From Helpless to Selfless: 'Mine' & 'I' in Papanca & Cognitive Therapy

There are endless pitfalls when comparing notions in Buddhism with ideas in Cognitive Therapy. However, it could be argued that comparisons between the two can lead to better understanding of and solutions to some modern problems. The concepts of Papanca in Buddhism and ¿automatic thoughts¿ in Cognitive Therapy have similarities, including the tenet that egocentric thoughts interfere with our perception and invariably lead to a departure from reality. Central to both is the idea that thinking from the ¿me¿, ¿I¿ and ¿mine¿ perspective does not allow for a valid assessment of events and people. The consequence is negative inner speech that results in inappropriate emotional reactions to one¿s experience of the world. This inaccurate cognition, underpinned by egocentricity, leads us to a state ¿Helplessness¿ in which we feel incapable and overwhelmed. Two key issues in modern life: our constant use and abuse of the concept of ¿Self¿; our feeling of discontent which has lead to depression being more prevalent today.