presented to faculty of the chi center for psychoanalysis

  The paper began by noting the popularity and commercialization of ‘mindfulness,’ ‘being present,’ and ‘in the now.’ I raised questions pertaining to how ‘present,’ ‘mindful,’ and ‘in the now’ are we when we are always bringing our past to bear superimposed to ‘the present moment’ as psychodynamic thought reveals. I then called attention to the tendency of how being present, mindful and ‘in the now’ may get understood as one in the same phenomena, and thus potentially conflated. These terms have their roots in the philosophy and anecdotal accounts of ‘nonduality.’ Nonduality is also a term that is not completely clear in the literature, and has no one definition, but many theories (Loy, 2012).

Some debate a version of the notions of nonduality, while veiled in different language and beliefs, are evident in all contemplative traditions, from “Greek philosophy through to Buddhism and Taoism and each of the mystical branches of the Abrahamic religions” (Martin 2010). The belief of nonduality is the cornerstone of Perennial Philosophy, which maintains there is an underlying reality to all religions, even if the names to this reality are different (i.e., God, Emptiness, Tao, True Self) (Huxley, 1946). Some individuals who experience nonduality maintain that it is an experience that is not able to be put in words (Martin, 2010). There has not been a significant amount of scientific data in the area of nonduality. However, some research was noted in the paper (Martin, 2010, 2020) of individuals who have experienced persistent forms of nonduality or what the researcher referred to as nonsymbolic consciousness (PNSC). These research findings uncovered five core consistent categories of change for the individual: sense of self, cognition, affect, perception, and memory ranging on a continuum of 1 – 5+ of persistent non-symbolic consciousness (PNSC (Martin, 2020).

In the writing, I examined the commodification and commercialization of nonduality in light of the counterculture movement of the 1960s and nondual teachers made celebrity by Oprah Winfrey. Among these teachers, Eckhart Tolle, a NYT bestseller, The Power of Now was mentioned, as was Tolle’s account of what he deemed his awakening (Tolle, 1997). Kabat-Zinn’s (1994) definition of mindfulness was shared and noted in comparison to Freud’s (1912) ‘evenly suspended attention’ in his Recommendation to Physicians Practicing Psychoanalysis. 

Psychological benefits of practices of mindfulness, presence and ‘nowness’ via meditation were discussed. Practices of attention which stress moment to moment awareness of the fluctuations or changes in the mind as objects of perception were compared to practices of concentration and insight, which focus on bringing one’s attention or awareness back to one’s breath, particularly at location of the breath’s sensation at the nasal cavity, or some other one-pointed and single object of awareness. Ancient texts of Hinduism and Buddhism were mentioned as it pertains to these texts’ explanations for meditation and the bringing of awareness to alleviate suffering. Western psychology’s view of meditation as a form of stress reduction was also mentioned, as was a psychoanalytic view of the benefits of mindfulness meditation, in particular, toward the ego ideal being strengthened while the ideal ego is diminished (Epstein, 1986). Another perspective of the benefits of mindfulness meditation come from the psychoanalytic theory of object relations in that meditation can create an inner holding environment for the raw material of emotional experience to become symbolized in thought through the non-judgmental awareness of the meditator. This non-judgmental awareness can then serve as an auxiliary or observing ego (i.e., mother or therapist) which creates the conditions for raw affect to become symbolized in thought (Epstein, 2020).

In contrast to the benefits of meditation, the shadow side, or negative effects of mindfulness, being present, and ‘in the now’ were also discussed in the paper. In this vein, spiritual bypassing was defined as the use of spiritual ideas, practices, or experiences to sidestep or avoid facing unresolved emotional issues, psychological wounds, and unfinished developmental tasks (Welwood, 1984 & 2000). I described Wilber’s (2006) pre/trans fallacy whereby there is the tendency of individuals to understand pre-rational/pre-personal/’pathological’ experiences, such as states of (dissociation or and not equated to) schizophrenic breaks, for instance, as trans-rational/transpersonal experiences (e.g., Jung). That is, these pathological states are elevated to transpersonal states. Just the same, some individuals equate or reduce trans-rational/transpersonal experiences to be pathological or the pre-rational (e.g., Freud).

