Unconscious process: Zen and psychoanalytic versions

Attention to unconscious processes forms the nexus of the psychoanalytic en deavor and adds dimension to the theoretical and clinical integration of Bu ddhism and psychoanalysis. The author traces convergences between Freud's, Matte-Blanco's, and D.T. Suzuki's explication of the psychoanalytic and Zen readings of the unconscious. The Buddhist understanding of the unconscious propensity to reify experience can be integrated with psychoanalytic think ing. An alternative understanding and processing of aggression with support ing clinical material provides a case in point. The author concludes that c ontinued Buddhist practice holds the potential to alter radically existing psychoanalytic models without destroying the efficacy of well-established f ormulations and accompanying techniques.