Here are a few running notes on exploring “Layers of Mind” so far. I am appreciative of Jack’s additions to the practice, since I think they are very useful. However, they also set my mind to turning in directions that introduced a little confusion at first as I set out to practice. Thinking about tuning into the “subjective field” rather than focusing on particular objects (content), I realized that a number of the “elements” of that field are not likely to disclose themselves to the phenomenological investigaton that this exercise invites. For instance, I see the subject field as potentially shaped or informed by cultural patterns of thought, my relative level of cognitive development, gender-specific or other “type” issues (Enneagram, Myers-Briggs, etc), the limitations and biases of my own “background knowledge,” “shadow” and unconscious motivations, and so on. From various courses of study, therapy, tests, etc, I believe some of these factors do inform the subjective field, but they are not the sorts of things that are immediately detectable, in my experience, through straightforward phenomenological inquiry. Other approaches appear to be necessary to get at them. So … how to proceed?
I wanted to come to terms with this before getting into the practice. My tentative thought for the moment is just to acknowledge that these things are likely there, shaping what unfolds in various ways, without insisting on encountering them directly. My expectation is that some of these patterns or currents in my subjective field will be highlighted intersubjectively, as I relate to other members of the program: through our communications (and miscommunications), maybe some of these things can come to light. So, I look at this forum-based, note-sharing exercise as an extension of the “Layers of Mind” practice, a further way to uncover and explore these layers, rather than simply a space where I report what was already seen.
Regarding my first attempt to inquire into layers of mind actively and phenomenologically, I did so this morning on a walk during a break at work. I noted a number of things — various spots of discomfort in the body, a positve affect nonetheless, a bit of fatigue clouding my thought, as I walked along and thought about various topics related to work. I noted a shifting among these things, but didn’t discern any patterns among or between them at first. When I thought about Jack’s fourth point, Background, or the overall context of “what’s going on,” I had the impression of several concentric circles: the biggest (for the moment) was “being in a TSK class”; the next was “taking a walk at work”; and the next was the “immediate” circle of sense impressions. As I was noting how the background of “being in a TSK class” was influencing the unfolding of my subjective experience on the walk, I had the somewhat startling sense that this current in my subjective field was not-me. Interesting, how my “subject” is also not-mine!
That’s all for now. Looking forward to continuing to work with this, and to sharing with all of you.
Best wishes,
Bruce Alderman