drummond_conceptualizing the efficacy of vipassana meditation as taught by sn goenka

7/27/2019 Drummond_conceptualizing the Efficacy of Vipassana Meditation as Taught by Sn Goenka

1/18

Equinox Publishing Ltd 2006, Unit 6, The Village, 101 Amies Street, London SW11 2JW

Buddhist Studies Review 23(1) 2006, 11330 ISSN (print): 0256-2897ISSN (online): 1747-9681

Conceptualizing the Efficacy ofVipassanMeditation as Taught by S.N. Goenka1

MICHAEL S. DRUMMONDFaculty of Theology, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands

[email protected]

ABSTRACT: In the 1950s, E.T. Gendlin developed a philosophical system, published as

Experiencing and the Creation of Meaning, to explain the role of bodily feelings in cogni-

tion, and he then evolved a psychotherapy known as Focusing, based on this system.

Focusing works primarily with bodily feelings and how they relate to the thinking

processes. Gendlins work has had an important impact on the field of Psychology.

An aspect of the historicity of E.T. Gendlins work is that it has intriguing similari-

ties with how the Vipassan meditation teacher S.N. Goenka (one of the more impor-

tant personages in international Buddhism of the twentieth and early twenty-first

centuries), teaches, in line with the Pli Nikyas, that a correct understanding of af-

fective bodily feelings can lead to the dissolution of destructive emotional tenden-cies. This article uses these similarities to begin a process, from a Western academic

perspective, of conceptualizing the efficacy ofVipassan meditation, as taught by S.N.

Goenka, in dissolving harmful emotional habits. This will be done by comparing how

S.N. Goenka and E.T. Gendlin understand the operative factors in personality change.

INTRODUCTION

It is only since the mid-1970s that applied psychological research has given birth

to what is generally termed the psychology of emotion. An important exampleof this was the work of Paul Ekman (Ekman & Friesen, 1975) that established theactuality of basic emotions shared across culture and geography. By the early1980s, psychologists had shown that, when considering mental health, it is at thelevel of emotion that sense perception undergoes its first full evaluation (Frijda,1986: passim; Zajonk, 1980: 15175). However, some twenty years prior to this,in the 1950s, certain psychologists ascertained that the systematic examinationof emotions and their related bodily feelings was necessary in attaining men-tal health (e.g. Fritz Pearls of Gestalt Therapy, or Carl Rogers as referred to in

Gendlin, 1962/1997: passim).

1. This article, as a comparison of certain critical methods used by E.T. Gendlin and S.N. Goenka,shares this central structure with Drummond (2006). Aside from this common feature, it hasbeen extensively restructured, and has different findings and conclusions.


2/18

Equinox Publishing Ltd 2006

114 BUDDHIST STUDIES REVIEW

Amongst these pioneers was E.T. Gendlin, who had a privileged position in theformative period of Humanistic Psychology through his work under Carl Rogers,wherein he developed the Focusing technique, which can be technically termed

Experiential Psychotherapy: a therapy that, in short, works with the experi-ence of feelings in the body.2 The intellectual and practical thrust of ExperientialPsychotherapy boils down in large part to emotional intelligence, and it is nowaccepted in applied psychological research, including in Cognitive Psychology,that the human condition requires, for a healthy mental life, that emotionsbe given as much consideration as the thinking processes. This then gives aprominent role to the therapeutic experience of bodily feelings in ExperientialPsychotherapy and the development of emotional intelligence, as bodily feelingsare seen as the affective root of emotion.

These developments in the West, concerning emotion and bodily feelings,mirror the Buddhist meditation method of the mindful observation of feelingsand key aspects of Nikyan psychology, which has been of wide influence in Asia.The article takes the work of the Vipassan meditation master S.N. Goenka as theprototypical example of the observation of bodily feelings in the twentieth andearly twenty-first centuries. Chronologically, Goenka and his teacher, Sayagyi UBa Khin, began their teaching ofVipassanat about the same time as the devel-opment of Humanistic Psychology as a school of Psychology.

PART 1: FROM AFFECT TO EMOTION IN DEPENDENT ORIGINATION

Nyanaponika Thera has rightly noted that Buddhist psychology does not see thethree tones ofvedan pleasant, unpleasant and neutral as being emotion(Nyanaponika, 1983: 7). Rather these tones, as affect, play a key role in determin-ing the more complex manifestation of emotion.3 This process is mapped out inthe 12-factored model of Dependent Origination from factor 5, the six sense base(sayatana) through to factor 9, grasping (updna). The soteriological impor-

tance of the affective qualities ofvedan is highlighted by its inclusion in theSatipahna Sutta under the rubric vedannupassan. Nevertheless, the Nikyasdo not give much technical detail about vedan,nor the other components of thefive aggregates.4 In the form ofvedan, one of the three tones will arise as the sev-

2. For details, see www.focusing.org/gendlin_existentialism.html (31 March 2006).3. The Suttas distinguish between mental and physical vedan(SN V 209), the physical being sim-

ply the pleasure and pain felt due to the stimulation of the tactile sense organ, the surface of thebody (though also including neutral vedans directly arising from the stimulation of the other

four senses). I employ here the more common division ofvedan into three, without referenceto whether they arise due to stimulation of a physical organ or the mind. I assume that mentalvedan can be referred to both bysukh vedan, dukkh vedanand adukkhamasukh vedan whenvedans are divided into only three types, and bysomanassa, domanassa and upekkhwhen theyare divided into five, as at SN V 209.

4. Hamilton (1996: xxix), mentions the brevity of details about thefive aggregates (paca khandha),


3/18


115DRUMMOND CONCEPTUALIZING THE EFFICACY OF VIPASSAN MEDITATION

enth factor in Dependent Origination, once conditioned by contact (phassa) witha given sense object.5 Contact, as the sixth factor of Dependent Origination, is thebasic experience of sense perception.

