Beyond the Personal–Verbal or Discursive Frame of Mind

     A "fundamental shift in consciousness from preverbal to verbal processing" occurs in young children. 

     A "second, similarly monumental transformation from the personal–verbal to transpersonal–postsymbolic processing" can potentially occur in adulthood. 

     "People at the high end of ego development (can potentially) become aware of ... the language habit. They describe how the personal–verbal or discursive frame of mind prevents them from remaining in the open, nonevaluative witnessing stance they enjoy during peak moments and altered states of consciousness.

     Briefly, the language habit has the following attributes: 

          • It constitutes a universal, all-pervasive dimension of human existence. 

          • It is innate but needs activation and modeling by expert speakers in early childhood to emerge. 

          • It is a learned behavior that becomes automatic and unconscious once acquired. 

          • It bundles the flux of sensory input and inner experience into labeled concepts shared with one’s speech community.

          • It is so deeply engrained that speakers of any given language are not aware of the reality construction imposed on them by their language. 

          • It can become a barrier to further development if it remains unconscious, automatic and unexamined.

     Thus, the determination of how high-end ego development stages fit into a full-spectrum model of consciousness depends in part on whether people can become aware of the language habit and on the possibility of postrepresentational ways of knowing."

       Cook-Greuter SR. "Mature Ego Development: A Gateway to Ego Transcendence?" Journal of Adult Development 2000; 7(4): 227-40.

Mind-Body Stillness

     "If movement (during sitting meditation) becomes a habit, you will lose the chance to deepen your meditation practice. Calmness & tranquility of mind have their foundation in stillness of the body."

       Sayadaw U Pandita. "In This Very Life. The Liberation Teachings of the Buddha." Wisdom Publications, Boston, MA, 1992.

The Corner Garage, Venice, Italy

We Sculpt Our "Self" Moment By Moment

     "In a moment of anger, whether acted out, verbalized, or merely seething unexpressed within, one trains oneself to become angrier by laying down a thin layer of angry disposition. A person so disposed to anger will more and more easily erupt in anger anew at any provocation.
     But in a moment of kindness a kindly disposition is deposited, and one becomes incrementally more disposed to kindness. 
     The attitude with which we respond to an object of experience, with anger or with kindness, will therefore not only influence the causal field outside ourselves but also progressively reshape our very character."

       Olendzki A. "Unlimiting Mind. The Radically Experiential Psychology of Buddhism." Wisdom Publications, Boston, 2010.

     Watch Olendzki's interview: http://www.tricycle.com/p/1762

Kensington Market, Toronto

 

Pause, Relax, Momentum, Life Narrative, Habit of Tensions

     “When we Pause, we step out of reaction and into the moment; when we Relax, we meet thoughts and feelings with acceptance. Accepting is to the mind what relaxing is to the body. It is how the mind relaxes. Having awakened to this moment’s experience, we rest in a quality of awareness that is accepting, yielding, nonresistive, and available. 
     Such acceptance is an inherent quality of mindfulness; it has only been obscured by the habit of tensions. Awareness that is relaxed and stable can know the present moment intimately, neither grasping nor backing away.”

       Kramer G. “Insight dialogue. The interpersonal path to freedom.” Shambhala, Boston, 2007.