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Buddhist Psychology Film Series offered by The Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy October 2009 - May 2010, Saturday Evenings, 7 PM - 10 PM The Arlington Center
This CE program is intended for psychotherapists who are interested in Buddhist psychology, meditation, or mindfulness. Mindfulness-oriented psychotherapy is increasingly appreciated by the therapeutic community as an effective way to reduce emotional distress. Each evening, a film addressing key elements of Buddhist psychology will be shown, followed by a presentation and a discussion moderated by a faculty member of the Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy and Chip Hartranft, Director of the Arlington Center. Buddhist psychology and mindfulness practices originated 2500 years ago to alleviate suffering, particularly related to difficulties in everyday life. These challenges are vividly portrayed through the medium of film and provide rich material for discussion. In this eight-session course, carefully selected films elucidate basic concepts of the Buddhist approach to self-transformation and healing. Participants will explore notions in Buddhist psychology such as non-attachment, emptiness, the nature of the “self”, the link between suffering and compassion, letting-go, emotional separation as a cause of suffering, and the constructed nature of experience. The film format is designed to provide both an intellectual and a visceral learning experience.
SCHEDULE October 3, 2009 10 Questions For The Dalai Lama Suppose you had 45 minutes to sit down one-to-one with the Dalai Lama. What would you talk about? Filmmaker Rick Ray, neither a Buddhist nor social activist, became consumed with the dream of tracking down the Dalai Lama and recording a conversation with the charismatic spiritual and political leader of Tibet in exile. The camera follows Ray as he goes about making his dream a reality, pausing to unspool a wonderfully succinct history of Tibet, with vivid, occasionally horrifying archival clips tracing its encroachment by the Chinese. Outraged though one can hardly help but become, the atmosphere is transformed the moment the Dalai Lama appears - kind, playful, intellectually curious, and utterly committed to peace and non-violence. Ray's 10 Questions, and the wise monk's surprising answers, make for an evening of uncommon inspiration. Participants will explore 1) Buddhist and Western continua of psychological maturation, and 2) Intrapsychic factors requisite to the practice of non-violence in the face of life-threatening aggression.
November 7, 2009 Cherry Blossoms Exhilarating yet fleeting like the petals of its title, Cherry Blossoms unfolds with the happily married Bavarian couple Trudi & Rudi departing comfy routine to visit their struggling, self-absorbed adult children in Berlin. As in Ozu's masterful Tokyo Story, on which this film is lightly modelled, the couple find their kids' lives hectic and disappointing, but when they retreat to a spa on the Baltic for some tranquil alone time, things go from bad to worse. What one of them soon discovers of the other's secret yearnings becomes an unexpected turning point, and the doorway to adventures sensual and exotic beyond all imagining. In Cherry Blossoms a man's heart blooms, expanding our own sense of what's possible in life and love. Participants will explore 1) The power of love relationships from a Buddhist perspective and 2) The transformative potential of loss.
December 5, 2009 Pather Panchali This renowned film debut is the first in Satyajit Ray's Apu Trilogy, and it portrays Bengali life through the the eyes of an Indian boy named Apu. He is born into an impoverished but proud Brahmin family, and his beloved older sister dismays their mother with her adaptive habit of stealing fruit from a neighbor's orchard. Their timid father, Harihar, is a poet and lay priest, and he has the good fortune to find an accounting job that brings dependable income to the family for the first time. Their mother, Sarbajaya, is subsequently able to make ends meet, and the children enjoy a life of play and considerable freedom. When Harihar loses his position, however, he leaves the family in a depleted state to look for work elsewhere, and in his absence, conditions deteriorate markedly. Months later, Harihar returns to face a tragedy that forces the family to leave his ancestral home. Although made on a shoestring budget primarily with amateur actors, the film was the first independent Indian film to attract worldwide attention, and it established Ray as a major international filmmaker. It is considered today as one of the greatest films of all time. Participants will explore 1) The idea of dependent coorigination (the interdependency of phenomena) and 2) the idea of karma.
