Meditation Party: Magic, Mystery, Intuition, Tattoos, and Non-Efforting | Sebene Selassie and Jeff Warren
Dan Harris, Sebene Selassie, and Jeff Warren explore magic, mystery, and intuition, discussing how to embrace uncertainty and integrate mystical experiences. They also tackle listener questions on navigating creative struggle with ease and addressing self-criticism during meditation.
Deep Dive Analysis
17 Topic Outline
Navigating Mystery, Magic, and Skepticism in Spirituality
Personal Health Journeys and Openness to the Unknown
Tattoos as Personal Meditation Instructions
Why Meditation Teachers Hesitate to Discuss Mysticism
Science, Intuition, and the Limits of Rational Worldviews
Sebene's Experiences with Direct Knowing and Psychic Phenomena
Distinguishing Genuine Intuition from Aspiration
Dan's Grounded View of Intuition and Body Signals
Jeff's Two Levels of Mystery: Integration and Synchronicity
Understanding the Paradox of Absolute and Relative Truths
Using the I Ching for Context and Understanding
Openness to Mystery in Healing and Life
Non-Efforting and Ease in Creative Work
Managing Thoughts of Being a 'Bad Person' During Meditation
Recommendations: Binaural Beats for Focus and Relaxation
Recommendations: Astrology and Magical Thinking Podcasts
Recommendations: Pop Culture - Succession and Reservation Dogs
8 Key Concepts
Respectful Agnosticism
A shift from outright dismissiveness to a stance of 'I don't know' regarding mysterious or magical concepts. It involves a willingness to consider possibilities without necessarily believing them, maintaining an open mind while acknowledging the limits of current understanding.
Direct Knowing
Experiences where one perceives reality as less solid or gains insights beyond the five ordinary senses. This can include psychic experiences, dreams that foretell events, or knowing things about people before they are communicated, often described as wordless and experiential.
Intuition
A way of knowing that involves listening to the intelligence existing 'below the neck,' through the body's signals and sensations. It's about connecting with the heart (emotions) and belly (sensations) rather than solely relying on the thinking mind, and can be cultivated through practice.
Absolute and Relative Truths
A central paradox of life and a teaching in Buddhism, also known as 'the one and the many.' The absolute truth refers to the fundamental interconnection and inextricable bound-together quality of all existence, while the relative truth acknowledges our individual, separate identities and experiences. Both are simultaneously true.
I Ching
An ancient Chinese divination system, sometimes called the world's oldest computer, and a basis of Taoism. It involves posing a question or stating a situation, then generating a hexagram (via throwing coins or using an app) which provides a pithy, wise saying or framing to offer context, understanding, and help unblock uncertainties.
Metta
A Buddhist term often translated as loving-kindness or friendliness. It refers to an innate, trainable capacity to feel well-wishes and care for others, often practiced through formal meditation where phrases like 'may you live with ease' are sent to various targets.
Non-Efforting / Ease
In the context of creative work or meditation, it does not mean an absence of struggle, but rather cultivating equanimity around the inherent challenges. It involves creating internal and external spaciousness, allowing for difficulties, and easing up on 'the clench' of over-striving, recognizing that 'the good stuff doesn't come from the clench.'
Binaural Beats
Audio frequencies that, when listened to with headphones, are believed to help with concentration, flow states, sleep, and relaxation. The premise is similar to EMDR therapy, using alternating patterns (sound in this case) to potentially rewire the brain and influence mental states.
6 Questions Answered
Teachers may fear putting off rational-minded individuals, lack a full understanding of these non-rational experiences themselves, or have been assimilated into a scientific-materialistic worldview that looks askew at such topics. There's also a concern about the misuse of such ideas for exploitation, leading to a learned tendency to not speak about them publicly.
Distinguishing genuine intuition is an ongoing practice, much like meditation, requiring consistent return and creating pathways for intuitive knowing. Tools like Oracle cards or other cultural divination techniques can serve as aids to witness patterns and synchronicities, helping to open up intuitive vibrations.
In the Enneagram, 'feeling' refers more to emotions, while 'sensing' relates to the physical sensations of the body. Both are distinct ways of knowing, and connecting with them, alongside thinking, is part of opening up to intuition.
