International Journal for the Advancement of Counselling 24: 31–42, 2002.© 2002 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.

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Principles of Eastern Philosophies Viewed from the Frameworkof Yalom’s Four Existential Concerns

ERIN MARTZ316 West Avenue Annex, Department of Rehabilitation Education and Research, Universityof Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701 (E-mail: emartz@uark.edu)

Abstract. If Yalom’s (1980) four existential concerns are applicable to all humans, thenindividuals in Eastern cultures also are affected by such ultimate life-themes. Yalom’s fourexistential concerns of the inevitability of death, groundlessness, isolation, and meaningless-ness are used as a framework to explore how Eastern philosophies address these ultimateconcerns. Eastern philosophies and techniques are viewed as beneficial for addressing theexistential themes that are experienced by individuals in and outside of the counseling session.

In his monumental book, Existential Psychotherapy, Irvin Yalom (1980)described four existential concerns that are present implicitly and explicitlyin every person’s life: the inevitability of death, groundlessness, isolation,and meaninglessness. If these truly are the fundamental concerns of everyhuman, then individuals in Eastern cultures also are aware of and affected bythese ultimate issues. How do Eastern philosophies address these existentialissues? Do Eastern philosophies provide perspectives on these four ultimateconcerns, which help to quell these existential dilemmas and the relatedanxiety? If so, how can these Eastern perspectives be used in and outsideof counseling sessions to address the existential issues of individuals?

The term “Eastern” is used in this paper to refer to philosophies and prac-tices that are viewed as non-Western in origin and practice. For the interestedreader, MacHovec (1984) and Muramoto (1985) describe in more detail thegeneral differences implied when using the terms “East” and “West”.

Though there are many distinct traditions and philosophies in Easterncultures, this paper is a basic investigation focusing on how Eastern philo-sophies address the four existential themes of death, groundlessness, isola-tion, and meaninglessness. Consequently, detailed explanations of the majordifferences among Eastern philosophical traditions are beyond the scope ofthis paper. Though this paper is primarily a theoretical investigation, applica-tions of Eastern philosophical perspectives will be mentioned, which can beutilized in counseling to address these four specific existential concerns.

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The inevitability of death

Yalom (1980) described death anxiety as the fundamental source of psycho-pathology. Two defenses are common against death anxiety. One is a beliefin an ultimate rescuer, which is looking for another person to merge with orbe dependent upon. The second is a belief of personal specialness, which is asense of inviolability that is expressed by compulsive achievement, extremeindependence, and a highly critical view of one’s own personal weaknesses(Yalom).

The inevitability of death is addressed in Eastern philosophies in manyways. In the Buddhist tradition, one of the three “facts” of existence is imper-manence, which is the perspective that “all compound objects, includingourselves, eventually decay, disintegrate, and die” (Leifer 1999, p. 341).From an existential perspective, individuals may become conscious of theimpermanence of life and the inevitability of death through illness, death ofothers, or boundary situations (Yalom 1980). In contrast, Eastern practices,such as meditation, may be used to intentionally cultivate awareness of deathand of how individuals attempt to create a false belief in the permanenceof their lives (Friedman 1981). Long (1975) describes how Buddhist monksare encouraged to enter into a graveyard or crematorium and contemplatethe corpses. Such an exercise is used to open awareness that life and death ispresent in every moment and to become conscious of the “brevity, uncertainty,and impermanence of life and the inevitability of death” (Long 1975, p. 69).Rhee (1990) made the following statement, which succinctly summed up theBuddhist approach about death, such as the practice of contemplating in agraveyard: “one aims to remove this existential anxiety which originates fromthe fear of death, by facing death without anxiety” (p. 26).

