Development of the Self: Informational Article on the work of Sam Keen & Mark Epstein -Brandon Dellario LMSW LASAC

Sam Keen has an interesting viewpoint on finding your own meaning and purpose in life, which is the essence of existentialism. “I started giving workshops to help people discover their own stories or 'scripts.' I later came to call this 'writing your own autobiography.'”(London, pg. 59)

This self-determined discovery of meaning and purpose can be a valuable virtue in mental health interventions. Clients gain control of their recovery when discovering they are the best experts on themselves. In understanding where we come from, we have the power to know where we are going, and change that direction if need be.

Keen strongly believes in models of social ecology, observing how, “Cultures that have a unifying cultural narrative are stable in some ways, but they are resistant to change.”(London, pg. 60) Keen then Illustrates how we don't possess unifying myths today, but we can create new stories from experience that may get us back into the natural order of harmony with the world.

Sam Keen displays how the dominant American secular myth is, “a blind faith in the free market economy, in technological fixes to the world’s problems [and] . . . once the flow of information is complete, everyone will be wealthy.”(London, pg. 59)  Thus challenging our notions by waking us up to the fact that we may be on the wrong path. “To maintain our sanity today... we need a ‘spiritual bullshit detector.’”(London, pg. 58) Keen takes on Buddhist perspectives, “Desires are endless, I vow [Sam vows for himself] to put an end to them,”(London, pg. 63)  Additionally expressing how American society tells us we can satisfy all our desires, and have it all.

Sam Keen believes we get a glimpse at the essential truth of who we are by confronting the depths of our own ignorance. He calls this, “the paradox of self-knowledge.”(London, pg. 58) Keen believes in recognizing your fears, facing them, building self-esteem by doing things you think you can’t, and relating to others in a community of friendships. Though this theory does line up with our western independent-self ideology.

Similarly, Buddhist Psychiatrist Mark Epstein has faith in the notion of loving others before you can love yourself, but states that, “The Western notion of what it means to have a self is flawed.”(Griffin, pg. 68) Epstein illustrates how according to Buddhist philosophy, the perception of 'self' is an illusion, and observation of 'the feeling of emptiness' as the key to happiness. He states, “. . . the sense of being not quite real enough, is a tiny insight into something that is true: that the self we think should be so clear and big and obvious is really not who we are.”(Griffin, pg. 68)

“People who have [the previously stated] 'little flash of insight' are on the way to understanding the Buddhist concept. But it gets contaminated very early on with a sense of unworthiness. There is a lot of fear, a lot of judgments, and a lot of thinking, ‘I don’t know who I really am.’ Then you get what is called low self-esteem.”(Griffin, pg. 68)

This idea is a radical challenge to our American notions of the self. People being a part of the larger community, as oppose to an autonomous self-seeking unit. As a young man, this writer always held ideas of freedom as doing what I wanted when I wanted. Though creature comfort freedoms are nice to have, today I am learning that true freedom is gained through taking care of responsibilities. I have a responsibility to myself and others in the world. A personal commitment to respect, peace and other values that promote health, gaining self-esteem and integrity along the way. In following principles such as these, I am including myself in the group, community and life in general.  We are one community, greater than the sum of our parts. 

Griffin, J. (1998). THE PARADOX OF SELF. Common Boundary, 28-31.

Henry, J. (2008). SWRK 6310 Lecture Notes. Western Michigan University, September 11, 2008. 
*The premise of this paper was developed by Dr. James  Henry.

London, S. (1999). on the Flying Trapeze. The Sun, 6-15.