‘Getting hold of the Ox’ 4) corresponds
with the stage in psychotherapy where the patient can
maintain their awareness of nuclear feelings vividly,
without repressing them. ‘Herding the Ox’ 5)
means holding, controlling and beginning to resolve
the conflicts. It corresponds with the long working-through
phase of psychotherapy where negative emotions dissolve,
positive feelings grow and new constructive behaviour
patterns emerge.
‘Riding the Ox Home’ 6) corresponds
with the stage in psychotherapy where the patient or
person has almost worked through their nuclear feelings;
it is the acceptance of the problem and reality. Here
the ox is white and this suggests the purified state
of mind - no love and no hate. In ‘The Ox is
Forgotten, but the Ox-herder is Still Present’ 7)
is signified the resolution of conflicts, yet the self
is not completely transcended. This is the point which
Prof. RHEE argues as identifying the limit that is reached
in western psychoanalysis and psychotherapy.
The following three stages are ‘Ox and Herder
Both Forgotten’ 8) which is complete nonattachment
or emptiness(sunyata), complete liberation and self-transcendence.
‘Returning to the Source’ 9) is seeing
oneself and reality as it is without projection - or,
as returning to one’s original nature and then finally,
ends with ‘Entering the Marketplace with Open
Hands’ 10) This is to become a Bodhisattva to
help others after solving one’s own problems. In this
way, Prof. RHEE has found similarity between the psychotherapeutic
process and the Zen path in the course of his study of
the Tao, western philosophy and psychotherapy.
2. The Importance of Compassion
in Taopsychotherapy
Another one of the most important issues in Taopsychotherapy is how the therapist can come to
fully understand their patients’ feelings. This issue is based upon the premise that it is most important
that the therapist be ‘in-tune’(empathize) with the patient’s subjective, inner feelings. This question
of how well the therapist understands the patient’s feelings is very seriously attended to in Taopsychotherapy,
as compared with western psychotherapy. In fact, the emphasis on this issue is
probably the most distinctively contrasted aspect between Taopsychotherapy and western psychotherapy.
In Taopsychotherapy, considerable emphasis is placed upon
the developmental and/or maturation process(maturity)
of the therapists. This does not mean by that very fact,
that all therapists studying Taopsychotherapy are somehow
more mature than any other psychotherapists. For instance,
Prof. RHEE once stated himself, “So far, there has not
been any student of mine who has been fully able to understand
me - as yet.”
He always says, “The therapist should treat a patient with his/her own compassion or, the therapist
should have compassion and the patient will be cured by it.”
In Daseinsanalysis, it is “care”(sorge) of existence,
as a kind of shepherding of all that is encountered(Craig
1988). According to Carlos Alberto Seguin(Seguin 1965),
it is “Psychotherapeutic Eros”, as Boss quoted(Boss 1963).
Jerome Frank said, “A good therapist has a real desire
to help people” (Frank 1998). These are different terms
which indicate the same qualities. In Prof. RHEE’s Taopsychotherapy,
a therapist’s compassion is the most important quality
to embody, in order to attain perfect empathy with his/her
patient’s feelings.
1) An Example of Dialogue Between
Medard Boss and RHEE Dongshick in Zollikon：
Compassion and Selflessness
During several conversations between Medard Boss and RHEE Dongshick in June of 1976 in
Zollikon, Zurich, they stressed the importance of the therapist’s love.
Here is a part of their dialogue(in expanded translation)
Prof. Boss：Yes, western psychotherapy mainly only goes so far as liberating hate and love. Since
hate and love are both attachments, most therapists stop at the liberation of these emotions whereas
meditation goes further on to free the person from these attachments and encouragingly continues to
help them to become a Bodhisattva.
Prof. RHEE：Yes, it is my impression(that) therapy should have the spirit of Bodhisattva, selflessness.
In reality though, therapists lack this spirit of Bodhisattva.
Prof. Boss：It’s a kind of selflessness. To simply give the patient freedom, the space into which he
can develop his own being, without wanting something for yourself from the patient.
Prof. RHEE：That is wu wei of Laotzu.
Prof. Boss：That’s rare. That’s the aim of one therapist(Carlos Alberto Seguin) from Peru, “Psychotherapeutic
Eros”. He means the same thing. Psychotherapeutic Eros is superior even to the goal
(that) is the prescribed love of the priest for his belief in God, because he still wants something from
God.
3. How to Attain Complete
Compassion
Thirdly, one of the most important things in Taopsychotherapy is the issue of how the therapist can
reach the state of complete compassion. In other words, how a therapist can attain perfect empathy to
understand the patient’s feelings. For this purpose, therapists should resolve(remove) their own nuclear
feelings(neurotic desires) through purification of their minds. This is one of the distinctively different
issues worked with in Taopsychotherapy.
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