In his discussion of Morita therapy, Iwai (1977) stated that therapistsutilizing Morita therapy aimed to help individuals face and accept their symp-toms as normal, because all of the symptoms were derived ultimately from afear of death. According to Burlew and Roland (1999), Morita therapy is anEastern counseling approach that originated in Japan and that reflects a Zenapproach of turning the focus of one’s mind away from oneself. In Moritatherapy, it is acknowledged that a normal individual will not be anxiety-free, and thus should accept thoughts and feelings that conflict. Problemsarise when individuals “become self-absorbed as a result of continued, fruit-less attempts to resist fearful thoughts and anxious feelings” (Aldous 1994,p. 239), such as thoughts about death. Individuals are instructed to “not runaway from the fear of death; sit through the entire period” (Aldous 1994,p. 241). Morita therapy also attempts to help the individual reframe his or herfears by understanding the other side of the fear of death, which consists ofself-actualizing desires for life (Aldous 1994). Therefore, in Morita therapy,

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anxiety about death does not need to be eliminated, but acknowledged as partof life.

Long (1975) described that both the Hindu and Buddhist traditions agree,despite differences in viewpoints on whether or not a “self” continues afterdeath, that acceptance of the fact of death is the best way of conquering thefear of death. That is, once an individual realizes and accepts that “all thingsyou hope for will be utterly destroyed in due course” (Long 1975, p. 71),then an individual can begin to transcend the fear of death and achieve ahigher consciousness by an acknowledgment of the fact of death. MacHovec(1984) related that one step of Buddha’s eight-fold path reflected an existen-tial awareness of death by the following perspective: “live every day as if itwere your last, for one day it will be so” (p. 94).

As evident from the above quotes, different Eastern philosophies offerunique perspectives on how to address one of the ultimate existential issuesof death anxiety. Another concept found in many of the Eastern philosophies,which is applicable to the resolution of death anxiety, is the idea of a holisticbalance between seemingly opposing forces. Dichotomies are viewed as onlyhaving an appearance or illusion of separateness. For example, concepts suchas female/male, day/night, work/rest are viewed not as true dichotomies butas part of an interconnected balance. Thus, the seemingly dualistic conceptsof life and death are viewed in Eastern philosophies as complementary andas part of a balance, not as opposing concepts. By means of accepting thatlife and death are part of a continuum, the inevitability of death can be morereadily viewed as part of life and not as the opposite of life.

Groundlessness

Groundlessness is a term that Yalom (1980) used to describe the “subjectiveexperience of responsibility awareness” (p. 221). Such awareness entails arecognition of complete responsibility for one’s own freedom. This powerfulfreedom and consequent responsibility for one’s actions can cause a “ground-lessness” in individuals. The sense of groundlessness may arise when aperson realizes that he or she has freedom to choose from a range of actionsand thus, is alone responsible for his or her choices. He or she cannot blameothers for the consequences that stem from the choices that he or she makes.

Eastern philosophies address responsibility of freedom from differentangles. MacHovec (1984) described one of the Four Noble Truths inBuddhism with the statement that “the reason for pain lies within the self”(p. 93). One interpretation of this statement is that the pain (e.g., mental pain)that an individual experiences is solely the responsibility of the individual.Others cannot be designated as the cause of the (mental) pain that is exper-

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ienced, due to the ability of an individual to choose how to react to otherpeople’s behaviors. Thus, individuals are fully responsible for their responsesto others. McHovec (1984) also depicted part of Buddha’s eight-fold pathas consisting of the view that “each day is a challenge, an opportunity, anopening door, a blank page not yet written upon” (p. 94). Both of these state-ments parallel the recognition of full responsibility for one’s life and dailychoices as depicted in existential philosophy.

In relation to the anxiety created by this responsibility, Leifer (1999)described “aversion” as the second of three poisons that is depicted byBuddhism as the causes of human suffering. Aversion includes “avoiding,evading, escaping” (Leifer 1999, p. 340) one’s problems and suffering. Thisaversion of and escaping from one’s problems relates to the core issueaddressed in the ultimate existential concern of groundlessness. From anexistential viewpoint, taking responsibility for one’s problems and difficultchoices is accompanied by a sense of groundlessness, or realizing that noother individual can make and implement the decisions related to one’s indi-vidual life. Because the realization of a full and complete responsibility forone’s life can be a highly uncomfortable feeling, then individuals are prone toavoid this responsibility. Buddhism recognizes this human tendency to wantto escape from the burden of one’s freedom. Yet, this escapism (or “poison”)is denoted as a root of human suffering. The solution offered is depicted astaking responsibility for one’s pain and not avoiding it. For example, Leifer(1999) described that the first step for healing anger from an Eastern point ofview is to take responsibility for it.

