Stress
is not the cause of all our ills. The cause is our inability to cope
with
changing conditions. Stress accumulates and intensifies and then we feel the
negative
results in our lives. – Swami Niranjan
We
live in times of ubiquitous stress. It
so prevalent in our lives that we fail to perceive it until the volume is
turned all the way up. Many people seem
to believe that stress is inevitable and natural, just part of the way things
are. However our stressful lifestyle is
making us sick. Chronic stress is
implicated in a myriad of psychological and physical illnesses. As Psychologist Sheldon Cohen states, "Effects
of stress on regulation of immune and inflammatory processes have the potential
to influence depression, infectious, autoimmune, and coronary artery disease,
and at least some (e.g., viral) cancers," (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071009164122.htm)
Stress
is an underlying factor in a number of our societal ills as well, such as,
violence, substance abuse, relationship problems, etc. And because these “symptoms” create more
stress it just snowballs. However we can’t
just identify stress as the underlying cause of our psychological,
physiological and sociological problems.
Stress itself is a symptom and a signal that we need to change and
adapt. It is a sign that we need to shed
old patterns of thought and behavior.
As
Peter Merry writes, “At this moment of transition, there are two options. Either we can begin to open up to what we are
perceiving, allow it in to disturb our current way of doing things and explore
what it has to teach us. Or we can try
and deny its existence and bury ourselves in the old, stable, seemingly safe way
of doing things.” Often we opt for the
second response but this is what causes us to accumulate stress. We choose to be mindless and run on
autopilot. We can use substances, food,
entertainment, sex, whatever to distract us from the signs and signals but they
will continue to be there until we are willing to make necessary changes. “When we can no longer make sense of the
world around us,” says Merry, “when we can’t find our place in it, we get sick.”
(http://www.petermerry.org/blog/books/evolutionary-leadership/)
Meditation
first came into prominence within our scientific culture when Herbert Benson
identified the “relaxation response,” which was seen as a way of countering the
“fight or flight” response of our autonomic nervous systems. It was seen as an antidote to stress. Meditation, however, has much more
significant benefits. In fact, it is a
way of cultivating our potential for deeper awareness, a way to step away from
our preconceived patterns of thought and behavior. This has been referred to as the capacity for
inner witnessing awareness, or “mindfulness.”
However we choose to describe it, it is an inner experience rather than
a concept. Here is one description from Dr.
Jonty Heaversedge and Ed Halliwell, “Mindfulness means observing things just as
they are—our thoughts, emotions, body sensations, and what’s happening in the
world around us. It shows us the world just as a mirror reflects images:
clearly, openly, and without bias. It’s what happens when the mind watches and
engages consciously with life, rather than being blindly caught up in what’s
going on.” (http://www.healyourlife.com/author-dr-jonty-heaversedge-and-ed-halliwell/2012/04/wisdom/inspiration/what-is-mindfulness)
We
might try to imagine some higher being who embodies this awareness but it is
really just us, you and me, as we are.
At the same time, it is definitely not who we think we are. In fact, when we first encounter this awareness
in meditation, or otherwise, it might seem like an alien being looking over our
shoulder. A friend of mine often reaches
back over her shoulder when describing her experience of the inner
witness. There is no other, there is no
inner guide, there is no “god,” really.
There is only just this present miracle of awareness. I will be bold here and assert that this is
IT and IT is “I”. Awakening is nothing
more than this.
This
simple “fact” of awareness though, changes everything. When we are able to disengage from our
contextual focus and open to an awareness of who we truly are, then things don’t
matter so much. At the same time we are
more open and able to help ourselves and others. It gives us space. It gives us perspective. We open to compassion. We open to unconditional love. It is important to remember to stay present
and not to space out.
Ultimately,
it seems to boil down to the ego-principal.
“Ego” is our sense of being a separate “self” apart from everything and
everyone else. This is not bad or wrong,
it is simply something which we can regard from a higher or more expansive and
inclusive perspective. It is actually
very important and very healthy to have strong interpersonal ego
boundaries. On the other hand, a
self-centered identity and value system has ceased to be a viable mode in our
global community. We simply have to see
our individual needs and desires relatively.
Is that possible?
The stress of our times is the result of our
need to let go of our self-centered ego perspectives and to move into an “aperspectival”
consciousness as identified by Jean Gebser.
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAeXdm5XGEc) Mindfulness means stepping
outside of our usual contextual awareness, stepping outside of our conditioning
and looking at everything anew. It doesn’t
mean turning our minds off or embracing stupidity. Let’s not use it for an excuse to join the “dumbing
down” of our culture. Instead we can
become truly meta-cognitive, not just thinking about thinking but reflecting
upon thinking from a wisdom perspective.