It's important to acknowledge that struggle is a natural part of the creative process. The key is to cultivate equanimity around this struggle, listen to the body for signs of clenching, and create both internal and external spaciousness for the process, understanding that 'the good stuff doesn't come from the clench.'
One can either choose to focus 'towards' these thoughts by opening to them with self-compassion, using practices like RAIN (Recognize, Allow, Investigate, Nurture), or focus 'away' by returning attention to the breath or the sensation of the ground. The choice to redirect attention is a fundamental freedom in meditation, and deeper work around these stories may also occur outside of formal practice, potentially with therapy.
Binaural beats are audio frequencies that are listened to with headphones and are believed to help with concentration, flow states, sleep, and relaxation. They work on a premise similar to EMDR therapy, using alternating sound patterns to potentially influence brain activity and mental states, and can be found in playlists for various purposes.
43 Actionable Insights
1. Surrender to Paradox
Practice surrendering to the paradoxical nature of reality, acknowledging that some truths (like the absolute and relative) are simultaneously true and beyond full mental comprehension. This allows you to experience deeper meaning and insights by letting go of the need for purely rational understanding and seeing what unfolds.
2. Experience Integrated Reality
Cultivate practices that allow you to experience yourself and the world from a position of true integration, rather than separation. This can lead to functioning effectively without an ego agenda or rigid boundaries, representing a profound awakening in how you perceive reality.
3. Live With Meaningful Intention
Approach life with clear intentions and observe how reality appears to organize itself in profoundly meaningful ways around you. This fosters an interactive relationship with the world, recognizing that you are part of a mysterious tableau where intentions can have effects.
4. Foster Intellectual Humility
Actively work on developing intellectual humility and cognitive flexibility, fostering an open mind. This approach helps you avoid clinging to opinions and allows for a more open, less annoying way of engaging with the world and new ideas.
5. Balance Doubt and Openness
Develop discernment to know when to apply doubt and skepticism and when to take a leap of faith or openness. While opening your mind can bring in ’trash,’ it can also bring in ‘diamonds,’ requiring a balanced approach to new ideas.
6. Cultivate Respectful Skepticism
Move from outright dismissiveness to respectful skepticism or agnosticism regarding mysterious, magical, or far-out concepts. This allows for a more open-minded approach without fully committing to belief, as the host found it psychologically tricky to believe in unproven things.
7. Embrace Mystery Beyond Science
Consciously create space for mystery and spiritual experience in your worldview, moving beyond a purely scientific or rational assimilation. This acknowledges that some aspects of life, like direct spiritual experience, may not be fully explained by current scientific paradigms.
8. Meditate for Greater Openness
Engage in regular meditation practice to open yourself to subtle experiences and new ways of thinking and knowing. Meditation naturally makes previously unnoticed subtleties more apparent, fostering greater openness to diverse experiences and perspectives.
9. Explore Your Innate Intuition
Acknowledge and actively explore your innate power of intuition, even if you previously dismissed or filed away such experiences. This allows you to tap into a deeper way of knowing that your rational defenses might have previously closed off.
10. Deep Listening in Meditation
Incorporate deep listening into your daily meditation practice, especially in the mornings, to open intuitive channels. This helps you become more receptive to subtle knowing that your rational mind might typically block, without fixating on its origin.
11. Heed Your Body’s Signals
Pay close attention to the signals your body sends, recognizing this as a form of intuition or ‘intelligence below the neck.’ Our racing minds often cause us to miss these crucial signals, which can provide important information about situations.
12. Engage Heart and Sensing
Consciously connect with your heart (emotions/feelings) and belly (sensory experiences) centers, in addition to your thinking mind. This practice helps open up intuition by engaging other ways of knowing, as our culture often overemphasizes the thinking center.
13. Choose Focus in Meditation
In meditation, consciously choose whether to focus ’towards’ difficult thoughts/emotions (e.g., with self-compassion) or ‘away’ (e.g., to breath, ground, or opening eyes). This choice is a fundamental freedom in meditation, allowing you to manage your energy and engage with experiences at your own pace.
14. Find Equanimity in Struggle
Aim to cultivate equanimity or inner peace around the struggles that are an inherent part of life, rather than expecting life to be struggle-free. This reframes ’living with ease’ not as an absence of difficulty, but as a stable mindset in its presence.