Responsibility for one’s freedom and choices is posited as one of theultimate concerns for all humans, according to Yalom (1980) and existentialphilosophy in general. Translating this concept into Eastern philosophicalperspectives may seem clear-cut, yet the concept of choice may be defineddifferently in Western versus Eastern philosophical traditions. Sutherland(1966) distinguished the experiential focus of Eastern philosophy, whichemphasized the “process” of humans, from the focus on the “structure”of humans, as emphasized in Western philosophy. In general, the Westernphilosophical and psychological emphases typically have focused upon thestructure on the human mind, though these trends have been changing toinclude a more phenomenological interest in consciousness. In contrast,Eastern philosophy typically has focused on the process aspect of humans,in which individuals are “seen as creating the world by an act of choice. He isa ‘creating’ rather than a creature” (Sutherland 1966, p. 11), which emphas-izes the creating over the created aspects of humans. This creating, dynamicaspect of humans highlights the unending series of choices that continuouslyconfronts humans, which the concept of groundlessness in the existential

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tradition depicts. The sense of groundlessness, stemming from the awarenessof absolute freedom, has its drawbacks, primarily in not having any otherhumans to blame or to attribute responsibility for the consequence of one’sactions. Sutherland (1966) noted another disadvantage of focusing on thedynamics of continual freedom of choices in humans, or process over state.Namely, if humans are equated with or identical to an ever-changing universe– due to humans’ continuous creativity – then some may perceive “rela-tively little value in individual actions . . . and [individuals’] choices makeso little difference” (p. 12). This remark denotes one reason why a balancedview incorporating both the process and state of humans, by integrating bothEastern and Western philosophical and psychological perspectives, can leadto an outlook that recognizes the value of individual choice and action as wellas the importance of focusing on the process of choosing.

Responsibility for one’s own freedom and choices can be viewed fromanother angle. Atwood and Maltin (1991) made a distinction between indi-viduals’ responsibility for feelings versus their responsibility for actions.According to an Eastern perspective, individuals are not responsible for theirfeelings, since they are transient in nature and “feelings are not controllableby will” (Atwood & Maltin 1991, p. 375). At the same time, an Easternperspective teaches that individuals are responsible for their actions, againemphasizing the process over state, and therefore can influence their feelingsindirectly by their behaviors (Atwood & Maltin). For example, in Moritatherapy, individuals are encouraged to understand that “they are responsiblefor the choice of the action and its consequences but not for the anxietyreactions itself” (Aldous 1994, p. 241) that are caused by their behaviors.Taking responsibility for one’s behavior/actions is an essential step in apath to enlightenment from an Eastern perspective, which puts the processof choice in the forefront, instead of the state or reactions as manifestedin feelings. In a powerful statement encapsulating a prototypical Easternperspective emphasizing choice, Atwood and Maltin (1991) stated that whenindividuals “take charge of and responsibility for what they do, they ceasefrom being puppets of circumstances or pawns of their feelings, [which] isthe path that leads to transcendence” (p. 379). The above quotes reflect howEastern philosophies address the discomfort of groundlessness by focusingon the continual process of choice and responsibility, while down-playingthe anxiety that may accompany the heightened awareness of freedom andresponsibility by not holding individuals directly responsible for feelings.

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Isolation

Existential isolation, according to Yalom (1980), is distinct from intra-personal or interpersonal isolation. Existential isolation depicts the realizationof “an unbridgeable gulf between oneself and any other being” (p. 355).Eastern philosophy offers a distinct answer to this sense of existentialisolation, based upon the principle of non-dualism.