January 2, 2010 Happy-Go-Lucky May you be happy...may you be peaceful...may you be free from suffering. Happiness is the summum bonum of the holy life, and something we all want for ourselves, if not others. What does it actually look like, though? Would we really know it if we saw it? Poppy, the heroine of Mike Leigh's acclaimed, oddly refreshing comedy, hardly seems an exemplar of spiritual refinement. Resolutely unserious to the point of flippancy, she experiences the downs & ups of her private life as if it were a carnival ride, every turn provoking shrieks of laughter but no visible trace of suffering. When it comes to the pain of others, though, the young schoolteacher is capable of profound engagement and compassion without seeming to be drawn into their dramas. Poppy's ineluctable joie de vivre is put to the acid test, though, when she gets into the car with driving instructor Scott, a seething paranoid determined that Poppy share his afflicted worldview. Charming, firghtening, disarming, inspiring - Happy-Go-Lucky leaves us smiling at our own self-importance, and wondering if there isn't a better way to be. Participants will explore 1) the concepts of happiness and fulfillment from Buddhist and Western psychological perspectives 2) The relationship between resiliency and defenses.
February 6, 2010 Sansho The Bailiff This historical masterpiece is taken from a Japanese folk tale of 12th-century feudal Japan, and it depicts the widespread barbarism of the period. The film starts Yoshiaki Hanayagi as Zushio, the young son of a provincial governor who is exiled when his attempts to protect the rights of regional famers clash with the goals of the feudal regime. After a few years, Zushio, his mother, and his sister begin a long journey to reunite the family, but they are waylaid by kidnappers. The mother is sold to a brothel on an isolated island, and the children are sold as slaves to the corrupt official, Sansho. After a long tenure, when escorting a dying slave outside the confines of their camp, the brother and sister plan an escape in order to find their mother and father. In what has been called his finest film, Mizoguchi composes scenes of intense emotion from a distance in long, magnificently composed takes, and the abundant tragedy of the film is leavened if not transcended by its visual beauty and compassion. Participants will explore 1) the resiliency of genuine virtue 2) the psychological concept that the way things end is often the way they are remembered.
March 6, 2010 How To Cook Your Life A delectable blend of chanting, baking and wisdom, How To Cook Your Life documents the cooking classes of Edward Espe Brown, Zen master and head chef of the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center. Brown was a student of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, who famously taught when you wash the rice, wash the rice...when you cut the carrots, cut the carrots. Ed's teachings veer between food preparation and self-realization as he drolly counters the perils of fast-paced modern life with a calm and often hilariously creative approach to both dining and living. A warm, witty ratatouille from the acclaimed director of Enlightenment Guaranteed and Cherry Blossoms, this film is plenty filling, with ample food for thought. Participants will explore 1) The grounding experience of daily practice 2) Ordinary life as a vehicle for realization.
April 3, 2010 The Edge Of Heaven The dharma of interconnectedness - an unseen but indivisible filament uniting mother to daughter, father to son, Germans to Turks, indeed all of us to each other - spreads like a net across The Edge Of Heaven, a gripping masterpiece by young Turkish-German director Fatih Akin. What begins as the story of a lonely old Turkish immigrant in Germany looking for companionship soon threads its way to a German bookstore in Istanbul, a lovers' bed, a radical cell, and a fateful revolver. Most of Heaven's passionate characters cross paths, usually unawares. All are headed for loss, clinging to one capricious desire or another. Some, but not all, will find a kind of redemption when they come to recognize their bonds, and we are left to wonder if our own salvation might be any different. Like Head-On, another Akin stunner, The Edge Of Heaven stays with us, quietly holding its fragile tracery of hope aloft above the debris of hatred and desire. Participants will explore 1) The Buddhist concept of interconnectedness 2) A Buddhist perspective on passionate emotions.
May 1, 2010 Lars and the Real Girl In this breathtakingly original comedy, Lars is an odd but affable young Midwesterner living alone in his brother's garage. Despite his brother and sister-in-law's energetic attempts to cheer him up, Lars lives a solitary, morose life of unvarying routine until the day a new woman comes into his life - an anatomically correct doll Lars has found on the Internet after a co-worker's tip. 'Bianca' takes on a life of her own when Lars introduces his new 'girlfriend' to family and friends, who soon begin to sense the therapeutic value of playing along. Lars and the Real Girl is a gently moving film whose wacky take on identity somehow manages to leave an indelible impression, inspiring an unexpected sense of compassion, community, and kindness. Participants will explore 1) A Buddhist perspective on compassion, delusion and the non-self and 2) The therapist/client relationship.