15. Release Creative Clench
Gently monitor your body for signs of ‘clench’ or tension while engaged in creative work, and use it as a signal to ease up. According to Joseph Goldstein, ’the good stuff doesn’t come from the clench,’ and easing up allows for better creative flow and problem-solving.
16. Build Creative Spaciousness
Intentionally create both internal and external spaciousness in your routine to accommodate the varied emotional and physical demands of creative work. This allows room for the ‘crazy eyes’ moments, the struggles, and the need for physical release, which are part of the creative process.
17. Take Breaks from Tension
When feeling coiled or tense during creative work, take short breaks to engage in physical activities like tossing a ball, lying down, or playing. These actions help release physical and mental tension, allowing you to return to the work refreshed and more effectively.
18. Apply RAIN for Difficulties
When difficult thoughts or emotions arise during meditation, apply the RAIN practice (Recognize, Allow, Investigate, Nurture). RAIN provides a structured way to work with challenging internal experiences, allowing for deeper understanding and self-compassion.
19. Relax Body, Release Mind
Engage in physical relaxation practices, such as lying down meditation or breathing into the belly and chest, to release bodily tension. Releasing physical tension in the body, especially in areas like the heart space, can directly help in releasing corresponding mental and emotional tension.
20. Ground in Present Moment
When negative self-talk or thoughts of past mistakes arise, consciously ground yourself into the present moment. This prevents getting lost in past narratives and allows you to address what’s happening now, rather than being consumed by regret.
21. Challenge Gendered Self-Criticism
Actively challenge and work through societal messages and internal training that lead to self-criticism for expressing natural human emotions like anger or setting boundaries. This helps to dismantle harmful expectations and allows for a more authentic experience of self.
22. Reframe Evil as Behavior
Reframe the concept of ’evil’ as ‘bad behavior’ when judging yourself or others. This perspective, shared by Father Gregory Boyle, can be very useful in avoiding writing off yourself or others as inherently bad, focusing instead on actions.
23. Open to Healing Mystery
Maintain an open mind to various possibilities in healing, including prayer, meditation, and receiving well wishes, without claiming causal links. This openness to mystery, rather than rigid control or fear, can bring about new possibilities and experiences.
24. Tune Into Your Feelings
Focus on being truly in tune with your feelings rather than being driven by fear or the need for control. This approach has been liberating for Seben in navigating her health journey, allowing for freedom regardless of health status.
25. Practice, Seek Community Feedback
Actively engage in practices that encourage an interactive relationship with the world and observe their effects on your feelings. This experiential approach allows for personal discovery, but it’s crucial to seek feedback from community to avoid delusion and biases.
26. Consult I Ching for Insight
Use the I Ching (or similar divination system) by posing a situation-based question and interpreting the hexagrams. This tool can provide helpful context, unblock uncertainty, and offer meaningful insights, leading to better outcomes in various situations.
27. Employ Ritual Tools for Intuition
Utilize ritual tools like Oracle cards, tea leaves, or coffee grounds to help you witness patterns and synchronicities. These tools can serve as aids to open up intuitive vibrations and access knowing that is not available through purely rational means.
28. Physical Reminders for Practice
Place important instructions or reminders on your skin (like tattoos) or in visible places. This serves as a constant reminder for practices like meditation instructions (e.g., ‘relaxed awareness,’ ’let go’).
29. Act For All Beings
Adopt an intention or mantra like ‘for the benefit of all beings’ to guide your actions and mindset. This can help cultivate a sense of safety and a broader, more compassionate perspective.
30. Avoid Late Dinners
Avoid eating late dinners, as it can negatively impact sleep quality and lead to tiredness. Dan’s personal experience shows that even without alcohol, a late meal can disrupt sleep.
31. Utilize Binaural Beats
Listen to binaural beats with headphones, using specific playlists for concentration/flow states or for sleep/relaxation. Seben finds them effective for improving focus during writing and for promoting sleep and relaxation.
32. Explore Visionary Astrology
Listen to Carolyn Casey’s ‘Visionary Activist Astrology’ audio series, particularly focusing on her descriptions of each planet as aspects of being human. This series offers a brilliant, literate, and humanistic take on human nature, complementing meditation practice.
