At their practical core these issues deal with understanding our place in the greater world and the limited time we have in life.
One of the therapeutic benefits to be had by delving into these abstract and murky waters is to emerge with a clearer and more realistic sense of self and world-view. A view and understanding that can manage, if not in their ideal form transcend, the difficulties during life in order to have a sense of deep peace and meaning during our later stages of life.
All traditions and belief systems offer similar tools and methods to actively work within this realm by relying on the process and experience of those that came before us, as well as providing an overall structure to progress within that can deepen our own authentic spiritual or exisential experience. Modeling for us the ways and means to implement a similar but unique way of investigating and refining how we conceive ourselves, truth, our view of reality, the world, and ultimately how this can positively effect our relations and interactions with self and others.
I truly view this as the alpha and omega of the therapeutic process. We have to contend with the greater questions if we have any hope of lasting fulfillment, contentment, and meaning in our lives. We must prepare for the end of life — as the more in line we are with reality, the less we are going to suffer in the long run. To sidestep these questions is to leave the deepest roots of our suffering untouched.
This is also where my own practice most directly informs my work. I have studied and practiced within the Tibetan Buddhist tradition for many years — specifically the Gelugpa lineage of Lama Tsongkhapa, under the personal guidance of my Lama, Kyabje Gelek Rinpoche Dorjechang. That tradition's rigorous investigation of the nature of mind, the mechanics of suffering, and the cultivation of both wisdom and compassion runs quietly in the background of all of my therapeutic approaches. It is not something I impose, but something I draw from — and for those who are open to it, it can offer a profound additional dimension to the work.
