Dark Night Project - When meditation goes wrong

[camerata]

Interesting article about the serious problems that can result from Buddhist meditation, particularly in a secular environment.

The Dark Night of the Soul

For some, meditation has become more curse than cure. Willoughby Britton wants to know why.

Tomas Rocha

Set back on quiet College Hill in Providence, Rhode Island, sits a dignified, four story, 19th-century house that belongs to Dr. Willoughby Britton. Inside, it is warm, spacious, and organized. The shelves are stocked with organic foods. A solid wood dining room table seats up to 12. Plants are ubiquitous. Comfortable pillows are never far from reach. The basement—with its own bed, living space, and private bathroom—often hosts a rotating cast of yogis and meditation teachers. Britton’s own living space and office are on the second floor. The real sanctuary, however, is on the third floor, where people come from all over to rent rooms, work with Britton, and rest. But they're not there to restore themselves with meditation—they're recovering from it.

"I started having thoughts like, 'Let me take over you,' combined with confusion and tons of terror," says David, a polite, articulate 27-year-old who arrived at Britton’s Cheetah House in 2013. "I had a vision of death with a scythe and a hood, and the thought 'Kill yourself' over and over again."

Michael, 25, was a certified yoga teacher when he made his way to Cheetah House. He explains that during the course of his meditation practice his "body stopped digesting food. I had no idea what was happening." For three years he believed he was "permanently ruined" by meditation.

Full article at theatlantic.com

[rockyysdt]

When attending retreats at Wat Suan Mokkh this was one of the general rules:

You must be in good general health, both physically and mentally. The retreat is not suitable for people with mental disorders or drug addictions.

During registration I was also quizzed as to whether I had any mental illness.

There may be many reasons why meditators might end up with adverse experiences.

This may include:

Mental illness.

Drug psychosis.

Attachment to negative dream states and/or negative visualisation.

Edited June 26, 2014 by rockyysdt

[sabaijai]

Very good article, even Pandit Bhikkhu has posted it on Facebook.

My one reservation on reading some of the anecdotes is that in some people, very powerful negative psychic/mental conditions arise just before stream entry (or beyond).

The description from the man who said food started tasting like dirt, for example, suggested he might have been going through classic nibbida *disgust with the world'), which many Buddhist teachers say is a precondition to attainment. When I studied with Aj Buddhadasa in the early 80s he was adamant on this phase.

That said, sometime it's difficult to divide pathological from productive.

[mccw]

With correct practice one is meant to be able to keep ones consciousness and be able to remain an observer of all these phenomena, catch the feeling or phenomena and let it dissipate through the breath cycle.

However still some do loose their minds / can not handle it; maybe it was their karma or a test of their resolve.

These guys in the article sound like they need better instruction and continue developing greater awareness and practice; not less.

I had some quite strange phenomena; visions of amazing beauty and also seriously horrible stuff like strait out of horror movie; also feeling the body as if it's translucent like 99% not existing, not solid and instead sensing energy flows all around and through, only solid point was the top of my spine. Also hearing voices and the time warping and also outside of time completely.

Some things are quite inconvenient when trying to carry on the normal life/ work/ family/ kids. But by diligently observing the breath cycle it all passes. Everything is impermanent after all.

Worse thing to do would be to freak out and loose consciousness and get stuck; like the guy with vision of death, he lost his focus, effectively he opened the door on darkness and ran away with out closing it. He needed to face it and pass it. Calmly observe the horror until it passes. There are techniques to pass it like turning the mind to the image of light or a candle flame; and making the focus to give the merit for the spirits and wish for thier peace with loving kindness, pity them and give the goodness, not be focus on fear, fear is a dark side negative drawing in worse negatives, one needs to face a negative with a positive, suffering faced with kindness, dark faced with light .

[Water Buffalo]

What type of meditation were they practising? What does stream entering refer to and what is it like?