'The conversion of the Barbarians': Comparison and psychotherapists' approaches to Buddhist traditions in the United States

Abstract

The use of Buddhist teachings and practices in psychotherapy, once described as a new, popular trend, should now be considered an established feature of the mental health field in the United States and beyond. Religious studies scholars increasingly attend to these activities. Some express concern about what they view as the secularizing medicalization of centuries old traditions. Others counter with historical precedents for these phenomena, comparing them to previous instances when Buddhist teachings and practices were introduced into new communities for healing benefit, such as medieval China. This article reveals that a growing number of psychotherapists also compare their activities to medieval China and other locations of Buddhist transmission. Drawing on the models of scholars like Robert Ford Campany and Pierce Salguero, the possible benefits and limits of such comparisons are outlined. The article ultimately concludes that scholars use comparison to normalize these contemporary phenomena as cohering to a historical pattern. But their interpretations are subsequently employed by psychotherapists to legitimate their activities.