteem, and self-actualization. Maurice Bassett.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mendlowicz, M. V., & Stein, M. B. (2014). Quality of life in individuals with anxiety disorders. American Journal of Psychiatry.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller, L. D. (2014). Effortless Mindfulness: Genuine mental health through awakened presence. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mingyur, R. Y., & Swanson, E. (2010). Joyful wisdom. New York: Three Rivers Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell, D. W., & Wiseman, J. (2003). Transforming suffering: Reflections on finding peace in troubled times (pp. 64–81). New York: Doubleday.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell, R. W. (2003). Subjectivity and self-recognition in animals. In M. R. Leary & J. P. Tangney (Eds.), Handbook of self and identity (pp. 567–593). New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Myers, S. G., & Wells, A. (2015). Early trauma, negative affect, and anxious attachment: The role of metacognition. Anxiety, Stress, & Coping, (ahead-of-print), 1–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • National Institute of Mental Health. (2015, September 10). Psychotherapies. Retrieved from http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/psychotherapies/index.shtml

  • Neff, K. D. (2011). Self-compassion, self-esteem, and well-being. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 5(1), 1–12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Northoff, G. (2013). Brain and self—A neurophilosophical account. Child Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health, 7, 28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Olendzki, A. (2003). Buddhist psychology. In S. R. Segall (Ed.), Encountering Buddhism: Western psychology and Buddhist teachings. New York: SUNY Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Orth, U., Robins, R. W., & Roberts, B. W. (2008). Low self-esteem prospectively predicts depression in adolescence and young adulthood. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95(3), 695.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Oulis, P. (2013). Toward a unified methodological framework for the science and practice of integrative psychiatry. Philosophy, Psychiatry, & Psychology, 20(2), 113–126.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oyserman, D., Elmore, K., & Smith, G. (2012). Self, self-concept, and identity. In M. R. Leary & J. P. Tangney (Eds.), Handbook of self and identity (2nd ed., pp. 68–104). New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oyserman, D., & Markus, H. R. (1998). Self as social representation. In S. U. Flick (Ed.), The psychology of the social (pp. 107–125). New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ozawa-de Silva, B. R., Dodson-Lavelle, B., Raison, C. L., Negi, L. T., Silva, B. R. O., & Phil, D. (2012). Compassion and ethics: scientific and practical approaches to the cultivation of compassion as a foundation for ethical subjectivity and well-being. Journal of Healthcare, Science and the Humanities, 2, 145–161.

    Google Scholar 

  • Payne, P., & Crane-Godreau, M. A. (2015). The preparatory set: a novel approach to understanding stress, trauma, and the bodymind therapies. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 9, 178.

    Google Scholar 

  • Payne, P., Levine, P. A., & Crane-Godreau, M. A. (2015). Somatic experiencing: using interception and proprioception as core elements of trauma therapy. Frontiers in Psychology, 6.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ponlop, R. D. (2010). Rebel Buddha: On the road to freedom. Boston: Shambhala Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Porges, S. W. (2007). The polyvagal perspective. Biological Psychology, 74(2), 116–143.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sato, N., Tan, L., Tate, K., & Okada, M. (2015). Rats demonstrate helping behavior toward a soaked conspecific. Animal Cognition, 1–9.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sawynok, J., & Lynch, M. (2014). Qualitative analysis of a controlled trial of qigong for fibromyalgia: Advancing understanding of an emerging health practice. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 20(8), 606–617.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schmalzl, L., Crane-Godreau, M. A., & Payne, P. (2014). Movement-based embodied contemplative practices: Definitions and paradigms. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shonin, E., Van Gordon, W., & Griffiths, M. D. (2014). Loving-kindness and compassion meditation in psychotherapy. Thresholds: Quarterly Journal of the Association for Pastoral and Spiritual Care and Counseling, Spring Issue, 9–12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Siderits, M., Thompson, E., & Zahavi, D. (Eds.). (2010). Self, no self?: Perspectives from analytical, phenomenological, and Indian traditions. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Singer, T., & Klimecki, O. M. (2014). Empathy and compassion. Current Biology, 24(18), R875–R878.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Staples, J. K., Abdel Atti, J. A., & Gordon, J. S. (2011). Mind-body skills groups for posttraumatic stress disorder and depression symptoms in Palestinian children and adolescents in Gaza. International Journal of Stress Management, 18(3), 246.