Sutherland (1966) described the Eastern viewpoint of non-dualism, whichdepicted that “the division between any one thing and all other things [is]a man-made construction for ease in communication and not inherently thenature of reality itself” (p. 10). From an Eastern point of view, reality isnot filled with distinctive separations, such as those that our minds perceive.Thus, an Eastern perspective of existential isolation would explain that theunbridgeable gulf perceived to exist between humans is simply a barrier orseparateness that is created by humans. Sutherland (1966) wrote that the non-dualism of the Eastern philosophies denotes that “figure and ground are allone piece, although we have chosen to see them as separate” (p. 11). In otherwords, the distinction between subject and object is superfluous in Easternphilosophies, because Eastern traditions emphasize an oneness with a whole(Rao 1997).

Bankart, Koshikawa, Nedate, and Haruki (1992) also state that from theEastern philosophical viewpoint, a perceived separateness from others is anillusion. In concert with that concept, they assert that Eastern cultures paygreater attention to interpersonal relations and to the individual’s connectionto the social world than Western cultures, whereas Western cultures perceiveand assume that independence is the ideal state. Bankart et al. (1992) note that“no individual can survive alone, isolated from the web of social connectionsthat bind one to all other persons throughout the life span and across genera-tions” (p. 145). Again, the unbridgeable gulf of isolation between humans, asdepicted in existential philosophy, would be viewed as an illusion or creationof humans’ minds in Eastern philosophy.

MacHovec’s (1984) interpretation of Buddha’s eight-fold path includeda statement that one should “bring together, do not separate; unify and valueunity” (p. 94). Implicit in this assertion is the understanding that isolation andseparateness exist. Yet, the path toward enlightenment involves a striving toovercome this separateness or isolation. When becoming enlightened, indi-viduals can experience “intuitive flashes [in which] separation of subject andobject ceases to exist” (Atwood & Maltin 1991, p. 373).

In other writings applicable to existential isolation, one of the three factsof existence according to Buddhism is the concept of emptiness. Emptinesscan be depicted as the view that “all compound objects lack essential, inde-pendent, inherent existence” (Leifer 1999, p. 341). Page and Berkow (1991)

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explained that this Buddhist concept of emptiness can also be interpretedas a sense of impermanence and a lack of independent reality (because allparts are interrelated to the whole). Another interpretation of the Buddhistteaching of emptiness is that it is a non-attachment, which is a goal to strivefor (Rhee 1990, p. 22). According to Buddhism, liberation from attachment islike a release from mental bondage. This intentional state of non-attachment,in a sense, is a striving to seek a state of isolation, in order to reach to anenlightened state. For example, “in Zen circles, people say you have to killyour father and your mother, even the Buddha, in order to be enlightened”(Rhee 1990, p. 24). This, of course, is not to be taken literally, but repre-sents that an individual must be freed of attachments in order to reach anenlightened state. It is interesting to contrast this concept of non-attachmentfrom social relations and material objects with the common categorization ofEastern cultures as communal and patriarchal (Tart 1990). An outsider mayview Eastern cultures as cultivating interdependence. Yet, an insider wouldrealize that Eastern philosophy asserts that while independence and separa-tion of the individual from the collective is viewed as an illusion (Benesch& Ponterotto 1989) and that individuals cannot survive by themselves andtherefore are interdependent, individuals simultaneously are encouraged toseek an individualistic non-attachment from all objects, including groups andfamilies.

Eastern philosophies can vary widely within the different traditions, suchas Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, and others. For example, many distinctviewpoints exist concerning whether an immortal “self” exists. This topic willbe touched upon briefly as part of the discussion about existential isolation.It is important to note that when the process of losing one’s ego is discussedin the Eastern philosophies, it does not necessary denote the destruction ofone’s self (Das 1989). Instead, the “phenomenal self” is viewed as “a vehiclefor attaining a higher level of awareness where the distinction between selfand not self disappears and a broader conception of self emerges” (Das 1989,p. 26). This transformation of one’s self is reflected by reaching a higher levelof awareness, which “transcends the notion of an isolated self” (Atwood &Maltin 1991, p. 369).

