Healing the Selfless Self: When Buddhism and Subjectivity Collide

Pilar Jennings presents “Healing the Selfless Self: When Buddhism and Subjectivity Collide”. In the history of Buddhist spirituality, the relevance of subjectivity has been challenged in ways that seem directly at odds with a psychoanalytic understanding of the human condition. Over time, and perhaps particularly in contemporary Western cultures, the Buddhist emphasis on self-transcendence has created opportunity for practitioners to consider the development and pitfalls of self-experience throughout the life cycle. In this talk, Pilar Jennings will explore the lively intersection of a Buddhist and psychoanalytic approach to narcissism in its various forms, with emphasis on the run from subjectivity in the Buddhist tradition, and the charge toward subjectivity in the analytic endeavor. Taken in tandem, these perspectives can illuminate the healing process of building up sturdy and supple self-hood.