ABSTRACT
Self-psychology, ego-psychology, and object relations focus on the importance of having and building an ego/self, while Buddhism focuses on the importance and reality of no-self. In early Buddhism, no-self is related to the question of leaving the world and family relationships behind. In some respects, the Buddhist tradition has a lot in common with psychoanalysis and its emphasis on sexuality and aggressiveness. From a Lacanian psychoanalytic perspective, the ideal ego and the ego-ideal are necessary constructions or mental formations but which are nonetheless imaginary rather than substantial. The castration complex is the motor for the development of the ego-ideal. Identification with ideals or norms covers over the loss that takes place under the castration complex. The lessening of traditional social repression, and the changes in traditional sex roles and mores regarding sexuality, have changed the face of neurotic complaints from one of traditional inhibitions to one of a sense emptiness, inauthenticity, identity confusion, and alienation.
