The part of the article which fascinates me currently regards the theory of M. Tokieda that its author, Fujita Chihiro, calls "interesting":
'According to Tokieda, the Japanese language is characterized by its dependence on predicate logic rather than on subject. The language is at all times a product on man's act of expression and comprehension. Furthermore, while European linguists tend to regard a language as "a thing", i.e. as a tool, Japanese linguists consider it more as a factor of human mind and always conditioned by a given "situation".
'As to the "situation", Tokieda expressed it as follows: 'The word "situation" is close to the concept of place, but "situation" includes not only things and sights in it, but also the mental attitude, feeling and thought of the person who is looking at it. Therefore, a situation is not a purely objective world, although it is not a purely subjective representation of mental activity either. A situation is the world in which subject and object are fused together.'
At this point, the author then states that Tokieda's concept regarding "situation" is consistent with the "field of psychotherapeutic communication" of Morita Therapy.
Since the therapeutic process of Morita Therapy is "a process of mental change from hakarai . toraware (contrive . be captive) to sunao . arinomama (compliant mind . the mental facts as they are), using words in daily usage, the field of psychotherapeutic communication could be conceived as an implicit situation which provides the patient's mind with an opportunity to regain universal control of the separation-fusion of the subject/object duality."
Next, the "authentic self" that is prepared for universal control through the field of psychotherapeutic communication is defined:
'All of us have a source of direction which makes it possible for us to ride freely on our own desire to live, and this natural mentality is the expression of our "authentic" self and of our arinomama (proper and sincere) life. On this occasion, our conscience is entirely subjective and there is no subject/object duality.
'If this free flow of mental activity is blocked for some reason, then the relation between subject and object become disparate and leads to "contradictoriness in thinking". Speaking of this, Morita made the following comment: "our mental activity is natural ...it is intuitive, not critical, or we may say that it is a pure conscience .... If we watch ourselves and decide that we are healthy or sick, we are already taking ourselves as an object or as a third party projected on the outside world .... We can say that subjective mind and experiential comprehension do not involve any element of doubt, while objective thinking (criticism) is never free from it."'
At this point in his argument, Fujita identifies the relationship between arugamama or "authentic" activity of mind and "contradictoriness in thinking" as "the difference between the universally controlling subject/object duality and the loss of that freedom."
He then goes on to consider 'in the light of freedom, the meanings of those key, though daily, words like hakarai . toraware (contrive . captive) mind and sunao . arinomama (compliant mind . the mental facts as they are) mind which come frequently into the field of psychotherapeutic communication:
'In Morita Therapy, "the field of psychotherapeutic communication" denotes both a place and situation, as mentioned already. Also, this refers to both langauge and life activity.
'According to Tokieda, we distinguish language into expression and an act of understanding, then divide each of them into "speaking, acting, showing" and "listening, seeing, receiving". Then we see how those daily words like sunao (compliance) influence patients in the actual therapeutic "situation" for each component of the language already referred to.'
Then he considers "what sunao (compliance) means in the field of psychotherapeutic communication":
'In Japanese, the word sunao (compliance) means a state of indistinguishing naturalness or essence. it denotes that the object is free from contriving thinking or conduct and remains as a natural self. Moreover, the word is used to define disposition, character, behavior, understanding, expression and so forth, regardless of whether it refers to a man, a plant, an animal or inanimate matter. in translating this word into English, however, we must use different words according to the object to which it refers. For instance, in the case of someone's disposition, we need to say "pliable, gentle or yielding", but when we mean some kind of behavior, it is necessary to use words like "submissive, compliant or docile", while it becomes "mind, frank or obedient" in terms of character'
Fujita then contrasts how in Japanese, sunao expresses all of these adjectives, while in English, many different adjectives are needed depending on the context. He explains that 'in Japanese, semantic importance or stress is not in the subject matter but in the "situation" which defines the meaning.' For 'predicate takes precedence in Japanese,' especially in Morita Therapy.
Essentially, 'the word sunao, in the field of psychotherapeutic communication in Morita Therapy, can be a predicate of the psychological environment. Although the word does not express the direct mental experience of the patient, it still serves to denote his potential state of mind.'
He asks the reader to call it 'consolidation of a given situation', giving the explanation that "because the patient's mind becomes conscious of the meaning of being sunao (compliant) as if it is induced by the atmosphere of the situation. In the relation with the therapist, the patient tries to project himself on his behavior concept, and this is on the basis of his understanding the activities of "listening, seeing and receiving" and his expressive activities of "speaking, acting and showing", and the therapist can observe synthetically how this process takes place in the field of psychotherapeutic communication. This is because the noun sunao (compliance), or the mono (object) it signifies is not important compared to the koto (the fact) that the mind is sunao, since the koto (the fact) is the very expression of mind.'
