A current interpretation of causing troubles to others

Abstract

  When you think about Naikan from the outside, you may misunderstand it. Naikan's third theme “What troubles and difficulties did you cause a specific person, such as mother or father?” may cause you to feel moralistically held back in expressing your thoughts and feelings. Here I consider the usefulness of Naikan's three themes in extending capabilities for developing and extending insight.

  In addition, I aim to explain the utility of Naikan's third item, "the matters with which I troubled you", through the Erich Fromm's psychoanalytic theory. His theory holds that in maturing we must free ourselves from our parents while incorporating the motherhood principle and fatherhood principle into ourselves, becoming our own mothers and fathers. I examine the reason why Naikan can instill the motherhood principle and fatherhood principle. Furthermore, I compare the process and structure of guilt in Naikan with dysfunctional guilt. By these means, I intend to offer a modern interpretation of the third theme of Naikan, born of Oriental thought, interpreted though Western thought.