Preface
In a recent online workshop as part of a larger topic, E.J. Gold mentioned that there are many different types of meditation. This should not have come as a surprise. When presented with the notion, it is obviously true. Of course there are many different types of meditation. Thing is, until this invisible elephant is brought to light it is all too easy to fall into the trap of treating all meditation as the same.
Well, of course they are not.
Different meditation forms can have different methods – obvious enough.
And, different meditation forms can have different goals and results – hmmm, now this is interesting to mull over once or twice.
Contrary to what this foreword may be suggesting, this article is not about the variety of meditation types. Nor is it about different possible goals and results.
I just thought it would be useful for the reader to be notified that not all meditation is the same and that, in fact, different forms of meditation can have quite different goals and aims.
This article will address one specific form of meditation – Cognitive Mindful Meditation.
And, in case you aren’t familiar with my style, you might as well be forewarned that while I will do my best to describe the background and methods of Cognitive Mindful Meditation (CM2) precious little will be said about its goals or results.
I leave it to the adventurous reader to experiment with the CM2 method and draw from their own experience.
Unnecessary Background
Now that’s an odd section title. Why would I call this introductory material “Unnecessary Background”? Well, because it is not strictly speaking necessary – at least not necessary for the successful practice of this meditation form. Feel free to jump ahead to the “The CM2 Methods”.
In case you are wondering why I have included this introductory material, I’ll confess that it is mostly a journalistic notation of what the heck I was thinking during the formative process of assembling the CM2 methods. So on with it.
Cognitive Mindful Meditation (CM2) is a method of enhanced meditation using the process of present time cognitive involvement.
CM2 utilizes meditation techniques which are ancient in origin. The science paper jibber-jabber covering the cognitive science and neurology behind the process is new. Merging the ancient and the new we’ve recast the CM2 techniques in the light of modern developments.
Normally we do not directly experience the world – We experience a stored shadow of the world.
We like to think that in the present we are seeing, hearing, smelling, and sensing the environment through direct present-time experience. But, that is not the case. No matter how present our experience is, everything which we “experience” is a 3D tactile hallucination encoded in our brains through the magic of receptors and bio-chemistry.
When we experience the present we are going to the chemical storage vats in our brain and extracting images, sounds, smells, and more through the process of interpretation of the bio-chemical data found in those storage vats. Admittedly very special storage vats – but chemical storage vats none the less.
Normally one could brush this off as a non-significant detail. We are still experiencing the present – are we not – whether from direct data acquisition or interpretation of chemical data found in neural storage vats? The answer is found in the simple observation that there is emphatically not a one-to-one mapping of the real world and the data stored in the chemical vats.
This lack of a one-to-one relationship has two major causes. The first mechanism is the receptors – they simply do not respond to all possible input.
We don’t get all the messages the environment is sending.
Take the eyes for example. The chemistry of the retina simply does not respond to any below near infrared, nor to anything above close ultra violet. That means that some people can see a little bit into the infrared and some people can see into the ultra violet just a little. However, anything more than that is totally invisible to us be the light frequencies are either too low or too high to interact with the biochemistry of the retina. That means we can see only a small sliver of the full electromagnetic spectrum. Hence, no possibility of a complete one-to-one sensing through vision.
Now how about the ears? Same problem. We can hear below a certain frequency, nor above a certain frequency. The commonly stated range of human hearing is 20 Hz to 20 kHz. So any sound below 20 Hz is not perceived. Any any sound with a frequency above 20,000 Hz (or 20 kHz) is too high pitched to hear. Because of the sensing limitations of the ears we only perceive a limited portion of all the sound that is there.
Each of our other senses have the same issues with perception. They only detect a portion the environment data that is there. We do not see, hear, smell, feel, or taste the whole story. And, don’t even get me started on the fact that the five senses we have are only a small portion of the possible senses we could have. Yes, there are other possibilities. What about magnetic fields? Electrical charge? The list could go on.
That means there is data which could be an existing part of the environment that is not encoded in the brain.
So even before the environment data gets to the brain we are missing chunks.
The second mechanism giving rise to the lack of a one-to-one relationship between the world and our perception of it is simple put: our brains monkey with whatever data makes it in.
What happens when the data gets to the brain?
Do we process it all? Do we keep it all? Do we store it all? Is it left unaltered?
Long story slightly shorter: the mechanism that accepts, records, and stores environmental impressions into the chemical storage vats of the brain is wiggly, squishy, inaccurate, and fickle.
What? Why would the environmental data be mucked about with?
The mechanism we use to experience the world has been mutated by evolution, individual genetics, and our prior experience. This is both a good thing and a bad thing. Good from the perspective of biological survival. Bad from the perspective of experiencing the present as it is.
Your senses and brain modify environmental data transforming the raw data in an effort to optimize survival – with the idea in mind that survival is better served by faster responses than exactitude. So what if you don’t see the lion in its full glory? Just so long as you jump fast enough to avoid becoming the lion’s dinner.
The brain and its mechanisms have developed ways of presenting data so that the essential nature of the message gets across. So what if this is at the expense of exactitude.
Wonder if it matters that these shortcuts and corner cutting tricks were developed long ago in an environment that is nothing like the one we live in today?
Now a little more about a CM2 Session
There are two major processes in play during a CM2 session: recall and communication.
Recall is the process of accessing the world data found in bio-chemical bio-electric storage vats of the brain.