To paraphrase the previous paragraph, the mind becomes conscious of what it means to be compliant as though induced by the atmosphere of the situation (i.e. in therapy with a psychotherapist). Relative to the therapist, the patient tries to project himself on his behavior concept based on his understanding of "listening, seeing and receiving" and his expression of "speaking, acting and showing", and the therapist observes synthetically how that process happens in the field of psychotherapeutic communication. Since compliance, or the object it signifies, is unimportant when compared to the fact that the mind is compliant, since the fact (compliance) is the very expression of mind.
Then Fujita rephrases what he said in a logical manner: ...if one wants to be compliant, he is no longer compliant, because his self is intending to be compliant. 'To a therapist, the word sunao may sometimes be related to resistance of the patient against the therapist or the therapy itself. To the therapist, that his patient is sunao - docile and complaint - is convenient because it means that the patient is willing to listen to the therapist's persuasion.'
Yet this is not always the case.
At this point, Fujita uses Morita's example contrasting ga (self-will) and the willingness to give oneself the chance to accept the therapist's suggestion to take an examination. 'When someone is clearly conscious of his ga (self-will) and the act of "having a try at", both at the same time, and goes forward with it, then we can say he is sunao. If he continues to be possessed by his "self-will" alone, he is gôjô (stubborn). On the other hand, if he has no sense of his ga (self-will), then he is just môjû (following blindly) what he is told to do.'
As an example, Fujita quotes Morita, "If you are told to look at flowers, then all you need to do is comply and focus your attention on the flowers." He then adds:
'If he does not hakarau (expect) things and just looks at the flowers sunaoni (obediently), he shall not fail to see his ga (self-will) coming into action. He starts to think that the flowers are not impressive, or they are really beautiful, for instance. This feeling or association of idea is his ga (self-will), and when the ga (self-will) and his toraware (captive mind) are fully established as antagonizing elements, then he starts to observe, distinguish, and understand things. His mind is activated and gains strength.
'This tells us that, to the therapist, the word sunao should not mean môjû (blind obedience). Rather, the conflict between "being sunao" and toraware (being captive) makes it possible for the patient to transcend himself and to achieve a sort of harmony of mind which responds to various stimuli in a positive way. There is a natural rhythm of heart and a ceaseless flow of consciousness.
'In a word, the mind regains freedom, and the mind is free because the self now has made a choice to kokoromiru (try - see with the heart) and makeseru (to let it be) of its own will. The patient has exercised his free will to decide on his own that he will respond to the call from the therapist.'
Fujita then describes the important meaning of sunao as used in the field of psychotherapeutic communication under Morita Therapy: 'The word implies that even though the patient feels insecure, which is natural enough, and even if he wants to repel, question, and resist the therapist, he finds himself in a situation in which he accepts and opts for a "solitary existence" under the influence of explanation, disregard and persuasion of the therapist.'
From the view of "contradictoriness in thinking", the conscious mind, 'which has lost ties to the "authentic self"' to the point of experiencing the vicious circle of neuroses, 'recovers the lost ties in the "field of psychotherapeutic communication" and embraces the authentic self.'
Fujita goes on to explain once again that 'the therapeutic process of Morita Therapy' is "a shift from the state of hakarai . toraware (contrive . captive) to that of sunao . arugamama (compliance . the facts of the mind as they are). To be sunao is the absence of hakarai (contriving) and vice versa. These two are opposites, and the same is true of toraware and arugamama.'
Then he cautions us not to consider these opposing terms to be simply so. While these terms are antonyms with many different meanings i.e. sunao means a number of different states according to the situation. Then too the complementary relationship between hakarai . toraware and sunao . arugamama also refer to different meanings of each word in relationship to each other as opposed to their complement.
Summary: 'the mind is sometimes captive and sometimes open and compliant, and this is what unrestrictedness or naturalness is all about.'
In the conclusion, he sums up his explanation of the field of psychotherapeutic communication in Morita Therapy and 'the meaning of daily words relating to the "situation " of any such field by placing the word sunao in the context of predicates in the Japanese language.' In that field, 'patients' complaints ... become an object, and are unintentionally transformed from koto (suffering facts) into mono (suffering objects).
By adding sense and direction to life, Morita Therapy strengthens the recovery from such deflection by the therapist's explanation, disregard and persuasion within the field of psychotherapeutic communication.
Things I learned from the study of the article "On the meaning of toraware (being mentally captive) and sunao (compliance) in Morita therapy" in the Journal of Morita Therapy Vol. 1 No. 1. pp 183-187:
To the Japanese, language is a factor of the human mind, and always conditioned by a given situation.
Through therapy, it is possible to find the ties to my authentic self once again so that I am once again able to transcend the mind-body duality and thus express myself authentically.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy helps to gain control over my mind, to come to grips with cognitive distortions. Yet the concept of Morita Therapy will encourage me to experience being authentic and real.
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