The normal, average human ego is ill, according to Eastern philosophy.It is a contradiction in terms to call the human ego healthy, because the“cultivation of the ego attaches people evermore strongly to the limitationsof the human sphere” (Atwood & Maltin 1991, p. 372). Page and Berkow(1991) succinctly summarize that the ending of self is not an annihilation ofidentity, but a change in identity. This new identity is a movement “from aself that is based on a delusional or partial experience of reality to an identity

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that is not separated from the experiential totality of reality” (Page & Berkow1991, pp. 88–89).

Many individuals view the self from a “particulate paradigm” (Tart 1990,p. 161), in which the self is defined as a fixed entity or distinct particle.Eastern philosophy and its applications, such as meditation, can help peopleexperience an alternative way of defining “the self as a fluid process, aninteractive wave” (Tart 1990, p. 161). In view of Yalom’s (1980) depiction ofexistential isolation as an “unbridgeable gulf” (in contrast to intrapersonal orinterpersonal isolation), one can discern that Eastern philosophies acknowl-edge that a perception of an isolated self can exist, but that the ideal state is tobecome more aware of the interconnectedness of all beings at the same timeas not being attached to that interconnectedness with others.

Meaninglessness

Meaninglessness is an ultimate existential issue for each individual, due to thefact that we are not given a blueprint for ourselves and that the “world doesnot supply one: it is entirely indifferent to us” (Yalom 1980, p. 427). Mean-inglessness or purposelessness in life is one of the core issues, according toYalom, because all individuals appear to require meaning in their lives. Yalom(1980) concludes that meaning in one’s life can be found by “wholeheartedengagement in any of the infinite array of life’s activities” (p. 482), whichhelps to resolve individuals’ existential anxiety about their lives.

Eastern philosophy and psychology also address these existential concernsabout meaninglessness. Bankart, Koshikawa, Nedate, and Haruki (1992)assert that Eastern psychology offers practices that help individuals redis-cover the “joy of meaningful work” (p. 143). Each person can find meaningand purpose in life by “committed effort, dedicated purpose, and investmentin larger socially-based life goals” (Bankart et al. 1992, p. 147). For example,Morita therapy emphasizes work as an integral part of the therapy and encour-ages clients to pose questions to themselves, such as: “What actions will makemy life more meaningful?” (Aldous 1994, p. 241).

The transcendent nature of humans, according to Eastern philosophy, isdiscovered when an individual begins to question the meaning of his or herexistence. This questioning may include wondering about oneself “within abroader ontological context,” in which one seeks “a knowledge of one’s placein the universe” (Atwood & Maltin 1991, p. 372). This kind of questioningmay lead to a realization of one’s personal meaning in a greater context thansimply within the boundaries of one’s phenomenal self. Thus, meaning foran individual is found by a discovery of a “personal meaning in the universebeyond the individual” (Sutherland 1966, p. 13).

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Implications for counseling

As Ibrahim (1984) noted, an “etic” approach to the understanding of humansinvolves a study of the core similarities in all humans. An etic approachwas the foundation of this paper by its examination of how the four primaryexistential issues, as proposed by Yalom, were addressed by Eastern philos-ophies. As hopefully was illustrated in a basic sense in the preceding pages,specific perspectives evolved in Eastern philosophies, which offered answersto and insights about the existential concerns of humans.

When the existential themes of the inevitability of death, groundlessness,isolation, and meaninglessness are evident in counseling, Eastern philoso-phies can be utilized to address these issues in a myriad of ways and canbe applied on a multitude of levels in counseling. An example of a macro-analytic application of Eastern perspectives is evident in the distinctiveapproaches toward anxieties and fears. It is common knowledge (in bothEastern and Western spheres) that irrational or negative thoughts often aremanifested in the forms of anxieties, worries, fears, or obsessions and canintrude upon individuals’ minds. Eastern traditions acknowledge this, butadvise that “these should simply be observed [by oneself] until their force diesaway” (Tart 1990, p. 156). Eastern philosophies, therefore, can be beneficialin their applications to individuals who are experiencing a variety of reactionsrelated to existential issues. Individuals can be instructed from an Easternperspective that indeed, these feelings do happen, but they also can fade ifone confronts them, if one studies their occurrence in oneself in a meditativecontext, or if one focuses on actions and behaviors instead of one’s feelings.