It is explained at MN I 303 that vedanacts as a conduit for the arising of theunderlying tendencies (anusayas) towards attachment (rgnusayo), aversion(paighnusayo) and ignorance (avijjnusayo).6 Perhaps an important reason thatthesuttas asserts that vedan is the immediate condition for the arising of attach-ment, is the experience, in meditation, of pleasant feeling arising followed by amovement (anusaya) towards attachment, aversion or ignorance. MN III 285 men-tions that, When one is touched by a pleasant feeling, if one delights in it, welcomesit, and remains holding to it, then the underlying tendency to lust [rgnusayo] lieswithin one (translation by amoli & Bodhi, 1995). Based onsutta statements

like this, Waldron (2003: 34) notes that the underlying tendencies are bridge orlink between the arisen vedan and craving (tah- close to rga in meaning) andgrasping. A possible conceptualization of the function of an anusaya might be asfollows. When walking in a school, one sees many coffee cups on a table in an emptyroom. No sooner does one see this, than an impulse to take one of the cups homearises; just as quickly, thought interdicts this impulse. No strong urge to take thecup actually arises and the interdiction happens so fast and thoroughly that thewhole event transpires in a few seconds. The impulse is rejected, the cup remainswhere is it was, and one or two minutes later the whole event is forgotten.

In further conceptualizing the arising of an anusaya, the impulse to take thecup functions like a small parachute (the tendency) pulling out a large parachute(the craving) when sky diving out of a plane. Moreover, it would appear that it iseasier to see or experience an anusaya functioning when one has no struggle inrejecting it. Thesuttas state that as long as the anusaya is in the mind, even thoughone might not act on it (for example, taking the cup), one cannot claim to havea fully purified mind MN III 285. Therefore, unrestrained vedans and anusayasfocused on objects of a particular category result in new layers of habitual crav-ing and grasping of objects of any given category.

This formula gains further coherency when perception (sa) is brought in.MN I 11112 introduces sasfunction when it places its verb form, sajnti,after vedan. The passage is as follows: With contact [phassa] as a condition thereis feeling [vedan]. What one feels [vedeti], that one perceives [sajnti]. Thesut-tas state that vedan, sa and consciousness (via)are conjoined and cannotbe disjoined from each other (MN I 293).7 We know the functional relationship of

including their commonly seen order in thesuttas, of which vedanis in the second place, whileGethin, 1986: 35, says much the same.

5. AN V 107: Vedan samosara sabbe dhamm, all mental phenomena arise with a feeling.6. Bhikkhu Bodhi (in Narada & Bodhi, 1993: 1547), notes that in the Abhidhammatha Sagaha,

the anusayas are defilements (kilesa). The anusayas are, more or less, habitual tendencies of themind to respond to the various qualities ofvedan.

7. The Suttas here see the verbs vedeti, sajnti and vijnti as synonymous with their noun forms,vedan, sa and via. MN I 293 uses both forms synonymously in the same sentence:


4/18



vedanand the anusayas; this can be seen as a stream of feelings and the arousingof affective tendencies that they elicit. On the other hand, the function ofsais connected to memory in the recognizing of such things as colours and shapes,

etc. (MN I 293; Vism 462).8

It appears then thatsa has a direct impact on thearising of thought (vitakka), as MN I 11112 goes on to say: what one perceives,that one thinks [vitakketi]9 about. This can be seen as a stream of cognitive experi-ence. It appears that in spatial terms, MN I 11112 places perception and thinkingwhere craving would normally appear as factor eight of Dependent Origination.This then seems to indicate that thinking begins as craving arises.

This can be illustrated as follows: one is attracted to a current sense object,say a jacket, and pleasant feeling (sukhavedan) arises; this then conditions thearising of the underlying tendency for attachment (rgnusaya). At almost the

same time, perception (sa) recognizes certain physical aspects of the jacketand this then conditions and blends with the arising thought process, (hence thepreviously cited passage, what one perceives, that one thinks [vitakketi] about).It is at the point of factor eight and nine, craving and grasping, that the abovementioned streams, the affective and the cognitive, meld into the emotions ofcraving and grasping.

Craving then is flowering out of the underlying tendency which in turn isstructured by all past reactions towards similar objects. We here can see theshadow of the sakhras (volitional activities and tendencies), the second fac-

tor of Dependent Origination, in the sense of who, behaviourally speaking, wetend to be.10 The MN I 11112 passage closes with what one thinks about, thatone mentally proliferates [papaceti]. With what one has mentally proliferatedas source, perceptions and notions tinged by mental proliferation beset a man(translation of the whole passage by amoli and Bodhi, 1995); this then is anexpansion of the sakhras as it indicates many feedback loops of feeling andlatent tendencies, perception and thinking, craving and grasping.11

Feeling [vedan], perception [sa], and consciousness [via], friend, these states are con-

joined, not disjoined For what one feels [vedeti], that one perceives [sajnti]; and what oneperceives, that one cognizes [vijnti] (translation by amoli & Bodhi, 1995). The insistenceof MN I 293 that feeling, perception and consciousness are conjoined and cannot be disjoinedreflects a tendency in Nikyan Buddhist psychology to be process-oriented rather than seg-ment-oriented. In other words, the different functions of the five aggregates, for example, flowinto one another, rather than stopping at a border, whereat the next aggregate begins.

8. But via is left out of the passage, even though these three cannot be disjoined.9. Vitakketi can also be rendered in English as reasons about (ananda, 1986: 3). ananda

also holds that the term vitakketi presupposes language (p. 4). The whole of Dependent Origi-nation describes a continual remolding ofsakhras, while tah and updna (and bhava)constitute a critical moment in that remolding. The anusaya on the other hand, express the

tendency to remold it along those lines.10. The second factor of Dependent Origination, the sakhras, is an element of the past which

determines that we always begin from where we were, we are an extension of who we have been:the mind tends to repeat what it has already done.

11. Feedback here indicates how these functions of feeling and latent tendencies, perceptionand thinking, craving and grasping, continuously and conditionally rebirth themselves, with


5/18



In conclusion, this could be interpreted as an emotion-cognitive model ofsense cognition, indicating that the contact-feeling-perception process resultsin two streams of experience, one affective and the other cognitive, that come

together in at craving and grasping.

Mindful awareness of bodily feelings

The Nikyas see the unaware habitual attraction or repulsion towards ones feel-ings as further strengthening the anusayas and so the habitual reactions of desireor aversion, soteriological afflictions that become the basis of a vicious cycle ofattraction and repulsion. Thesuttas therefore urge the cultivation of a complete

understanding of the nature of the feelings. For example, one passage comparesthe incessant flow of feelings in the body to the winds in the sky. It then assertsthat in fully knowing and understanding these feelings, ones mind is purifiedand awakening is achieved (S IV 218).

Of the various meditation practices in the Nikyas, thesuttas identify that ofthe four establishings of mindfulness (satipahna) as being the one that eradi-cates mental defilements, thereby resulting in awakening (AN V 195; SN IV 2357). The above passage on understanding bodily feelings (SN IV 218) is an indirectreference to the second category ofsatipahna practice, the observation of feel-

ings (vedannupassan). Based on passages such as SN IV 218, or DN I 1617,12

aswell as on statements internal to the SatipahnaSutta (MN I 5563), it can beasserted that the mindful observation of feelings on or in the body, gradually dis-solves the defilements.

The full examination as to why and how mindfully observing such body-related phenomena have such a shaking out effect on the defilements is a sub-

ject for a lengthy research project involving an in-depth analysis of the Nikyasand related findings from various disciplines in the cognitive sciences, includingexperimental neuropsychology13 and the psychology of emotions. Nevertheless,

attempting to begin to conceptualize why and how the observation of feelingson/in the body can result in the dissolution of the defilements is the focus ofthis article. To further undertake this inquiry, now that key aspects of Nikyanpsychological principles have been articulated, we will turn to a short analysis ofhow the Nikyan practice of the observation of feelings is taught by the Vipassanmeditation master, S.N. Goenka. After that, we turn to the work of E.T. Gendlinto consider how his philosophical and psychological writings understand bod-

input from ongoing sensory contact, thereby prolonging, while giving variations on an event

of anger or passion, and so on. In this way an object can be maintained in sensory perceptionfor extended periods of time.

12. D I 1617. Having truly understood the arising and passing away of feelings, their attractionand peril and the deliverance from them, the Tathagata is liberated without remainder (trans-lation by Walshe, 1987: 75).

13. For example the work of Damasio and Bechera (Bechara et al., 1997).


6/18



ily feelings, and how, with reference to these aspects of E.T. Gendlins work, theprocess of academically conceptualizing the therapeutic efficacy of the observa-tion of bodily feelings, as taught by S.N. Goenka, can proceed.

PART 2: S.N. GOENKA AND THE SYSTEMATIC SCANNINGOF BODILY FEELINGS: VEDAN-PACCAY PA

The Nikyan practice of the observation of feeling is taught, most notably, by S.N.Goenka.14 In his 10-day residential Vipassan15 course, Goenka relates the practice ofthe observation of feelings to the three affective tones ofvedan on or in the body,which he terms sensations. He further holds that it takes a minimum of ten days

to grasp what he sees as a thoroughly holistic technique of observing bodily feel-ings (Goenka, 2000a: Day One of the 10-day Dhamma Discourse presentation).As for the affective function ofvedan, he says that at all times when any exter-

nal sense object makes contact (phassa) with the sense organs, a feeling flowsthrough the body and is experienced at the deepest level of the mind. Indeed,at its innermost core, the mind is primarily occupied with experiencing bodilyfeelings and as such, keeps on reacting day and night (Goenka, 2000a: Day Fiveof the 10-day Dhamma Discourse presentation).

Affective feelings and thoughts

In teaching Vipassan, Goenka emphasizes the observation of the impermanentnature of the bodily feelings as he guides new students to continuously move upand down the body systematically, part by part, piece by piece, not preferringone type of feeling over another, mindfully observing whatever feelings are there.In the meditation instructions throughout the day, which are not available to thepublic, he also guides the retreatants in this systematic approach, tofirst observe

14. Goenka teaches the observation of bodily feelings in 10-, 20-, 30-, 45- and 60-day residentialcourses. My discussion herein will be in reference to his 10-day course and its evening Dhammadiscourses, as the presentation in the 10-day residential programme is inclusive of all of thebasic instructions and explanations of how and why to observe bodily feelings. I will also makereference to certain public talks given by Goenka from the 10-day programme. Over 1,000,000people have now participated in his ongoing 10-day courses in over 80 Vipassan meditationcentres worldwide.

15. The Pli term, vipassan can be translated as insight. Insight is one of the key results or ben-efits that one gains fromsatipahna practice (amoli & Bodhi, 1995: 12, general introduc-

tion).16. It must here be noted that Goenkas teaching of the observation of bodily feelings is somewhat

complex. He also teaches what he calls, sweeping the body. That is, once the body is somewhatopen through going part by part in small patches, then one guides ones awareness to system-atically flow over all the different parts of the body, as if sweeping, with long strokes, or as ifwater has been poured on the head and flows down to the feet. Thus Goenka guides his students


7/18



the body in what I would like to call small patches, approximately two to fourinches in diameter. In these instructions, one is guided to move ones awarenesspart by part up or down the body and wait for a few minutes at each patch until

one can feel it and then move on. This is because the practitioner is blind to manyplaces on the body.16It also shows the central position that this systematic observation holds in

Goenkas teaching of Vipassan. Often feelings can be experienced only whenone focuses on such a small patch for minute or so. Therefore, an unsystem-atic approach to the observation of bodily feelings, whether they are pleasant,unpleasant or neutral, is to be avoided. The following is a partial explanation ofthe process of systematically observing bodily feelings:

If you dont move [in order], then when you feel a very strong intense

sensation somewhere, your attention will go there. Suddenly somethingelse will start somewhere else, and your attention will go there. You willbe moving [unsystematically] from part to part.17

The experience of bodily feelings can be understood as the arising and cessationof Dependent Originations contact-feeling process, which implies the ongoingarising and ceasing of habit patterns. Goenka explains that:

One does not know how the misery is arising deep inside; how there aresensations everywhere; and how, with pleasant sensations, one reacts

with thesakhra of craving. How, with unpleasant sensation, one keepsreacting with asakhra ofaversion. This whole process continues deepinside and at the surface level one doesnt know anything about whatis happening.18

His point here is to emphasize the need to mindfully observe the pleasant and

to alternate back and forth from observing small patches part by part to body sweeping witha free flow. When sweeping, one will usually discover various blind spots and so, after several

rounds of sweeping, one will then work on the blind spots, probing and penetrating throughtheir periphery when going part by part in small patches (from daily meditation instructions).It should here be mentioned that Goenka instructs his students to also observe the feelingsinside the body in much the same way. One important point, however, is that he only instructsthis if the student is experiencing feelings all over the surface of the body, with no blind spots.This instruction is given in the daily meditation instructions on Day 8 of the course. In personalinterviews with Goenkas assistant teachers, I have been instructed to not scan inside the bodyuntil the surface is fully opened as the emotional experience can be overwhelming. Lastly, forthe first three days of the course, only the observation of in and out breathing (npnasati)is practised, thereby building a level of concentration that facilitates the effectiveness of theobservation of bodily feelings.

17. Goenka (2000a: Day Four of the 10-day Dhamma Discourse presentation).18. Goenka (2000a: Day Five of the 10-day Dhamma Discourse presentation). Here Goenka appears

to use the termsakhr for the reactions in place ofanusaya.19. Thesuttas of course also give a separate category to neutral affective feelings, which are seen to

generally elicit the anusaya of soteriological ignorance, but a discussion of this would unneces-sarily complicate the focus of this article.


8/18



unpleasant feelings.19 He says that the feelings must lead to wisdom, not to dukkha:vedan-paccaypa: every sensation must result in wisdom (Day Four of the 10-day Dhamma Discourse presentation), that of not attaching or absorbing into the

feelings. He regularly exhorts the students to observe the impermanent natureof the feelings: an unpleasant sensation comes and you smile: Oh, this is imper-manent. Let me see how long it lasts (Day Nine of the 10-day Dhamma Discoursepresentation). This is consonant with the suttas which comment that when onemindfully observes the impermanent nature of contact and its conditioned feeling,the underlying tendencies (anusayas) begin to dissolve (SN IV 214).

This seems to indicate an inverse functional relation between the mindfulcontemplation of feelings and the underlying tendencies. Conversely, if one doesattach to the feeling, then the strength of the underlying tendencies increases,

including the rapidity with which their arising results in craving. Therefore, whenone does not attach to or absorb into the feeling, then the underlying tendenciesbegin to dissolve, as does the habit of craving; this can perhaps be equated to themechanism of fasting for losing weight.

Goenka notes that the training passed through in his 10-day Vipassan medi-tation course enables one to experience the signature feelings and conceptual-mappings of any distinctive emotion that arises in the body. In his discussion ofthe example of depression, Goenkas recommended attitude has some sharedattributes with emotional intelligence:

Say depression comes [one then understands that] my mind is full ofdepression[20] and what sensation do I have now? Any sensation thatI have in my body at that time is related to that depression and withthe practice of Vipassana [which the person has learned in the 10-daycourse] you [have] now experienced that every sensation that arises,arises to pass away [so you observe the depression-related sensation] it loses its strength it passes away you have not suppressed it [it is in this way that] any kind of impurity, if you learn how to observethe sensation related to that, you will come out of it.21

A case in point

For an individual trained in the mindful observation of bodily feelings, factorsfive through to nine of Dependent Origination (the six senses to grasping) predictwhat he or she would see or experience, whether in formal meditation or in daily

20. I understand the statement my mind is full of depression to indicate both the mental emo-tion of depression and the thinking patterns that arise with it, which then feedback on eachother through the agency of the contact-feeling-underlying tendencies-craving-grasping cycleof Dependent Origination.

21. Goenka (2000b: Question and Answer period).


9/18



routines; how the onset of a noticeably distinct feeling can spark the arising of acorrelated and habitual conceptual-mapping, as expressed above at MN I 11112.Such thinking primarily involves positive or negative thoughts about the object

or incident. The individual would also tend to experience how this distinctivebodily feeling integrates with thoughts. At such a point, mindfulness of the bod-ily feelings would become more active and one would experience the thoughtsand the feelings dis-integrate from each other.

For example, in dealing with a situation in which one is experiencing depres-sion, one notices unpleasant feelings on/in the body, and the arising of equallynegative thoughts such as I am useless, or the future is hopeless in the mind. Orit could also be that one first notices the negative thoughts and then experiencesthe unpleasant feelings. Regardless, one would then look to the body and begin,

systematically, mindfully and non-conceptually, to start the scanning of the wholebody, up and down, down and up, whether sweeping or patch scanning.With practice, one would directly see dis-integration of the unpleasant feelings

from the thoughts of desperation. What is important to note is that the observa-tion of feelings is not only for combating or dissolving gross emotions, it is alsovery important to practise formally or informally when there is no gross emotionpresent. I would conceptualize this as working at the level of micro-emotionsthat are likewise the product of the contact-feeling-perception-craving stream, inthe sense that the rapidity of the arising and passing of the contact-feeling unit

leads to micro amounts of craving, and as such are passing by underthe level ofawareness. These micro-emotions must be considered as often being the build-ing blocks of gross emotions.

The underlying tendencies, so thesuttas tell us, are built up habitual tenden-cies towards emotional reaction that even a baby has (carried over from the pre-vious life) (MN I 432). Hence, in some sense they are a compilation or a history ofones reactive tendencies to (sense objects, contacts, and) feelings of a particularcategory. Waldron (2003: 36) points out thesutta dictum (MN III 285) that freedomfrom suffering cannot be achieved until the underlying tendencies are abandoned.

The gradual path of purifi

cation is explicit in Nikyas (MN I 17984) and so to theextent that one practises the mindful observation of bodily feelings, the underly-ing tendencies are likewise dissolved. With this key point in mind, let us now turnto E.T. Gendlin.

PART 3: EUGENE GENDLIN AND THE EPISTEMOLOGICALFUNCTION OF BODILY FEELINGS

The philosopher-psychologist Eugene Gendlin developed a philosophical systemto explain the function and processes of affective bodily feelings in cognition.

22. Cain and Seeman (2002: 39) noted that, Eugene Gendlin made a major contribution to human-istic therapies by developing the process of experiential focusing.


10/18



This system greatly influenced his evolution of the Focusing psychotherapeutictechnique, that in turn influenced the development of the school of ExperientialPsychotherapy in Humanistic Psychology.22

First, Gendlin holds that the individual, through an omnipresent, unformedpreconceptual concrete feeling datum (Gendlin, 1962/1997: 14) at the felt bod-ily level, is experiencing life in the moment; he terms this experiencing (p. 3).When one turns ones awareness towards this ever present feeling mass (p. 13),towards this global feel of your body (p. 12), one experiences or feels the meaning,or accesses at the bodily level, the essential attributes of what the moment ispregnant with. This is because the turning of ones attention inward to attend tothe feelings is an act of symbolizing the meaning (p. 10). Gendlin terms this thefelt meaning (p. 13), and asserts that it is from this felt meaning rather than from

intellectual conceptualizations, that any experience, any internal or external eventor situation in daily life, draws its relevance, its meaning (p. 14). More specificallyhowever, meaning results from the interface of amorphous bodily feeling (the everpresent feeling mass, p. 13) and a symbol. Symbols can be as diverse as words orbehaviour such as the turning of ones awareness to the feeling (p. 28).

Meaning is formed in the interaction of experiencing and something that func-tions symbolically. Feeling without symbolization is blind; symbolization withoutfeeling is empty (p. 5).

Therefore, the turning of ones awareness inward in reference to a specific felt

bodily experience results in the process of demarcating a felt meaning offfromthe ever present feeling mass. The key operational aspect of this is the referringof ones awareness to a specific feeling and this is understood as a symbolization.If one then goes further and verbally symbolizes what ones awareness has spot-ted, then the symbolizations felt meaning becomes explicated and no moreremains inexplicated or implicit.

Direct reference

Gendlin posits that there are seven very different ways in which felt meaning caninteract with symbols (p. 90). This section discusses one of these seven, directreference.23 The process of the symbols function means it directly refers to aspecific felt meaning and thus this process/function is termed a direct reference.Unless and until a felt meaning is verbally symbolized, as opposed to the sim-ple symbolization of turning ones awareness to the feeling, it, the felt meaning,remains inexplicated (Gendlin, 1964: 9) or implicit.24

It is possible to illustrate the concept of direct reference and thus explicit and

inexplicated felt meaning, by examining the process of defi

ning a word, for exam-

23. This because, of the seven, it is direct reference that plays the key role in Gendlins psycho-therapeutic technique.

24. Gendlin uses the terms inexplicit and implicit synonymously (cf. Gendlin, 1962/1997: 14).


11/18



ple, trustworthy. It is held that in the process of defining the term, the individualfirst directly refers to its felt meaning. So the verbal symbol trustworthy directlyrefers to a certain felt meaningfulness that effectively marks offor demarcates a

felt meaning from the ever present feeling mass; it is a directly referred felt mean-ing. In this way, the symbol trustworthy gives direct reference to the felt meaningand as such the felt meaning is the referent. Accordingly, this directly referred feltmeaning is explicit as it is the referent of the verbal symbol, trustworthy. Next, formany people, when considering the sentence, the Swedish people are trustwor-thy, its felt meaning would be explicit. On the other hand, the felt meaning of thesymbol Swedish might well remain inexplicit, or implicit, within the frameworkof the sentence unless one then considers the specific meaning of Swedish: thenits meaning will become explicated (Gendlin, 1962/1997: 66).25

The psychotherapeutic use of direct reference to felt meaning in Focusing

Gendlins philosophical articulation of the directly referred felt meaning reflectsa particular functional relationship between symbols and felt meaning. This infact is the operational aspect of his psychotherapeutic method Focusing, in whichthe direct referencing allows for the creation of new, much more precise mean-ings or understandings of emotionally charged events. Thefirst operational fac-

tor in the creation of new meaning26

is to turn ones awareness away from thehabitual, conceptual/intellectual processing of any given emotionally-chargedincident. The individual turns his or her awareness away from the thought proc-esses and then focuses on the felt meaning; this felt meaning has now beendirectly referred to. The second operational factor is to then verbally symbolize,or give a handle to, this directly referred felt meaning; it has then become anexplicated felt meaning.

This direct, non-verbal referencing to the felt meaning has the effect of draw-ing one away from the reactive conceptualizations that lock one into an often

erroneous cognitive, paradigmatic assessment of the emotionally charged event.Therapeutically, these conceptualizations begin to dissolve and become yester-days news: old habitual interpretations of events that lose their relevance and

25. In using the terms explicated and inexplicated, I am keeping within Gendlins use of thesetechnical terms.

26. The concept of the creation of new meaning is widely used in Experiential Psychotherapy. Forexample, see how McGuire (1991: 233) discusses Gendlins concept of direct referencing in thecreation of new meaning. L.S. Greenberg, the Experiential Psychologist who is one of the maininheritors of Gendlins mantle, explains that meaning in ones life, in ones day to day expe-

rience, is created from the interaction between ones thinking capacity and ones emotionalcapacity. Therefore it is at this point of the interaction that Experiential Psychotherapy worksat creating new meaning for the for the client: Therapy thus needs to facilitate the meaningconstruction [i.e. the creation of new meaning] by facilitating both the process of attending toinner experience [ones felt meaning] and its symbolization [the conceptual mapping on thefelt meaning] (Greenberg et al., 1993: 61).


12/18



potency when ones awareness is refocused on the bodily felt meaning. As Gendlinsays, symbols without feeling are empty, therefore, when turning attention tothe feelings, the thinking process becomes dis-integrated from the feelings, it

empties out and dissolves. This then constitutes the initial aspects of creatinga new meaning. The second operational factor of choosing a handle which ver-bally symbolizes the felt meaning, brings this directly referred meaning into theexplicit, thereby fully expanding the creation of this new meaning. Choosing ahandle is an intuitive process (Gendlin, 1982: 55) based on an objective assess-ment of the quality of the feeling. The handle then maps onto the inexplicatedfelt meaning and in effect, replaces the old conceptual mapping, the originalthoughts that arose with the incident, that, for example, may have been thoughtsof hate. This is what is being referred to in the phrase (and process) of creating

new meaning.An example would be when someone was pointedly ignored by severalacquaintances as he or she approached them, so that strong thoughts of anger,or perhaps hate, arose. The individual would then perhaps turn awareness withinto the chest or abdominal areas (Gendlin, 1982: 44)27 to mark offor focus on thefeelings associated with the incident. Due to this inexplicit symbolization of thefelt meaning, a direct referring to the felt meaning, the thoughts begin to losetheir potency. Then upon further examination of the underlying feelings, theindividual sees that they have a quality of sadness or loneliness rather than of

hate or anger. Thus one might give the felt meaning the handle of sadness. Thisexamination qua verbal symbolization has then explicated the felt meaning andthe thoughts of anger or hatred further dissolve, as does, by the way, the strengthof the feelings.28 It is at this point that one checks back and forth between thehandle of sadness and the felt meaning to ascertain the adequacy to which thehandle grasps the essence of the directly referred felt meaning.

It may then be found that one will decide that the feeling is closer to loneli-ness and so that will become the new handle, thereby collapsing the thoughts fur-ther and accessing, making explicit from that which was inexplicit, more details

of the felt meaning. Then one might ask of the felt meaning what is it about thiswhole situation that makes this loneliness? This again widens the explicit feltmeaning, encroaching, as it does, on the area of inexplicated felt meaning, andone begins to see or experience that the original interpretation of the situation,the mismatching of the thoughts and feelings, was wrong. Moreover, the real issueis seeing that thoughts of hate or anger arose conditioned by feelings of loneli-ness and so therefore one has a much clearer picture of what actually happenedin this internal incident. This is the creating of new meaning. Indeed, it is a keyconceptualization to understanding positive personality change in the Focusing

psychotherapeutic approach (McGuire, 1991: 233).

27. Gendlin (1982: passim) notes that one should look through the body to find how it feels. But inthe instructions for Focusing (p. 44), he suggests looking in the chest and throat areas.

28. This is based on my personal experience of trying the Focusing technique. To my knowledge,Gendlin does not mention it.


13/18



The wideness of the felt meaning

Gendlin has noted that, however close a verbal symbolization is to reflecting the

quality of the felt meaning, the felt meaning is always wider (he uses the termbroader) than a verbal symbol can represent: we can put only a few aspects ofit into words (Gendlin, 1962/1997: 11). Thus a handle only illuminates a specificaspect of the felt meaning.

This narrowness of the handle in explicating a felt meaning, and hence thewideness of the inexplicated felt meaning, can be conceptualized. First, the expli-cated felt meaning can be seen as an area of conscious feeling that is somehowin harmony with the handle, in the midst of the area of inexplicated or implicitfelt meaning that, as seen in Gendlin (1982: passim), appears to be throughout

the body. Gendlin notes that the explicated felt meaning can always be furtherdifferentiated and further aspects of it can be specified (p. 13); this is also tosay that the area of the explicated felt meaning can always be widened. In fact,Gendlin refers to this as a fringe and focus paradigm, in which the fringe is theinexplicated felt meaning and is that which, at least in part, defines the focus ofthe area of the explicated felt meaning:

If we focus on the meaning of some term x, then the meanings of thedefining terms, a, b, ccertainly are within our center of attention, inas-much as these meanings constitute the meaning of the term x. Their

meaning is implicit, yet just these meanings make up the explicationof the termx.29

In this way, then, the act of checking back and forth on the precision withwhich the handle reflects the quality of the explicated felt meaning, has the effectof bringing more area of inexplicated felt meaning into the explicit. Gendlinholds that there is so much information in the inexplicated area surrounding anexplicated felt meaning that if one tried to write it all down on paper, it would filla warehouse with the volumes of notebooks required for this purpose (Gendlin,

1962/1997: 34).

CONCLUSION: THE CONFLUENCE OF THE UNDERLYINGTENDENCIES AND INEXPLICATED FELT MEANING

We have seen that Goenkas systematic scanning of bodily feelings can take twobroad forms: scanning when a gross emotion has arisen, and scanning when theemotions are stable. These are two sides of the same coin. At present, we are inter-

ested in the second. It seems that scanning the bodily feelings when the emotionsare stable, is dissolving anusayas that, at such a time, are normally giving rise tomicro-emotions; the products of the very rapid contact-feeling-perception-craving

29. Gendlin (1982: 656).


14/18



stream of consciousness that is, not infrequently, arising and passing underthe levelof awareness. Thus the scanning of bodily feelings at such a time would be weaken-ing various categories of underlying tendencies that would normally give rise to

any number of micro-emotional categories, this depending on the objects.Therefore, at any given time of equanimously scanning the bodily feelingswhen the emotions are stable, one would appear to be weakening the roots, bystarving the anusayas, of a wide range of habitual behaviours; behaviours that,critically, would mostly be unidentifiable. The implications of this are wide inthat, as was earlier mentioned, any given anusaya can be seen as representativeof ones whole history of reactive behaviour towards the objects of any givencategory. And in this stable emotions paradigm, numerous categories of objectswould be being registeredby ongoing contacts (phassa), which implies that a wide

range ofanusayas and so also negative behaviour patterns30

would naturally beundergoing the process leading to complete dissolution. This would hold truewhether patch scanning or body sweeping, though with patch scanning thedissolution of the anusayas would seem to be more thorough. SN IV 214 mentionsthat when one observes impermanence in contact and in pleasant and unpleasantfeelings, the underlying tendency to craving and aversion is forsaken.

Gendlin, on the other hand, holds that when one directly refers to ones feltmeaning amidst a strong emotional incident, one is actually experiencing, atthe level of inexplicit felt meaning, all aspects of the personality relating to that

category of incident (Gendlin, 1962/1997: 345). Thus when one gives a focusinghandle to the directly referred felt meaning, this represents only the consciousaspects of the emotional incident. It still continues to be surrounded with related,inexplicated felt meaning.

In conclusion, it is the thesis of this article that these two paradigms, Goenkasscanning of bodily feelings, particularly when the emotions are stable, andGendlins inexplicated felt meaning, also particularly when emotions stable, arereferring to very similar phenomena. As for Goenka, he teaches that feelings shouldnot be named (Goenka, 2000a: Day Two of the 10-day Dhamma Discourse pres-

entation). Thus when one is scanning the bodily feelings, especially in a stableemotional period, the scanning is, in terms of Gendlins conceptualization of feltmeaning, at the level of inexplicit felt meaning. Thus, the scanning of bodily feel-ings would likewise be, as per Gendin, at the initial stage of the creation of newmeaning. On the basis of this, one could make certain predictions about the out-come of Goenkas 10-day Vipassan course. For example, if one were to interviewparticipants at the end of a 10-day course, it is possible that they would feel thattheir lives had taken on new meaning, although not being able to precisely articu-late why. This would reflect, as per Goenka, the above stated view that scanning

when emotions are stable begins to dissolve a wide range of habitual, though un-identifiable, behaviours. In the results of a university-based research project onthe participants in a 10-day Vipassan meditation course mentioned below in the

30. Negative from a Buddhist point of view.


15/18



appendix, it was shown that, indeed, the participants had a wide range of improve-ment in their behaviours, participants in the Vipassan course improved signifi-cantly across several [behavioural] domain.

Therefore it seems worthy of further examination to ascertain whetherGendlins philosophical system of explaining the function of feeling in cognition,in particular his work on inexplicated and explicated felt meaning, with refer-ence to the creation of new meaning in Experiential Psychotherapy, can providea basis to begin conceptualizing, in terms of Western Psychology, the efficacy ofVipassan meditation as taught by S.N. Goenka.

APPENDIX

The fact that mindful awareness of bodily feelings, as taught by Goenka, is inneed of a conceptual framework to explain its efficacious application, is beingborn out in the mindfulness-based psychotherapy approaches.31 This need fora conceptual framework is due to the growing recognition in applied psycho-logical research, sparked in part by the psychologists who are developing andimplementing the mindfulness-based psychotherapeutic interventions, of thecurative power over destructive emotions that is inherent in Buddhist mind-fulness practices. A conceptual framework will provide a foundation through

which these scientists can further investigate how, through what mechanisms,the observation of body-related feelings, as distinct from mindfulness of (other)mental states, is curatively efficacious. In short, it is felt that what is happeningwhen one is mindfully observing bodily feelings appears to be structurally dif-ferent from the mindful observation of mental states as seen in the satipahnapractice ofcittnupassan.

As for the mindfulness-based psychotherapeutic methodologies, they areoften centred on curing addictive behaviour. These interventions, such as JeanKristellers32 Mindfulness-based Eating Awareness Training for problems of com-

pulsive overeating, or John Teasdales33

Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy forDepression, are explicitly utilizing thesatipahna practices of both the observa-tion of bodily feelings and the observation of mental states (e.g. Teasdale et al.,2000: 618). Although it cannot be ascertained in this article that their use of theobservation of bodily feelings is related to what Goenka is teaching, when oneconsiders his prominence in the world of Buddhist meditation, it can be assumedthat at least to some important extent his influence could be detected.34

31. Mindfulness-based psychotherapy is an approach to therapy that often combines principles

and practices of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy with mindfulness meditation as understoodtoday in the Theravda Buddhist tradition. It includes a fully secularized method of teachingmindfulness.

32. At Indiana State Universitys Center for the Study of Health, Religion and Spirituality.33. Retired from Cambridge University, UK.34. This would make an interesting and valuable research project.


16/18



One leader in this field, G. Alan Marlatt with his team,35discuss in their articleon mindfulness-based prevention and treatment of addictive behaviours (Bowenet al., 2006), a previous study that they conducted on the efficacy of Goenkas

10-day Vipassan course for treating drug and alcohol abuse/dependency.36

Theinvestigation examined a sample of jailed men and women who participated in aseries of 10-day Vipassan meditation courses at the North Rehabilitation Facility(NRF), outside Seattle, Washington, USA. All had various histories of substanceabuse. The research team focused their investigation on comparing treatmentas usual37 at NRF with this usual treatmentplus taking the Vipassan meditationcourse.38 Data was collected on the participants over two year period in whichthere were five different courses for men and four for women. His team foundthat:

The behavioral changes in residents who took the course were appar-ent to their fellow jail mates, staff, and were reflected in data collectedby the researchers. Although all residents were receiving some formof treatment, and appeared to improve in many areas, participants inthe Vipassana course improved significantly more than controls acrossseveral domains. Three months following release from incarceration,the meditators, when compared with controls, were significantly higherin optimism and internal drinking-related locus of control, and signifi-cantly lower on measures of thought suppression, alcohol-related nega-

tive consequences, marijuana use, and both powder cocaine and crackcocaine use (p. 404).

