Sigmund Freud
In order to make this method of the Buddha intelligible to the modern Western mind, it is necessary to start by drawing attention to a few discoveries of Sigmund Freud, the father of modern psychotherapy, and the originator of modern thought on this subject. Quite contrary to the common opinion that Sigmund Freud was against religion, it must be pointed out that he was only critical of the belief in a Creator God, as found in theistic religion. He was not against the humanistic religions like Buddhism. In fact, he was reiterating some of the teachings of the Buddha. This has been clearly explained by Eric Fromm, the Neo-Freudian psychoanalyst, in his book, Psychoanalysis and Religion.
Freud discovered several important facts concerning the human experience, which the Buddha had pointed to, nearly twenty-five centuries before him. Freud also presented, in his own way, the basic problem of the human experience and suggested a solution. This solution, however, could only convert abnormal suffering into normal unhappiness. The Buddha spoke of almost this same problem in greater detail and offered a more proficient solution, through the conscious expansion of the human consciousness. It was more proficient because it was able to transform normal unhappiness into supernormal happiness.
This claim could be seen from modern standards as rather extravagant, but on a closer examination of the methods adopted by the Buddha, one finds that its probability is not easily challenged. The approach taken in this paper will be to present this problem and its solution, first as Freud saw it, and then as the Buddha saw it. The purpose of comparing Buddhist psychology with Freudian psychoanalytical thinking is not to support Freudian thinking or to show an agreement between the two ways of thought. It is only to facilitate the modern Western mind to comprehend the importance of the profound teachings of the Buddha, in relation to the practice of psychotherapy, using ideas already familiar to it. It is also to show that Buddhism is not a mere religion of faith and worship, but a psychotherapy that can make a profitable contribution to modern psychotherapeutic thought.