MASLOW'S SELF ACTUALIZATION AND BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY
MASLOW'S SELF ACTUALIZATION AND BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY:
Self-actualization is a fancy term, but actually it's quite easy: It means 'becoming what you are capable of becoming'. Self-actualization can be pretty far out for the uninitiated. When you are struggling with such as safety needs, it may seem pretty much like a bunch of fluffy hogwash. But when all that stuff is sorted out, when you have friends and family and are happy with life, you still need to reach out to find out how high you can go.
Self-actualization is a term that has been used in various psychological theories, often in slightly different ways (e.g., Goldstein, Maslow, Rogers). The term was originally introduced by the organismic theorist Kurt Goldstein for the motive to realize all of one's potentialities. In his view, it is the master motive—indeed, the only real motive a person has, all others being merely manifestations of it. However, the concept was brought to prominence in Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory as the final level of psychological development that can be achieved when all basic and Meta needs are fulfilled and the "actualization" of the full personal potential takes place.
There exist vital similarities anyhow across cultures regarding the concept of self-actualization. Maslow comes close to special parts of Indian thinking by a blur of concepts and a rich variety of definitions. The term 'self-realization' which Maslow uses, was in use among Buddhists and Hindu thinkers before him, as evidenced in a work by Paul Goddard, A Buddhist Bible (1932). This kind of 'Self-Realization is an equivalent of atmajnana. By taking these data into account, we can solve many value problems that philosophers have struggled with, ineffectually . . . For one thing, it looks as if there were a single ultimate value for mankind, a far goal . . . This is called variously by different authors as self-actualization, self-realization, integration, psychological health, individuation, autonomy, creativity, productivity, but they all agree that this amounts to realizing the potentialities of the person, that is to say, becoming fully human, everything that the person can become. Maslow's main constructs and his recurrent use of them are flawed, though: in some places he discerns between arrivers (variously called peakers, self-actualizers by him) and non-peakers, and calls the peakers "Fully evolved "self-actualizing people" i.e., fully evolved and developed people". He also tells that more serious study revealed that what he looked for or detected, was not so much of an "either-or" thing based on dichotomy, but a "both-and" thing, that is, qualities fit for a sliding scale. In short, it became clear to him that it was not a matter of either peaking or not peaking, but more or less peaking.
Maslow emphasizes that self-actualization represents the optimal psychological condition for all humankind; the goal of psychotherapy, then, is to help people to develop their own potential for self-actualization. Many of the concepts of self-actualization put forward by Maslow are also those that, coincidentally, have been considered elemental in Zen Buddhism.
According to Maslow (1968), people's basic needs must be sufficiently gratified before they can pursue the
fulfillment of what he calls the higher, transcendent meta-needs related to self-actualization. Maslow asserted that people's complete psychological maturation occurs only when their potentialities are fully developed and actualized. Maslow defined certain unique characteristics of self-actualizing people. Such a person, they maintained, has the following: an accurate perception of reality, a high level of creativity, few defenses, a high level of integration, personal autonomy, unconventional ethics, a need for human kinship, compassion, humility, deep and harmonious interpersonal relationships, a respect for others, a desire to establish new forms of communications and intimacy, and an ongoing concern with personal growth. In addition, Maslow (1954) highlighted these characteristics: spontaneity, receptivity, a problem-centered approach to life, detachment, a fresh appreciation of things, a democratic attitude, a unique value system, a capacity to cope with circumstances, and a likelihood of having peak experiences. Rogers (1961) added, moreover, these qualities: openness to nature and other people, an unconditional self-regard, an inner freedom, authenticity, a yearning for a spiritual life, an indifference to material comforts, a feeling of closeness to nature, and skepticism of science and technology.
Zen Buddhism emphasizes that all people possess an inner perfection, a Buddha-nature. The intent of Zen Buddhism is to help people to attain satori, an inner state of perfection or tranquility. When one becomes enlightened (or attains satori), one's entire personality merges with nature or reality, and a state of perfect harmony is experienced (Chan, 1963). To become free from negative feelings such as fear, anxiety, insecurity, and frustration or from inhibiting ideas or imaginations, it is necessary for people to experience themselves without division. When a person becomes enlightened, his or her perception of self and surroundings are changed. All the opposites and contradictions of the world are united and harmonized into a consistent organic whole. The enlightened person of Zen Buddhism have attained an inner state of perfection or, in Western terminology, have developed their human potential to its maximum extent. Thus, the sage in Zen Buddhism might serve as models of what the self-actualized person is thought to be like in Western thought. The sage and enlightened person are said to have the following characteristics: openness to life, tranquility, simplicity, and genuineness. They also lack arrogance, have few or no wants, hold no tendency to discriminate between opposites, have compassion for others and maintain an indifference to worldly affairs while remaining involved with them. Such people are also able to comply with nature and to transcend the effects of karma (cause and effect and the relationship between the two).