 The theoretical construct of the Wilber-Combs Lattice was described to further elucidate the pre-trans fallacy and aid in understanding how individuals might conceptually conflate ‘the (timeless) now’ of ‘no thought’ with what is to be (experientially or a priori) understood as a nondual, often more integrated state, with dissociation, for example. Revisions of the Wilber-Combs Lattice were noted (Disperna (2014), Kesler (2020, as cited in O’Fallon 2020), Martin (2010) and O’Fallon (2020). Wilber’s (2006) use of the analogy ‘ladder, climber, view’ to describe the process of development was stated. The ladder being the stages or structures of consciousness (WC Lattice Y Axis). The climber being the individual’s ‘center of gravity’ at any given stage. Thus, ‘the view’ what ‘the climber’ is able to ‘see’ or view in ourselves, others, and the world (Wilber, 2006).

Last, in the paper I aimed to address how an understanding of the dynamic unconscious could aid in understanding how an inclusion of the past of ‘there and then’ might influence ‘present moment now’ experience/s. The psychoanalytic concepts examined in this light were that of the repetition compulsion (Freud, 1914) wherepast and repressed overwhelming experience have been forgotten, distanced, and likely dissociated, recure in the mind to be reexperienced as a means to achieve mastery over the experience. Consequently, the ‘present moment in the (temporal) now’ contains the ‘there and then’ of the past was emphasized. 

A contemporary view of the repetition compulsion was then discussed via Russell, 2006. Unlike Freud (1914) who stressed the role of drive in the repression of forgotten memory, Russel (2006) stressed the importance of mastery of affect in the function and role of the repetition compulsion. Both Freud (1914) andRussell (2006) stress the necessity of the transference and therapeutic relationship in healing the repetition compulsion. 

Then, Winnicott’s notion of the true and false self was explained as it pertains to one’s sense of ‘being present’ and ‘presence.’ Throughout these explanations of how ‘being present’ and ‘in the now’ are usurped via the repetition compulsion phenomena and the false self-configuration, the phenomenon of dissociation as a form of defense and maladaptation of (relational) trauma were evident. 

Concluding Remarks

Regarding the cartography of the Wilber-Combs Lattice/Matrix, the writer/author of this paper acknowledges how her current stages of development and state experiences both limit and enhance what she is able to ‘see’ or ‘know,’ given her vantage point. That being said, it would seem that even those individuals who claim to abide ‘persistently’ ‘in the (timeless) now’ or ‘in the present moment’- a position that will need to be taken a priori for some- do not exist outside of the temporal and timelessness of the unconscious. (One need only look to the countless spiritual teachers and gurus who are grossly unethical in conduct, likely unconsciously repeating relational trauma with their students.) 

Thus, (a priori) timelessness now, may get conflated with temporal now in some of its messaging (which Tolle (1999) alludes to) and which does not often account for the stronghold of the unconscious mind. Moreover, while meditation as a form of ‘stress reduction’ is promoted as means for ‘being present’ and abiding ’in the now,’ even among many psychotherapeutic schools, this writer has heretofore found little, if nothing, mentioned in the way of the necessity of therapeutic relationship, specifically in activating transference configurations, in the potential for healing relational trauma within the mindfulness communities. 

There is a notion that ‘negative energy seeks resolution.’ In philosophy and quantum physics theory of retrocausality, it is understood that it may be possible for influence/s from the present or future to change the past. Thus, this raises the question, “How can ‘the 

present now’ or future rewrite the past?” In his book, Healing Collective Trauma, Thomas Hübl (2020) states: “…when we integrate shadow or trauma, we’re utilizing this principle because healing past energy creates a forward ripple effect. This releases ‘light’ and energy that was previously held in shadow, offering greater movement and freedom of will in the present” (p. 7).

Dr. Mishevski is an associate faculty member at the Chicago Center for Psychotherapy &Psychoanalysis