I am not sure Buddha had any ideas about trancendence and mystical consciousness. He says things are connected - the table and the floor are interconnected as is the carpenter, the tree, the candle on the table, etc. And if we are happy we might make others happier. But I think he sat under his tree alone and for himself as we all can whether or not we believe we can change things without touching them. He did, however, forsee that his philosophy would be misinterpreted within a thousand years. New to it, though.
Actually, it is interesting to look at Pavlina's interpretations of projection, because if we use mindfulness to look closely at how we are feeling and to take care of ourselves in the most direct way, then we are doing exactly what he suggests. I feel uncared for by my boyfriend sometimes. It makes me sad. I smoke (tryin' ta stop) but it doesn't make me sad that I am not caring for myself. It's easy to see where my mental confusion comes. If I apply my bf's not caring to my own not caring, I can see that I am saddened that I treat myself badly. If I were meditating properly, I would be paying attention to these feelings, possibly. Work in progress this one, but I think you can see where I am going with it.
CBT is understanding your behaviour, quite simply, and how it affects others and how you might be digging your own holes. It's quite different from the 'tell me about your mother' therapy of Freud. Traditional therapy is useful because it does cause you to confront full on the rage and pain that you have suppressed and actually feel it - to listen to your body rather than have it stick its fingers in its ears. I believe emotion is a force within us that can be let out if we look closely enough at it - face it enough. I know cos I have done just that through meditation. If you stick with that emotion, as therapists suggest, then you will lessen its force. Why? Because the worse has happened and because it's unleashed.
So these are some of my beliefs.
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