#740 Goals, Failures & Paradox

"Nothing to do,

Nowhere to go,

No one to be."

     What a perplexing koan, riddle - or - statement of fact? It sure sounds like a corrective for us goal-oriented workaholics, anxiously struggling with time-poverty, low self-esteem, etc. Below Jon Kabat-Zinn clearly expands on this theme:

     “The goal of mindfulness practice, if there can be said to be a goal at all (since the practice emphasizes non-duality and therefore non-striving) is simply to experience what is present from moment to moment. Thus, emotional reactivity, and the full range of emotional states available to human beings are as much a valid domain of meditative experience as experiences of calm or relaxation. 
     The cultivation of mindfulness is an arduous challenge, in which one learns to face and work with the full range of emotions and mind states. Frequently, relaxation in the way it is usually formulated, would be an entirely inappropriate response to human situations and problems. If it is offered as the ‘solution’ or the heart of a meditative approach to stress reduction, it will introduce inevitable conflict because of its emphasis on a desirable endstate to be achieved. If one one fails to experience or ‘achieve’ relaxation, then one has failed, and the practitioner has either to conclude that she herself is somehow inadequate, or that the technique is lacking. In either case, there has been a thwarting of one’s goals and expectations which can lead to a sense of inadequacy and an arrested trajectory of development. 

     In contrast, it is impossible to ‘fail’ at mindfulness if one is willing to bring whatever it is that one is experiencing into the field of awareness. One does not have to do anything at all, or achieve a particular state in mindfulness practice. We sometimes tell our patients, in the spirit of the paradoxical nature of the non-dualistic approach, that ‘we will teach you how to be so relaxed that it is OK to be tense.’ ”  
       Jon Kabat-Zinn. “Mindfulness Meditation. What It Is, What It Isn’t, and Its Role in Health Care and Medicine.” Chapter 12 in: Ishii Y, Suzuki M, Haruki Y, eds. “Comparative and Psychological Study on Meditation.” Eburon, 2007.

Courtesy of Buddha Doodles www.buddhadoodles.com

#739 Changing States - in Meditation & Psychotherapy

     During formal sitting meditation practice, we become aware of the many different states of mind that we encounter - like the endless parade of cloud formations floating by in the vast blue sky. Some of these states may be discontinuous with the ones that preceded and follow it. It is not just that we feel more or less, or better or worse: the way we go about feeling may be qualitatively different.
     Of course meditation doesn't cause such changes directly, we are simply able to observe our mind more clearly in the laboratory-like conditions of meditation practice. The statement, "Awareness in and of itself is healing" by psychiatrist Fritz Perls is intriguing.

     I strongly suspect that the state changes meditators experience are similar to what patients experience during accelerated experiential dynamic psychotherapy (AEDP), the major difference being the manner in which therapists and meditation teachers recognize & deal with these changes.

     In AEDP, "State 1 functioning" is described as being "dominated by defenses and inhibiting affects, such as shame and fear, which block the person’s direct contact with his or her own emotional experience. ... Aloneness in the face of overwhelming emotions is seen in AEDP as being at the root of psychopathology."
Meditators readily recognize this very common state as restlessness, distractedness, "monkey mind." Why do we compulsively try to escape the present moment? Safety issues? Is some history of trauma almost universal? The harder we push against all these forms of 'resistance' to meditation, the more struggles we create for ourselves - "What we resist, persists!" Gradually we discover that acceptance, and gentle perseverance are the keys.
     In AEDP "State 2, with defenses and inhibiting affects (minimized), the patient is viscerally in touch with bodily-rooted emotional experience. ... patient and therapist ... working together to help the patient access, deepen, regulate, and work through emotional experiences until their adaptive action tendencies can be released. Instead of feeling disrupted and overwhelmed by emotions, the patient, aliveness enhanced, feels stronger and more resilient."  
Meditators intentionally accept the physical feel of emotions, either generating curiosity & leaning in towards it and using it as the object of meditation ('physical processing'); or if its too aversive, letting the physical feel be for now, returning to the primary object of meditation ('touch-and-go').
     In AEDP "State 3 - core state, the patient has a subjective sense of 'truth' and a heightened sense of authenticity and vitality; very often, so does the therapist. As in state 2, defenses or anxiety are absent in the core state. But whereas the turbulence of intense emotions defines state 2, calm, clarity, and centeredness prevail in state 3. Work with core state phenomena culminates in the assertion of personal truth and strengthening of the individual’s core identity and sense of (true) self. In core state, AEDP joins with spiritual traditions and traditions of mindfulness."  
Meditators mercifully do encounter periods of effortlessness & joy during practice. This is usually temporary, though the trajectory is toward a state that is progressively less dependent on the constantly changing, & largely uncontrollable, external circumstances. "When all the layers of false identity have been stripped off, there is no longer any version of that old self. What is left behind is pure consciousness (rigpa). That is our original being. That is our true identity."  Anam Thubten


