Verified by 
Buddhist thinking is largely based on the idea of the interconnections and continuity of reality. Empirical studies of Buddhism suggest that practitioners of this type of thinking experience less depression, pathogenic guilt, anxiety, and empathic distress. In this post, we explore how logic-based therapy (LBT), a highly philosophical variant of rational-emotive behavior therapy (REBT), embraces this synoptic way of thinking; and how the latter, in turn, sets the stage for a positive, secure outlook on reality and the prospect for happiness.
Synoptic Versus Analytical Thinking
Thinking can be categorized as analytical (taking things apart) or synoptic (putting things together), and there is a cultural relationship between these two ways of thinking. Eastern thought tends to focus on synopsis, whereas Western thought tends to be analytical. Western psychiatry dissects mental disorders into separate although sometimes related categories to diagnose the patient. For example, Western psychiatry dissects sadness into major depressive disorder, if it lasts at least two weeks, and persistent depressive disorder, if it lasts two years. In contrast, Eastern approaches are less gradated and nuanced, and more holistic. Thus, sadness is the unifying state of mind that is the focus. According to the latter approach, the more we look for answers in the weeds, the less we tend to address what we truly want to relieve, namely sadness.
What Is Interbeing?
According to LBT, there is a symbiotic relationship between being analytic (taking things apart) and being synoptic (putting them back together). We can put things together, seeing them with each other, only after we have taken them apart, seeing them separately. The latter claim trades on what Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hahn, calls “interbeing,” the interrelationship between all things. In Taoist thinking, this involves seeing the connection between opposites, “yin” and “yang.” To know light (yang), one must be familiar with darkness (yin). Neither can exist without the other. Likewise, the whole cannot exist without the parts, and conversely. Further, we cannot synopsize the parts (view them with each other) without analyzing (identifying and distinguishing) them.
The Cardinal Fallacies
The analytic side of LBT is “diagnosing the chains of fallacies” that lead to self-destructive emotions and behavior. Accordingly, there are eleven types of faulty thinking known as “cardinal fallacies” that LBT identifies. These are commonplace ways of thinking that tend to frustrate personal and interpersonal happiness. They often form chains of fallacies at the root of self-destructive negative emotions and behavior, such as anxiety, guilt, anger, and depression. For example, demanding perfection about oneself can lead to self-damnation and a depressed mood, while demanding perfection about others can lead to damnation of others and track anger. Catastrophizing about a perceived negative future possibility can lead to can’t-stipation (telling yourself you “can’t stand” what you really can stand) and track anxiety. Rational-emotive behavior therapy focuses primarily on identifying and refuting these fallacy chains.
The Guiding Virtues
In contrast, LBT also synopsizes the relationships between these fallacy chains and corresponding counteractive guiding virtues. The latter are goals inspiring excellence. They are the guiding lights out of the proverbial darkness (the fallacies). To counteract the demand for perfection, there is the guiding virtue of metaphysical security (intellectual and emotional acceptance of imperfections in the world). For example, if I am metaphysically secure (hence comfortable with human imperfection), I am not going to damn myself when I (inevitably) make a mistake. Therefore, I will not suffer anxiety about the possibility of messing up, or depression when I do.
Demanding perfection and metaphysical security is like darkness and light, yin and yang. One without the other makes no sense, for what can security about imperfection even mean without insecurity about it, and conversely? Likewise, the guiding virtue of self-damnation (self-devaluation) is self-respect (unconditional self-acceptance). The one makes no sense without the other. To know the former one must know the latter. Hence, the person who is self-damning can envision a world in which they are self-respecting, and they can only know the value of such because they know what is like to be self-damning.
All the guiding virtues form an interconnected whole; they coalesce as “interbeings.” For example, one cannot be authentic if one does not respect oneself; and this takes courage; and having courage is a precondition of being prudent (since the latter requires doing what is morally right, which takes courage). Each of these virtues is an antidote to a form of insecurity (for example, authenticity counteracts bandwagon thinking—blind conformity to others rather than trusting one’s own judgment). As such, they are all interbeings of metaphysical security.
This interconnectivity of the virtues includes the empathy that we have for other human beings (and, indeed, all creatures) who suffer, transcending the egocentricity of the world-revolving-around-me thinking. It includes unconditional acceptance and love for others, transcending damnation of others. Yet, while it transcends these among other fallacies, it looks back and sees where it has been and could be, and draws strength from such wisdom. This enlightenment is what the Buddha called the Noble Path, the right path, which could not exist without its opposite.
The Noble Path
According to Buddhism’s First Noble Truth, there is inescapable suffering. We will all die, not always get what we want, and inevitably suffer loss. Clinging to these things, that is, holding onto a perfectionist demand that we not experience such suffering, will bring us needless suffering. The Noble Path is, therefore, acceptance (intellectually and emotionally) of the imperfections of reality. The Noble Path of Buddhism is, therefore, the metaphysical security of LBT, seamlessly fused with all the other interconnected virtues.
In contrast, there is also the ignoble path we can be led down by subscribing to the cardinal fallacies. Commissioning these fallacies is part of being human. It is the other side of the guiding virtues, the background of the false against which the light of truth is cast. The interconnected guiding virtues are the light out of the darkness, the yang in the yin, and the Noble Path, that brings us true happiness. This is the metaphysical security of LBT or the nirvana of Buddhism.
Conclusion
By incorporating the guiding virtues into cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy, LBT can take us beyond analytical dissection and diagnosis. It can help us to see the interbeing of our irrational thoughts (the ignoble path) with that of their guiding virtues, and, ultimately, lead us up the Noble Path, consummating in human happiness. This is metaphysical security with all the splendor of its interconnected guiding virtues, coexisting in coherent unity. It is the luminous guiding light set against the dark backdrop of the fallacies it passionately transcends. In essence, it is the healthful connectivity emblematic of Buddhist thought.
