Image via Wikipedia
Tonight’s post is our first Meditation Q & A:
Marty wrote, telling us about an uncomfortable experience at a Zen Center where it doesn’t seem like he felt heard. He also asked about introducing mindfulness to someone who is struggling with PTSD. I thought this was a great post because mindfulness is being used quite often for people living with chronic illness such as PTSD, migraines, stress-related illnesses, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Disease, etc.
Here is my answer to his question:
First off, I am so sorry that you had the experience that you did at the Zen Center. I tried to sit with one when I lived out west for a short time and did not find that it was a good fit for me.
When I moved to the Midwest, I found a lovely sangha in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh and they were incredibly welcoming. I think each center/group/sangha will have a different feel and you just have to find the right one.
I think that your post raises some interesting ideas for me… there is a difference, at least for me, between mindfulness as way of life or spiritual practice and the use of mindfulness as a tool for relaxation, helping with mental health issues, etc.
Some would I am sure beg to differ with me. But as teachers like Jon Kabat-Zinn have shown, you don’t have to have Buddhism in your mindfulness, only mindfulness.
That being said, to answer your question about introducing mindfulness to someone who hasn’t practiced. . . my comment is this, share resources with them. Share your experience and how it has helped you. After that, it’s up to that person. I don’t think everyone has to live a Zen life to practice mindfulness.
If that was the case, there would be a lot of Cognitive Behavioral therapists that would not have practices because they are teaching the technique of mindfulness and not the spiritual practice. . . some people might not practice insight meditation but could benefit from something like Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction programs (see UMASS).
Our good friends at Wikipedia mention this: “Mindfulness practice, inherited from the Buddhist tradition, is increasingly being employed in Western psychology to alleviate a variety of mental and physical conditions, including obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety, and in the prevention of relapse in depression and drug addiction”. Notice that they say inherited from rather than the actual practice. . .
There are a lot of books out there on using mindfulness solely for relaxation or helping with things like depression, OCD, anxiety, etc. Even Jon Kabat-Zinn helped to co-author a book called The Mindful Way through Depression: Freeing Yourself from Chronic Unhappiness with Mark Williams, John Teasdale, and Zindel Segal.
I guess my suggestion to you would be to share resources like this with the person whom you have in mind. If they are interested, they will pursue it and know that you are a resource person for them. We can’t make a person find a spiritual way of life.
Look at AA, they have suggested for decades that people seek a higher power but they don’t define what that is and I think if they had insisted on what that might be, the program would have been as successful.
Also, my suggestion would be that this is a good time to practice letting go of outcomes. Share with your friend and wish the situation well, maybe sending some lovingkindness into the situation. Let this person find his/her way as it will most likely mean more. Be patient and remember that we can’t walk another’s path for them.
I hope that helps Marty. I appreciate your openness and your desire to help others as you share wonderful information about PTSD and how to live with the diagnosis.
Take gentle care,
Jennifer
Related articles
- Mindful Eating Goes “Mainstream” (namasteconsultinginc.com)
- How should you start if you want to try mindfulness meditation? (beyondmeds.com)
- Jon Kabat-Zinn to Speak in Berkeley Feb. 17 to Benefit Our Colleagues Mindful Schools (ucsdcfm.wordpress.com)
- Even 5 Minutes of Meditation Can Change the Way You Work (intentionalworkplace.com)
- Jon Kabat-Zinn on Mindfulness (mindfulplaying.wordpress.com)
- Week 3: Still Sitting (imperfecthappiness.wordpress.com)
In Vipassana meditation as it is taught in India, the psychosomatic benefits that accrue are to be treated as side benefits. Practicing insight meditation, which is what Vipassana mean, is to observe what is. The idea is that by observing without passing judgment on what it is the thought/feeling/sensation dissipates, increasingly taking the meditator to levels of calm, peace and equanimity.
I wonder if by treating the meditation technique as a tool to achieve a goal, it would serve the purpose which meditation is meant to provide.
Great question. I think, like in good therapy or good education, we need to meet a person where they are at. I think if a person can benefit at all, then it is worth it for them to practice to help them lead more healthy lives.
