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This short and engaging book contains a series of papers that were originally presented in Tokyo at the Third International Margaret S. Mahler Symposium on Child Development held April 1-2, 2000. While the symposium and the book were dedicated to the work and memory of Margaret Mahler, the subject at hand is affect theory. There is no better way to suggest the spirit of this book than to quote Salman Akhtar's story about Buddha:
A man approached Buddha while he was sitting, eyes closed, under a Banyan tree meditating. Amid sobs and tears, the man reported that his son was very ill and the local healers had given up on the child. The boy was about to die. The man pleaded for divine intervention from Buddha. He cried, wailed, touched Buddha's feet. Buddha, however, sat motionless and neither opened his eyes nor said anything in response. The man left, only to appear the next day filled with rage His son had died and he held Buddha's inactivity responsible for it. He shouted obscenities, cursed Buddha, and still finding no visible response, spat at him in disgust and left.
Time passed and a day came, a few years later, when the man returned to visit Buddha again. Now he was very remorseful. He said that, over time, he had gradually realized that by remaining silent, Buddha was conveying to him two important messages, that there is little he could do in a situation if those who knew about physical ailments had given up, and that there are no words to offer solace to a man whose son is about to die. The man was guilt-ridden for his having spat on Buddha. Crying and holding Buddha's feet, he begged for forgiveness. It was then that Buddha opened his eyes and spoke. He said “You spat on a river and the water floated away. The man I was then is gone with time. I am different. You did not spit on me and hence I have no authority to forgive you. But it makes me sad that while you have learnt many things, you are still standing on the same spot on the riverbank. You are being co