Meditation can help us develop our knowledge on several levels of embodied existence (Thompson, 2020). However, we must be careful to not forget the community aspects of the Buddhist tradition from which the Western perspective on meditation is largely drawn.
Previously we have drawn attention to the four types of knowing, which we have listed below
Procedural-knowing what to do, what procedure to follow
Propositional- knowledge of facts
Perspectival-being able to examine a situation from a vantage point
Participatory- how to fit yourself into a situation to get the most out of it
(Drawn and traced from Vervaeke and Ferraro, 2012)
Meditation can help us develop our perspectival knowing. Paying attention to our emotions and how we react to certain situation, thoughts and feelings can provide us with a different vantage point (Varela et al, 2016). Reflecting on our automatic responses allow us to consider other options and avoid being on auto pilot. Such reflection allows us to improve our participatory knowing, how we can fit ourselves more optimally to situations.
For example, if we find ourselves overcome with emotion by certain social or professional dynamics, meditation may allow us to take a step back from this. We could engage in a contemplative meditation where we reflect on emotional difficulty, practice processing the emotion and contemplate another vantage point (Williams and Penman, 2011). This may translate into being able to maintain greater situational awareness in future similar situations and make wiser more considered choices (Weick and Sutcliffe, 2001).
However, it is important to not become consumed by the personal perspective, this could lead us to cement our mindful self-discoveries into a fixed world view. To be highly effective we need to be able to engage with the perspectival and participatory knowing of other people. This requires an active open mindedness towards the knowing of others. A step towards achieving this is considering the position of “groundlessness” (Varela et al, 2016).
Varela et al (2016) draw attention to the perspective that as autopoietic organisms we are constantly in a process of emerging. We have histories of structurally coupling with the environment, other people, and culture. This process is constantly emerging and changing. As a result, we should always see ourselves in a process of becoming. If we consider ourselves fixed, then we become closed to change and growth. In other words, we could and should be considered groundless.
How can we live in a groundless world? At a basic level, it does not mean dispensing with all facts, beliefs, and processes. It means being open to the condition that facts and processes are open to change, and we should also be open to that possibility. If we do not hold onto things too tightly then we will find ourselves paying more attention to the world and adapting. This is growth and facilitates constructive debate with other people and cultures.
This is the central aim of this article. Meditation may lead to an egocentric application where we attempt to know the ground of ourselves better. This can lead us to a conclusion about who we are and who we are in what conditions. This can work well for us, providing perspectival and participatory knowing. However, we need to not hold onto these discoveries too tightly. If we do, then we can become defensive when other people share their discoveries which may contradict our own. Dialogue with the other is an equal part of transformation and provides the fuel for transformation, the four types of knowing (Vervaeke and Ferraro, 2012). Extend mindfulness beyond the self to the interpersonal and cultural to enhance our embodied experience (Thompson,2020).
Reading
Thompson, E (2020). Why I Am Not A Buddhist. Yale University Press
Varela, F.J. Thompson, E. Rosch, E (2016) The Embodied Mind Cognitive Science and Human Experience. MIT Press.
Vervaeke, J and Ferraro, L, (2012) ‘Relevance, Meaning, and the Cognitive Science of Wisdom’ in in Michel Ferrari and Nic Westrate (eds) The Scientific Study of Personal Wisdom: From Contemplative Traditions to Neuroscience, pp. 21-51, Springer.
Williams, M. Penman, D. (2011) Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Finding Peace in a Frantic World. Piatkus Books; 1st edition
Weick, K. E., & Sutcliffe, K. M. (2001). Managing the unexpected: Assuring high performance in an age of complexity. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
