Bruce Tift, a psychotherapist and author, discusses the relationship between psychotherapy and awakening, levels of psychological and spiritual maturity, understanding anxiety, the cycle of struggle, acceptance, codependent dynamics, and the practice of circling for intimacy and self-awareness.
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Bruce Tift's Journey
Bruce Tift's journey involved pivotal events like traveling the world and encountering Tibetan refugee groups.
These experiences broadened his perspective and led him to study with Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche.
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Developmental vs. Fruitional Path
Psychological development involves increasing capacity, while spiritual realization involves integrating open awareness into daily life.
These paths overlap but are not integrated in a synthesis sense; they're more like an intimate relationship.
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Therapy and Meditation Not Always Together
People can engage deeply in either psychotherapy or spiritual practice without the other.
Bruce suggests accepting this rather than imposing personal beliefs on others.
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Bruce Tift is a psychotherapist, author, and long-time meditation practitioner. As a therapist he’s done his rounds – working in a psychiatric ward, social services, and maintaining a private practice since 1979. As a teacher, he taught at Naropa University for twenty-five years and lectured all throughout the world. He is also a Vajrayana Buddhism practitioner with over 40 years of practice under his belt. On his journey he has been fortunate enough to be a student of Chogyam Trunga Rinpoche and to meet a number of other realized teachers. He is the author of “Already Free” a fascinating book that explores the relationship between Psychotherapy and awakening. In this episode, we speak about the irresolvable paradox of relationship, what it means to be psychospiritually mature, stepping out of identification through immediate sensation, Individual vs couples therapy, nonduality & the Vajrayana view, and a healthier approach to awakening & liberation.
🔗 [Links & resources] 🔗
Bruce’s personal site - https://www.brucetift.com/ Already Free by Bruce Tift - https://www.amazon.com/Already-Free-Buddhism-Psychotherapy-Liberation/dp/1622034112 Zen Mind, Beginners Mind by Shunryu Suzuki - https://www.artemzen.com/book/zen-mind-beginners-mind-by-shunryu-suzuki/ Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%B6gyam_Trungpa What is Circling? - https://www.artemzen.com/what-is-circling/
📝 [Show notes] 📝
0:00 - Introduction 2:10 - The pivotal events that put Bruce on the path 6:32 - The relationship between psychotherapy (healing) and awakening 13:01 - Bruce pulls the chair out from beneath me 16:58 - The irresolvable paradox of relationship 18:10 - Is it possible to heal and develop psychologically without psychotherapy? 19:34 - What does it mean to be psychospiritually mature? 23:30 - Holding developmental models lightly 25:55 - Learning to experience story-free anxiety 35:23 - Stepping out identification through immediate sensation 42:30 - Why struggle is a way not to deal with our lives 53:43 - Individual vs Couples Therapy (navigating connection & separateness ) 1:06:29 - Using Circling/Relatefulness practice to understand your emotions and develop intimacy 1:10:29 - Diving into non-duality and the Vajrayana view 1:18:08 - A healthier view of awakening & liberation 1:26:11 - The hard problem of consciousness
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Elevating Consciousness