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The principal topic of this dissertation is the Rdzogs chen doctrine of a kind of fundamental Intelligence which is supposed to be the ground for both, samsara and nirvana. This ground is said to be an inseparable union of primordial purity and spontaneous perfection. Whereas its primordial purity is defined as empty of any qualifications, its spontaneous perfection is a luminous potentiality which arises as whatsoever. This arising occurs by means of Four Lamps and is a projection of the Inner empty and luminous Space of the ground into Outer Space (phyi'i dbyings). How it arises and how it finally dissolves back into its Inner Space (nang dbyings), is explained as consisting of Four Visions. A short but comprehensive account of this projection and of the view of the Rdzogs chen doctrine in general is contained in "The Eleven Themes" by Wong chen rab 'byams (1308-1364) which serves as basis for a detailed description of Intelligence and its multifarious reality of lamps or lights and visions as understood in Rdzogs chen thinking.

This thesis aligns itself with a critical tradition that asserts that current mental health assessment and treatment has its basis in symptom classification and quantification methods, which in turn have roots in the empirical traditions of modernity, in the demands and discourses of capitalism (Foucault 1961) and in Cartesian dualism. This critique further asserts that such embedded epistemologically-grounded practices have an initial impact on a client’s sense of personal agency as their own experiential sense of self, the potentially fluid, idiosyncratic nature of learning from their life journey as embodied beings, is negated. I would like to create and research a treatment model from a different ontological and epistemological base which represents more of an open enquiry into the embodied totality of the client’s experience and sense of self, drawing from Gendlin’s Focusing model of experiencing and defining the self from within, and on Vajrayana Buddhist practices. Therefore the aims of the study were:- 1. To describe an innovative model of conducting psychotherapy that combines a Western approach (Gendlin's Focusing) with Tibetan Vajrayana practices of transformation. 2. By means of a phenomenological research method, to clarify the essential structure of two pivotal experiences relevant to clients' experiences of change in this form of therapy: 'experiential lightness' and 'experiential aliveness'. 3. To answer the following three research questions that are enabled by pursuing the above two aims: a) What is the phenomenon of ‘lightness’ and ‘aliveness’ as experienced in psychotherapy and how does it impact upon process and outcome? b) Can Vajrayana Buddhist practices be effectively integrated into Western Psychotherapy? c) What happens when Gendlin's Focusing is combined with adapted Vajrayana practices? Giorgi’s descriptive phenomenological method was utilised with eight of my own psychotherapy clients who had experienced Vajrayana adapted practices and Focusing in therapy. Retrospective interviews were used to explore the experience near question: “Can you describe any moments you have had in therapy in which you felt an increased sense of ‘aliveness’ or ‘lightness’ which began to change your sense of self ... you may want to use your own words for this ... but any experience in therapy which energised you and led to a shift in your sense of who you are. If so, can we begin by describing this experience as fully as possible.” The interviews took place a minimum of two months after participants had finished therapy at a College of Further Education. Five key constituents were illuminated by participants’ descriptions of lightness and aliveness. These were 1) freedom from the experience of heaviness as pain 2) freedom as independence 3) a sense of the opening up of possibilities 4) the integration of freedom and possibility into one’s life 5) pathways to lightness and aliveness. This study concludes that exploring the phenomena of ‘lightness’ and ‘aliveness’ has revealed that identity has roots in transpersonal experiencing. This presents an argument for an epistemological and ontological framework within the psychological therapies which is capable of encompassing this domain. In delineating the phenomenon of ‘lightness’ and ‘aliveness’ and its outcomes for my clients, I argue that this study also makes an innovative contribution to the cultural integration of Western and Eastern models of suffering and their resolution.

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By comparing the instances of the Māra mytheme in the narratives of the prajñāpāramitā-sūtras with those found in non-Mahayana texts, this thesis explores how this vitally important persona, one central to the narrative account of the bodhisattva quest for awakening, developed from earlier mythic prototypes. Pali sources identify a number of alternative identities for Māra the most significant of which being Namuci, an asura who took control over the mind of Indra. Using linguistic ideas originally developed by Saussure, the storylines of the Māra and Namuci myths can be reduced to a simple, common narrative statement or syntagm. Adopting this approach demonstrates how apparently new narratives can be derived through the application of paradigmatic changes within that syntagm. Furthermore, drawing upon the findings of historical linguistics, it was possible to interpolate potential Proto-Indian-European origins for the Māra mytheme. Rather than supporting the traditionally accepted view of Māra as an allegory for death, this enabled the signification of the actual name Māra to be seen as pointing towards a ‘grinding-away’ or oppression of the mind. This was achieved by relating the Māra of Buddhist mythology with the mare-hag common to a number of Indo- European folklores. Support for this argument is also found in Pali narratives which depict Māra entering the thoughts of others engaged in meditation during the night in order to induce feelings of fear and uncertainty. Finally, based upon these findings, it was possible to scrutinize the narrative and nested tales of the Aṣṭasāhasrikā-prajñā-pāramitā-sūtra in its earliest recension, the Dàoxíng Bōrě Jīng, and identify how the original Māra myth underwent structured, paradigmatic modifications that reflect a bodhisattva’s progress towards final awakening.

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