Why is this called recall if we are discussing our experience of the present? Because we do not strictly speaking experience the present. Our experience of the world is about ½ a second behind the present. It takes that much time for all the filtering and pre-storage processing to occur prior to update of the storage vats. We then draw from these storage vats to see the present. Not unlike watching a recording.
Basically we experience the world by recalling it as it is recorded.
Communication is everything that happens with the world data to bring it to our awareness.
Our experience is two step: 1) the world data is grabbed from the brain’s storage vats, 2) this world data is parsed and presented to ourselves. We are calling step 1 “recall” and step 2 “communication”.
Why do we make this distinction? Because it helps to highlight the fact that the world data is being brought forth from storage (rather than being directly fed into our cognitive processing. And, it helps to highlight the fact that this pre-filtered, pre-processed stored data is further processed and messed with once again just prior to our experience.
Introduction to the Method of Cognitive Mindful Meditation
The method of Cognitive Mindful Meditation is a set of guiding directives.
These guiding directives are suggestions of alternate perspectives through which to view the present event. These guiding directives work to create both a focus and dynamic ebb and flow. More about this later.
CM2 can be experienced solo, in a coached session, or as a group. All three are recommended – but not at the same time :)
In a coached session, the coach functions as the “observer” and the meditant (meditator) is the “witness”.
In solo meditation the individual is both the witness and the observer.
In a group CM2 session, each individual is a witness and the group members become observers for each other.
The observer operates in the Heisenberg realm. Subtly guiding the witness’s recall processes, accompanying them, suggesting strategies of scanning the present.
The observer: should create appropriate conditions to help the witness feel as comfortable and secure as possible.
Rapport and compassion are best. Judgmental, dismissive attitudes not so good.
While emotions may be present during a meditation session they are not the focus. Without being dismissive they should be relegated to the background – present but not central to the process. This can be accomplished by choosing to not zoom in on emotions.
All things being equal. All details are of equal importance, regardless of their apparent significance. Seek a free, complete awareness of the present, including information which may seem insignificant.
Be natural.
Manifest a friendly and supportive atmosphere.
Appreciate your efforts without attempting to measure progress.
Allow breaks.
Be patience.
The Methods of Cognitive Mindful Meditation
The CM2 methods are divided into three areas or phases.
- Ambiance
- Perspectives
- 3Ts
Ambiance
While walking, sitting, working, or even sitting in an official meditation posture, make note of the following elements of your environment. This list is a partial list provided to give you a starting point and example of the types of environmental elements you should attend to.
- Temperature
- Air flow (breeze, stillness, wind, …)
- Humidity
- Light quality (bright, dim, muted, …)
- Shadows
- Movement (sway of trees, stillness of books, ebb and flow of waves, …)
- Sounds
- Thrum
- Pressure
- Charge (electrical ions in the atmosphere)
- Color palette
- Mood
- Depth of field
- Size of space
Perspectives
Glimpse yourself from the perspective of other elements in space.
Randomly select an element in the space and catch a glimpse of where you are from that element’s perspective.
For example, select the lamp shade, see yourself south west and to the side – as the lamp shade would see you. Or perhaps, select your shadow on the ground. See yourself looming above and to the east looking down – as the shadow would perceive you.
3Ts
Reference elements in the environmental space and assess all three of the following (without touching the element):
- Temperature
- Texture
- Tonnage
For example you might select CD case sitting on the table. Notice the neutral temperature of the case, feel the smooth plastic surface and take note of the one ounce or less weight.
Or, select the dinner knife to the side of the plate. Note the cool temperature of the metal, the smooth surface of the knife side and the rough texture of the edge. Feel the weight of the knife.
Don’t actually pick up the item to determine access the 3Ts. No one is grading you, so don’t worry about getting it right or wrong. Getting uptight about the correctness of your assessment of temperature, texture, and tonnage (weight) is not conducive to a good meditation session. :)
Suggestions for Practice:
I found it useful to work with just “Ambiance” for about a week before incorporating the “Perspectives” aspect into my meditation. I then worked with these two elements together for about a week before incorporating the 3Ts into my practice. Since then I have worked with all three elements within each practice session.
I have found that the relative involvement with “Perspectives” and “3Ts” changes from session to session. The “Ambiance” aspect is a ubiquitous element that helps ground and power the meditation – for me at least. Your mileage may vary.
Questions:
“What will the CM2 Method do for me?” We will not know the answer of what the CM2 Method will do for you until you’ve done it – and assessed this for yourself.
If the CM2 Method seems totally ridiculous when you first try it, well, just dump the idea of doing it. However, if you do begin the process of CM2, I would suggest you give it a month – or at last three weeks. This way you can go through the phase at a time process (suggested above) and still be able to experience all three aspects of the method. Of course you are free to quit at any time. Don’t get all superstitious about possible effects of quitting. We’re just suggesting you give it a fair trial if you decide to try it. If through you are totally turned off after one session, then run away and don’t worry about it.
Some Notes:
Yes, tonnage is an odd word. Weight might have been more a more common word.. But, I find the 3Ts a valuable mnemonic for remembering the method.
There is no predefined pattern of which elements in the environment to select. Nor, is there a predefined frequency for how often to select elements in the environment. This is true for both the “Perspective” and the “3Ts” portion of the method.
The suggested aspects listed under “Ambiance” are not numbered or put into any order. This is because none are more or less important than another. You don’t need to notice all aspects. And there is not a sequence required for noticing them.