       Diana Fosha. "Quantum Transformation in Trauma and Treatment: Traversing the Crisis of Healing Change." J Clin Psychol: In Session 2006; 62: 569–583. 
       AEDP overview with Diana Fosha: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HasX4sW3mRw

Courtesy of Buddha Doodles www.BuddhaDoodles.shop

#738 Mindfulness in Context

     "Mindfulness is the ‘heart’ of the Buddha’s teachings and is the core of, and namesake to, a class of intervention aimed at alleviating common forms of suffering—Mindfulness-Based Interventions (MBI’s; originally, Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction [MBSR]; later Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy [MBCT]; and other related programmes). 

     Among Buddhist scholars and Western scientists, both separately and communally, there is a lack of agreement about the specific definition of mindfulness. However, a common basis of understanding exists among Buddhist scholars, although interpretations and descriptions of mindfulness range in emphasis. Some, for example, accentuate aspects of attention, whereas others more explicitly acknowledge the complex and dynamic interplay of numerous factors including the cognitive, emotional, social and ethical.

     Mindfulness within Western psychology is generally assumed to reflect the Buddhist construct. However, definitions of the term vary greatly from that of a simple therapeutic or experiential technique to a multi-faceted activity, which requires practice and refinement. Certainly, a more elaborated definition appears to have greater support from contemplative texts, modern explanations of consciousness, and the functioning of the nervous system.       
     When attempts are made to integrate its traditional roots with modern theories of consciousness and psychological function, mindfulness is also promoted in the West as part of a broad set of practices embedded in a transitional path away from ordinary modes of everyday functioning. It is within the context of this transitional path, which includes affective, behavioural, cognitive, ethical, social and other dimensions, that mindfulness is believed to contribute to the promotion of wellbeing and amelioration of suffering. Given this contextual complexity, it may be difficult, if not impossible, to separate mindfulness from the other components woven together into the fabric of this transitional path.

     Conventional scientific methods may not easily lend themselves to a refined exploration of mindfulness. As Christopher & Gilbert wrote, based on the writings of the Thai monk and teacher Buddhadasa Bhikkhu: ‘Western psychology mandates that constructs must be explicated and operationalized to be accurately assessed. However, most Buddhist traditions dictate that mindfulness cannot be easily extracted and analyzed in isolation from inherently interrelated concepts.’ If this is true, scientists need to embrace new approaches for studying mindfulness, and merely linear, additive models that sum putative markers related to mindfulness will not suffice. Thus, attempts to delineate discrete components of mindfulness are not likely capture the inherent interrelationships mentioned by Christopher & Gilbert, seen as synergistic and mutually reinforcing."

        Grossman P, Van Dam NT. “Mindfulness, by any other name: trials and tribulations of sati in western psychology and science.” Contemp Buddhism 2011; 12(1): 219–239. doi: 10.1080/14639947.2011.564841


#737 Prolific Conceptualisation

     Most of us are well aware of our tendency to "go off on a tangent", while thinking, speaking, or looking something up on the internet. We start off on one specific topic, and before we know it, quite unintentionally, we're way, way off on a totally unrelated topic and may not even remember what we started with. Especially problematic forms of "thought proliferation" play central roles in depression (wallowing) and anxiety (catastrophization). But since we all seem to do "normal" thought proliferation, we mistakenly assume that it's harmless. 