COMPARISONS
It may be helpful here to describe the similarities and differences found in descriptions of the self-actualized person according to Maslow and the Zen Buddhists.
Personal Freedom:
The idea Maslow had of human freedom contrast with philosophies that emphasize human bondage or determinism. Maslow described the self-actualizing person as one who has personal autonomy and who is free to make choices. The actions of the self-actualizing person are not determined solely by the physical and social environment, because such a person has access to personal resources that are, in turn, growth promoting. According to Maslow (1968), the self-actualizing person does not avoid facing or acting on feelings or thoughts that are experienced. The extent to which this person is able to be self-accepting allows for a high degree of freedom in interpersonal interactions.
The self-actualized person of Zen Buddhism is content because no attempt is made to possess anything in life. These people do not obtain personal meaning or pleasure by seeking material possessions and thus are not affected by avarice, licentiousness, and extravagance. They are free because they have nothing to gain or lose in life. It is when people live without desires in this manner, said Lao Tzu (Ch'en, 1977), that they are able to regain an original, genuine state of mind and are free to develop their human potential.
Emphasis on Personal Authority:
The self-actualizing person of Maslow (1954, 1968) remains detached from societal and cultural influences and, in general, is antipathetic to highly structured, inflexible, or bureaucratic institutions. Such a person is characterized in large measure by a sense of personal autonomy and clear decision making, even when the decisions may seem unconventional (Maslow, 1968).
Both Maslow and the Zen Buddhists would not emphasize the importance of accepting authority that comes from sources external to the person. Nevertheless, the self-actualizing person of Maslow is not independent of society's influence to the extent that the self-actualized Zen Buddhist might be. The enlightened person of Zen Buddhism has an independence that allows for an unconditioned response to life's events. The enlightened one enjoys the here and now but does not indulge in it, for he or she lives life detached from either past or future concerns (Suzuki, 1970).
Emphasis on Caring Interpersonal Relationships:
The self-actualized person of both Maslow and Zen Buddhism feels a kinship with all human beings. These people care about others with a caring that is gentle and not moralistic. These people have a deep desire to help others and, thus, establish interpersonal relationships that are harmonious and profound. Zen Buddhism (Suzuki, 1970) indicates that because the enlightened person is not disturbed by the differences that exist among people, everyone is experienced openly and receptively. Even though Zen Buddhists might sometimes use relatively harsh methods to help people become enlightened, this is done because the master cares deeply about his or her pupil's ultimate welfare.
Acceptance of Reality:
Maslow (1954) indicated that the self-actualizing person has more accurate and realistic perceptions than most people. Because such people know themselves, they do not need to distort the ways they see reality because they are neither defensive nor anxious. They are able to accept whatever happens and to respond to life's circumstances in a realistic and effective manner.
Maslow indicated that to appreciate how a person perceives reality, it is necessary to understand the phenomenal field, or the frame of reference of this person. Reality, for Maslow, includes both the phenomenal field of a person and the stimulating conditions of external reality. And, the self-actualizing person, perceiving both elements accurately, can experience reality with openness and receptivity.
Reality in ZenBuddhism is viewed as a spatiotemporal unity in which wholeness is beyond division into subjective and objective aspects and can be contrasted with the philosophy of Plato, which stressed the importance of ideas or universals in nature. In Zen Buddhism, the only way a person can comprehend the nature of reality is to become enlightened. When a person becomes enlightened, he or she experiences everything that exists in the "here and now" encounter with nature or with other people. Satori is experienced by intuitively embracing reality rather than by obtaining objective knowledge about phenomena. The enlightened person is completely aware of both internal and external reality but does not make a distinction between the two and, thus, fully grasps the meaning of all things (Chan, 1963).
Capacity of Coping:
The self-actualizing person of Maslow (1954) is resilient and flexible and thus has the capacity to cope with changing circumstances. Having a sense of responsibility, duty, obligation, and commitment, such people are likely to use their talents, capacities, and potentialities to the utmost. Maslow pointed out that self-actualizing people are confident enough to trust their perceptions as being an appropriate guide for their actions.
