Buddha’s Middle Path
The Buddha went further than Freud. He also came up with a middle path, but this was different. He saw a way of integrating the personality by presenting a new goal to pursue. It was the goal of “tranquillity.” Freud himself saw this possibility, when he said that the psychic apparatus was ultimately seeking a state of equilibrium through release of tension. But he did not see this as the solution to the conflict. The Buddha saw that what the emotional impulse wanted was the state of relaxation and mental calm, which is a state of happiness. When this goal of tranquillity is consciously pursued, not only is the id satisfied but also the ego as well as the superego. The id is satisfied because of the relaxation of tension. The ego is satisfied because relaxation does not come in conflict with reality. The superego is satisfied because relaxation does not come in conflict with moral principles or social norms. This pursuit of tranquillity of mind is the pursuit of NIRVANA (nir, non + vana, movement). Nirvana is the imperturbable serenity of mind, which even the Stoics and the Epicureans spoke of in the West.
Another important insight of the Buddha becomes applicable here. When Freud thought of the structural hypothesis, this hypothesis became useful to understand the mechanics of the neurosis or even the psychosis. Yet it had a shortcoming, which was that by seeing the mind as a structure made up of three parts that come in conflict, one tends to think of the mind as an entity similar to a material entity that occupies space. Even if the mind is considered to be immaterial, it could still be conceived as a spiritual entity. To compare the mind to a machine, or see it as a psychic apparatus, or any structure, is to see it as an entity. This easily encourages the formation of the concept of “self” in relation to the mind. To personalize the emotions, or consider the emotions to be a part of oneself, is to loose control over emotions.