     Buddhist psychology considers our tendency to spin off into the past, future, or sideways - away from present-moment reality - a central cause of suffering.
     "The vicious proliferating tendency of the worldling's consciousness weaves for him a labyrinthine network of concepts connecting the three periods of time through processes of recognition, retrospection and speculation. The tangled maze with its apparent objectivity entices the worldling and ultimately obsesses and overwhelms him."
     Bhikkhu Kantukurunde Nanananda. "Concept and Reality in Early Buddhist Thought. An Essay on Papanca and Papanca-Sanna-Sankha." Buddhist Publication Society, 1971. www.seeingthroughthenet.net

     In meditation practice we clearly see when we're overthinking things, we let thoughts go, and remain continuously grounded in reality, directly experiencing (without words & concepts interposed) moment-by-moment, the ever-changing present moment.

Some activities hold our complete attention!

#736 Words, Concepts, Definitions ... Limits of Language

     When we directly engage with reality, there is wonder, gratitude, silence, stillness, timelessness, peace, and joy. We all know & love this as an aspect of consciousness, yet don't experience it nearly often enough. And when we do experience it, we may inadvertently start talking to ourselves or to others to describe it, to "capture it" in words - which immediately ends the transcendent experience. Words can indeed get in the way!
     Though we crank out far too many words (rather than listening attentively), we do sometimes need to say something. Here's an interesting discussion about the great difficulty of capturing complex, important concepts (such as wisdom) using words, word-based concepts & definitions:

     "Philosophers have debated definitional issues for centuries, and even today lament that, in the words of the Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 'The problems of definition are constantly recurring ... no problems of knowledge are less settled than those of definition ...' In fact the French philosopher Jacques Derrida argued that 'nearly every term is an aporia' (an irreducible puzzle) that 'admits of no settled solution or clear resolution.'
     Eastern philosophies agree. One of the central themes of Buddhist Madhyamika philosophy is that all phenomena are shunyata: a difficult term to translate, but implying that all phenomena are inherently transconceptual. Likewise Radhakrishnan, one of India’s greatest philosophers and also its second president, pointed to 'the inadequacy of all intellectual categories ...” Lao Tzu, the founder of Taoism, put it poetically:

          Existence is beyond the power of words to define:
          Terms may be used but none of them are absolute.

     So defining wisdom, or anything else for that matter, turns out to be a deep linguistic challenge. We cannot expect absolute certainty or agreement from our terms nor from our definitions. However, we can try to use them carefully and skillfully, remembering that, as the philosopher Huston Smith put it, 'all human thought proceeds from words. As long as words are askew, thought cannot be straight.' "
       Roger Walsh. "What is Wisdom? Cross-cultural and Cross-disciplinary Synthesis." Review of General Psychology 19(3); 278-293: 2015.

Pinterest

 

#735 Open Awareness Meditation Instruction

     "... throw out the thought 'I am meditating' and just be awake, with no trying, no agenda, no ideas, even about what it should look like or feel like or where your attention should be alighting … to simply be awake to what is in this very moment without adornment or commentary.
     Such wakefulness is not so easy to taste at first unless you are really in your beginner’s mind, but it is an important dimension of meditation to know about from the very beginning, even if the experience of such open, spacious, choice-free awareness feels elusive in any particular moment. 
     Because we need to get simpler, not more complicated, it is hard for us at first to get out of our own way enough to taste this totally available sense of non-doing, of simply resting in being with no agenda, but fully awake." 
       Jon Kabat-Zinn https://www.eomega.org/article/take-a-stand-in-your-life-by-sitting-down-to-meditate?source=ePromo.OM.FM 

Deep Contemplation

#734 Mindfulness Components

     Using words to express the extremely complex, constantly evolving, direct experience of Mindfulness is not possible, yet has to be attempted (as an "operational definition"), when studying it scientifically.

     Below, a few scientific snapshots of Mindfulness from the paper by Anka A. Vujanovic et al. "Mindfulness in the Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Among Military Veterans." Professional Psychology: Research and Practice 2011; 42(1): 24-31. DOI: 10.1037/a0022272

Definition:
     Mindfulness is about bringing an attitude of curiosity and compassion to present experience.

What Is Mindfulness?
      Mindfulness is most commonly conceptualized as involving two key components: 

     (1) intentional regulation of attention to and awareness of the present moment, and 

     (2) nonjudgmental acceptance of the ongoing flow of sensations, thoughts, and/or emotional states. 

     Awareness is cultivated through intentional regulation of attention to present experience. While attending to the present, mindfulness also entails a stance of acceptance, or willingness to experience the array of one’s thoughts and emotions without judgment. Awareness of one’s present-centered experience might be considered a necessary first step toward nonjudgmental acceptance of that experience.