An example of how Eastern practices can be used in a micro-analyticsense in counseling is a Buddhist practice of “tong-len” or “sending andreceiving,” which could be utilized for overcoming the existential concern ofisolation. This technique entails a practice used during meditation, in whichan individual “visualizes sending to others on the out-breath what one desires,values, and covets for oneself, and receiving from others on the in-breaththeir problems, troubles, and pain” (Leifer 1999, p. 350). This practice helpsto increase an awareness and compassion for others’ existences, as well asa sense of connectedness with the greater “whole.” Such a technique couldbe useful to counter one of the ultimate existential concerns of individuals(isolation) by visualizing a connection with the suffering of the human race.

These examples of macro- and micro-analytic techniques from an Easternperspective may highlight, to the perceptive reader, the fact that Easternphilosophies can offer quite distinctive viewpoints toward psychologicalproblems than Western perspectives. Ibrahim (1984) noted that the Westernviewpoint typically emphasizes a psychological understanding in terms ofcausation. For example, often the antecedent of a problem is traced by

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Western psychologists. Yet, this emphasis on cause-effect is shifting inWestern practice, because existential psychologists have stressed the causa-tion of a problem should not be the primary focus of clinician and client,rather it is the phenomenology (experience) of the problem that is the para-mount issue (Ibrahim, 1984). But overall, the definition of psychologicalpathology may be different in Eastern as compared to Western perspectives(Burlew & Roland 1999).

Because it is generally accepted that individuals should have fairly goodmental health in order to be able to meditate effectively (see Russell 1986,p. 59), then the usage of some Eastern practices into counseling shouldbe introduced selectively. Russell (1986) argued in a detailed analysis whymeditation can be viewed as a “covering” technique that suppresses contentfrom the unconscious. This again emphasizes that Eastern and Westernperspectives approach psychology from different angles. In brief, becauseEastern philosophy views unconscious material as distractions or defilementsof the mind, emotional problems therefore are masked and not confronted(Russell 1986).

Russell (1986) searched Eastern philosophy for concepts of the uncon-scious mind, as studied by Western psychology (see the four criteria on p. 53).Russell (1986) noted that the Japanese scholar, D. T. Suzuki, utilized theword “unconscious.” But according to Russell, Suzuki’s concept was moreakin to “no mind” as a state of consciousness, since it did not meet the fourcriteria of unconsciousness defined by Western psychologists. Russell (1986)concluded that Eastern philosophy generally did not refer to the unconsciousmind, though “yogins did know of the unconscious, but saw it as an obstacle”(p. 55). Eastern philosophy tended to focus on the superconscious mind andhow to meditate in order to reach that higher consciousness. The materialfrom the unconscious mind was viewed a defilement (Russell 1986) byEastern psychologists and practitioners and therefore was disregarded.

Russell (1986) proposed that both Western and Eastern philosophies ofthe mind can be utilized to encourage growth and development in an indi-vidual. The first way represents the Western, psychoanalytic tradition ofmaking unconscious material conscious. The second way is from the Easterntradition of expansion of consciousness into higher states. Either way canresult in the widening of an individual’s consciousness (Russell). Thus, bothan exploration of one’s psychological depths by means of Western psycho-logical practices and an expansion of one’s awareness by means of Easternmeditative practices and philosophies can benefit individuals in a counselingrelationship.

In summary, because existential issues were proposed to be universalconstructs that transcended culture (Ibrahim 1984), Eastern philosophies

EASTERN PHILOSOPHIES AND THE EXISTENTIAL CONCERNS 41

were examined in terms of how they addressed these existential struggles withlife. It was proposed that Eastern perspectives can be utilized in counselingto address the four existential issues of the inevitability of death, ground-lessness, isolation, and meaninglessness. Such applications can increase acounselor’s ability to assist individuals in confronting existential issues,because Eastern philosophies do not replace Western contributions to theunderstanding of existential dynamics. Both can be viewed as part of acontinuum or non-dichotomous balance of theories and techniques that canbe used as a means to help individuals confront and resolve their pressingexistential issues on their own or in a counseling session.

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