This thesis compares the Buddhist concept of kilesa (defilements) in early Buddhism with the concept of the shadow in Jungian analytical psychology, with the aim of providing an integrated understanding of the origins of human suffering and the proces...
This thesis compares the Buddhist concept of kilesa (defilements) in early Buddhism with the concept of the shadow in Jungian analytical psychology, with the aim of providing an integrated understanding of the origins of human suffering and the process of healing. The researcher notes that Buddhist kilesa refers to the totality of mental impurities that disturb the mind and produce suffering, explaining that these defilements arise primarily from the Three Poisons—greed, anger, and ignorance—and are formed conditionally through the principle of dependent origination. Furthermore, the thesis states that defilements gradually diminish through the practice of the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path, and that they undergo a transformative healing process through the cultivation of wisdom and compassion.
In contrast, the shadow in Jungian psychology refers to the psychological domain of negative or rejected aspects of the self that have been repressed into the unconscious, operating within both the personal unconscious and the broader framework of the collective unconscious. Jung argued that, rather than eliminating the shadow, individuals must recognize and integrate it in order to restore psychological wholeness, or the Self. The shadow not only contains repressed emotions, desires, and impulses but also serves as a pathway to the true self concealed behind the social persona.
The thesis identifies a shared focus on “negative psychological content” in both Buddhist kilesa and Jung’s shadow, yet highlights a critical distinction: Buddhism regards defilements as something to be ultimately eliminated, whereas Jung views the shadow as something to be integrated. Buddhism explains that defilements arise from misperception rooted in ignorance, while Jung sees repression and the split between consciousness and the unconscious as the source of shadow-related psychological problems.
In addition, the thesis suggests a correspondence between the Buddhist path of practice—mindfulness, concentration, and wisdom—and the Jungian therapeutic process of recognition, exploration, and integration. Both traditions emphasize self-observation and insight as essential means of addressing mental suffering and facilitating inner transformation. In Buddhist counseling, defilements are understood as the roots of cognitive distortions and negative emotional patterns, and practices such as mindfulness, compassion meditation, and insight meditation are proposed as therapeutic interventions. Likewise, Jungian psychology emphasizes that confronting and integrating the shadow expands the ego into a larger Self, a developmental process that parallels aspects of the Buddhist insight into non-self.
Finally, the researcher concludes that comparing defilements and the shadow offers a valuable integrated framework for modern counseling, providing a theoretical basis for combining Buddhist meditative methods with depth-psychological approaches. This integrative view is presented as a meaningful contribution to the practical development of Buddhist counseling.