Introduction:
Meditation practices are not the answer to social
change but it does provide a tool for individuals to use for to heightened
his/her sense of awareness in order to be more socially conscious and possibly
affect a change in his/her society. According to Max Faber (1981)
and Lawrence LeShan (1972) mystical experiences can have a positive effect
on social and cultural change, such as reducing tension in high crime areas,
heightening a sense of ecological awareness, and reduce racism (Krippner,
1988). Mystical experiences, in this paper, are defined as occurrences
that are spiritually significant or symbolic, which may occur as a result
of meditation. C.T. Tart (1969) defined an altered state of consciousness
as one in which the individual "clearly feels a qualitative shift in his/[her]
pattern of mental functioning," (Watkins & Watkins, 1986, p.137).
The practice of meditation and the associated changes
in life style may help promote peace in high crime areas, by reducing the
frustrations and tensions in individual practitioners which then may have
a ripple effect to others around him/her. The altered sense of awareness,
the reported feeling of "universal oneness," and the alleged positive effect
of meditation, may encourage human beings to become active in saving the
ecology of Earth by raising the awareness that all life share the same
planet and effect the health of the ecology by their individual environmental
actions. The social and cultural attitudes of racism may be modified
and decreased, within individuals who practice meditation. The alleged
heightened sense of positive self regard towards others, as a result of
regular meditation practice, may increase an individual's awareness of
the equality of all people.
According to Faber (1981), meditation and religion
are closely aligned in the literature and spiritual practices of many nations.
A large part of religion, specifically the teachings, practices, and meditation,
is meant to relax humans and ease them out of old relations to an internalized
object, alter the body in which the internalized object lives, and make
the human feel more secure in his/her life (p.99). The goal of meditation
is to "come home" to parts of ourself which help us to become a fuller
human being. According to LeShan (1974), our real goal is to become
more complete and to live the full potential of being human (p.164).
By practicing meditation regularly, individuals may be positively effected
and through the ripple effect of their attitudes and behaviors, can have
a positive effect on those around them.
In this paper, I will present evidence in support
of the claim that meditation and mystical experiences can be beneficial,
not only to the experiencing individual, but can also impact attitudes
and life-styles of social groups and cultures. I will divide my commentaries
regarding meditation and mystical experiences into the areas of its possible
social and cultural pacification of high crime areas, improvements in ecology,
and the reductions in racism. I will conclude this paper by summarizing
how the practice of meditation can have a positive influence on social
and cultural changes in order to effect a sense of universal oneness with
other living species.
What is Meditation and Mysticism:
Lawrence LeShan has defined meditation as the process
of learning to do one thing at a time, (Jaffe, 1980, p.187; LeShan, 1976;
Speeth, 1985). According to LeShan (1974), it is when we access the
conscious and unconscious parts of our being that humans can remember the
meaning of our own existence (p.176). Meditation is considered an
altered state of consciousness which may provide for a heightened sense
of awareness. This sense of heightened awareness can have a positive
effect on the practitioner and, through the practitioner's change in life-style,
he/she may have an impact on those around him/her.
It is believed by some researchers that practicing
meditation can not only have a positive effect on psychophysiology of individuals
but also on their lifestyles. Jaffe (1980) comments that even some
skeptical researchers believe that meditation is effective, even without
the physiological effects it may have on the individual, by getting the
individual to sit and reflect on a regular basis, (p.189). Meditation
is not practiced only according to a single method but also in a variety
of ways, depending upon the needs and skills of the practitioner.
It encompasses diverse methods, such as formal sitting, expressive rituals,
and the practice of daily living in a "mindful" manner, (Speeth, 1985,
p.110). Through consistent meditation practice, individuals can effect
a change in their physical, mental, and spiritual sense of self, and through
this heightened sense of self-esteem and reported sense of a connection
to others, he/she may become active in initiating or taking part in social
change.
Deep meditative states can allow for mystical experiences
to happen within the individual's mind and/or spirit. A mystical
experience is an event that is of spiritual significance or symbolic in
nature (Webster, p. 1190). The authenticity of a mystical experience
is not in the form of the event but on the quality of life following the
experience. The life, following the experience, is often characterized
by enhanced vitality, productivity, serenity, and joy as the inner and
outer aspects of the individual's life harmonizes with the spiritual oneness.
According Whiteman (1986), "everyone can develop that essential core of
mystical experience by habitually restoring an orientation to the Source-for
the replenishment of inspirational energy, the lifting of attachments to
self, and the imparting of wisdom in every predicament of life," (p. 654).
LeShan (1974) states, "The real importance of the
paranormal is that it shows and demonstrates the existence of another part
of [human] nature, another aspect of his[her] potential being, an aspect
long hidden in the mists of art, legend, myth, magic and mystery that our
explorers of reality are now bringing to the light" (p.171).
Meditation and Peace:
High crime areas are known for the tension, frustration,
and a sense of helplessness that individuals may feel as a result of the
loss of control of his/her environment due to poverty, limited social resources,
discrimination, and consequential aggressive and/or criminal behavior.
One of the most researched social theories of aggression states that "aggression
is always a consequence of frustration" and that "frustration always leads
to some form of aggression" (Worchel, 1976, p.277). According to
Worchel et al., direct physical or verbal aggression will usually be the
type of behavior exhibited by aggressors (p.283). This aggression
can be carried out on other individuals, social groups, or organizations.
The recent riots in Los Angeles is an example of social frustrations and
tensions exploding with the resultant aggressive behaviors being subjected
upon other ethnic groups, individuals, and businesses. Reducing social
tensions must begin with individual self-control and awareness.
Naisbett (1984) reports that citizens have responded
to crime with a sense of fear and anger. He believes that citizens
are ready to begin fighting back the crime that has taken over their communities
by forming self-help groups to patrol their neighborhoods (p.171).
Consistent practice of a type of meditation is a method for the individual
to begin to have a sense of gaining control of his/her self and to effect
a lifestyle change both in him/her self and others that are influenced
by him/her.
Crime and social unrest in the inner cities are
largely a result of increased unemployment, poverty, homelessness, and
illiteracy (Toffler, 1990, p.307). These factors can also have a
profound effect on an individual's consciousness of self. By teaching
individuals to meditate, they can become more in touch with their emotions
and the reasons for these emotions. Meditation teaches individual
self discipline and through self discipline, the individual can effect
a change in him/her self and in his/her lifestyle. The resultant
change in attitudes and lifestyle will have a positive effect on others
in the practitioners social sphere of influence. According to Speeth
(1985),
There is something inherently healthy in a disciplined
existence...Discipline involves organizing one's day around activities
that have meaning and value to oneself, and therefore support an sense
of personal wealth" (p.111-112).
By the practice of meditation, individuals can develop
a higher opinion of themselves and can work towards a better social environment.
As a result of consistent practicing of meditation, the individual can
empower him/her self into not feeling helpless and frustrated with his/her
environment but can take action to educate him/her self and to work for
peace in his/her community. As practicing individuals begin to change,
as a result of a more disciplined lifestyle, he/she begins to sense an
importance associated with the relationships one has more than the individual
uniqueness. In the realm of the paranormal/altered states, LeShan
states, "The most important aspects of a person or a thing concerns relationships,
not identity." Individuality and uniqueness are secondary to the
alleged oneness and relatedness. Being a part of the whole is more
salient and crucial not a specific identity defined by being "cut off"
and separated from the rest of reality (p.169).
By being a part of the social neighborhood relationship,
individuals may be more apt to take action in order to change or enhance
his/her surroundings. The McDonald's restaurants, in the riot area
of Los Angeles, were untouched by rioters. The social consciousness
of McDonald's founder Ray Kroc and his company is espoused in his statement,
"If you are going to take something out of a community, give something
back." He believed that it is the responsibility of business
and individuals to look beyond its own needs and to the needs of others.
McDonald's has been providing their employees with sensitivity training
which has increased the employees awareness of others and their community.
It may be through the change in individual and corporate attitudes, and
the sense of community oneness, as opposed to a self focus, that positive
change can begin in high crime areas. Meditation and self awareness
exercises are an economical, efficient method of expanding consciousness
beyond the individual and to be aware of his/her social relationship and
responsibility to work to help others who may exist in his/her community
to overcome unemployment, illiteracy, poverty, and homelessness.
Suzy Gablik (1992) comments,
Compassionate action arises when we empower others,
rather than merely seek to impose our images upon the world. Self-servingness,
it turns out, is the great enemy of community (p. 63).
Ecology of "Oneness":
Meditation teaches the practitioner that he/she
is a part of the perceived oneness of the universe. The perception
of oneness may bring with it the knowledge of the deep meaning of self
and the cosmos (LeShan, p.178). The experienced sense of oneness
can lead practitioners to a new awareness to all human life's responsibilities
to protect our ecology in order to live in oneness with nature by following
the natural order of recycling all by-products of life and not pollute
the environment.
Social ecology is defined as the relationship between
material resources and the distribution of human groups and the resultant
social and cultural patterns. An ecological relationship is a balance
of natural resources with human needs. Environment consists of the
conditions surrounding and influencing the development of the "organism"
outside of the effects of heredity (Webster, 1983, p.574, 609). Environment
is the social, physical, and climatic world around an individual.
Through the disciplined practice of meditation,
one may become sensitive to the alleged universal oneness of his/her relationship
with his/her natural environment. This sense of oneness can enhance
an individual's awareness to his/her intimate relationship with the earth.
Sensitivity can develop the resourcefulness and motivation of the individual.
Through the development of individual resourcefulness and motivation to
facilitate change, individuals can respond to the needs of our environment
so that all life can live in harmony and not pollute the natural resources
that support life. According to Utne Reader writer, Mark Dowie (1992),
Everywhere we turn, citizens are recycling, businesses
are bragging about their environmental policies, and politicians of all
ideological stripes are discussing ecological concerns in the same reverential
tones once confined to discussions of motherhood (p. 105).
According to Faber (1981), ordinary awareness, the
durational, spatial, and symbolical manner in which humans ordinarily perceive
the world, is related directly to the manner in which we "handle" the physical
stimulus. "Ordinary awareness" is not simply a mental tie to an object
but also a chemical/physical tie to the object. A heightened sense
of awareness can be achieved by an altered awareness of the manner in which
humans ordinarily hold onto an object. To alter the manner in which
humans ordinarily hold onto the object may be to alter the manner in which
humans ordinarily perceive the world. The manner in which humans
ordinarily perceive the world is itself the manner in which we hold onto
the object (p.90-91). As individuals change their perceptions of
their responsibilities to the Earth's ecology, from an attitude of taking
as opposed to a sense of stewardship about the environment, they may be
more apt to become involved in caring for the environment and developing
a sense of group consciousness to the needs of Earth, such as recycling
and pollution control. Stephen Budiansky (1992) comments, that it
has been through the "enlightenment" of some conservationists that the
view that humankind does not own nature and that common ecological or even
aesthetic values, such as recycling and pollution control supersede feudal
notions of property rights (p.17).
Consciousness of Racism:
According to a recent report in Time magazine (1992),
racism is again on the rise in the United States. Resentment, possibly
stirred by the recent Los Angeles riots, the poor economy, and a resurgent
"nativism" may help to expand the Klu Klux Klan and racism in the United
States (Riley, p.25). Racism is defined by Webster (1983) as a "program
or practice of racial discrimination, segregation, persecution, and domination,
based on racialism." Racialism is "a doctrine or feeling of racial
differences or antagonisms, especially with reference to supposed racial
superiority, inferiority, or purity," (p. 1485). Racism begins with
debatable individual beliefs and attitudes (Worchel, 1976). Cultural
myths about the differences is races are difficult to break without the
active involvement individuals who are willing to consider different beliefs.
Gablik states,
Cultural myths do not die easily, especially when
our personal commitment to them is so strong that it is difficult even
to entertain possibilities based upon different premises (p. 63).
As individuals practice meditation, they may begin
to develop a different premise, a sense of oneness with other humans, regardless
of their race, ethnic diversity, or religion. Kovel (1970) writes,
There are several ways to abandon racist belief.
A person may pass beyond racism autonomously, by a free and inwardly directed
choice; he [she] may, as a result, arrive at a state in which whatever
his [her] other problems in life, he [she] treats and considers another
person as he [she] is and without regard for skin color or ethnic origin
(p. 212).
Through meditation, individuals may become aware of their consciousness,
unconscious, and perhaps Jung's collective unconsciousness. They
can begin to sense their inner unconscious self and their connection to
the universal oneness of life and the equality of human beings.
The Jungian theory of the collective or transpersonal
unconsciousness is one of the most original and controversial of Jung's
personality theory. In this theory, Carl Jung develops the concept
that all living species are interconnected through a collective unconsciousness.
The collective unconsciousness is the storehouse
of latent memory traces inherited from one's ancestral past, a past that
includes not only the racial history of humans as a separate species but
their prehuman or animal ancestry as well. The collective unconsciousness
is the psychic residue of human evolutionary development, a residue that
accumulates as a consequence of repeated experiences over many generations
(Hall, 1978, p.119).
As the individual comes into contact with his/her
basic being, through meditation or other consciousness raising techniques,
he/she may develop a sense of oneness with human kind. Kovel (1970)
comments, "In a free, non-racist culture, one grants an intrinsic worth
to the other person, simply because he [she] is human" (p. 213).
Racism can only be eradicated through changes in attitudes and beliefs,
and an adoption of progressive social behaviors. By teaching the
principles of universal oneness, human kind can begin to treat each other
as members of a cooperative family instead of a dysfunctional family with
members who are always looking to better him/her self at the expense of
another. Faber's literature research reflects that the "good" alteration
of awareness, the "mystical or peak experience," is a type of "transitional
phenomenon" that comprises, ultimately, the rediscovery of the "good object,"
(1981, p.78). Through the regular practice of meditation and the
development of new attitudes and beliefs, racism may be reduced.
Meditation, and the possible resultant mystical experience, may heighten
an individual's awareness of his/her community, and to each other, as a
part of the human race. According to Williams (1981),
When people get to know each other better, they
may find they have much in common and can respect and mutually tolerate
one another through the spirit of the golden rule. Many groups are
necessary to effect social change, but there should be only one team.
This team should be centered around the idea that men are truly equal and
that all have the right to participate in the democratic process.
This is a growing opinion of large numbers of people (p. 146).
Conclusion:
Through meditation, individuals may develop a reported
sense of oneness with the universe and may act and respond in a more socially
conscious manner. Meditation helps to bring into balance the individual's
physical, psychological, and spiritual selves. The attainment of
this sense of balance may help the individual to be more aware in normal
consciousness. This heightened sense of awareness may have a positive
effect on initiating social change such as reducing tension in high crime
areas, ecological awareness and action, and changing racist attitudes and
beliefs. In Krippner's review of M. D. Faber's work Culture and Consciousness
he discusses Faber's attempt "to demonstrate the degree to which ordinary
consciousness determines not only the nature and quality of individual
lives, but also the nature and quality of social institutions," (Krippner,
1988, p.35). LeShan (1974) states that consciousness research and
parapsychology reveal the people's connectedness with others and the universe.
By combining the new knowledge from psychology and psychiatry with the
ancient mystical teachings of meditative practices and awareness of a greater
power, humans can become more mature and more evolved (Krippner, 1988,
p.36).
Social change needs to begin with the individual,
who then can foster change to those around him/her. As the individual's
attitudes, beliefs, and actions are changed, the individual's lifestyle
may also changes. As a result of these personal changes, others may
be effected, and social change may begins. Karl Marx states,
Man [woman] much as he [she] may therefore be a
particular individual (and it is precisely his [her] particularity which
makes him [her] an individual, and a real individual social being), is
just as much the totality - the ideal totality - the subjective existence
of thought and experienced society present for its self; just as he [she]
exists also in the real world as the awareness and the real enjoyment of
social existence, and as a totality of human life-activity (Marx, 1978,
p.86).
Meditation and mystical experiences are an altered
state of consciousness that allows the individual to become aware of their
connection to others and to their environment. It is through an awareness
of others, outside of one self, that social change in attitudes and
beliefs may begin to take place. Although meditative practices and
awareness and learning from mystical experiences are not the only answer
to social change, they do provide tools for individuals to use to heighten
his/her senses of awareness to be more socially conscious and possibly
effect a change in his/her society. As Gandhi stated, "We must become
the change we wish to be."
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