David K. Reynolds – Naikan Psychotherapy – Meditation for Self-Development

David K. Reynolds – Naikan Psychotherapy – Meditation for Self-Development

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David K. Reynolds – Naikan Psychotherapy – Meditation for Self-Development [ eBook – 1 PDF , 1 JPEG ]

This book is about a Japanese therapy called Naikan (literally “nai”-inner, “kan”-observation) or “looking within.” It is also about the way of life and view of life upon which the therapy is based. Naikan is a form of self-reflection or meditation that emphasizes how much each of us has received from others, how little we have returned to them, and how much trouble and worry we have caused our loved ones from as far back as we can recall.

Perhaps some who have read this far are already prepared to dismiss Naikan as negative, guilt-producing, self-punishing Oriental moralism, a sort of mental flagellation. To do so would be to risk missing even a glance into the wisdom of a transcendent lifeway. For Naikan offers this profound insight into human existence: that each of us, by his or her own standards, fails to live a life of balanced giving and receiving. We take without thought, much less with gratitude. And we offer little of ourselves to our world. Such an insight is not simply a philosophical generalization; it is built inductively from the multitude of specific, concrete events recalled during a week of Naikan reflection.

Naikan produces guilt, to be sure. But it is not the shallow, immobilizing guilt of the neurotic. Rather it is a healthy, realistic, penetrating guilt which prods to purposeful action, self-sacrifice, and the soothing awareness that despite one’s own limitations others have continued to provide love and support. And the end point of the existential journey through Naikan’s corridors is a gratitude that must express itself in service. All of this sounds very noble, yes, but the practicality of it is whether you eat dinner at the trme you want to do so or atthe time your spouse wants to (and whether you are genuinely pleased with that decision), whether you motion the car pulling out to come in ahead of you, whether you show up late for appointments, and the like.

Some say that Naikan, like Zen, can lead ultimately to enlightenment. Certainly both aim at some sort of demolishing of the ego. Zen does it through meditation and confrontation with the limits of rational thought. Naikan does it through recollection of how little of what we were or are deserves to be called a “self” in the first place. It becomes hard to separate out a “me” from all those surrounding, supporting others when one adopts the Naikan perspective.