Construing contemplation
Spencer A. McWilliams
School of Human Sciences & Humanities, University of Houston, Houston,
Texas, USA
Abstract
In this presentation I will discuss the perspectives on meditation
practice that I have gleaned from more than 16 years experience as a meditation
practitioner and student of Charlotte Joko Beck, founder of the Ordinary
Mind Zen School and resident teacher at the Zen Center of San Diego. I
will place this perspective within the context of more than 20 years of
experience as a PCP-oriented psychologist, and relate the practice of this
approach to meditation to a variety of theo-retical issues in Personal
Construct Psychology. I will introduce several core issues in Ordinary
Mind meditation. I will describe basic practice techniques such as perseverance,
settling down, and addressing boredom. I will then explore fundamental
issues such as self-centered thinking, seeing our beliefs and behavior
systems, the direct experience of emotional distress, and attention to
the present moment. I will articulate the relationship between these topics
and PCP perspectives such as the fundamental postulate and corollaries,
and PCP views on emotion and construct transition.
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