If You Meet the Buddha on the Road, Kill Him! The Pilgrimage of Psychotherapy Patients

by Sheldon B. Kopp

Book Overview

A fresh, realistic approach to altering one's destiny and accepting the responsibility that grows with freedom. No meaning that comes from outside of ourselves is real. The Buddahood of each of us has... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0553278320
• Release Date: January 1976
• Publisher: Bantam
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.34 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.8" x 0.7" x 4.1"

Customer Reviews

Who is The Buddha?

It is easy for anyone to believe that it is always that other person - that one who knows something that we don't know; has something that we have given up on obtaining; or, looks like what we think is the best.Killing the Buddha is looking deeply within ourselves, accepting our limitations, our attributes, and everything in between. We are the experts in the journey of our own lives. No one else is.

A Touch of Genius

To read this book is an experience -- to touch a work of genius. It still moves me 30 years later. Psychotherapy is an art; Life is an art; Sheldon Kopp an artist. Don't miss it and do remember to revisit it. His other books form a worthy body of work, and this one is as good a place as any to join in the flow.

Looking for the Meaning of Life?

This book is a wonderful read for anyone who wonders, worries or agonizes about the meaning of life, and whether they're doing it "right." Psychotherapist Kopp wrote this book in 1972, but it still works today. Whether giving or receiving therapy, this book reminds us that we are all humans -- nobody has all the answers. The eschatological laundry list (which I've seen roaming around the web, but never attributed to Kopp) has become a classic. 1. This is it! 2. There are no hidden meanings 3. You can't get there from here, and besides, there's no place else to go 4. We are all already dying and we'll be dead for a long time. 5. Nothing lasts! 6. There is no way of getting all you want. 7. You can't have anything unless you let go of it. 8. You only get to keep what you give away. 9. There is no particular reason why you lost out on some things. 10. The world is not necessarily just. Being good often does not pay off and there is no compensation for misfortune. 11. You have the responsibility to do your best nonetheless. 12. It is a random universe to which we bring meaning. 13. You don't really control anything. 14. You can't make someone love you. I'll stop there -- there's more in the book, and if you find the list discouraging, you need to read the book. If you find the words encouraging, you need to read the book. Add it to your list of books to give friends who are feeling glum and hopeless.Use it as a group discussion book!After reading this (at different stages in my life), I still find it centering and soothing. A good addition to the self-help library, along with The Road Less Traveled.

Therapy Bible Number 1!

Sheldon Kopp captures the essence of therapist-client as a parallel journey of two human beings in a relationship dependent upon the ability of both to become careful (full of care) for the other while traveling through metaphors, symbols, sagas and myths, each telling their stories along the way. His eschatological laundry list is a necessary and existentially humorous bump with reality. I recommend this book to all clients seeking to enter the sacred ground of a therapeutic alliance where change, transformation and healing are to occur. Sheldon Kopp's serious pragmatism and humorous satire hold the reader to the task of "learning the dance" and becoming aware of the process of being in therapy.

Literate discussion of the freedom born of self-knowledge.

The subtitle, "The Pilgramage of Psychotherapy Patients," belies the essence of this highly literate hymn to authenticity and self-governance: each of us must look within to find our own answers. Drawing from the Bible, the I Ching, Siddhartha, Jung and too many others to name, the author urges that living fully requires us to let go of concepts of fairness, perfection and control and embrace the uncertainty and ambiguity of our journey. A liberating, thought provoking paean to autonomy, self acceptance and personal growth. Life Changing!