33. Listen to Weird Studies
Listen to the ‘Weird Studies’ podcast for intelligent, irreverent, and educated discussions on various aspects of the magical and mysterious. This podcast offers a way to intelligently wrestle with the reality of living in a more magical world.
34. Rewatch Succession Series
Consider rewatching the TV series ‘Succession’ from the beginning. It’s recommended as one of the best pieces of television and art, offering incredible acting, dense writing, and subtle dharma woven throughout, making a rewatch highly rewarding.
35. Watch Reservation Dogs
Watch the TV show ‘Reservation Dogs’ (on Hulu and FX). It’s highly recommended as a hilarious, smart, funny, and tender all-native production that offers a significant commentary on the U.S. and its history.
36. Address Personal Dismissiveness
Recognize and address your own propensity for dismissiveness, especially when it stems from closed-mindedness or a purely materialistic worldview. This shift can lead to a more respectful agnosticism and openness, moving away from reflexively writing things off as ‘bullshit.’
37. Frame Non-Rational Experiences
When encountering non-rational or mystical experiences, work on developing new models and framings to make sense of them for yourself. This helps integrate experiences that don’t fit existing rational paradigms, even if you don’t fully understand them yet.
38. Practice Willing Disbelief Suspension
Consciously practice the ‘willing suspension of disbelief’ when encountering new or mysterious concepts. This allows you to temporarily set aside skepticism and engage with ideas, potentially opening doors to new insights and experiences.
39. Accept Paradox as Portal
Cultivate an understanding and acceptance of paradox (like the absolute and relative) as a fundamental aspect of life. Recognizing that ‘paradox is the portal’ and that both truths can coexist is imperative for maintaining sanity and navigating complex realities.
40. Embrace Creative Struggle
Acknowledge and allow struggle to be an inherent part of your creative process, rather than resisting it. Accepting struggle as part of the work, as Jeff suggests, can paradoxically create more ease within challenging creative endeavors.
41. Address Inner Critic in Meditation
When the inner critic arises during meditation, recognize its harsh words and ideas about how things ‘should’ be. Acknowledging the inner critic is the first step to working with it, rather than being dragged by its unrealistic expectations for smoothness or ease.
42. Seek Therapy for Narratives
For persistent negative self-stories or deep-seated issues, consider engaging in therapy or exploration outside of formal meditation practice. Some deep-seated narratives may require dedicated therapeutic work beyond what can be fully addressed in meditation alone.
43. Release Rigid Opinions
Consciously avoid clinging rigidly to your opinions. Clinging to opinions can make you ‘annoying other people’ and hinders openness, as suggested by the Buddha’s teaching.
10 Key Quotes
open up your mind and in pours the trash.
Dan Harris (quoting The Meat Puppets)
if you open up your mind, in pours like a bunch of diamonds.
Dan Harris
a modernist, someone who believes that others believe.
Sebene Selassie (quoting Bruno Latour)
time is just a persistent illusion
Sebene Selassie (quoting Albert Einstein)
the mystic swims in the same waters in which the psychotic drowns.
Jeff Warren
paradox is the portal.
Sebene Selassie
The good stuff doesn't come from the clench.
Joseph Goldstein (via Dan Harris)
I don't believe in evil. I believe in bad behavior.
Father Gregory Boyle (via Dan Harris)
nothing is a line. Everything, everywhere is always moving.
Dan Harris (quoting Logan Roy from Succession)
yeah, okay, Buddha, nice Tom Fords.
Dan Harris (quoting a character from Succession)
2 Protocols
I Ching Consultation
Jeff Warren- Pose a question or state a situation (not a yes/no question).
- Tap the screen six times (in an app) or throw coins six times.
- Receive a hexagram, which is a pithy, wise saying or framing related to the situation.
- Read the description and any additional information provided.
- Note the second hexagram, which indicates how the situation's energies are changing or what it's moving into.
RAIN Practice (for difficult thoughts/emotions)
Sebene Selassie (attributing Tara Brach)- Recognize: Acknowledge the thought or emotion that is arising.
- Allow: Permit the experience to be present without resistance.
- Investigate: Explore the sensations and feelings associated with the experience.
- Nurture: Offer self-compassion and care towards oneself in relation to the experience.