Han de Wit

Han de Wit, Phd. (The Netherlands), became internationally known through his research into the spiritual insights that can be found in spiritual traditions. This research, started around 1980 at the Free University of Amsterdam, led to a new form of psychology known as contemplative psychology. It also brought him into close contact with the dialogue between Western and Non-Western psychology and the interfaith dialogue.

In 1977, Han de Wit had already established the first Shambhala center in Europe, in Amsterdam. A year before this he was authorized by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche to teach Buddhism and meditation. After the death of his teacher in 1987, de Wit became a student of Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, who later bestowed on him the title of acharya (Tibetaans: lobpön), meaning ’teacher’.

Han de Wit has published books on Contemplative Psychology, Tibetan Buddhism, and Interfaith Dialogue. Most notable are his publications Contemplative Psychology and The Spiritual Path, both available at Amazon. For more information on Han de Wit see also the website of the Dutch Shambhala group.

Han de Wit
Posted on 02 Feb 2006 15:44

Contemplative Psychology and Buddhism in the West

۞  Dr. Han de Wit (The Netherlands) , founder of Contemplative Psychology, talks about his field and about his path as a student of Trungpa Rinpoche and as a Buddhist teacher (acharya) of Shambhala International (www.shambhala.org)

  • What is the story of contemplative psychology?.
    video (8,8mb) | transcript
  • Would you agree that the meaning of the terms "meditation" and "contemplation" have been inverted during the course of history?
    video (8,3mb) | transcript
  • Do mystics across traditions understand each other?
    video (7,9mb) | transcript
  • Would you agree that interfaith dialogue cannot work at the level of surface structures? And could mysticism, as deep structure, play a bigger role in this?
    video (6,3mb) | transcript
  • You are involved in building a Naropa Institute between Belgium and the Netherlands. Can you tell us something about this?
    video (7,3mb) | transcript

#

Han de Wit
Posted on 24 Mar 2006 11:08

Psychotherapy and Buddhism

۞  Han de Wit discussed the relationship between psychotherapy and taking a spiritual path such as Buddhism.

  • Are there any theoretical similarities between your work in Contemplative Psychology and the work of Ken Wilber?
    video (8,1mb) | transcript
  • (continued)
    video (4,3mb) | transcript
  • Is there a relationship between psychotherapy and the path of meditation?
    video (8,3mb) | transcript
  • (continued)
    video (4,8mb) | transcript
  • Should we do psychotherapy before we start meditating?
    video (8,5mb) | transcript
  • Can you be neurotically enlightened as well?
    video (6,7mb) | transcript

#