Zen and Psychoanalysis

"Paul Cooper's work brings together East and West in co-nourishing ways. Instead of opposition and antagonism, Cooper emphasizes interweaving. His particular focus is Zen Buddhism and psychoanalysis, how they add to and support each other, a profound journey of appreciation, deepening, opening. We are in a time of cross-fertilization and this work takes up the challenge in stimulating, growth producing ways. You will experience yourself anew you as feel the living waters this work points to." --Michael Eigen, Ph.D., author, Faith, The Psychoanalytic Mystic, and Image, Sense, Infinities, and Everyday Life.

"If Zen is an arrow pointing straight at your life, then Paul Cooper’s two arrows are aimed at the epicenter of your own life and relationships because they reveal the directions of both Zen and psychoanalysis in helping us see ourselves. Here, you will find important new insights and ideas about your intentions and actions. If you are a practicing Buddhist or a practicing therapist, you will also find new ways of using your skills and knowledge. Paul Cooper is a guiding light on the path of differentiating and synthesizing these two practices." --Polly Young-Eisendrath, Ph.D., author, Love Between Equals: Relationship as a Spiritual Path

"As its title suggests, Two Arrows Meeting, almost miraculously brings together two seemingly divergent fields. By being deeply connected to both practices, Paul Cooper, makes sense of the rich and complex relationship between the spiritually based and meditative practice of Zen and the intricate healing art of psychoanalysis. Through his own intimate experience and study of Zen practice, and using his own well-articulated grasp of theory and practice of psychoanalysis, Paul Cooper guides us to a deeper appreciation of the profound potential of both endeavors." --Roshi Grace Schireson,Ph.D., author, Zen Women, co-editor, Zen Bridge

"Paul Cooper’s Two Arrows boldly stands out amidst the present-day proliferation of books on the interface of Buddhism and psychoanalysis. Cooper eloquently captures the essence of numerous similarities shared amongst the Zen impulse: intuition, total exertion, radical non-duality, psychoanalytic reverie, and Wilfred Bion’s "O." In writing that is masterfully clear, exceedingly concise, and inordinately cogent, Cooper clarifies many of the extant misconceptions about the intersection of these two disciplines explicating how being fully in the present moment are realized in both Zen and psychoanalysis. As an aid to the reader’s comprehension of some highly technical and illusive concepts, Cooper incorporates timely clinical vignettes for illustrative purposes while offering his own Zen-informed poetry." --Melvin E. Miller, Ph.D., co-editor, Self and No-self: Continuing the dialogue between Buddhism and psychotherapy, psychoanalyst in private practice, Montpelier, Vermont, USA

"Cooper’s narrative provides a mirror on both Zen and psychoanalysis as archetypes – replete with, as is the way with archetypes, both useful and obstructive information – and takes the reader through an accompanied process of gently breaking down shared assumptions toward allowing the reader more direct access to the life-giving elements behind these structures from which can be built a more compassionate understanding of ourselves, and each other, as questing – human – beings. This important offering will be of benefit to professionals, Buddhist practitioners, students of religion and the general public." --Jeffrey D. Cole, PhD, ABMP