Regular practising of Acem Meditation starts processes that, over time, can lead to personality development and personal maturation provided certain conditions are being met.
Such development is driven by the handling of subtle, sometimes intricate manifestations of interference from spontaneous activity in the mind. Essential changes in how these interferences are handled may gradually translate into external life. Ongoing meditation is a kind of training in ‘listening within’; subsequently, energies, values and priorities in life may find new directions.
The results of Acem Meditation are not bestowed upon the meditator by external powers, be they material, human or ‘divine’. In Acem Meditation, nothing essential is given to or taken away from a person; everything that manifests itself, even resistance and unpleasant interference, are aspects of oneself. This fact emphasizes the existential possibility for every person to improve his or her life and personality by meditating. Nobody can meditate for another person. Unlike many other situations in life, no momentary help is available during meditation; there is no one to blame, not even one’s current life situation or past can be used as an excuse for how to meet the challenges; the meditator is existentially alone and can only rely on himself. Accordingly, the quality of how a person meditates is of paramount importance for progress, for what he or she gets out of the practice.
Personality change brought about by regular meditation, most of all by long meditation, starts within, and later, it reaches the outer domains of life. Meditative changes are not based on reasoning, effort, beliefs and persuasions, or change of values, ideology or views. Rather, the changes are anchored in an inner tacit awareness and introspective ability. This involves more than just relaxation, even though relaxation is a major prerequisite. To understand the process in Acem Meditation, we will initially look into two agents of the mind and explore how they contribute to the changes in fundamental structures of personality and the existential stance of a person.
Acem Meditation is played out between two basic agents or activities in the mind: volitional activity and spontaneous activity. The first is ‘what I do’, and the second is ‘what I experience is happening in the mind’. The first is an act of will and based on the capacity to judge and act; the second consists of material conjured up by the mind without any attempt to do so. In Acem Meditation, the aim is to find a non-restrictive, cooperative balance between the two – from moment to moment. Sometimes this is easy, at times it is challenging. The volitional activity involves the repetition of the meditation sound with a free mental attitude, carried out by the acting, conscious executive self, framed by its strengths and limitations.
It may seem less obvious that spontaneous activity is part of a person’s self-psychological structure. Spontaneous activity represents a self, the spontaneous self. In popular parlance, a sense of self or ‘I’ is usually experienced when a person is actively using his or her executive functions, such as reasoning and decision-making abilities. However, several schools of modern psychology have long established the notion that man also is driven by internal forces, some outside of his explicit awareness; they serve adaptive goals, but also goals of a dysfunctional nature, e.g., when they twist experiences, form misconceptions, shape mental symptoms, instigate avoidance manoeuvres, etc. In such cases, the goals of what is manifesting in the mind, body or the field of action may appear alien or unrelated to the self. Spontaneous manifestations can be regarded as expressions of the preconscious, subconscious or unconscious. Individuals tend to disown such manifestations, particularly the deeper intensions in them. They are seen as the ‘not me’, disconnected from any self they identify with.
The acting self may at times limit, inhibit, even stop spontaneous activity, but it can also allow spontaneous activity to manifest itself without interference, even when it is unpleasant, taxing or cumbersome. In terms of its content, the spontaneous activity tends to reflect aspects of a person’s immediate psycho-social involvement, while on a structural level; it represents habitual processing patterns shaped by formative experiences in the past and unused resources.
The acting self is responsible for volitional activity in Acem Meditation, and therefore, for the search for a soft, including and accepting coexistence with the ever-changing spontaneous activity, i.e., the stream of thoughts, images, emotions, bodily sensations and moods that are always present in varying forms and degrees as part of the wandering mind.
In the physically and mentally relaxed moments of meditation, spontaneous activity will unknowingly take over from time to time. In Acem Meditation, this is called spontaneous concentration or spontaneous absorption. The meditator should not try to avoid this, as such meditative events provide discharge for deeper, unresolved issues. Gradually, this kind of discharge brings unresolved issues closer to awareness, where they may have a chance to be resolved. A certain amount of reiterated discharge over time facilitates deeper psychological processing.
Spontaneous activity includes derivatives of the unconscious. These manifestations may pull away from change or towards positive change by processing unresolved psychological issues and opening the doors to new resources. In the meditative process, resistance always comes first and the availability of resources comes later. Confronted with subtle manifestations of hardly perceivable interference, the acting self may not at first be capable of conceiving and handling those covert influences. Instead, a dissonance, a lack of agreement or consistency may be active. The dissonance is usually not identified as such, but rather felt as a doubt with unpleasant confusion and ambiguous feelings – ‘Things do not seem right!’ The dissonance comes from limitations in the current way in which the meditator is handling the covert challenges posed by the subtler layers of spontaneous activity.
The discomfort of dissonance reflects a blind spot in the acting self that tends to use old ways to solve its current predicaments, which, however, requires new solutions. In this, the inner behaviour may be guided temporarily by what feels good and thus may deviate from the free mental attitude, replacing it with concentration and goal orientation, easy escapes, quick fixes or detours. In such phases, a meditator may become irregular in his or her meditation habits, which diminishes the pressure from the dissonance. A person may even give up meditation for a short or a long time, perhaps forever.
Progress in process hinges mainly on two conditions: firstly, persistence in practice, i.e., keeping up the habit of meditating regularly whatever happens and independent of how it is felt, preferably in combination with long meditation and retreats, and secondly, refinement of how the meditation is carried out at each sitting. Inspiration and support may be drawn from self-reflection, guidance, study groups, group discussions, lectures and the like. In short: the two means to reasonable success are persistence and refinement. In mastering the hurdles related to process in Acem Meditation, a meditator will learn something essential about how to deal with future challenges posed by deeper levels of personality, and he will have, in some manner, also expanded and enriched his being in the world – his relationship to self, others, work and existence.
The phenomenological content during meditation consists of thoughts, images, physical sensations and pains, sometimes emotions. Often, the content is of minor importance, but its interference upon the meditation and the free mental attitude may be of major importance. Here, there is a need to distinguish between the content and the structure of the interference from spontaneous activity. Structure signifies the typical patterns of a person in how to perceive, respond and deal with things in life, i.e., the habitual patterns of processing and acting. Lasting changes in the ways of meditating can alter patterns of processing stimuli – inside, as well as outside, of meditation.
As already emphasized, the development in Acem Meditation depends on the quality of a person’s volitional dealing with the inner challenges posed by spontaneous activity. Blindly following instructions, adhering to rules, beliefs or hopes, meditating on ‘autopilot’, following suggestions or persuasions will not suffice. The challenge is to expand the capacity of the acting self in applying the central meditation principles adequately and sensitively to every new inner situation.
Relaxation can be achieved via both of the two selves discussed above. The acting self can instruct the body and mind to the best of its ability to relax, as in autogenic training or Edmund Jacobson’s (1888-1983) progressive relaxation; this will result in directed relaxation by means of concentration and effort. In such practices, the goal or desired state is well-known in advance, and a person is trying to reach that predefined goal. This results in a state- or goal-oriented relaxation or meditation.
Relaxation can also be brought about by the spontaneous self, but in a rather different manner. A person will not try to relax, but gently and effortlessly engage in certain neutral activity. In Acem Meditation, this is the gentle repetition of the meditation sound with a free mental attitude, in order to release the relaxation response in the central nervous system; relaxation happens as a response or reflex and not as the result of goal-directed endeavours. Acem Meditation does not aim for the experience of particular predetermined states, goals or experiences; instead, it is process oriented, open to whatever comes to the mind.
During meditation, the more relaxed a person is, the closer the links are between spontaneous activity and the unresolved issues of the unconscious. Likewise, the longer each meditation and the longer a person has been meditating regularly over time, the more likely the influx of unresolved issues is to interfere with the free mental attitude in the repetition of the meditation sound. Acem Meditation is built on the experience that spontaneous relaxation is more profound and beneficial to a person than relaxation based on concentration; only the first allows restructuring of the fundamental building blocks of personality and existence.
Any person allowing this process to develop will at times have to cope with some degree of resistance. This resistance emanates from a person’s habitual patterns of processing stimuli, and they may be expressed in such as social bonding, ways of dealing with obligations, commitments, authority and issues of autonomy, etc.
With profound relaxation, small and masterable quantities of physical and mental material are released via spontaneous activity into the conscious mind. The structures of which the unresolved issues are a part are gradually brought from a hidden and stable state into a volatile and more open state in which they can be modified more readily. In this transition, there is always some interference that is outside of the awareness of the person. The process involving this transition is called actualization. It is involved in deeper personality changes, and it does not occur without counterforces. Along the way, derivatives from the unresolved issues sway the mind in noticeable and malleable, as well as in incomprehensible, ways. The interference may manifest itself as bodily pains, or as recurrent troublesome thoughts, images or emotions, sometimes even as bodily movements during meditation. The initial ‘aim’ of resistance is to avoid change, i.e., to get the acting self to abort what drives change. Omissions or deviations from proper meditation may result; the mind is moving towards concentration or laxity instead of the free mental attitude.
At some point, a showdown occurs between the intensity of the psychological limitations on one hand, and on the other, the opening, accepting infusion of freedom into new mental areas and resources. The outcome depends on the meditator’s ability to optimize the free mental attitude during the discomfort of dissonance and actualization. If the meditator reverts to concentration, to the use of force and effort, or is trying to isolate the interference from awareness, the existing unresolved issues will prevail.
However, if the meditator is capable of softly upholding some degree of free mental attitude, the intensity and the limiting perspectives of the unresolved issues will gradually diminish; the quality of the repetitions does not have to be perfect, just good enough. Usually, such modifications manifest themselves over time, in weeks, or rather over months and years. In the beginning of the actualization phases, resistance tends to be stronger. Later on, resistance dwindles and the manifestations indicate that change is gaining momentum.
In some ways, it may seem unfair that the reward for meditating correctly is cumbersome interference, and that it is likely to appear in rather disguised shapes. Initially, the interference tends to outsmart the meditator without his or her awareness. That is why guidance sometimes is crucial in these stages. In wrestling with the interference from dissonance and actualization, the meditator may hopefully discover at some point that his efforts are dominated by concentration or laxity. This provides options to modify the way he or she is meditating.
As already indicated, resistance may appear in many forms. Some weeks or months after having learnt to meditate, regular meditation may seem to provide less relaxation, and transient phases may occur of increased discomfort, bodily aches and pains, unpleasant emotions or fatigue – usually during, but sometimes also after, meditation. Such manifestations have been denoted paradoxical effects because relaxation and mental processing seem temporarily to decrease. The paradoxical effects appear in the initial stages of actualization and tend to be early manifestations of unidentified resistance against change and improvement.
If the paradoxical effects persist or are problematic, it is advisable to discuss the experience with a qualified instructor or guide. The best way to deal with paradoxical effects is to work through them rather than to detour around them. An instructor may give advice that can ease the process.
Also, the paradoxical effects may be experienced in this way during the time sitting in meditation; the mind seems loaded with turbulent thoughts, tensions or bodily aches – sometimes far more than before the person sat down; the meditation may be experienced as superficial, without much effect, perhaps even taxing. However, afterwards, it seems obvious that some relaxation and processing has taken place. The person has more energy and strength for his or her activities and tasks.
In order to benefit adequately from the method, it is paramount for the sincere meditator to obtain an understanding beyond the beginner level of how to tackle the various aspects of the processes of Acem Meditation. Conceptualization about actualizations and resistance in relation to growth are hardly found in other schools of meditation. Insight into these processes can only be derived from personal experience coupled with understanding and personal guidance.
Translating changes from meditation into daily life always takes time; it is a slow and gradual process. Personality changes manifest themselves at their own pace and shape; they cannot be rushed, manipulated or steered from outside. Moreover, the meditator cannot decide in advance what and in which ways he or she wants to change; he has to allow himself to engage in the flow or process, and let the changes gradually manifest themselves in their own way and rhythm. First of all, self and others need time to accept and adapt to the changes as they may be expressed externally in relationships, priorities and work habits. If the changes are welcomed and allowed to manifest themselves, a higher degree of balance between the inner and the outer levels of existence will gradually result.
Although a few feel provoked, the process of Acem Meditation may become a source of enrichment and fascination. When gradually resolving a cumbersome aspect of meditation, the meditator has fulfilled two essential achievements – one at the level of process and one for his personality. Related to the former, a slightly higher tolerance for uncertainty, frustration or discomfort has been achieved; this may apply in general and help the meditator in future to overcome later hurdles more easily in meditation, as well as in life. The acting self has expanded its processing capacity. No information, no explanation or pre-warning alone can give this kind of insight.
On a personal level, the acting self has gained integration of some personality issues, not by understanding, but by doing things differently during meditation. By this expansion of inner freedom in the meditative practice, the acting self has also improved the capacity to deal with parts of the spontaneous self; a new integrated state of inner balance is achieved between the acting and the spontaneous selves. Gradually, new habitual patterns of perception, decision-making and action may ensue. No person will ever become perfect by meditating; perfection in psychological matters is not an achievable part of the human condition, in spite of the claims made by some growth-oriented groups. However, by meditating regularly, a person will improve his or her existential platform in life. The changes that can be obtained are modest, yet important.
A long meditation is defined as any Acem Meditation lasting more than one hour; they speed up the processing of personality issues. Long meditations are arranged regularly either by Acem centres, or as residential retreats over a weekend or over several consecutive days. Most Acem centres arrange a singular long meditation session, usually of 1.5-2 hours duration under the maxim ‘meet, meditate and discuss’. The recommendation is that long meditation is not to be practised at home, as they should be followed by guidance to optimize insights into how to handle adequately the dissonance, interference and resistance of actualization.
Retreats with long meditation over several consecutive days, preferably five or more, are particularly helpful in building proficiency in dealing with the challenges of process. There are several kinds of retreat to choose from; their differences are related to the typical length of the daily meditations. The first level of long meditation is to aid a person in meditating with ease for more than 3-4 hours in one stretch. The programme on regular retreats facilitates this, and several days are needed to achieve this goal. Having met the 3-4-hour criterion with ease suggests a strong indication that a person is now meditating in a technically correct manner. Some people particularly like this and want to go on with even longer meditations. This is possible at deepening retreats. The longer the meditation, the deeper the personality issues are that are activated for processing. Many are quite happy with the 3-4 hour meditations at the regular retreats and go to them from time to time to charge their ‘batteries’, speed up growth and renew their relationship to the deeper aspects of meditation.
Acem Meditation comprises a way in which people may obtain a better starting point for further positive changes in their lives, be they interpersonal, job or study related, experiential or cultural. Acem Meditation provides relaxation and more energy, but also modifications of habitual regulatory processing patterns in response to internal and external stimuli. The ultimate value of practising Acem Meditation lies in its effects on daily life, and not in having particular meditative experiences – both in the short term and the longer term.