Sunday 11 March 2007

Pic of the day: "All things are gained through training" says the mysterious elder in the anime Kenichi - the world's strongest disciple after the girl has beat up Kenichi with a newspaper. (This quote is indeed the central message of the series, and the only worthwhile part of it, in my opinion).

Training the mind

This is the third article in a series of three. The day before yesterday I wrote about how modern consciousness feels too heavy for most common people. (It is, after all, a fairly recent development.) Yesterday I wrote about how we escape this burden by forgetting ourselves in entertainment. It may sound like I think this is a good thing, and I guess in a way I do. After all, I also write here about the various computer games I play almost every day. And as George Bernard Shaw so precisely said: "What a man believes may be ascertained, not from his creed, but from the assumptions on which he habitually acts." But entertainment is not the only way.

Of course, there are worse things than entertainment. There are drugs that very quickly remove the burden of an advanced and complex consciousness, and replace it with one much more primitive. The most common of these is alcohol, but they all tend to have adverse effects on the body, not to mention economy and relationships. While I can understand that some people are desperate enough to try this, I cannot in good conscience recommend it. "Alcohol is not a solution. Alcohol is a solvent."

There is however an alternative that I mention from time to time, one that both makes the burden lighter and the mind stronger. I am talking about meditation and similar exercises.

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I believe the beneficial effects of meditation are fairly well documented. It reduces stress and the multitude of problems that follow from stress. While it may not perform miracles, it has a positive effect on so many small details that the overall result is a longer, healthier and happier life. This is hardly disputed. The dispute is usually about which of the competing schools of meditation that is best.

Many people associate meditation with religion, especially Eastern religions. But meditation is not bound to any one religion or to religion at all. It is rather the other way around, that religion recommends a healthy life, as well it should. It is certainly possible to meditate without touching religion in any way. Already years ago I wrote a small article on meditation, with particular focus on this.

Let me add today, meditation is not the only way. There are also other exercises in mindfulness. Indeed, any simple task can be used for such an exercise. You could for that matter build mindfulness while doing the dishes. It is quite simple (but not easy). Begin with a task that you know well, that you normally do without thinking. Of course, the thing is that you do think while doing it, you just think about something else. Don't do that, this is the exercise. Don't plan for the future or recall the past until after you've finished with the dishes (or whatever). Don't daydream, don't worry. Don't look around, but let your eyes guide your mind to the task at hand. Don't try to do it any differently, just quietly observe yourself doing it. The movements of your hands, the individual dishes as they are moved around. Make no judgment, just observe in quiet. It is surprisingly difficult, but also surprisingly enjoyable. Just make sure to not get frustrated, not get angry, not get disappointed when your thoughts drift. To run around wild is the nature of untamed animals and untamed thoughts.

Again, meditation - and any exercise in mindfulness - is not a goal in itself. To do it perfectly is not the point. I am not even sure it would be a good thing, as you would probably instantly want to become a guru or something. No, the progress is rather subtle, hardly noticeable for the most part. But it makes your mind stronger.

I have likened this to many things: Defragmenting a hard disk, building a castle, bodily exercise… they are all just metaphors or parables. It is a fundamental improvement of the mind, but it is a gradual process. It is not like popping a pill. It is not even like the revelations people sometimes get that change their lives. But it is very real. Recently scientists have begun doing live scans of the brain of Buddhist monks, traditionally the group that practices meditation the most for the longest time. There are obvious differences in the way their brain functions. And unsurprisingly, it functions better.

I have already once before linked to this video of philosopher Ken Wilber demonstrating an unbelievable control over his own brain waves after many years of regular meditation. Not only does he effortlessly emulate various stages of sleep, but he even eliminates almost all the brain waves, even those active at deep sleep, so that only a tiny glow at the end of the spectrum separates him from a complete flatline, or brain death. And he remains conscious, for his values of consciousness at least, during the whole process. That's pretty disturbing, and remember: He is a highly trained professional; don't try this at home, kids. But I think it gives us a hint of just how powerful a tool we have here.

For people who go far down this road, the modern consciousness - the one that was so heavy we had to ease out of it at any opportunity - is not just easy; it is somewhat primitive compared to the higher states of consciousness available. Just like we may "fall down" to a state of drunkenness or anger or arousal where we are unable to uphold the objective, reflected consciousness… so another may experience our normal state of mind as a "fall down" from where they usually live. Or they may voluntarily step down in order to mingle with us ordinary folks, much like we may choose to get drunk for certain social occasions. (Not that I do that, but it is not uncommon.)

But even if you have no wish to explore higher states of consciousness or to transcend what we now think of as the "modern" mind, I am sure you will find some benefit in meditation. At first you may just want to do it for the beneficial effects on your health. But most likely you will continue for the new strength it lends to your mind. Please use that strength wisely.

Disclaimer: I am not an expert on meditation. I do have some practice, is all. I just want people to be able to get some experience with meditation without having to sign up for some kind of worship of many-armed deities or fall prey to glib New-Age salesmen. That, and I don't want to leave the impression that playing City of Heroes is the greatest goal to which a man can aspire! Though I guess it may seem so from some of my entries… ^_^;