And we never know what will happen. Some people will may begin to practice and realize that they need to go deeper or in a different direction and may adopt meditation as a spiritual practice. I think we need to support them in which ever way they take up the path.
Thanks Jenifer, may I recommend two books that have helped me.
The first is Buddhas Brain by Rick Hanson. He took a Buddhists practice and examined it as a scientific experiment. he used functional MRI’s to document the mindfulness way. It documents how we construct our ego of past memories woven together to create a narrative we use.
he explains how to change and influence the mind and bring our true self out to play. This is a game changer, Rickmexplains what and how meditation effects the mind/brain.
Themother is Focused and Fearless by Shalia Catherine. She has sat for seven accumulative years in silent retreat, some in the Thailand jungles on a platform for three month periods.
Her insight into feelings and emotions taught me to let them flow on through and enjoy all our emotions because we all possess the same emotions. Why be embarrassed at something we all sure. Very soulful woman.
Marty
Thank you for those offerings Marty.
I suggested Hanson’s book to someone I know who has no interest in a spiritual life but definitely has an interest in science and in living a better life. I think writers like Hanson and Kabat-Zinn are great bridges and can be interpreters for those who don’t have an interest in Buddhism or spirituality.
As for the other book, I am not familiar with it so that you for the resource.
Metta, Jennifer
rimysmusings, may I pose a question. I understand you rinsight and have practiced for four years in a Soto Zen Buddhist Tradition, similar to your sect.
Why do you label changes in the brain and mind, psychosomatic or side benefits?
Are these judgments part of your practice? Who says you have the purpose the only purpose for meditation, mindfulness or any hybrid?
How do you know that meditation is meant only for your intended purposes.
also, wonder why your meditation techniques take decades to even be a seasoned meditator.
Could someone else come up with a model for the breath that transports you to an empty state of no thought. Could there be a way of applying this silence to heal and know our inner world or is your way the only way.
do you think that a breathing track changes the breath or could not be applied to help eliminate thoughts in our meditation?
Buddhas Brain details exactly what I am speaking of and detail that the brain grows and is plastic. We can reprogram it similar to our true self.
Who am I is solved through science and studies with functional MRI’s. We constructed our ego from past memories woven together into a story. We now know that meditation or reaching a space of emptiness builds the size and depth of the connection between hemispheres. We touch a little equanimity every time we sit.
the science of the mind is here for all of us and no one owns how to,practice or what is correct or not.
I love that Vipassna mediation teaches, as you say, observing without passing judgment, as I think you just did to me.
I have no judgment of you but will defend my way of practice.
I am sorry if my comment has offended you. I have simply stated what is taught here without passing any kind of judgement on what is taught elsewhere. Just to reassure myself, I have gone back to my comment and find that I have not said that the system here is better or worse or any such comparison. I label the changes as psychosomatic because, in modern medical terms, that is what they are. My last paragraph, wondering is a rhetorical question and not meant to offend you. It is for me to learn from any answers to that question.
Thanks for your reply. I am hoping that something was lost in translation somewhere and there was just a misunderstanding.
I thought you had a great question and I think Marty shared a great resource in Hanson’s book (as I don’t know the other book, I can’t say anything about it).
Suffice it to say that computer/online communication is not any easier than in person and can often be more difficult.
It was maybe a good lesson for me as this blog takes off.
My best to everyone involved.
Jennifer
I think you both highlight the original point of my response… none of us will follow the same path for the same reasons or in the same way.
I think we need to share information with people who may have an interest and then let go of the outcome of how a person decides to live their way.
Marty, I am sorry that you feel like you have to defend your practices. My hope is that the questions about Vipassana were to raise a philosophical question about practice as practice verses practice as a means to an end.
I appreciate the passion behind the comments posted and appreciate that we can have an empassioned compassionate discussion.
[...] Mindfulness Meditation Q & A (namasteconsultinginc.com) [...]
[...] Mindfulness Meditation Q & A (namasteconsultinginc.com) [...]
[...] Mindfulness Meditation Q & A (namasteconsultinginc.com) [...]
[...] Mindfulness Meditation Q & A (namasteconsultinginc.com) [...]