    Google Scholar 

  • Strauman, T. J., & Goetz, E. L. (2012). Self-regulation failure and health. In M. R. Leary & J. P. Tangney (Eds.), Handbook of self and identity (2nd ed., pp. 247–267). New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Swann, W. B., et al. (2003). Self-verification: The search for coherence. In M. R. Leary & J. P. Tangney (Eds.), Handbook of self and identity (pp. 367–383). New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tang, Y. Y. (2011). Mechanism of integrative body-mind training. Neuroscience Bulletin, 27(6), 383–388.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Tang, Y. Y., Hölzel, B. K., & Posner, M. I. (2015). The neuroscience of mindfulness meditation. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 16(4), 213–225.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tang, Y. Y., & Posner, M. I. (2012). Theory and method in mindfulness neuroscience. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, nss112.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thera, N. (2005). The heart of Buddhist meditation: Satipatthāna: A handbook of mental training based on the Buddha’s way of mindfulness, with an anthology of relevant texts translated from the Pali and Sanskrit. Buddhist Publication Society.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, E., & Stapleton, M. (2009). Making sense of sense-making: Reflections on enactive and extended mind theories. Topoi, 28(1), 23–30.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thubten, A. (2015). Unpublished lecture. Richmond: Dharmata Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tsering, G. T. (2006). Buddhist psychology: The foundation of Buddhist thought (Vol. 3). Somerville: Wisdom Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tsoknyi, R., & Swanson, E. (2012). Open Heart, Open Mind: Awakening the power of essence love. New York: Harmony Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Twenge, J. M., Konrath, S., Foster, J. D., Campbell, W. K., & Bushman, B. J. (2008). Further evidence of an increase in narcissism among college students. Journal of Personality, 76(4), 919–928.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vago, D. R., & Silbersweig, D. A. (2012). Self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-transcendence (S-ART): A framework for understanding the neurobiological mechanisms of mindfulness. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 6.

    Google Scholar 

  • Valentine, J. C., DuBois, D. L., & Cooper, H. (2004). The relation between self-beliefs and academic achievement: A meta-analytic review. Educational Psychologist, 39(2), 111–133.

    Google Scholar 

  • van der Kolk, B. A. (1987). The separation cry and the trauma response: Developmental issues in the psychobiology of attachment and separation. Psychological Trauma, 31–62.

    Google Scholar 

  • Waldron, W. S. (2008). A Buddhist theory of unconscious mind (ālaya-vijñāna). Handbook of Indian Psychology, 105–128.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wallace, B. A. (2009). Contemplative science: Where Buddhism and neuroscience converge. New York: Columbia University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wallace, B. A. (2011). Minding closely: The four applications of mindfulness. New York: Snow Lion Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Warneken, F., Hare, B., Melis, A. P., Hanus, D., & Tomasello, M. (2007). Spontaneous altruism by chimpanzees and young children. PLoS Biology, 5(7), e184.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Westin, D., & Heim, A. K. (2003). Disturbances of self and identity in personality disorders. In M. R. Leary & J. P. Tangney (Eds.), Handbook of self and identity (pp. 643–664). New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Los Gatos, California, USA

    Lisa Dale Miller

Authors
  1. Lisa Dale Miller
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lisa Dale Miller .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Management, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, California, USA

    Ronald E. Purser

  2. Brooklyn College, CUNY Graduate Center, Brooklyn, New York, USA

    David Forbes

  3. Institute for Holistic Health Studies, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, California, USA

    Adam Burke

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Miller, L.D. (2016). The Ultimate Rx: Cutting Through the Delusion of Self-cherishing. In: Purser, R., Forbes, D., Burke, A. (eds) Handbook of Mindfulness. Mindfulness in Behavioral Health. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-44019-4_22

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation