Poster Session (Asynchronous - Online Only)
Identity as the Beloved: Response to Negative Core Beliefs and Self Rejection View Digital Media
Poster Session Constance Salhany
Self rejection or negative self-concept is a problem that has existed through the ages. Evidence-based treatments have attempted to remedy this problem. However, for the Christian client, secular study devoid of the relationship with God falls short. There is a need to examine with this context, and one's true identity as the Beloved Child of God. A. T. Beck (1967) stated that “negative self-concept is associated with self-rejection” (p. 259). Nouwen (1992b) asserted, “Self-rejection is the greatest enemy of the spiritual life because it contradicts the sacred voice that calls us the ‘Beloved’ ” (p. 33). The purpose of this paper is examine the relationship between the psychological notion of self-rejection or negative self-concept, specifically the core beliefs of the self in Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), and what Nouwen (2009) proposed as identity as the Beloved. Connections between levels of beliefs in CBT, empirical research, and the spiritual insights of Henri Nouwen are presented, with clinical application for the Christian client.
Modern Buryat Buddhist Pilgrims to Tibet: In Search of Self View Digital Media
Poster Session Bato Dondukov, Galina Dondukova
The Buryats are one of the three ethnic groups of Russia who profess Tibetan Buddhism. Tibet was perceived as the Buddhist center for the Buryats since the 17th century and consequently served as a place of intense pilgrimage. Not only religious, but also academic personalities among the Buryats established connections of the Buryats with Tibet in the 19th – the beginning of the 20th centuries. Their activities also influenced geopolitical processes and Oriental studies of pre-revolutionary Russia. However, with the beginning of the Soviet regime, Buryat ties with Tibet were interrupted. Only with the revival of Buddhism in Buryatia in the post-Soviet period the tradition of pilgrimage recommenced too. Nevertheless, modern pilgrimage of the Buryats is a new phenomenon. Firstly, travelling conditions have greatly simplified the route which changes the experience of pilgrimage. Secondly, the geography of pilgrimage has significantly enlarged. Thirdly, today travel to Tibet has become available to wider population. Fourthly, a modern pilgrim sets other tasks and self-motivation. In this article, we focus on the motives of modern Buryat pilgrims and show that contact with the holy places is only one of the reasons of their pilgrimage. We show that along with the benefits for spirituality modern pilgrimage to Tibet solves the identity issues for the Buryats, as a rich historical layer, which was forgotten in the Soviet period but is of great importance for modern Buryats, is reproduced en route.
