Turing Writing

I’m not sure this is the answer you’re looking for, my ‘area of expertise’ is completely unrelated to my current profession. 

In college, I studied Psychology because I’ve always had an interest in the ‘Hard-Problem of Consciousness’, as David Chalmers puts it. How and why are ‘we’ conscious, and what are ‘we’ really?

While modern Psychology has come a long way in understanding, diagnosing, and treating different aspects of the human personality, it doesn’t that fundamental concept of *causality*. 

For that I began to study different religions and schools of philosophy, eventually getting hooked on some of the concepts associated with eastern thought. 

The core practice for cultivating greater self-awareness in most world religions is that of meditation. Now, the word ‘meditation’ is a bit like the word ‘sports’, with more versions and variations than I can write about within the 500 word limit, but here in the West the most well-known and practiced flavor is what’s known as ‘mindfulness’. 

I’ve always been a fan of things that can be scientifically tested, and mindfulness-based meditation practices have been subject to more and more peer-reviewed studies in the past few years. I’m sure you’ve heard of the benefits: Mindfulness has been shown to provide greater focus, lower anxiety, reduce depression – even going to so far to have physiological benefits in lower blood pressure. 

Mindfulness has made its way into the mainstream Western vocabulary, and it seems to be here to stay. What most people in the West aren’t aware of is that while meditation can provide some great benefits, it has a potential dark side. 

Central to Buddhist thought is the concept of ‘No-Self’. Basically, it says that ‘we’ don’t exist as a separate, individual ‘self’. We perceive ourselves to be separate because of the workings of the mind and senses, but if one goes into some of the deeper states of meditation, it’s possible to have a pure experience of consciousness, where the individual self doesn’t exist. 

Often when people reach this state, they go through what St. John of the Cross referred to as the “Dark Night of the Soul”. Instead of feeling more open and connected, people become reserved and depressed. Life seems pointless, and some even go so far as having a psychological break, requiring hospitalization. 

Fortunately like all things, this is just a state. If one perseveres with their practice, they will eventually come through other side of the dark night, and emerge with a newfound openness and appreciation for life.

Meditation has been a huge benefit to me in my personal life, and I tend to agree with ABCNews correspondent Dan Harris that it might be at the core of the next health revolution, but people should know that while there are outstanding benefits, it’s not all ‘namaste’’s and rainbows! Too much of anything can be unhealthy, and if someone is determined enough to reach the deeper levels of meditation, they might get a little more than they were originally looking for.