CONTINUING EDUCATION Psychologists: The Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. IMP maintains responsibility for the program and its content. This course offers 3 hours of credit per session. Social Workers: Application for continuing education credit has been made to the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers. Credits pending. Nurses: This course meets the specifications of the Board of Registration in Nursing (244 CMR) for 3 Contact Hours per session. Licensed Mental Health Counselors: The Institute is recognized by the National Board for Certified Counselors to offer continuing education for National Certified Counselors. We adhere to NBCC Continuing Education Guidelines. Each session is approved for 3 contact hours, Provider #6048, and is applicable for Commonwealth of Massachusetts Counseling/Allied Mental Health and PDP accreditation.
FACULTY Paul Fulton, EdD is Director of Mental Health Programs for Tufts Health Plan, a co-editor of Mindfulness and Psychotherapy, and a student of Buddhist psychology for over 35 years. Christopher Germer, PhD is a clinical psychologist practicing in Arlington, a co-editor of Mindfulness and Psychotherapy, and an Instructor of Psychology, Harvard Medical School.Ê He has over 27 years of experience in meditation and its use in psychotherapy. Chip Hartranft is the founding director of The Arlington Center and author of The Yoga Sutra of Patanjali: A New Translation with Commentary (Shambhala). His work bridges the traditions of yoga and Buddhist psychology. Sara Lazar, PhD is a neuroscientist in the Psychiatry Department at Massachusetts General Hospital and an Instructor in Psychology at Harvard Medical School. Bill Morgan, PsyD a clinical psychologist practicing in Cambridge, has practiced Buddhist meditation for 32 years and leads meditation retreats. Stephanie Morgan, LICSW, PsyD is in private practice in Manchester-by-the Sea, MA, and has practiced Buddhist meditation for 28 years. Susan Morgan, MSN, RN, CS is a Clinical Nurse Specialist in private practice in Cambridge, MA. She has practiced meditation in both Christian and Buddhist traditions for over 15 years Tom Pedulla, LICSW is a clinical social worker in private practice in Arlington, Massachusetts. In addition to working with individual adults, he also leads Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy groups for people coping with depression and anxiety. A practitioner of meditation in the Vipassana tradition since 1987, Tom also serves on the board of directors at the Cambridge Insight Meditation Center. Susan M. Pollak, MTS, EdD, Director of Continuing Education is a clinical psychologist. Dr. Pollak received a degree in Comparative Religion from Harvard Divinity School, her doctorate in Psychology from Harvard University, and her clinical training through Harvard Medical School. She has been a clinician and Instructor in Psychology at Harvard Medical School for 20 years, specializing in the integration of meditation and psychotherapy. She has had a meditation and yoga practice since childhood. Ron Siegel, PsyD is a clinical psychologist in private practice in Lincoln, MA, a member of the clinical faculty of Harvard Medical School for over 20 years, and a long-term student of mindfulness meditation. He is a coauthor of Back Sense: A Revolutionary Approach to Halting the Cycle of Chronic Back Pain and a co-editor of Mindfulness and Psychotherapy. Charles Styron, PsyD is a consulting psychologist for Caritas Norwood Hospital, has a private practice, and has been a practitioner and teacher in the Shambala and Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhist traditions for 27 years. He is also a professional and executive coach. Janet Surrey, PhD is a founding scholar of the Jean Baker Miller Training Institute and co-director of the Gender Relations Project at the Stone Center, Wellesley College and has authored influential books on relational psychotherapy. She has been practicing meditation and psychotherapy for 27 years.
REGISTRATION This course will be taught at a level appropriate for post-graduate training of doctoral-level psychologists. The course will be limited to 50 clinicians. You can register in advance by contacting the Arlington Center, or at the door. Fee: The fee is $35 per evening session, or $200 for the full program. Sorry, fees for missed sessions will not be refunded. Fee for non-CE participants is $10 per evening session, or $60 for the full program. Location: The films will be shown on an 8-foot screen at the Arlington Center, 369 Massachusetts Avenue, Arlington, MA 02474. The Arlington Center is conveniently located a short 5 min. walk east from Arlington Center, on the Mass Ave bus line. Please refrain from using scented products during the program. Special Needs: Please inform us before the program if you have special needs, so we can make the necessary accommodations. *For more information on this and other CE programs by The Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy, please call (978) 526-4095.
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