In Zen Buddhism, the enlightened person responds fully to all that happens in life without retreating from experience in the here and now. This person responds to reality openly, without having preconceptions about things, because every moment is experienced as being new and exciting.
The Transcendence of Birth and Death:
The enlightened person of Zen Buddhism intuitively understands the meaning of birth and death and is not bothered by changes inherent in the life cycle. This person allows the law of causation, moral and physical, to take its course, and free and independent, this person continues on, unaffected by karma. This person does not worry about dying because life and death are not perceived as being contradictory occurrences. He is not bothered by the apparent contradictions of life such as being and nonbeing, life and death, construction and destruction. He is not attached to material things or concerns and, while able to identify completely with reality, is yet entirely free from it.
Maslow, on the other hand, did not attempt to deal with questions concerning the meaning of life and death, for their concerns were those of secular psychology and psychotherapy. Unlike many Eastern philosophies that deal with the paradox of life and death, Western psychologists generally leave the consideration of the life and death cycle to the more metaphysical thinkers.
Closeness to Elemental Nature:
Maslow and Zen Buddhism agreed that the self-actualized person feels close to nature and respects its processes. Zen Buddhism believes that nature exists as an objective entity and that the unconscious mind of a person and nature spring from the same life source or principle. Zen Buddhists abstain, then, from making use of nature for selfish purposes and advocate lives of simplicity, frugality, straightforwardness, and virility. Buddhism recommended that people comply with nature by practicing the principle of non-action. All individuals should, on one hand, intuit and strive to develop their own unique endowments, but, on the other hand, non-action is to be advocated in response to natural conflicts and dichotomies. Only by non-action can people see beyond nature's multifarious subjectivities to find its inherent balance and harmony. The sage, by experiencing rather than acting against nature, is able to grasp the truth and so is guided into effective behavior.
A Peaceful Mind:
According to Maslow, the fully functioning person has a peaceful mind, is free, and is well integrated. These people experience psychological equilibrium because they act in a way that is harmonious with an internal actualizing principle.
The enlightened person as per Zen Buddhism is in a state of absolute quietness and calmness and is seemingly pure and unattached. These people are unaffected by internal and external delusions because they are unattached to conceptual ways of viewing life, to people, and to things (Chan, 1963). He lives in a state of tranquility, simplicity, genuineness, and deservedness.
CONCLUSION
Maslow and Zen Buddhism both assumed that every person has an actualizing tendency that promotes growth, direction, and productivity. Maslow believed that the ongoing actualizing tendency is the primary force that counselors rely on to bring about positive changes in clients. Because there appear to be certain similarities between American and Chinese concepts of self-actualization, or the ways that human potential is developed, therapists in Eastern and Western cultures might broaden their perspectives by becoming familiar with alternative theories of human potential. It is significant that the central concept of the person elaborated by the Zen Buddhists, and Maslow has some common elements. All of these theories, for instance, emphasize that the self-actualized person feels close to nature, is independent in thought and deed, and experiences reality openly without being overly controlled by thoughts. The individual in all of these theories is involved in caring and responsible interpersonal relationships. Certain implications can be drawn from the fact that both these theories, which were developed in two very different cultures, have some common perspectives about how the potential of people is developed. Possibly, the perspectives of Zen Buddhism and Maslow have congruent elements because these theories reflect something universal about human experience. The ways that people fully develop their human potential may be seen as a central concern for both Eastern and Western cultures. Taking note of such commonalities may bridge the gap between helping theories of the East and West and may provide a synthesis that can only broaden the perspectives of both. Because the self-actualization theory of Maslow bears certain similarities to concepts of Zen Buddhism, the cultural contexts in which the theory of Maslow applies may be quite broad. It can be hypothesized that the theory of Maslow indicates a universal movement toward human completion relevant to any human culture or society. Patterson (1985), for instance, stated that self-actualization is a concept that has universality because the drive for self-actualization is based in the physiological nature of all living organisms. It may be that there exists an inherent human tendency toward self-actualization that can be expressed in a number of different ways, always within the context of a particular culture. Other articles might compare and contrast the self-actualization theories of the East and West with the ways that the development of human potential is seen in vastly diverse cultures.
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About the Author
Ms. Sunanda Jindal (Persuing Ph.D in Marketing Management)
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