Ole Gjems-Onstad
Escaping the Silence Resistance as a Resource in Acem Meditation
The resistance and the restlessness Accepting, not excluding It is not a threat, but a possibility Something that we have not met in an adequate manner Reflects a friction that represents a frontline A movement Or a possibility to do something in a different way
Pedagogical objective: How to better understand and tackle the resistance in Acem meditation
Resistance <Anything that makes the meditation difficult Not anxiety, irritation, lack of sleep, bodily agitation due to exercise Results of Acem Meditation Relaxation Actualization - resistances Silence Not always conscious «Good» Relaxation Actualization Aspects of the personality manifest themselves during the meditation Resistance Disturbances provoked by the process of meditation
Slow meditation Physiological causes Intense bodily activity Alcohol in the blood At a party until 5 AM before a long meditaion What kind of ambivalence does this kind of choice reflect?
Residues without solution Express opposite forces Interference or disturbance Bodily pains Restlessness Fear Unpleasant and disturbing thoughts Emotions Images Physical movements In every daily meditation not only relaxation, but frictions
Which of them are connected with evasiveness or avoiding? «All of them!»
Avoiding Being your own enemy What in world literatura relates to the subject of avoiding or evasiveness?
To be or not to be Shakespeare: Hamlet Evade or not evade Walk aroundd Ibsen: Peer Gynt
Restlessness Undifferentiated expression Beginners and advanced meditatorsd Life as a losing game You never get used to it!"
From the body As emotions As fragments - thoughts Integration: Translate the bodily symptoms into themes of one s life
Not like Descartes The body is part of the process The body manifests itself in one s consciousness The mind manifests itself in one s body
Negative loop - restless lifestyle with a hunger for stimuli Modern mass media may reinforce this hunger for intense stimuli
The play where nothing happens twice!
How can I pass the day? Winnie in Happy Days
Attitude in meditation- not give in, but explore and expand one s borders Most important is not to think, but to act, in a different way
Godot God Gott Dias felices Happy Days Exgerating what others may mean to us
Jon Fosse: Somebody is coming Morning and Evening
Resignation Repetitions No active protagonist
Daniel Kahnemann: Thinking Fast and Thinking Slow Carl Honoré: Slow Susan Cain: Quiet Mihaly Czikszentmihalyi: Flow Nassim Nicholas Taleb: Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder No resistance like in Acem Meditation or psychoanalysis No change of personality Only of the cognitive perspective Acem: A change of perspective is a consequence of the change of the personality
Kahneman Default cognitive mode Reacting without thinking too much about it Resistance: One chooses the simplest way of doing things A simple solution that may be no solution A shortcut that does not really give the desired result Waiting for Godot Happy Days
System 1 «Instinctively», automatically, as a reflex or automatically System 2 Serious challenges or tasks Exhausting, demanding, difficult to apply Demands more attention Illustration: How to buy a basketball player
System 1 bodily rythm - automatically Together with the breathing Not applying one s sensitivity Like a routine System 2 Sensitive But: Not mobilizing or forcing oneself
More fullfilling The activities are more satisfying «if we are willing to take control of it, and cultivate it in the direction of greater complexity» Flow
Continue to repeat the sound without effort Focused, concentrated, mobilized attention V peripherical attention Not trying to push away To know and understand the resistance Needs to allow the resistance to stay Know thy resistance! Unpleasant, without any feeling of reward
Meditation habits Understanding of the process Motivation for growth and meditation Attitude towards the pedagogics and teaching of meditation Prefer to do it may way know that it is better And: May ally oneself with the resistance of one s surroundings
Retreat over some days Intensive restlessness in the meditation Feels very much abandoned His wife was the only person who ever reached him And now, the meditation Then he felt much relieved And motivated to meditate more
Nothing happens only resistance Guidance: Reflects about how hard she works Has many activities - has always wanted to be active Shameful about how difficult she finds it just to be with the kids
During some time the meditation passed without any problems Thereafte she has been more and more concerned about the sound During the guidance: Reflecting about her dail life Always very involved with her family and other relations Does not want to lose her present feeling of being in love In general: Likes to have order in her life
Miedo de perder las pensamientos en la meditación Los pensamientos eran sin esfuerza Bien cuando se encontró ocupado en algo conocido Tenía miedo de ser solo
She really dislikes to experience restlessness during her meditation Guidance: Understanding that the restlessness is part of herself, and not really caused by the meditation
When meditating on his own Does not manage more than 10 minutes Is there anything similar in your daily life? Yes, I cannot finish anyting Always start doubting myself, I shall not manage, there is no use In the meditation, may get to know better the self-doubts without having to terminate what he is studying
Other meditative traditions Buddhism The five hindrances Sensual or conscious desires Bad thoughts Agitation or overstimulation Apathy or inertia Doubt v different kinds of non-duality Christian saints of the desert Demonical thoughts
The Carmelite nunvila Seelaus on Saint Theresa: One should bear with the distractions, not try to make them go away Pray as you can, and not as you cannot These are the tests that make the dove fly higher