ABBREVIATIONS

All Pli references are to the Pali Text Society editions of the Pli texts:AN Aguttara NikyaMN Majjhima NikyaSN Sayutta Nikya

35. At the University of Washingtons Addictive Behaviors Research Center where he and hisresearch team have investigated the effects ofVipassan meditation as taught by S.N. Goenka,on relapse and general well-being.

36. The original study, to my knowledge, did not include any specific conceptualizations as to whythe scanning of bodily feelings was intrinsically efficacious in reducing patterns of substanceabuse.

37. Treatment as usual is a technical phrase used in psychology when comparing an standardtreatment with a new method of treatment.

38. Marlatt notes (Bowen et al., 2006: 403), that treatment as usual included an array of rehabili-tation programs, such as chemical dependency treatment, alcohol and other drug education,mental health services, cognitive-behavioural programs, adult basic education and GED test-ing, acupuncture, housing case management, and vocational programs.


17/18



BIBLIOGRAPHY

Anlayo, 2004. Satipahna: The Direct Path to Nibbna. London: Windhorse.

Bechara, A., Damasio, H., Tranel, D., Damasio, A.R., 1997. Deciding Advantageously Before Knowingthe Advantageous Strategy. Science, vol. 275, 28 February 1997, pp. 12935.Bodhi, Bhikkhu (trans.), 2000. The Connected Discourses of the Buddha. Summerville, MA: Wisdom.Bowen, S., Parks, G.A., Coumar, A., Marlatt, G.A., 2006. Mindfulness Meditation in the Prevention

and Treatment of Addictive Behaviors. In Buddhist Thought and Applied Psychological Research:Transcending the Boundaries, D.K. Nauriyal, M.S. Drummond & Y.B. Lal (eds), pp. 393412. London,RoutledgeCurzon.

Cain, D. J. & Seeman, J., 2002. Humanistic Psychotherapies: Handbook of Research and Practice. Washington,DC: American Psychological Association.

Clarke, K.M., 1996. Change Process in a Creation of Meaning Event. Journal of Consulting and ClinicalPsychology, vol. 64(3), pp. 46570.

Claxton, G., 1997. Hare Brain Tortoise Mind. New York: HarperCollins.Drummond, M.S., 2006. Western Science meets Eastern Wisdom to Experience Bodily Feelings. In

Buddhist Thought and Applied Psychological Research: Transcending the Boundaries, D.K. Nauriyal, M.S.Drummond & Y.B. Lal (eds), London: Routledge Curzon, pp. 285301.

Ekman, P. & Friesen, W., 1975. Unmasking the Face. Englwood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.Fridja, N.H., 1986. The Emotions. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Gendlin, E.T., 1962/1997. Experiencing and the Creation of Meaning. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University

Press.Gendlin, E.T., 1964. A Theory of Personality Change. In Personality Change, P. Worchel & D. Byrne (eds.).

London: John Wiley and Sons. Downloaded from www.focusing.org (20 February 2006).Gendlin, E.T., 1982. Focusing.New York: Bantam.

Gendlin, E.T., 1991. On Emotion in Therapy. In Emotion, Psychotherapy, and Change, J.D. Safran & L.S.Greenberg (eds). New York: Guilford Press.

Gendlin, E.T., 1996. Focusing-oriented Psychotherapy: A Manual of the Experiential Method. New York:Guilford.

Gethin, R., 1986. The Five Khandhas: Their Early Treatment in the Nikyas and Early Abhidhamma.Journal of Indian Philosophy, vol. 14, pp. 3553.

Gethin, R., 1998. The Foundations of Buddhism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Gethin, R., 2001. The Buddhist Path To Awakening. Oxford: One World Publications.Goenka, S.N., 2000a. The 10-Day Dhamma Discourses [in full text format]. Igatpuri, India: Vipassana

Research Institute.Goenka, S.N., 2000b.At the Harvard Business Club in New York City [on CDROM]. Igatpuri, India: Vipassana

Research Institute.Greenberg, L.S., Rice, L.N. & Elliot, R., 1993. Facilitating Emotional Change. New York: Guilford Press.Hamilton, S., 1996. Identity and Experience. London: Luzak Oriental.McGuire, K., 1991. Affect in Focusing and Experiential Psychotherapy. In Emotion, Psychotherapy and

Change, L.S. Greenberg & J.D. Safran (eds), pp. 22751. New York: Guilford Press.amoli Bhikkhu (trans.) & Bhikkhu Bodhi (ed., revision), 1995. The Middle Length Discourses of the

Buddha. Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society.ananda Bhikkhu, 1986. Concept and Reality. Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society.Narada Mahathera (ed. and trans.), Bodhi, Bhikkhu (general ed.), 1993. A Comprehensive Manual of

Abhidhamma. Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society.Nyanaponika Thera, 1983. Contemplation of Feelings. Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society.Teasdale, J.D., Segal, Z.V., Williams, J.M., Ridgeway, V.A., Soulsby, J.M., Lau, M.A., 2000. Prevention

of Relapse/Recurrence in Major Depression by Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy.Journal ofConsulting and Clinical Psychology, vol. 68(4), pp. 61523.

Waldron, W.S., 2003. The Buddhist Unconscious. London: Routledge Curzon.Walshe, M., 1987. The Long Discourses of the Buddha. London: Wisdom Publications.


18/18



Weldwood, J., 1980. Reflections on Psychotherapy, Focusing and Meditation.The Journal of TranspersonalPsychology, vol. 12(2), pp. 12741.

Zajonk, R.B., 1980, Feeling and Thinking: Preferences need no Inferences.American Psychologist,vol.35, pp. 15175.

drummond_conceptualizing the efficacy of vipassana meditation as taught by sn goenka

Documents